Washington was awesome. It was nice to get away from the heat, even though Washington was going through a warm season, but 80 is much better than 110 any day.
The kids did really well on the plane, Rex was a little tired of the plane at the end, but did really good considering.

We rented a car while we were there. I'm a fan of Dodge anyway, but it was a lot of fun to drive the Charger. Probably won't own one, it's not a very family friendly car, but it was fast, and fun.

Our first sight seeing venture was Lake Crescent. A nice lady offered to take our picture after we had Boo trying to take it.

Boo and I explored the water, and Rex wanted to as well. Bo helped him...

Forks was on the way to our family reunion, and we had an extra day before needing to be there so we stopped and did the whole tourist thing.

The kids got a kick out of taking random pictures. (it's a big log, Forks is the Logging Capitol of the world apparently)

And the Twilight scene of course...

There were a bunch of people at the Chamber of Commerce taking pictures with these cutouts, once they cleared Boo thought it was the "in-thing" to do, so she requested her picture to be taken. I wonder what "Team" she's on...

We have no idea what this is, but she insisted on a picture in it...

We stayed there that night, then the next morning before heading out to the reunion, we made a stop at La Push. Bo was excited to see that (truth be known, he was excited about the beach, but by the time we came home he was completely tired of beaches).

Since we went last year, Boo wasn't a newbie to the
Forks scene, she was excited to see the river to the ocean was still there, of which she nearly fell into.

Rex enjoyed the water, it was a bit chilly, so we tried to keep him out of the water - which did not make him happy.

The drift wood is cool to see, there are a bunch of the big logs with seat carved out of them, Boo liked those best.

After the beach, we headed for yet another beach for our reunion. My sister got us some Naval cottages that were really close to the beach. They were really nice, and it was fun to be staying so close to the beach. We were lucky enough to have my entire family come up for the reunion.
The kids enjoyed the beach, it was cold, but they didn't mind at all. Rex of course, just mostly ate the sand. Yummy...


The second day of the reunion was spent hiking the Hoh Rain forest and at Kalaloch Beach. The rain forest was awesome yet again. Bo really liked it as well. It's always nice to take advantage of a family picture.

Rex didn't "love" the hike, I'm sure he'd rather've been on his own two feet but there were way too many drop-offs to loose him in, so we thought it better to contain him. He eventually took a nap in it.

Here is the
famous picture from last year, Boo actually remembered it before we even got to the park to stop, she wanted to make sure we didn't forget to take a picture with the phone. I guess it'll be a tradition (if we ever make it back there).

These trees were cool, we stopped to take a picture with whatever family was around since we all hiked spread out in small groups.
Laura, Sue, Chanda, John, Evy, Me & Boo (Bo should be mentioned since he's the one holding the camera)After we left the Hoh Rain forest, we headed back down the coast to Kalaloch Beach. BEAUTIFUL! If you're even in Washington, definitely go there.

We hiked down to a look out before hiking to the beach and found this cute bench. I could've stayed there and just watched the water.

I didn't get many pictures from Kalaloch because by this time in the day Rex was fed up with being in the car and out and about. But there were some awesome tide pools, I really would've liked spending more time there.

There were starfish everywhere, it was fun to be able to look at them up close.

We took the opportunity to take a family picture at the beach before we left.

The last day was spent packing up and cleaning before we had to check out. On our way out of town we stopped at the beach one last time. I got to go running on the beach with my sister and 2 sister-in-laws. It was really fun. I'd love to live there and do that everyday. What a difference running at sea-level makes.
Digging in the sand. Luckily it was sunny and nice instead of cold.

Since we were getting in the car to drive back to my sisters house, we tried to keep Rex mostly clean, he again did not appreciate being told what to do.

Some of the family went home from the beach and some came back to stay the night at my sister's. Bo and I and my parents were the only ones that stayed longer. We had a good time going to Train Park. It was awesome how they had it all set up. Read up more on them at
Kitsap Live Steamers.

We also got to go crab hunting like we did
last year. Bo wasn't too impressed, but he's not really into digging in the sand and looking under rocks. Boo was excited to go on the hunt again.

Her catches up close:

After all of the other family left, including my parents due to an emergency at home, Bo and I took a day to go and explore Seattle. We took our car on the ferry and rode it over. Last year we were on foot (with kids and me being 8-months prego) so we were limited to where we could walk. We got to see
Pike's Place, which is cool, but with a car it was hard to find parking, so we just drove by it instead. He did go to the Seattle Center and saw the Space Needle.

We also saw the Seattle Fountain at the Seattle Center and that was so much fun! I wish we would've planned better and had more time to spend there, the kids would've loved getting wet. It was a beautiful day weather wise, I had a hard time keeping them out of the water.

I even enjoyed it as an adult, I could've watched it all day. I would definitely go back there!

After the fountain, we headed to "
the Locks", which I don't think I quite understand. I get the concept I guess, but with me not living near water my whole life, it doesn't make sense to my why the water is uneven... But it was really cool to watch them raise the boats.

Watching the salmon was cool too (although I was running low on pictures, so I didn't get any).
Before our final stop, I was dying to see the
Fremont Troll, it was a little tricky to find, but we made it. Rex was asleep in the car so just Boo and I explored the troll. Very fun!

We then headed to visit with an old friend of Bo's. The Bushman's lived in Joseph City for a long time, and Bo was really close to their family. They just moved to Washington and were withing driving distance of where we were, so we stopped in for a visit. My sister joined us as well.

We headed home after a long trip, sad to leave but happy to get back to our own bed. I don't know why, but I think flying is fascinating, aren't these clouds awesome?!

The flight home wasn't as smooth as the one to Washington, but at least we made it in one piece!
The best things about our vacation:
*2 whole weeks with the hubby, he works so much that I feel like we never see him.
*My whole family together, for a couple days, any more we might kill each other! But I love 'em!
*Seeing beautiful country side, I'd live there in a heart beat.
*Vacation is Euphoria for me, I never want to come home! I think Bo even enjoyed himself... He claims he's not the kind of person who likes to go on family vacations, but after this one, there is hope for him still. :)
Bad things:
*Cranky kids.
*Flying is just way too expensive! Darn airplanes.
*Coming home, no one ever wants to get back to real life! Who wants that?!