one of the top 31 birthdays i have had

i know my birthday was 17 years ago but we went on a fun little road/camping trip for the weekend and it was so pretty and so fun so here are some pics.

we drove all the way across the state past seattle and got on a ferry to take us to the olympic peninsula. we were on our way to olympic national park. has anyone been there before? it is so so pretty. you should go there. it is also tres romantisch (i like to mix my languages). so i was the planner (because who doesn't love to plan their OWN birthday surprise getaways?) and i did not account for a bridge being out so we had to go the LONG way to get to where we were going. good thing it was a beautiful scenic long way. also i made mark drive almost the whole way because i hate it. so here are some get-out-of -driving tips.

1. only look at the scenery not the road

2. swerve crazily when you realize you are drifting

3. go really fast and then really slow and alternate these sporadically

4. yawn a lot

5. complain that it is your birthday trip so you shouldn't have to drive

(all of these work like a charm. you're welcome)

since we had to take the scenic byway, we didn't get to the camping spot we wanted to but guess what we still got a rad one right on the strait of juan de fuca. (unfortunate name, juan.) it was in sequim which you think would be pronounced as such. it's not. it is pronounced squim. but it is still pretty.

here is a view of the strait

here is a view of us and our campsite

and here is a full body view....lucky you. look at how lush (the scenery since we are teetotalers)

a somber reminder with life jackets to use. how kind. apparently adults float though because they were tiny. i tried one on. don't take your super chubby kids here.

this shot is cool. it is me running from the automatic timer and not quite making it. ( it was a long pier). so i made mark do it next time and guess what, he broke the camera. he says it is my fault but it is so his. so the rest of the pictures are from a crappy throwaway camera that we got in FORKS uber excited. (slash not really excited) but man that town LOVES their twilight. there were nerdy signs EVERYWHERE. also we went on the quileute indian res and they said no vampires allowed so i felt safe.

the park is so pretty. it has mountains, a rain forest and beaches. all in like a forty minute drive. the followning few pictures are from the hoh rain forest. in this top one mark is at the end of that fallen log. can you see him? the moss was so pretty and the trees were HUGE.

this is lake crescent. i want to live there. the water was so clear and blue and the trees were so green

check out that clarity

this is how hot we looked. also this is probably mark after i bamboozled him into driving again. also he loves pictures.

see! i told you the trees were huge.

the beaches were my favorite part. they were so pretty and rocky.

look at this spectacular rock formation

this is rialto beach. we gathered so many rocks here. our pockets were bulging. the driftwood was cool. huge.

this was by one of the beaches. a huge cedar tree. the roots were rad. also so were my socks and flip flops.

this was my fave beach. ruby beach. we went at low tide and so we saw tons of cool tide pools and no one was there or if they were they were lost in the fog.

star fish

it was a fun vacay and a great birthday. if anyone wants to go here, count me in. i am all ready. see you soon. bummer that my crappy disposable camera pictures will not enlarge. boo. google olympic national park images for a real treat.

do as i say not as i do

i have a problem. it involves me not putting the lid on tight of anything. nothing, people. spices are my favorite to leave the lids on loose but everything is given their fair turn. it drives mark CRAZY!!! i can not tell you how many times i have had the "it is not that hard to put the lid on tight" lecture. still i persist. not sure why. anyway. a few weeks ago we were driving home from church and we took the long way to see if the lilac gardens were in bloom. as we were driving home, i kept getting a whiff of something that i couldn't put my finger on. well i turned around to the back seat and lo and behold, our laundry detergent (we do laundry at our friend's house) had spilled all over. this was not a small thing of laundry detergent. it was the costco sized kind. the kind that costs 17 dollars and does 1 million loads. this kind:

and it was ALL over. mark was not pleased. i kept saying, "how are we going to clean this up?" and he kept saying, " you mean, how are YOU going to clean this up??" then i got the lecture and then we got home.

here is a semi close up but it does not show the depth of the spill. lots of detergent

looking great

here is me having no idea how to clean it up. what would you have done??
amazed at how cool i am

mark, mad in the front seat. hahahahaha. so, we had to take it to the car wash. and 85 ,000 quarters later it was presentable. there were SO many suds. it was ridiculous. i guess when they say "super concentrated", they mean it. i think i learned my lesson.........except i have had the lecture 2 times since.