The Greatest Vacation Ever

We wasted no time diving into all things summer.  A few months ago I got the crazy idea to add one more thing to our already full summer but I'm so glad I did.  A short ferry ride from Seattle and a 3-hour drive across the beautiful Olympic Peninsula took us to Hobuk Beach.  We stayed in a small cabin right on the beach and as soon as we pulled in, the boys immediately ran out to the beach to explore.  Of course this meant they ended up swimming in their clothes but that's ok.  We pretty much had the whole, huge beach to ourselves for the next three days.   The tide pools were full of crabs and anemones, there were big rocks to climb on, sticks to find, and sea shells to collect.  I loved that playing on the beach made everyone happy from Marcus down to Parker.  They played football and soccer, explored, swam, surfed and paddle boarded.  It was so perfect. Randy and I both agreed we haven't had as much fun or seen such beauty since living in Okinawa.  It was the perfect place and just what we needed.  We had no cell service and very slow internet so it was nice to be unplugged for a bit.

 The ferry ride never gets old and the Seattle skyline never gets old either

 Parker give back rubs.  It's pretty cute but not very effective but I love it!

 This is what we saw when we pulled up.  The beauty of this beach was surreal.

 Nothing but empty beach

 Swimming with their clothes on as the sun set

When we needed a break from the beach we drove a few miles to Cape Flattery, the most northwestern tip of the continental United States.  We hiked through beautiful green rain forest {the only rain forest in North America} out to the tip of the peninsula and the views were so beautiful even the boys stopped to stare.  And pretend to push each other off the cliffs.  Speaking of cliffs, Oh my gosh!  I can't even tell you how nervous it made me when we'd stop to enjoy the view and looked down to see that we were standing just a couple feet from the edge of a cliff.  I guess safety isn't as important on indian reservations.

 One wrong step backwards and the whole family falls off the cliff on the other side of this bush

 Bean ready to surf for the first time

 Rock, paper, scissors and surf dudes

 We saw lots of bald eagles

 Ethan surfing

 Marcus surfing

 We found a ton of perfect, unbroken sand dollars

 Tickling sea anemones

 Lots of football on the beach

When this most perfect vacation was over, we stopped at the Olympic National Park and hiked around Crescent Lake {gorgeous!} and to Merymere Falls.  The forest was full of huge trees and felt enough like the Redwood forest that I'm not feeling so bad that I've never taken my kids to see actual Redwoods.  I think they'd be unimpressed.  This was another beautiful hike with only one steep incline that huffed and puffed my way up and was a nice break from driving.

We stopped in Sequim to see my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John.  They have a beautiful home overlooking the ocean and San Juan Islands with a couple of the best dogs who love my rowdy boys.  We had to catch a ferry back to Seattle {we barely made it} so I pretty much talked a mile a minute with my Aunt Barbara while she fed us delicious food and homemade potato salad just like my mom used to make.  It tasted like home and I wanted to cry.  When I told my siblings about it I think they wanted to cry too.  As I was gabbing away with Aunt Barbara, Marcus had my phone so no pictures of our pit stop in Sequim.  Anyway, it was a perfect three days and we are planning to go back next summer {when I'm not pregnant, uncomfortable, and hormonal}  Oh, and when Aunt Barbara saw me she said, "You're not as big as I thought you'd be!"  Love her for lying through her teeth to make me feel better about my current state.
Sorry for the picture overload.  There were plenty more I didn't include.  

Utah {According to my iPhone}

We had a blast!  Skiing, getting together with friends and family, a quick trip to the ER for Marcus,  and cramming a whole bunch of fun into a short amount of time basically sums up the trip.

Bean warming up with hot chocolate and a cookie after a cold morning on the slopes

A post-lunch picture before hitting the slopes with the Berrett's

Lazy skiers

Cuzin Chaos

On the top of the mountain at Park City

Randy and his little brother Chad

Cuzins on the slopes - these boys ski better than me

Laura is my only sister who skis, but Linz was an awesome snowboarder and I'm sure she was there in spirit.  Happy 29th Birthday, Linz!

Park City

Bean is easily the cutest skier on the mountain

The Cuzins skiing together

My Dad doesn't ski but his posterity does.  These Cuzins are awesome!

Throwing rocks is a favorite past time at the Farmington Pond

Rocks + Sticks = Boy Heaven

Frozen {I only let them on the ice because the firefighters were there so I figured they were in good hands}

Sam and his orange hair

Cuzin Pajama Party

Playing HedBanz with Uncle Greg and Aunt Heidi

After passing out and falling down the stairs this boy had a black eye and a concussion

CT scan

We discovered Marcus's first two vertebrae are fused together.  More on this later

Parker was in heaven

Grandpa treated us to an adventure at the trampoline park.  See my photo bomb?

That's Randy flying through the air like an acrobat

As usual, I spent my time in the kiddie section

Marcus perfecting his back layout

Uncle Toby took the boys to their first NBA game, Boston Celtics vs. Utah Jazz.  The boys couldn't decide who to cheer for, and yes, they even made it onto the Jumbotron

Farmington sunsets can't be beat, except maybe in Okinawa

And if you survived that picture overload then you are a true friend.  Don't worry, there are still more pics to come featuring an epic dodge ball game with Randy's family.  Luckily no one was injured.