Lake House and Camping Trips Week 2

We headed into the Olympic Peninsula with no plans except to have fun! We were undecided if we would camp, stay in a cabin or a hotel on this trip. We checked out some hotels in Port Angeles, but decided to check out the Lake Crescent campground. It was perfect and there were several amazing spots available so we decided to set up camp. After setting up, we took the boys down to the lake to swim and play.

It was a gorgeous day after several record-breaking heat-wave days. Todd and the boys had a blast playing in the water while I relaxed and took pictures from the beach. The views were stunning from this location!

Back at the campground, relaxing by the fire. The tarp is over our tent so that the fire doesn't burn a hole in it.

Todd playing cards with the boys.

The next morning on our way back to Port Angeles to grab some breakfast and see some sites. Jaden and Bryson got a special treat of powdered donuts before we left.

After the most delicious breakfast at a great cafe, we went to the Dream Playground. It was probably the coolest playground we had all ever seen. There was so much to do and play on!

Right next to the playground was a skate park that the boys had fun exploring and watching the skaters do their moves.

After the park we drove up to Hurricane Ridge, a spectacular viewpoint that neither Todd and I had ever been to before. Olympic National Park surrounds you with breathtaking scenery.

We went on some trail hiking.

Jaden wanted to take pictures of all of the flowers and their names and information.

Here's a side-view of me at 4 months pregnant.

I was really impressed with Bryson on our hike, Todd encouraged him and played a game with him so that he hiked the entire thing himself! This was a big deal as this 3 year old boy still loves to be carried and can often mutter the words, "I'm tired of walking!".

On our way to the very top of this trailhead.

This part reminded me of the end of The Sound of Music where the family is all hiking on a ridge.

Family picture up at the top.

When we hiked back down and got to our car we noticed a few deer by the parking lot, so Jaden and I went to check them out.

That evening, after the boys rested in the truck we went to the Sol Duc hot springs. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling them Bryson's true age of 3, which meant that he wasn't allowed to go in the large hot pools (there was one small warm pool for the younger crowd). We snuck him in once, but got caught, lol! There was a huge pool (which was much cooler) that Todd and I took turns swimming in with the boys. After showering, we went to the restaurant at the resort. The food was good, but it was the LONGEST wait to actually receive the food!

A picture of the hot springs outside the restaurant window, as we didn't take our camera into the hot springs because of the sulphur in the water.

After we got back that evening, we decided to skip the fire as it was pretty late, so the boys had fun watching a dvd cuddled up together in the tent. The next day we packed up camp and drove south, we visited La Push, which was not what I expected at all. It was extremely run down! Here is a picture of the marina and large rock in the ocean.

We were starving though and found a restaurant that looked decent. The food was less than desirable though, and I don't think we'll ever go back!

We drove down the road some more and visited Rialto Beach. It was a rocky beach with beautiful views, especially when the sun came out a while after we got there. The boys had fun exploring, throwing rocks and climbing.

Jaden playing "frogger" jumping across logs to get across a waterway.

Jaden, Bryson and I exploring some tidepools.

It was a perfect windy day to fly the kite! Jaden had so much fun:)

This picture cracks me up! I was watching Jaden fly the kite, and turned around to see Bryson dropping trou to take a leak!

Jaden took a few pictures of Todd and I.

Todd and the boys just before leaving Rialto Beach.

We had considered staying another night somewhere along the Peninsula, but decided to head back to the lake as family was coming out the next day.

We really had wanted Jaden to try kneeboarding this summer and finally caught a perfect day on the lake with no other boats so the lake was super calm. My mom came on the boat to flag, I drove and Todd helped Jaden start on the kneeboard from the floating raft. It worked perfectly, and Jaden got up and stayed up around the lake the first time! We were all so proud of him!!!

A beautiful sunset that we saw on our way back from dinner at the lodge on one of our last nights at the lake for the summer. This is the HUGE hive that greeted us after we came back from our 2 week vacation!

A few videos from our trip. This first one is of Jaden kneeboarding for the first time, and you'll notice that my mom was trying to figure out how to turn off the camera so she didn't notice he had fallen for a few seconds. He was fine though!


A couple other videos from our trip to the Olympic Peninsula.