Puzzles from Laura!

Auntie Laura sent some surprise gifts!!! Nathan got a Star Wars puzzle and another Star Wars building kit. Elizabeth got a puzzle and some yarn for her knitting!  They enjoyed getting to open their gifts! 

As I write this (on Aug 5) Nathan has just finished his 1000 piece Star Wars puzzle!! He had a good time doing it! 

Lake Sylvia State Park

After our beach day, we headed home. On the way, we stopped and visited Lake Sylvia State Park in Montesano. Jeremy spent a lot of time here as a kid so we walked around. It was very peaceful and quiet and pretty! We then drove around his hometown looking at his old house and school. 

Jeremy found lots of good berries! 

I always try to take photos of Mt. Rainier when it's out. It was out today! 

Pacific Beach

After Ruby Beach in the morning, we drove down to the sandy "play on the beach" beaches. We decided to stop at Pacific Beach in Moclips.  The sun was out so that was nice. I was still cold but with my big brown coat, I was mostly fine! 

Elizabeth fed the seagulls. 

The rest of the day was just playing on the beach. 

Elizabeth found some interesting creatures. 

The sand was right for building the drip castles they like. 

We drove down to Ocean Shores because that was where our hotel was. We headed out to the beach there to watch the sunset. It was getting cold at this point so we didn't stay too long again. Apparently all sunsets over the water are very cold!! 

Ruby Beach

The next day was beach day! We drove south to Ruby Beach. By happy accident, it was a low tide. 

The morning was a bit misty but still very pretty. 

Since it was low tide, the kids found a lot of neat creatures in tide pools and on rocks! 

They did a lot of rock climbing and exploring with Jeremy. 

There were starfish galore! They were all purple and orange. 

After awhile the sun came out and it made it much more pretty! 

We liked the trail down to the beach. It was through pretty foliage. 

Rialto Beach

After spending time in the rainforest, we headed out to Rialto Beach to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, it had clouded over by then and there wasn't a sunset! At least it wasn't raining. It was neat how on this beach, the trees went right up to the beach. It was a very rocky beach so the kids did a lot of rock skipping. 

We spent the night at the Dewdrop Inn in Forks.  The next morning, we continued our way down the coast. 

Hoh Rainforest-Olympic National Park

We made our way to the Hoh Rainforest!! The kids were hoping it would rain in the rainforest, but it did not. We walked along the "Hall of Mosses" and the "Spruce Trail." I think together it was about 2 miles. The weather was nice and we wore our masks when we were in an area with a lot of people. 

This mossy area seemed to be the most popular area for people to go see. The trees looked really neat!! 

Nathan said this area reminded him of dinosaur times since in all the old illustrations of dinosaurs there are always ferns. I guess they are one of the only plants we know of that were definitely around millions of years ago so they are drawn in the pictures! 

Elizabeth wanted to hide in all the ferns.