A ten hour tour...

Yes the rumors about a boating trip gane bad are true. Last week I enjoyed the company of my best friend and boyfriend as we took a boat out to sea, well the puget sound. We had taken a similar trip just days before with much success! On this particular day we started off again in the early afternoon to go crabbing and possibly fishing. We launched the 14 ft aluminum boat at the Mukilteo beach as usual and headed for our crabbing hot spot just past the ferry docks. The water was a little rough but managable and the wind felt good in the beating sun. We set our traps behind an old oil pier and next to the new boeing shipping pier. It was a nice place to crab because the waves were being broken by the oil pier so we felt very protected. Hours went by and we kept busy catching three crabs and eating some pretzels and PB&J's (the favorite food of fishing trips). Before we knew it the wind had picked up. We decided to go pick up our traps and head back to the boat lauch. We pulled up the anchor and headed for that first pot. We pulled it just fine. We headed for the second one which was farther out, we got close but the waves against our boat were choppy and we decided it wouldn'e be safe for someone to stand and pull in the conditions. We headed back behind the pier where the water was safer and achored again, only to watch our 2 remaining pots bob in the water. All the small boats around us had gone in and it was still light out. The water was still really rough so we decided to wait it out. We beached the boat on a fenced off sandy beach for about 10 minutes to go to the bathroom and jumped back in to see if we could get around the pier. WE tried and tried but it was just to rough. the water was white capping and the swells were about 2-3 feet which is big for a boat like ours. So now what? Well I'll let the article tell the rest of the story...

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070828/NEWS01/108280032

Yep so we called Joel's mom to ask for advice and she called the coast gaurd for advice and well before we knew it the captain of the Kittatas ferry called Joel's cell Phone and well we were saved. The guys that came to save us were hillarious. Was the whole thing frightning you ask? A little but not so much.... mostly embarrassing. Especially when the ferry is shing a huge light on you so everyone can see you, and when it's delayed for 1 hour because of you and all the passangers waiting to get on are at the dock watching you get towed in. But lesson learned. I was told it was in the Seattle times too but I couldn't find it. Anyways we were on the boat a total of 10-11 hours and when we got off I really did want to kiss the ground. We all took showers and celebrated our rescue at about midnight with crab and sparkling cider. YUM YUM!

The Adventures of a One year-old

Cooper is turning one on Saturday and everything is an adventure! I wanted to share some of his most recent experiences:
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=82308146
Click on the link to watch a cute slide show of hm on the slip and slide

He figured out how to escape my chair barracade I make for him in the living roomwhile I am mopping the kitchen floor! The Great Escape!

He has also learned to feed himself with a spoon or fork and he loves every minute of it!

And today he learned to drink from a soda can!

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper!

I'm sure we have many more adventures to come.....

Kelli and Duffy and Family come to Seattle!!!!!!!

Kelli and Duffy and family came to Seattle for Dad's Birthday. Unfortunately, Brinley and Cooper threw up all the way here and Brinley had to lay down most of the time they were here. This is Cooper right after throwing up all over Grandma. Kelli and I spent a long time cleaning the van and we threw away Coopers baby seat and had to go get another one. It was pretty ripe!!!!!!!!

Kendall managed to stay well, until the day they left, Grandma and her got it that day and Kendall had a long long drive home. NOT FUN!!!!

Finally the last day here we got to go on a Ferry ride across the Sound to Whidbey Island. It was fun just walking on, going across and coming back.

Kelli and Kaci enjoyed just sitting and talking and playing with Cooper.
Brinley, like usual was meeting new friends.

Cooper enjoyed all the attention he got from all the family, he's growing so fast and is such a cute little guy. He has Grandpa's eyes, which is really fun to see.

While picnicing on the beach 4 Blue Angels came flying by and did some circles over head. It was Sea Fair that weekend so they were just coming back from doing a show in Seattle. It was fun to watch them.

