The Best Sisters Camping Trip EVER!

Beautiful location + fabulous weather + super cool sisters + crazy fun cousins + awesome grandpa = The BEST Sisters Camping Trip EVER!

 

 

We revived our tradition and went to Lake Cushman this year.  I hadn't been since I was pregnant with Ben.  Oh my goodness, what I have been missing!  Clear warm water with a great swimming area,  kayaking and hiking, we had a blast!

 

 

 

 

I'm a little worried we won't be able to top this one, but we sure will try!

Girls' Camp...is the very best place in the world, the best place for any living girl...

As an Assistant Stake Girls' Camp Director, I got to help plan and prepare for camp, and then attend all week! I hadn't been for a few years, when I was Jillian's first year cabin mom (she was a 4th year this year!) It was so fun to be back!  Girls' Camp really is a great place for having fun, learning some skills, developing a stronger testimony and getting away from the world for a few days!

It was great to be there with Jillian.  She makes it a lot of fun!

Las Tres Amigas

 

I love these fun girls!

 

Leader's polar dip

The whole camp!

Jillian's cabin

 

The balloon release was beautifully symbolic of letting go of something that was weighing us down, and encouraging  us to "Look Up," this year's theme.

I'm glad Brooke got to experience being a cabin mom, even though we didn't get to spend much time together. 

 

Audrey and Jill

 

Jill wasn't impressed with my hula hooping talent.

 

Me, Lisa Osborne, Brooke Russell, Laurel Tutty and Gena Marcum, all leaders from our ward. 

 

Our ward's girls on Bishop's Night.

The crazy camp staff's skit!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! This was Ben's patriotic breakfast. 

 

 

It was a pretty low-key holiday this year.  Jillian was at EFY and we missed her!  July 4th is one of her favorite holidays.  I wonder if it's because she was born two days later and somehow remembers the excitement on the July 4th right before she was born.  We were living in Palatine, IL and went to a friend's house to celebrate.  I was technically on bed-rest, and wasn't due for three more weeks, but got up to watch the fireworks and was nervous that I might go into labor, but kind of hoping I would, too! I didn't, and she was born two days later on her scheduled C-section day.  I'm sure she heard the fireworks, though, and was wondering what was going on out there!

 

We went to the parade and enjoyed sitting with several friends.

 

Afterwards we went to a BBQ at a friend's house, but we got rained out and went home early.  Later in the evening it cleared up and we got to see the fireworks over Eagle Harbor. 

 

 

 

Ozette Triangle Hike

Brad and I have wanted to take the kids on a backpacking trip for a long time.  We finally made it happen this summer.  The Ozette Triangle is a 9 mile hike, 6 miles of it along a mostly boardwalk trail and 3 miles along the coast.  We added about four miles to the hike by going up the coast two miles to a more secluded spot.

Starting out...very excited!

Still at the very beginning...

About a mile in it opens up to a nice meadow area.

And after three miles, we reached the coast!

These markers show where the trail is.

The view towards the coast from the end of the first leg.

And the lovely bathroom facilities...this was pretty plush, some of them only had half walls!

Heading up the coast.

 

Kylie loves to climb! 

Taking a break.

Scrambling over the rocks was one of the hardest parts of the hike.  Ben was a natural and sprinted ahead of us (you can barely see him up front with the blue pack.)  We gave him the nickname "mountain goat."

We were worried about bears, but these deer were the only wildlife we saw.

We missed the window for low tide, so we had to climb up and over at the very end to get back to the beach.

Trying to start a fire.

Preparing dinner.  We precooked chicken and couscous, then warmed it over the fire.  Delicious!

 

Here's our first night's camping spot.  The weather turned drizzly and cold in the evening, so we went to bed early hoping to wake up to sun. 

Unfortunately it wasn't sunny when we woke up, but the rain had stopped and it was warmer. 

Heading back down the coast.  This time the tide was low and we were able to walk around the point.  I think it was easier to go up and over!

 

A dead whale...yuck!  I wanted to take their picture and they said, "Hurry up! It stinks!"  I wonder how long it had been there...

Going around another point, we found these petroglyphs.  We stopped for lunch here and talked about who could have made them and what they might mean.  Ben decided it was from an episode of Psych where Shawn said he is going to propose to Juliette.  Gus would be standing on one side of Shawn and Juliette on the other while an Orca jumps over all of them. Maybe the Native Americans were psychic, just like Shawn. 

After our five mile hike down the coast, we reached Sand Point and looked for a camping spot for our second night. 

After about an hour, the rain moved in and we decided we would rather hike another three miles back to the car than spend another wet night!

 

This was a great hike for our first backpacking with kids experience!  It's mostly flat, but scrambling over the rocks was tough in some spot, which Ben really enjoyed.