Family vacation to Washington

Traveling
We had a fun vacation to Washington state. The first thing we did was drive for two days in our trusty Subaru Forester.
The bikes didn't drag on the road, obviously, but we had to put them down and up every time we needed to get into the back of the car. We got pretty good at doing that, and Andrew even got to help us at times.
Three kids and their carseats made for a tight fit, but we all survived. It helped if everyone had a favorite blanket.
Along the way, we stopped at the Berkeley Pit Mine in Butte, Montana. It is at the site of the original Anaconda mine, the one that was started before they went to Chile and started the famous Anaconda mine in Chile. Right now it is filled with toxic water and they are mining nearby.
Visiting and berries
We had a fun time seeing Kirk's family in Sequim, Washington. The boys loved playing with their cousins. They haven't seen some of these cousins for at least a year or more.
Besides playing and visiting, we also picked blueberries and raspberries. We managed to freeze them and get them back home intact and still frozen.
The blueberries were just starting to ripen, so the fields hadn't been completely been picked over. The children tired quickly of picking, even though they didn't pick very many.
In the end, we had almost 20 lbs. of blueberries and about half that of huge raspberries.

Excursions
We were able to take some fun excursions around the area.
Marymere Falls
We hiked to Marymere Falls, near Lake Crescent, in the Olympic National Park. The falls were lovely, but the photos of them were not.
Instead we have a photo of Andrew near a tree that is becoming a nursery tree and a photo of the family near a very large tree.
It was also nice to go walking in the rain forest when it wasn't raining.
Tide Pools
Another day at low tide we visited Tongue Point and Salt Creek Recreation Area to see the tidal pools.
It is sort of difficult walking, especially with children, but if you can get all the way out to the end of the point, you can see some wonderful creatures and even poke your fingers at some of them if you dare.
Here is a photo of a star fish. A woman had picked it up, and we got to touch it before we put it carefully back in a pool.
The next creature is a "sun" starfish. I almost stepped on it, but then someone else picked it up and we got to hold it. It had 20 legs.
We also put it carefully back into the water so it could survive. This was the first time Andrew and Edward were able to visit the ocean--and remember it.
Neah Bay and Cape Flattery
We drove out to Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, which is the farthest northwestern point in the lower 48 states. We walked through beautiful, foggy rainforest to get out to the observation point.
The scenery was so incredible and beautiful that it looked fake.
We finally got out to the very end of the nice walk and could barely see Tatoosh Point (the island off the coast) in the fog.
On the way back, we enjoyed some fish and chips at the Breakwater Restaurant in Clallam Bay (we've been there several times, now).
Victoria, BC
Our last big excursion was to take the ferry to Victoria, BC. Since we all have passports, this trip was fairly easy.
We walked on the ferry and the children had a fun time on their first boat ride. Thankfully, we had very good weather. On the way back, I asked the captain if Andrew could see the steering wheel and everything (Edward was asleep), so Andrew got to go see all the neat things in the captain's cabin and stand on the captain's chair.
In Victoria, we only had a few hours, so we went to the Royal BC Museum, where, in addition to their regular displays, they had a visiting display of treasures from the British Museum. We had a great time there. Lucy charmed all the security guards. We especially enjoyed the free stroller and the clean bathrooms--we got to take children to the bathrooms on every floor of the museum.
As an added bonus, we got to see my former roommate from Madison, Marianne, who was working in Victoria. We had a quick lunch on Fishermen's Wharf and then ran (literally) to catch the ferry back to Port Angeles.
We had lots of great experiences, as well as the usual difficulties that arise when you travel anywhere or when you travel with children. Thankfully, we listened to promptings and managed to quickly take care of any potential problems quickly. In one case, I packed an extra shirt in the diaper bag (not a customary item for that bag), but we ended up needing it after Andrew leaned over a water fountain and got bird droppings all over himself.
We are glad to be home and now moving into more adventures with some remodeling and school starting in a few weeks.