On the beach looking for cool rocks and shells. We saw a lot of things there, the good year blimp, a lighthouse, boats, trains, some cool kites, Blue Angels airplanes, Ferries and a bunch of other things. On the way there Grandpa showed us the Boeing plant and the airplanes parked ready to test fly.

Also the adults, except mom, went to a Mariner game. Grandma stayed with the kids and we watched it on tv with popcorn and drinks. They lost!!!!!!!!!!!! But we had a ton of fun, Brinley was still not feeling well and Cooper fell asleep on us early. We watched a video and had a great time. While at the game Kelli took some great pictures but we downloaded them and something happened and I lost them. S O R R Y , they are on my computer but I couldn't copy them, the file is lost. They had a ton of fun though.

NEXT TO COME......... Kyle and Laura, which they have some fun plans in Leavenworth, so stay tuned for the blog.

Crabbing and Fishing on the Oregon Coast

Kaci and Joel with their new favorite thing to do in Oregon. They caught all together 5 silver Salmon. Going out into the open sea (where we all get sick and beg Van to bring us back or throw us overboard). They were real troopers and brought us back some yummy food. They had the time of their life.

While out fishing for Salmon they set the crab pots out across the bar and got some huge sea crabs, some of the biggest we've ever caught. They pulled the pots in and one of them had 9 keepers. One day they brought in 26 ( a little over their limit) and the next day they brought in 15. Boy, they were good, and our camping neighbors were delighted when we took them over a few crab. One brought us over some tacos in exchange.

The Great fisherman, having a mountain dew break. Dad and him I think were having a dew contest.

Kaci after a long fishing trip and all that Dranamine to help her get through the day, took a long and well deserving nap.

What a prize!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good-bye crabby see you in my tummy soon. YUM!!!!!!

Dad made his usual peach cobbler,that was so delicious

Dad and his buddy enjoying the evening

Janice the cook.

Over all it was a nice relaxing trip and we enjoyed every minute with our best friends, enjoying their company and eating our favorite foods. We hated to leave, can't wait til next year.

Vans looking for a fun name for his new boat called the Sea Dori. All those names that you think would be a cute name, please submit them to me and maybe your name will be the winner.

Dad and Mom go off to Canada!

Dad I went to Canada last weekend to see Hells Gate. (Duffy, this is not a chance to swear!)

It's right out of Hope, Canada. It was beautiful up there!!!! We went down a tram to this little village and there were lots of little shops , panning for gold, and there was a Salmon Resturant.

Looking over the edge, the water was 160 feet deep. Looking down the grate bridge was a little scary since the bridge was blowing in the wind some.

This whirlpool had 200 million gallons of water going through it every minute. A explorer named this sight because they had to etch across the mountain to get around it because the water was to dangerous.

It was a nice relaxing time for us and we really enjoyed the view.

Then we went to Bridle Falls, it was well worth the little hike to see this beautiful sight.

Wish we would have had one more day to enjoy the beauty.

This week we will be going crabbing so watch for more on the next blog. YUMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cori and Aaron came to Seattle

Cori, Aaron and the kids came for a visit to Seattle, we had a great time! Dad and Aaron chased each other around in the bumper cars, Syd and Eli had a great time on the rides. We got to watch the kids play in the fountain, which was nice on a warm Seattle day.

After ths zoo one day we went to the Mariners game, it was great, although the M's lost. The kids were so patient sitting for the 5 hours. We had a fun time eating all that baseball food. WOW! were we full.

This was the best

Picture we could

get of Aaron, believe me it was hard just getting the picture. The kids looked great and so did mom, so this is it. Aaron said he wanted to be remembered as a goof ball so here he is.

Ellias loved the water, we had to
encourage him to come closer into the beach. He loved looking for rocks and throwing them out into the ocean. It was a lot of fun for him.

Syd on the other hand was looking for special rocks to collect and seashells to take home. We walked up and down the beach a few times hunting for them. Ellias was catching all the little baby crabs and squishing them. NO FEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for the games!!! As you can see Aaron was up to his normal self, grabbing, crushing hands and climbing all over the table. I think he was on the table more than on

his chair. He owe's me a new spoon, and a new deck of cards!

