Ft. Flagler

We came home for a few days and then headed back out for the last trip of the summer.

The annual trip to Ft. Flagler.

I was so happy my Dad was going to meet us there this year!

Avery's friend Alice came with us for a few days, too!

The ferry ride always gets us so excited!
You can look right across the water and see where we camp!

The girls hit the playground and the beach right away!

The next day we decided to do the scavenger hunt up at the Ft. Flagler museum.

We needed to explore the bank heads and bunkers along the way!

While we were in the gift store Annalise spotted something she HAD TO HAVE.
And actually....she has had her eye on this thing for a few years now and I always say "no...not today".  Well...she said she would wear it as her Halloween costume this year.
So cute!!!!
Ranger Annie!!!

Back to the beach for some awesome sand "city" building!

The next day we decided to go to Port Townsend and do the touch tanks before getting Alice back on the ferry to go home.  Unfortunately, we didn't do our research.  We picked the ONE day of the week they were closed.  Soooooo....we did lunch at the 50's diner....

And explored the town a bit....

Then we took Alice back across the water to meet her mom. :)

We knew that we wanted to make it over to Lyre River while we were on the peninsula.
It was a place that my family camped at when I was little.
My Grandpa (Mom's Dad) loved it there as well...he and my Grandma did a lot of fishing and crabbing and spent LOTS of time at Lyre River in their retirement.  When my Grandpa passed away, we all took a trip to Lyre River to put some of his ashes there.
My Mom loved it there, too.
So....we decided to put some of her ashes there with Grandpa.
Unfortunately the campground has since been gated off and closed.
We needed to get creative to get there.
We found a different campground with access to the beach.

My Dad and I hiked WAYYYYY down the beach to the old Lyre River Campground.
It was just as pretty as I remembered.
We took a deep breath and let her go.

Down the river and out to the ocean.

It was a great trip.
We got back to the campground and had
some playground time around sunset...

It was a good day to say another goodbye to Mom.

The next day Avery and I did some exploring on our bikes....

Annalise and Gramps had some fishing time.
JUST THE TWO OF THEM!!!!!!
(Avery and I caught up with them at the end of our ride.)

No fish....but all that hard work definitely called for an ice cream cone!

Our friend Jeff and his two girls Allie and Lauren got there that afternoon.
There was a lot of time on the beach!

Even Charlie loves the beach!

Avery created another super cool castle "city"!

That night it was time for the concert in the Henry Bankhead.
WooHoo....a longstanding tradition!
We couldn't wait to get there!

There was lots of dancing....

And a very "mature" crowd. (Aside from us!)

Back to the beach for yet another beautiful sunset.

 The following day we decided to go on a guided tour of the bunkers.
Our tour guide was VERY enthusiastic! He had a LOT to say!

We all did pretty good for the first hour or so...but then he lost us.
It was all worth it for the ice cream at the end!
(Did I mention we ate a lot of ice cream that week?)

Around sunset, Jeff took the kids to the park and my Dad,
Mark and I said another goodbye to my Mom.
Dad brought more ashes and we let her go at another of her favorite beaches!

The girls came back and we all enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

Everyone else left the next day so we decided to head back into
town and go to the touch tanks.
The girls always love it there....

The octopus was there.  Super cool. The lady who "over-shared" about
octopus reproduction last year with Avery was NOT there this year

Then it was back to the beach for some fishing with Dad.

Ft. Flagler just doesn't get old to us.
Same sunset....

Same park....

We stayed for 10 nights and it didn't feel too long.
So...until next year.....

Continuing the Celebration

After the "formal" Celebration of Life, we had some friends and family 

come back up to my Dad's house for a BBQ. 

Lots of people stopping for pictures in the sunflowers!

Geoff and Robin took Avery and Annalise (there were lots of bees!)....

And got pictures with the cousins while they were there, too.

 So bright and cheerful.

Deep sigh.

It was so nice to see people we hadn't seen in a really long time!

I didn't take ANY pictures that day....

(...so thanks to those who sent some to me! :) 

There were way more people there than I have pictures of....

My Aunt Pat and 3 of her daughters came up from Santa Barbara.

They actually stayed in town for a few days so we had lots of time to visit and catch up.

