We took our first vacation lasting more than a weekend recently. All four of us boarded a plane and we left for just shy of two weeks! The first full day of the trip, Aunt Katie took us to the San Juan Islands. This picture of me with Grayson is on the ferry.
I think a highlight of the whole trip was tidepooling on the islands. We found pacific goose barnacles, acorn barnacles, sea anemones, hairy triton, checkered periwinkle, dungeness crabs, hermit crabs and lots of rocks, limpets and shells. (I think we learned a lot of new science terms!)
Aunt Katie was an amazing guide on our adventure. She has led lots of groups over the years and is extremely knowledgeable and patient with our questions.
We stopped at an old growth forest in Washington. The trees in this part of the world seemed so huge to us. Evan found a tree stump that was hollow and hopped right in.
The second stop for us was Vancouver. Aunt Laurel and Uncle Kevin treated us to a visit to the Vancouver Aquarium. Treat is definitely the right word. We had a wonderful time! There was an entire room devoted to frogs. I think Evan could have spent a whole day in just that room. Here is a fun tank with fire-bellied toads.
Before leaving Vancouver, we stopped to see the Lion's Gate Bridge.
Aunt Laurel and Uncle Kevin brought this whole trip together and made it all possible. We can't thank them enough.
After a big day of sightseeing, the boys and I collapsed and read for a while before supper.
After making it to the main destination of the trip, Ft. Columbia, we went to the highest point in Astoria, OR. The boys ducked down in some bushes so that all you could see were their hats.
Grayson, the explorer.
Grandma was going to read the boys a bedtime story, but she got so tickled at this very silly book that she was crying by the end. :)
We took a mosquito-filled walk to make it to long beach. Here we are, relieved to not have been eaten alive by giant mosquitoes (whew!) and to see the Pacific Ocean.
Before leaving for Seattle to catch a plane the next morning, we stopped at the Quinault Rainforest. It was beautiful! So lush. While there, we posed at the foot of the world's largest Sitka Spruce. It was so funny to drive through Charlotte the next night and see the small trees along the interstate. They just looked so tiny after seeing these giants.
