Washington Vacation

Summer Rewind #1
May 22-30

In May we had a family reunion for Mark's dad's side of the family. We went to Ensign Ranch in Washington. It would have been Mark's grandpa's 100th birthday if he was still alive. We had a huge cake with 100 candles on it! We had a nice time there with lots of family.

Happy travelers!

Here, we are ready to go down the water slide at the ranch. Lexi had SO much fun going up and down over and over again. When she got to the bottom she'd grab a tube and start heading back up. We had to hurry to catch up with her.

Lexi running in a race. She though it was great.

Ocean Shores, WA

After the reunion we went with Mark's immediate family to a nice resort on the coast for a couple days. The kids had a fun time digging in the sand.

Mark and me, along with 2 of his brothers before running into the freezing cold ocean! The boys had a blast body surfing with tubes around their waists (they looked like little tutus...). I preferred splashing around with Mark's sisters and not going out too far. Lexi even wanted to jump in. She loved the little waves splashing up on her. However, once she started shivering like crazy it was time for her to be done.

I loved walking on the beach. We spent lots of time looking for sand dollars and beautiful sea shells.

We hopped out on these rocks that jet out into the ocean a little ways and got to see a whale up close.

Notice anything strange about this picture? Look to the right and there is my head. Mark put a hat over my head and his mom told his little sister that there was a treat for her under there... Check out the video below the pic.

Gorgeous sunset!

On our way from the coast to Leavenworth we stopped to see Mt. Rainier. Mark and 2 of his brothers took inner tubes that we used on the water slide and tried to sled down the mountain. It was pretty comical. One brother even attempted to slide down in a baby pool.

Mt. Rainier

Leavenworth, Washington

I'd never heard of Leavenworth before but was glad to be introduced to it. It was a dying timber and rail town that converted itself into an alpine Bavarian village to keep it alive. It is now a fun tourist attraction. There are beautiful murals everywhere and lots of cute little shops.

Hat shop

We had such a nice vacation and very literally did not want to come home and back to reality.