Olympic National Park

We had such a beautiful weekend to enjoy Olympic National Park.  It is pretty incredible considering we are in certified rainforest that receives 12-14 feet of rain annually and we were there in March. We started out our day traveling to Hoh Rainforest. We were able to hike the Spruce Trail and the Hall of Mosses trail.  We had an elk grazing about 6 feet from the trail, after watching him for a minute, we figured he wasn't all that interested in us and decided to risk passing right by him to continue on our hike, he didn't even look up. The rivers are beautiful! Clear, bright teal outside the forest, inside the forest there are TONS of bright green plants growing on the bottom, it isn't dirty it almost looks like a reflection of what would be growing along the river instead of inside it.

After our hikes in the rainforest we went to Rialto Beach which is just outside of Forks, WA. Forks had several quirky references to the Twilight series, I have only read and seen the first book and movie so wasn't all that into it, but it was still fun to see. Olympic National Park is the only National Park with 3 different certified zones: Alpine, ocean, and rainforest.  It is incredible how diverse the park is and Rialto beach was amazing! Our goal was to go to Hole in the Rock so we were able to walk along a crazy shoreline, the storms are so strong and the ocean so rough here that the outside layer of trees are completely stripped and white skeletons. There were a lot of sea creatures all over including star fish and anemones, super cool stacks with trees growing off of them, and the shore changes constantly from pulverized wood pieces, tiny rocks, giant rocks, fine sand, to craggy outcrops. Thankfully Porter enjoys our adventures and the Ergobaby.  He will nap, look around, and babble as we go along. It was a busy but beautiful day and it was so fun to finally be able to be here to enjoy such a beautiful place and scratch it off my bucket list.

Port Angeles Adventure

We have been so excited to go up to Olympic National Park, pretty much since we moved to Portland.  We were able to go with our adventure buddies Will and Allie.  After JD and Will were done with school and out for Spring Break, which consisted of one whole day off, we headed up to Port Angeles, Washington.  We made a stop in Longview for Sub Zero icecream and made it to our hotel around 9:00 PM. We are in a really old hotel that has a pretty cool set up with separate rooms so we could split the cost and have a separate place for Porter to sleep. The hotel is one block away from the ferry that goes to Victoria, British Columbia, if only I had a passport. 

Night at the Whiting Zoo

We had a blast with a lot of boys this weekend.  We got to have a sleep over with the Whiting boys while their mom and dad got to have a much needed mini vacation.  It was fun watching Cars, playing blocks, and wrestling with Tate, Porter, Cashen, and Reed. Just a note-the Whiting Blog is called the Whiting Zoo-no reference to the experience, these boys are awesome.

The List of 10

I was reading my rad Kylie Brooke cousin's blog the other day and figured I need to oblige her challenge: The List of Ten

1. Buds forming on trees
2. Baby giggles
3. Being able to work from home
4. Empty sinks
5. Looking out airplane windows
6. Recycling
7. Rain
8. Productive Mornings
9. Costco gas being open at 6 AM
10. Inspiring words

What is your quick list of ten for the day? Take the challenge.

February Utah Adventure

This trip was much less stressful than when we came in October and December.  The big difference was that we had a lot of family come to see us instead of having to travel to them.  We got to see all the Great Grandparents and just hang out with no set plans.  JD has been SOOOO busy with school this semester it has actually been nice to have people to talk to and do things with, and I am sure JD has appreciated having uninterrupted study time without feeling guilty about not being with us as much as he would like to.