Vacation Part 3: Orcas Island

Our final trip was to Orcas Island.  I went to camp there a bit growing up, but never really had time to explore until this trip.  It was such a beautiful island and I can't think of a better way to end Nate's vacation.  Right outside of our cabin was an awesome rock on the ocean that our kids searched for crabs and jellyfish all week.  They made a play for us on the beach and created their homes out of sticks and beach findings.   Nate and I also went on a kayaking trip just the two of us which was glorious!

 

 We also drove (yes drove, not hiked) up to Mount Constitution.  The view was absolutely stunning- like none I've seen.

 Nate finished Beowulf with the kiddos under this tree on the rock- few better places to complete a book.

Vacation Part 2: Bellevue

I think in Bellevue I kind of put my camera down.  We spent a lot of time at Nate's folks house, went to the Pacific Science Center, saw How to Train a Dragon 2 with my folks, Will went to his first baseball game with grandpa and we ended it all with a summer birthday party at the park with my family.  It was a full week with many fun memories.

 Me niece drew a beautiful picture of my mom's mom who died when she was only 1.

And for dessert grandpa picked berries from the yard with all the kids to make a tasty crisp... my family has never been much of a cake family (:

Vacation Part 1: Whistler

This year Nate took off three weeks this summer for vacation, it was wonderful!  We divided it up into three destinations: Whistler, Bellevue, and Orcas Island.  Each destination was so special in it's own way. This year seemed like the first year that all the kids could be equally involved in the events and adventures and it was great.  Whistler was beautiful and a great way to kick off the 3 weeks away!

 We took a gondola up to the top of Whistler and then from peak to peak (Whistler to Blackhomb).  These are new gondolas and it was absolutely breathtaking.

 Once we got up there we hiked around a bit and found this beautiful lake... the perfect spot for a picnic!

On the way back down we took the gondola with the glass bottom.  I seriously never knew how awesome trees look from above.

Our good friends the Wynnes happened to be at Whistler at the same time as us!  We had a BBQ at the peak with them, what a cherry on top!