You can see by Cori's smile she got the best of Aaron. This is a picture of Aarons hairy back with a big bite mark on the right side. There is actually two bites if you look hard. One on the left side too. They got a little aggressive that night. LOL

As you can see we had a great time while they were here. We went to the Zoo, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Center, Aquarium, a game and the beach. Wow, that was a lot to cram into a few days, BUT WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I must add the WII, Aaron discovered it the last day and him and Kaci competed all day long. I think Aaron would've like a few more days of that. So there you have it, five days in Seattle. We loved having them here!

Thanksgiving preparations have begun...

Yes, that's right: another holiday ruined. For the second time in ten years, the Lucoffs have tentatively agreed to meet and celebrate a holiday. After the 2005 Christmas blowout in Idaho Falls (the first gathering in ten years), some experts predicted this would not happen again until Hailey's Comet passed, while others simply proclaimed that even if it was possible, it was best if it just didn't occur. Despite the expert forecasts, Lucoffpalooza will kick off in Boise for Thanksgiving 2007.

A gathering of the Lucoffs is always marked by the joining of the two idiot sons, which has been analogized as something akin to a Tolkien tragedy. Nothing good has ever come about when these two mental giants combine forces. It has been proclaimed that "history repeats itself", and if the idiot sons are any measure, the same can be said for stupidity.

Common household items become useful instruments of torture in the hands of morons. In his old age, Grandpa Lucoff forgot this critical point and unwittingly supplied a water gun readily convertible into 4 separate water guns. Although originally intended as a gift to Eli, the present has since fallen into the hands of idiot son number one.

Tradition is not lost at a Lucoff gathering and this upcoming Thanksgiving will be no different. Every meal will begin with a reciting of Justin's (idiot son number 2) high school report cards and conclude with tales of high adventure, legend, lore and police investigations. Arguments will be nigh. Feelings will be hurt, mended, and hurt again five minutes later. Food may be thrown. For sure, groin punches will be plentiful.

For those who make the mistake of staying in hotels (Grandma and Grandpa Lucoff), there will be the usual complement of early morning phone calls, prank mailings, and embarassing (but tasteful) faxes. Pizza delivery and soaping of the cars are optional. And of course, every family photo will include a visit from "The Face" (pictured atop).

Alas, stay tuned for a report on this once in a lifetime disaster destined to be repeated three or four years later.

The trip to Cali- and the Trees of Mystery

Recently the Dezembers met Mom, Dad, and Kaci at Crescent city, California for a wonderful quaint beach stay. We explored the Jedidiah Stake Park and dicovered how enormous the Redwood trees really are! Just 15 miles away from the beach house was a tourist attraction named the Trees of Mystery. When we got there we were greeted by an hundred foot Paul Bunyan. When we got out of the car Paul opened his eye and said good morning! He also asked Dad what had happenned to his leg, since Dad was still on his crutches. Brinley exchanged jokes with Paul Bunyan as they laughed together. Paul also waved and winked at us! Duffy didn't pay much attention to Paul he was to busy making friends with Babe. What an animal lover Duffy is! We went on a trail that showed us all the unique redwood trees and led us to the Sky Trail. The sky trail took us up and over the trees above the forest. We had to talk Duffy into riding the sky trail because he is not fond of hieghts! Up up and away we went to the top of the mountain. As we left the Trees of Mystery Paul Bunyan gave us a big Wave goodbye and we went to the Drive thru tree where we had a picnic and drove through a big Redwood! On our vacation we also spent a lot of time on the beach. We walked the beach several times and Kaci skim boarded across the water. We liked the beach there better than Oregon ones because it was alot warmer. At low tide we walked across the rocks to the lighthouse and saw the beautiful ocean waves crash against the rocks. We also saw lots of little crabs when we flipped some of the rocks over! Before we left we went on another nice hike thruogh the redwoods, it was very cool. Overall it was a good time for everyone to relax and enjoy nature. Here's some more pics!