Olympic Peninsula Vacation #4 - Hoh Rainforest

Here is the last installment of our vacation. That vacation wore me out! So, here it is 3 weeks later and I'm just now putting up the last of the photos. I hope to do some other type of outing this year (like going to the beach), but doing outings with a new one year old is hard. He just wants to eat rocks and not always big ones either.

We've had a mild summer here and enjoyed a time at the fair. We also got a new calf which we are bottle feeding. I hope to have a tame steer out of the deal. I'm in charge of feeding him! My little baby also turned one. It's all going by so fast, as it's been really hectic, but I hope to put up what pictures I have of that soon. Yesterday, it finally turned hot. It was 95 degrees here yesterday and we went to the river. The girls wades and arranged rocks, but we should have brought our swimming suits. I actually enjoy that kind of weather, as long as I have a cool house to come home to. I hope all of you are having a good summer.

Olympic Peninsula Vacation #3 - Kalaloch Beach & Beach 4

Here is the next leg of our vacation. After visiting Hurricane Hill, Sol Duc Falls, Lake Crescent, and Salt Creek, we headed around the Olympic Peninsula to the Ocean. We stayed at Kalaloch Campground, which I highly recommend. The beach is wonderful and the campground is good too. There are numerous other highly beautiful beaches surrounding Kalaloch. This trip we went to Beach 4. Isn't that a funny name for a beach? This beach is known for its tide pools. But, this year, the low tide during the day was positive 3, so there wasn't much to see even at low tide. We went there several years ago and saw tons of tide pool life. This is highly recommended. But, check your tide schedule. Even without a low tide, this beach is beautiful. And probably because of the lack of low tide, it was totally isolated. We had a great day.

My middle girl. At our campground.

About to go down to the beach by our campground. Kalaloch Beach.

The water is cold on the Olympic Peninsula.

Someone fell in the water.

Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

Sand Castle Building was in order.

The 3 year old's sand castle. (Her Daddy actually made it.)

Watching and waiting.

Incoming Tide - Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

Waves - Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

The demise of the sand castles

Vacation & Doing A Little School

We went on vacation to the Olympic Peninsula. On one hand, with five kids total including a three year old, an 11 month old, and a seven year old with a few extra challenges when it comes to not being home, it didn't feel much like a vacation. I mean it was hard, yet rewarding. And we got to explore and see new things. Which was awesome.

Since getting back, I've been organizing the house and even doing a little school. The last couple of days I've been doing Daily Grams by Wanda C. Phillips with the kids. They really love them. They are short and sweet...to the point.

I've also been trying to get more organized for my three year old. She has been a regular Princess Tyrant lately. Oh, I am pretty much as consistent as can be and she is still that way. One factor, I think, is just her coming to the age of testing, of course. Also, she REALLY needs a nap every day. Some days I'm just too busy, or I'm out and a about, and I end up paying for it. Thirdly, I think, she is bored. Yet, she has a short little attention span. So, I'm trying to come up with more ideas regarding what to do with her. I think I'm going to have her watch the Leap Frog Letter Factory movie most days. She enjoys the break and I think if I get her recognizing her letters, there are a world of activities that will open up to her. Normally, I don't believe in videos, but this video teaches the sounds of letters so well, and it frees up a little of my time. I'm also trying to get her something to trace everyday...letters or numbers, and get her setup with short little activities everyday, similar to Activity Bags, so she feels like she's doing something.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from vacation.

My little three year old (with the cast on her arm) and her three year old friend.

And, here is a picture from two days after our vacation, on a hike on Silverstar Mountain. We had three families and 17 children represented at the top of the mountain.

Olympic Peninsula Vacation #2 - Hurricane Ridge & Sol Duc Falls

We recently went on a vacation to the Olympics. I started the vacation struggling some with asthma and allergies due to grass allergies and by the end of the trip my allergies were mostly better. YAY.

While visiting the Olympics we also visited with some friends. That was nice. Here is my first set of photos from our trip. These are from Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc Falls, both close to Port Angeles, WA. Later in the trip, we ventured around the coast and then to the rain forest. The Olympics are so diverse, it's amazing.

Mt. Olympus