Whale Watching Tour

Konrad's parents got him a whale watching trip for his birthday and we used it last weekend. 

We had a good time...always nice to get away for a few days!  Throw in some whales and sunshine and life was pretty good. 

We actually drove back to the cabin and stayed the night Friday night.  We ate dinner in Hoodsport and then went and sat by the water at the cabin.  We also went on a kayak adventure. 

Early Saturday morning we headed up to Port Townsend to catch the whale watching tour boat. 

It was pretty chilly when outside, but I needed to be outside most of the time to keep from getting seasick.  Luckily fresh air helps with that. 

 

When the boat stopped it was actually very warm.  

 

 Konrad looking for whales:

   We spotted some harbor seals right as we left Port Townsend.  I learned that the brown one is brown b/c he is dry, the black one is black b/c he is still wet.  I also learned that seals have to be out of the water for at least 4 hours a day so they don't get hypothermia. 

 A garbage barge....yuck!

 Mt. Baker:

 Our first humpback whales:

 Seabands...I mean power ranger bands :)

 Those log looking things are actually seals:

 a bald eagle:

 Sea lions:

 Look how lucky that boat was...that humpback got so close to it!

 Cool clouds!

 

Friday Harbor is really just a harbor.  We took a 30 minute walk to get to a beach.  It was a cool beach, but there was no shade and it was a very hot day.  This picture was taken while I sat on the dirt road under a tree :)

 The marina:

 On the way back to Port Townsend we got to sit up with the captain.  It was awesome.  I could see straight ahead and I had fresh air coming in from a door.  My favorite spot on a boat!

 We saw jelly fish:

 A seal eating an octopus:

 The seagulls started surrounding him to get the left over octopus. 

 The only whale we saw on the way back.  Luckily Konrad spotted his spray and told the captain!  Konrad saves the day!!!

Thanks to Konrad's parents for the tour and for watching our girls while we were gone!!!

2016 Memorial Weekend at the Cabin

Another Memorial Day, another amazing weekend at the cabin.  This year we had an extra night and it was perfect.

The first day was pretty cold and windy.  The crazies had to get in the water anyways...

So windy you could almost ride the waves :)

 Luckily there is always a fire near by to warm up by.  This year we let the kids do a lot of the fire building.  They did have adult help with this fire but they made one on their own the next night. 

 S'more time!

 Hike #1:

 I think if you click on this one and make it bigger you will see a very sad Camryn in the back.  She was not wanting to stop for pictures at this point...

 Whoo-ville?

 Perfect shirt for a hiking adventure...

 Hike #2

 We stayed back with this guys and ate chips rather than risk our lives...

  These boys climbed to the very top of the waterfall.  At one point they saw me taking picture of our group and yelled to get my attention.  Then motioned for me to take their picture.  So I did.  One of those boys booked it down the mountain to give me his cell number so I could send them the pictures.  I was terrified they were going to fall...but they survived.  :)

  Sawyer wanted to go down and explore so Melody asked Aaron to take him down to the base of the falls.  Next thing we know Aaron is taking him under the falls.  We were so worried this would end badly.  Most of my family had headed back already...Cam was getting bored...so I was going to leave and go meet them.  Then we realized that I should stay until Aaron, Sawyer, and Kaya were safely on the ground again, just in case one of us needed to run for help while the other helped Aaron (if they fell).  Luckily they were fine and our worrying was for nothing (although there was a few close calls if you asked me!!!)

Allison found a caterpillar, Kaya and Lily too, and they made little houses for them and played with them.  They really wanted to bring them home but we convinced them to leave them in nature so they didn't die. 

 Even Cam played with Tiger. 

 Best picture of the weekend :)

 Taking their caterpillars on a Caterpillar Cruise...

 Lily read to Kimber

 Super fun hot potato water balloon game.  We highly recommend it. 

Phone Pictures:
 Probably my second fav picture of the trip:

 Cam roasted her marshmallow for about 2 seconds and was done.  Didn't even want to eat it.  She was ready for bed. 

 We discovered that roasting Peeps is AMAZING!  The sugar crystallizes and the marshmallow gets all melty.  Mel's turned into a heart :)

 After all the work it took to convince Allison to leave her caterpillar at home we found this little guy in our car (on the cooler) when we pulled into the garage at home.  We had a stowaway.  Not her tiger, but I'm sure it was a friend of his :)

 

 Fishing:

 It's hard to tell, but Sam caught the tree.  Oops!

 We attempted to make popcorn on the fire, using a Jiffy Pop thing that specifically says not to use in on the fire.  We found out why.  It burns very quickly...not just the popcorn, but also the container.  They were able to salvage a few good pieces (off the ground) though. 

 Popcorn fireball...

 After the 2nd hike we came down to a flat tire :(

 The girls always get creative at the cabin.  Sam made this boat (even used her pocket knife for some parts)

 And fairy houses were made:

 We put 6 kids in a boat and let them paddle to the park.  Not sure we should be labeled "parents of the year" seeing as though 2 of those children were 3. 

 Luckily Aaron and Mel took the kayaks out after them and escorted them to the park safely. 

  

 We stumbled upon a geocashe (sp) box at the 2nd waterfall. 

 Love watching VHS movies at the cabin :)

 Awesome, right !?!?!

From Aaron's phone:

 Konrad took these while him, Aaron, Kaya, and Allison went fishing one evening (the rest of us went to the park and then got the fire started early so we could put Cam and Sawyer to bed early)

  Thanks for another great year Molen's...we love Memorial Day Weekend!!!