The Forgotten Vacation

We took another trip out to the Olympic Peninsula way back at the beginning of our summer break.  Yes, I can barely remember that this was how we kicked off our summer.  Unfortunately we weren't even there a full 48 hours.

We had such a fantastic time last year that I decided this should be an annual thing so I called in on January 1st to reserve a cabin over the 4th of July.  That was seven months in advance, people!  I never plan things ahead of time.  And we still didn't get one of the bigger cabins because they go so fast.  I was put on a wait list and about a month before our trip I got a call saying a bigger cabin was available.  I was thrilled and so were the boys.  It was meant to be!  But then Randy finally remembered that he never got work off at his other job so we could go.  I was furious of course.  So we worked things out and miraculously someone shortened their stay so we could switch our dates around and come back home on the 4th of July (lame) so Randy could work the next day.  Such a bummer but it was all we could do.
The plan was to leave on Monday as soon as Randy got home from work and of course this was the one time he got home over an hour late so the boys and I were packed and sitting on the front law anxiously waiting for him.  The drive was beautiful and the ferry ride is always fun.

We arrived at our cabin at 11:30pm and went to bed.  Henry woke up at 5am, confused about where he was, and refused to go back to sleep or to stop crying.  It was the worst!  So I took him outside and let him climb around in the van so he wouldn't wake up the sleeping family.  When that got old I put him in the backpack and walked up and down the beach.  It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen but didn't have my camera with me to document it.  I walked and walked with that boy.  Thanks to my Apple watch it was seven miles to be exact.  Finally at 8am I gave up and went back to the cabin so we could enjoy our one day of vacation and I could mourn the loss of going on enjoyable vacations for a few years until Henry grows up.  Seriously I was bummed to be back in the stage of dealing with a baby while all my other boys were sleeping in.  It was painful because I know what it feels like to be out of that stage.  Oh well.  I still love Henry.

We went on a hike out to Shi-Shi beach which was flat and beautiful but super muddy.  On the way out we tried to pick our way through the mud and take every little detour offered since none of us were dressed for sloshing through mud, but on the way back we gave up and just went for it.  Most of the people we passed were wearing rain boots and that would've been so much easier.  The views were breathtaking and the beach was stunning.  We had a great time enjoying the warm sunshine, cooling off in the ocean breeze, and letting Henry crawl around to get his wiggles out.  We saw so many backpackers along the way since this was where the Pacific Rim Trail begins/ends which I thought was pretty cool.

We spent most of the day relaxing, eating ice cream we bought on the reservation, and playing in the sand.  It was a sunny day but only about 65 degrees so no one wanted to swim in the ocean.  I was glad we left our paddle boards at home this year.  We witnessed a spectacular sunset that night and saw lots of fireworks that people were letting off.  I had no idea you could buy big old exploding fireworks like the ones you see at shows on the 4th of July!  It was cool.
The next morning we explored tide pools and I finally let Henry crawl around in the sand fully dressed in his pajamas.  This was actually a great idea because his knees didn't get all scraped up from the sand.  But he sure was a mess!  Then we cleaned up, packed up, and drove back home to Sammamish so we could make it home in time for our friends BBQ on the lake.  It was a quick, don't blink or you'll miss it vacation.

We raced to leave home so we could just sit and wait for the ferry to depart.  But we saw a ton of jelly fish and a huge school of salmon so that was cool

Waiting to get on the ferry and of course Henry was thrilled to be out of his seat

Marcus loves to throw Henry in the air because it makes Randy cringe

The ferry is never this empty. 

And now for some pics from our hike to Shi-Shi...

huge banana slug

twinners!

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful???

 Randy took the big boys down to this beach by way of repelling down a cliff so Parker and I walked down with Henry on a safer route

Parker face planted in the sand.  He is so special sometimes.  But it's endearing.

We love the beach!

this was a beautiful camp site right on the edge of the beach.  Randy plans to bring the boys back here on a backpacking trip while I stay home with Henry but that's ok with me.  Camping without toilets is no place for me!

 God is good

Our morning at the beach before heading home....

Henry wasn't happy about getting stripped down so we could carry him back to the cabin

Our beachfront cabin that slept 7

Why do boys have to do this?

our fridge had a head on it

The short walk from our cabin to the beach

He really is the cutest thing

Back home to Lake Sammamish for a BBQ on the lake.  It was cloudy but really warm/humid so the weather wasn't as depressing as you'd think.  Five minutes later the boys were out jumping off the dock while I followed Henry around trying to keep him from crawling off the dock or falling down stairs

Don't tell them, but my boys are horrible at corn hole

Notice the boys in their patriotic colors?  Be impressed.  We literally had 5 minutes from getting home from the trip to getting back in the car for the BBQ

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.