Camping!

Our first camping venture with the kids began on a beach in the Strait which, for non-Washingtonians, is the stretch of water on the north end of the Olympic Penninsula close, but not quite, on the Pacific Ocean. The private campground I meticulously researched ended up having very small campgrounds with nearly no privacy and was subject to gale-force winds. So after enduring windy sand-burn for the first afternoon (with our friends the Goodwins who were adventuring with us), we decided to cut our losses and try to find a campground further inland in the national forest. We were richly rewarded for doing so, and found a great campsite in the Hoh Rainforest right next to the Hoh River. We spent some time on the river and hiking through the rainforest and then headed back through Forks, WA (eeee! Twilight mania!!) and then home.

Crescent Beach, aka, Tornado Alley. Both of the girls actually had a lot of fun here, and Avery even wanted to stay longer. But the rest of us couldn't endure sandy eyes any longer.

We only own one piece of camping equipment: a sleeping bag Mike has had since college. We just threw down a tarp and some blankets in the back of the truck, and while it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, it provided a great space for the Dee to hang out during the day.

Avery and Kaden in our Hoh Rainforest campsite. They were great friends on the whole trip, with only a couple arguments about whether to play "kill the bad guys" or "house." There was also a family just a couple campsites down with some younger kids and they all would run back and forth between campsites.

This is just a vanity shot Mike paid me to post (jk). Here we're all enjoying the sunshine in the rainforest :)

So beautiful!!