First Day of School 2010 -2011

Summer is officially over today as the boys started school this morning at James Monroe Elementary. Grant is in the 4th grade with Mrs. Jaffe. Calvin is in the 2nd grade with Mrs. Nelson. And Dallin is starting kindergarten with Mrs. Coffman and Mrs. Josephson. They were all excited to head off to school this morning and see all their old friends and to meet new ones. It should be a great year for all of them.....good luck boys!

Cal - 2nd, Grant - 4th, Dallin zero for Kindergarten!

Grant sitting next to his good friend Luke.

Cal looking super excited outside of his classroom :)

Dallin sitting at his table ready to begin elementary school, such a big boy!

Labor Day Last Minute Getaway - Day 2

Day 2 we woke up to what else but rain! We decided that we still wanted to go exploring so we headed west about 30 minutes to Lake Crescent. This is a beautiful lake nestled in the Olympic Forest, the water in the lake is a cool blue/green and Ryan tells me that it is crystal clear on a sunny day. Although it was raining Ryan wanted to check out a hike in the area. So he, Luke, Grant and Calvin we off. I stayed in the car with Kate who was sleeping and with Dallin who thought it would be more fun to play his gameboy then brave the wet weather! About a hour later I got a call from Ryan saying to meet him over at the Lake Crescent Lodge for lunch. So were headed to an old rustic lodge right on the lake and had a warm lunch. After lunch we decided to head back home and gear up for the busy up coming week with school starting. It was such a fun and way to fast end of the summer getaway!

Dad and Luke ready for a hike

Luke was lucky enough to ride in the backpack to keep him warm and dry!

Ryan, Luke, Grant and Calvin on the trail

Waterfall

Cool trees

My boys the tree huggers!!

Labor Day Last Minute Getaway - Day 1

We decided last minute to take a Labor Weekend getaway to the Olympic National Park. We took the ferry from Edmonds over to Kingston and then headed to Port Angeles, WA. For you Twilight fans out there this is the city where Bella and Edward have their first date and eat at Bella Italia. Anyway, we weren't there to do the Twilight tour....come on we had small children with us!! We stayed at this great hotel called the Olypmic Lodge. It had a outdoor heated pool and hot tub that the boys were thrilled to swim in. The first day we headed south to a beautiful place called Hurricane Ridge, 5,240 feet! The actual drive up to Hurricane Ridge was about 40 minutes of super twisty road even though it was only 17 miles from Port Angeles! Thank goodness I was driving otherwise I don't think I would of made it. Once to the top we were able to hike around the beautiful ridge. It was loaded with wildlife and beautiful scenery, just gorgeous! The kids had a great time trying to find wildlife and talking about how cool it would be to see a bear!! We told them that really it wouldn't be that cool and they still insisted that it would be cool! The air was a cool 49 degrees and a bit breezy but the sight of the clouds being whisked in and out by the wind was amazing. Such a beautiful day!

One of many deer

Kate just cruising. She is super independent!

So beautiful how the sun is shining through the clouds.

Cal up close with the wildlife

Amazing views!

Momma and baby

Happy Kate and Daddy

Peek-a-boo

Blue Grouse

Funny Luke

Cute little chipmunk

Cool trees and stumps

Bunny that Calvin spotted

Momma and her boys