While we were visiting family in Seattle this August, both sets of grandparents (Mark's mom and my mom and dad) took us all, including kids, brother, sisters and dogs, on a houseboat for a few days.  The boat sailed (gingerly) out of the Kettle Falls Marina deep in north-central Washington near the Grand Coulee Dam.  The gorgeous sunrises, sets, morning walks, evening paddles meant that I made myself pretty occasionally useless - disappearing with my camera.  It's rare for us all to be together, let alone in such a scenic location... (sorry, Lynnwood.)  Our oldest monkey really took to the water sports, learning to row, kayak, and SUP.  The littlest was just happy to swim out to the end of the houseboat in his lifejacket (is there anything scarier than swimming by a big boat in the water??)  It took my sister's pup, Max, several days to recover from all the excitement. The water was cold, the Milky Way was clear, the nighttime board-gaming was fierce.  Living our days outside with bug bites, fresh air and scratches, going where the current (and nautical charts and Mark's flying app) take us, and tumbling into makeshift beds after makeshift meals, exhausted, at night.  We can't wait to do it again someday soon.