Aunt Pat

 Kristine

 Licia

Cindy (and Mallory)

Even an old friend of my Mom and Dad's, Neil,  came up from California for the Celebration.

My Aunt Sue and Uncle Rob and their two boys Jeff and Josh came.

Mark's whole family was there, too....

The kids ran around and played, took the Doodle Bug for rides, did some karaoke, 

played ping pong and had a great time!

There were so many people.

It felt so good celebrating my Mom with so many people.

Even the grown-ups had some karoke time!

And our girls got to have a "camp-out sleepover" in the tent with 

Guac and Carisa's girls Skyla and Emera!

The day was exhausting.

Both emotionally and physically.

And when it was done, I felt good.

It was therapeutic.

It was nice hearing about my Mom.

People had so many stories I hadn't ever heard.

She meant so much to so many people.

I miss her every single day.

 And I smile when I think of her.

Grams' Celebration of Life

When my Mom passed away in May we knew we would wait and do a 

Celebration of her Life in the summer.  

We knew she wanted a party. She didn't want it to be a 'downer' and she wanted there to be food.

We did our very best to do her proud.

My Dad chose the Wildrose Community Center for the location...

right on the way to their house.  Small and full of character...just like Mom.

It was definitely a team effort!

From the decorating to the food, the set up, clean up and the program itself.

Everyone pitched in to make it happen.

The weather was perfect....not too hot, but sunny and beautiful.

The entryway when you first walked in...

Some picture boards...

As guests began to arrive, the son of a close family friend, Dan, 

greeted everyone with bagpipe music.

His dad, Dave began the program with an amazing eulogy.

He spoke of he and his wife's close friendship with my Mom and spoke of her kind and caring heart and her gift of listening.

He honored her memory so well.

When he was done speaking, he invited guests to share stories, memories, etc. 

about my Mom....and they did!

There was a lot of laughter, talk of her sense of humor and the 

ability she had to get along with anyone.

Several of my old high school and college friends were there and spoke about always wanting to go to my house to hang out with my Mom.  She was so easy to talk to and always made my friends feel welcome and comfortable at our house.

Mark spoke.

He mentioned the fields and fields of sunflowers growing for the first time on Wildrose prairie just down from my parents' house.  "Steph would have loved them", he said.  She would have!!!

He encouraged people to take a little side trip over to the sunflowers to enjoy them, stand in them, take pictures and think of my Mom.

When it seemed as though everyone had spoken who wanted (or could :) ), I stood.

I had been thinking about this moment for months.

And I couldn't get it down on paper until early that morning.

How could I say everything I wanted to say to her?  About her?

Here's what I said.....

I really miss my Mom.

I am so grateful for all that she taught me while she was here.

She taught me how to love.

She pushed me to be the best person I could be.

She believed in me...sometimes more than I believed in myself.

This poem always reminded me of her:

"If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together

there is something you must always remember.

You are braver than you believe,

stronger than you seem

and smarter than you think.

But the more important thing is,

even if we are apart, I'll always be with you."

-Winnie the Pooh

My Mom was an amazing listener!  I can remember mine and Lori's friends always coming to our house to talk with our Mom.  Even after I was away at college and had moved out, my friends stayed in touch with my Mom.

She made you feel so good.  She was so positive.  

Even when she got sick she would always say "it is what it is". 

Her new reality.

No complaining or whining about it.

She taught me what it means to be resilient and to FIGHT!  She was so strong.

She continued to teach me things...

the way it made my own girls feel when she would send them a little card or "whimsy" (as she would call the little toys, etc.) in the mail.  She was always so good at remembering important dates and sending cards for almost all of them!

I'm sad that she won't get to see her grand-daughters grow up, but I'm so happy that they had this time to get to know their Grams and learn some things from her too.

I'm going to miss our long phone calls, trips to the beach and every other little thing in between.

Thank you Mom for being my teacher, my cheerleader, my superhero.

And thank you for bringing so much joy to so many people's lives.

I ended the program with a song that I remember listening to often growing up....

that always makes me smile and think of my Mom.  

Three Dog Night's Joy to the World.

We stayed for a while and shared more stories and visited with old friends and family.

When we left the center, we drove past the sunflower fields.

There were cars lined up all along the road stopped and taking pictures.

Mark was right....my Mom would have loved them!!! So bright and sunny and cheerful.