Labor Day Weekend by Land & Sea

We've been trying to take full advantage of the last weekend of summer while still getting ready for the first day of school tomorrow.

On Saturday, we took in a concert/movie at Washington Park, and on Sunday, visited our friends Rich and Gail at their floating home for dinner and water play.

Rich has created a whole new way to enjoy the game of golf off his back deck... check out the photos.

Olympic Loop - Part 5 of 5 (Sequim)

The final stop on our loop of Olympic National Park was in Sequim (pronounced Skwim)... home of the longest natural sand spit in the United States. Whereas Forks and the Hoh Rain Forest just down the road are among the wettest places in the US, Sequim sits in a rain shadow and gets less than 20 inches a year.

Sequim's Dungeness Spit stretches 5 miles into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A lovely, sunny day and the opportunity to tour a lighthouse at the tip of the spit offered a nice incentive for a long hike on the final day of our trip. Here is a photo album.

Strong winds blew in just in time to make the return portion of our journey a little extra challenging, but we didn't let that spoil a great walk!

Olympic Loop - Part 4 of 5 (Victoria)

From Port Angeles, it's just a hour's ferry ride to Victoria, BC, so we took advantage of our proximity and took the kids to Canada for a day. They loved the busy harbor, as well as the parks, gardens and oddities we encountered as we explored the city. In the afternoon, the boys checked out the classic boat show while the girls took time for High Tea.

As if the day hadn't already been great, a couple of whales were passing through the Strait of Juan De Fuca just as our ferry was passing by! Here is a photo album from our day abroad.

Olympic Loop - Part 3 of 5 (Hurricane Ridge)

Visiting Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge, just south of Port Angeles, was a definite highlight of our trip. The views from Hurricane Hill trail were amazing, and topped those at Rocky Mountain National Park in our opinion. To get there, we passed the lovely Lake Crescent area, where we hiked to Marymere Falls.

Here are photos from our day in the mountains.

Next stop... CANADA!

Olympic Loop - Part 2 of 5 (Forks & Neah Bay)

Continuing our journey around Olympic National Park, we spent a few days in the Forks area so that we could explore Washington's northern beaches. Rialto was amazing! We hiked to Hole-in-the-Wall, so that we could get a sneak-peek of the coastline further north, something you can only see if you time the trip right with low tide.

Cape Flattery was amazing too, though it was a bit too damp to fully enjoy. The Cape sits at the northwestern most point of the continental US, so it was a must-see, even if it was pouring rain that day! The hike to Shi-Shi beach will have to be saved for another trip - too much mud to make that trek.

During our time in Forks, we stayed at the lovely Cabins at Beaver Creek. Our hosts - John and Michelle and their children - could not have been more gracious and welcoming. The cabins they have built and just opened in August sit on their family farm, so the kids were able to help out one morning with milking duties. This was a highlight of Emily's trip.

Click here for photos from the farm, beach and more.

Drew and Jake loved the creek that runs just behind the property - both for its kayaking and fishing opportunities. And we all enjoyed spending evenings with our hosts around the fire pit... their knowledge of the area and great stories were both much appreciated! So was the delicious salmon John brought us fresh off the boat.

John and Michelle also helped get us up to speed on the whole "Twilight phenomenon" sweeping the Forks-area. Though that is a book series we had not yet taken on, we will now... guess you could say we've been "bitten"!

Olympic Loop - Part 1 of 5 (Quinault & Kalaloch)

We are just back from a great week of exploring Olympic National Park. We started along the Washington Coast and looped around Highway 101 in order to taken in all that the park has to offer - beautiful lakes, dense rain forests, wild coastline and snow-capped mountains.

We squeezed a lot into 7 days - including lots of great hikes and a day-trip to Victoria, BC, so the kids could use their passports. We're going to post photos from the trip in sections since we have so many to share.

Click here for a photo album of the first two days of our trip, which included visits to Lake Quinault; the Quinault Rainforest; the Hoh Rainforest and its amazing Hall of Mosses; and the beaches of Kalaloch (pronouced Clay-Lock).

The photo above is of Kalaloch's Beach 2. Each beach was unique and amazing in its own way, but our favorite of the day was Ruby Beach.

Days 3-7 coming soon...

Last Games of Summer...

The kids in the neighborhood managed to squeeze in a final summer game of Humans v. Zombies last week... it was a record turn-out and a great game. The zombies won this round. Here are photos of the finish.