Cabin Fever

Its safe to say that we haven't been up here in years. Its my Mom and Doug's place in Hood Canal and we had the chance to sneak up for 6 days. Tony was in Oregon for the first half, then joined in for the last half. The weather was amazing and kids made some fun memories.

This was the first thing that Noah remembered from last time. The club house. When my Mom and Doug did some remodeling they made sure to add a secret hide out and it was such a hit! Especially since I didn't have extra hands to help, this did the trick. They were up here laughing and playing Spiderman every chance they could.

We also did tons of beach combing. The oysters are sharp and the rocks are unsteady, but we managed. This year there were so many crabs you didn't even have to turn over a rock. Literally hundreds of mini crabs in the warm water. Of course, Noah was a bit hesitant and Zach just went right in totally unaware of pincher's.

Sadie had a brief time on the beach because it was so rocky, so I usually chose a time when she was in a nap to take the boys down. She turned out to be quite a fish herself!

Zach's first crabby! We stored the poor things in these buckets until morning when most were dead from lack of oxygen, but it made for a really fun experience!

We then attempted to take the scooters to a boat launch area. Such a bad idea. It was so hard to get the scooters there in the first place. It was all woods and hard to walk, let alone ride. But the kids did really well. We did our best and .4 miles later made it. But I was terrified of the cars. There weren't many but enough that I was sure one of my kids would be a pancake at the end of it. So we headed home shortly after. At least we know for next time right?

One of the best parts is this. Asleep at 6:30.

I put Sadie to bed and both were out like lights.

Then Tony joined us and we continued our search for great sea creatures. The tide was as low as I have ever seen it so we found many neat things.

Like this sea star. Have you ever even seen a color like this?!

Then came the best part of our time. Swimming. Since Tony could help the boys and I could wrangle Sadie we went to swim. It worked out great because it was so warm in the evening and the tide was up so no rocks to go around. Noah had a hard year a while back with a horrible swim instructor who gave him fear of the water so this was a really fun time to try again.

So here are the stairs. It was a tight squeeze but there was a mini deck to the side so we were also there too. But the kids took turns in the pretty cold water so they could swim and snorkel. This was really their first time trusting a life jacket and holding their breath. Semi pitiful but the timing couldn't have been better. Both of the kids loved it and thrived.

This is such a neat shot. Such chaos and beauty. Sadie wanted in that water soo bad, Noah is very proud of himself and Zach is headed in.

Brothers.

Finally Sadie's turn. We had to. She was a loud mess pushing me out of the way to get down there. Eventually she figured out she had to wait like everyone else. Tony was such a champ to be in the cold water until every kid was water logged and begging to go inside.

A compromise.

She loves her Daddy.

Now the life jacket. She knew she should be in one and stole Zach's when he turned into a Popsicle.

And more swimming...

The frozen kids.

Noah is still crazy about Sadie. She isn't so sure anymore about all his love and affection. She is very close to being 16 months which comes with all sorts of attitude and even the word "No" so she is getting firm with him.

She much prefers Zach, who really wants Noah. Its complicated really.

Quiet time.

Blue Angels with the Harris family!

A nostalgic picture of my girl, on a bike, in the grass, in a dress, on a sunny day. love.

Zach's major head bonk, centimeters from his other major one. He needs a helmet for sure!

Boys eating at Cafe Schulz.

Tony has been getting more and more involved with Young life and because of that, we got flocked.

We loved it!