Sailing with the Adams Family - Port Townsend to Port Ludlow and Home

After a morning run and showers at Fort Worden, we picked up anchor after lunch and headed south to Port Ludlow. Reed and Edison sat on the stern here and looked out over the towing of the Whaler.

 Dillon on lookout.

 Pulling into the secret cove of Mats Mats' green beautiful green water.

 Lots of wild life including many herons, like this one just taking flight.

 In the cove - look at that beautiful water!

 Ahhhh - such a sweet sleeper. This is what he looks like when we're able to get him down for his nap!

 Heading out in the dinghy to Port Ludlow's dock.

 Horseshoes! Sweet!

 

Our captain, Chris, with Meg and baby Jack overlooking the harbor.

 Total serendipity - Port Ludlow was having a big festival that weekend and we got to tour booths and displays including this antique sheriff's car. I told the kids to look like "bad guys" who were getting arrested - this is what we got...

 Running around the point.

 Fast friends: Dillon and Edison.

 A steady mist was falling over the harbor.

 After an outdoor concert by Heart to Heart (a band that is composed of two of Heart's former members, plus some new blood), the town enjoyed a lovely fireworks show. I think we actually had the best view in the harbor - what an amazing way to cap off the trip.

 A pooped out Reed sleeps in our bunk. He slept between Eben and I for the trip and it actually worked out just fine.

Sailing with the Adams Family - Fort Flagler to Port Townsend

Waking up with a good book while waiting for breakfast.

 Really - how sweet are these kids?!

 We left our great spot at the Fort Flagler dock and headed across the bay to Port Townsend. We had brought the Whaler for explorations and the dinghy for getting to shore - so we made quite a parade as we headed out.

 

It was pretty gray when we anchored right off downtown Port Townsend.

 But the kids still enjoyed going ashore and stretching their legs at the playground. Following that, we split up for lunch (because really - who would want to host all 10 of us?!) and a lovely walking tour of the quaint downtown. Meg and I were happy to find a bookstore and we each picked up new titles to dive into during the trip.

 Meg and I walked with the strollers to Fort Worden while the guys took the older kids on the Whaler and met us there. We encountered this adorable fawn and its mother on our way.

 The view of Fort Worden from the bluff. There were three forts set up at the turn of the century to guard the entrance to Hood Canal and Puget Sound: Fort Flagler, Fort Worden and Fort Casey. So on this trip we'd see two of them. Meg joked that if we had gone over to Whidbey Island's Fort Casey we could have titled our vacation a "Tour De Forts" ha ha! But it was really neat to get in touch with that part of history and the kids loved exploring the bunkers (you can walk all through them if you bring a flashlight).

 Sibling love.

 Up on the bluff - ferry in the background.

 I love this one of the kids at the point.

 Happy Reed before he went bonkers and made it super difficult to walk back to the boat. We had the pleasure of welcoming Nick and Lacey to the boat for cocktails after dinner - so fun!

Cruising with the Adams Family - Everett to Fort Flagler

We embarked on a five-day sailing trip with Meg and Chris aboard their sailboat on Wednesday. We weren't quite sure how it was going to go with the six kids and the less-than-stellar weather forecast. But, turns out, it was awesome! Chris with the big kids....

 Charlotte and Liam...

 This is what snack time looks like.

 

...and we convert the dining room to a bedroom and the kids watching a movie before bedtime.

 We arrived at Fort Flagler that afternoon and had fun exploring. It is a state park and has a playground in addition to the old bunkers and fort buildings to check out.

 The babies at play in the kitchen.

And in the swing...

 

Thursday morning the kids played at the playground and then we split up - Meg and I took the younger boys on a walk and the guys took the kids fishing and crabbing on the Whaler.

 At the lighthouse after at a two-mile beach walk -  feeling tough because we had to hand-carry the strollers over the point and all the giant rocks and driftwood - see the picture below.

 Crab ops - a very fine catch indeed and was enjoyed at dinner.

 This is what an over-tired Reed looks like at the beach when he should have been napping. You have no idea how hard it was to clean him up after this.

Eben and Chris took the kids to visit his high school friend, Leigh, and his wooden boat school before dinner. Leigh followed it up with a visit to the sailboat afterwards. So great to get to know him and for Eben to reconnect. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Eben with his friend, Leigh :-(

Lake Wenatchee and Zach's Party

We kicked off the weekend by heading to our cabin. It has been a month since we'd been there and we loved every minute of it. The weather was perfect for going over to the lake. Reed has now gotten over his water phobia and we spent most of the afternoon in the water chasing after Edison and Charlotte with me at his fingertips.

 We stopped to do the Heybrook Lookout hike on the way home. I'd always wanted to do it and Edison and Charlotte are finally ready for a little elevation gain up to the old fire lookout which is really well maintained actually and gives an amazing view of the Skykomish Valley and the mountains that surround it.

 

Charlotte and Edison with Mount Index in the background.

 The kids with Mount Baring's bunny ears behind them.

 We came back in time for Zach's birthday party. His parents had turned the backyard into a kids' paradise with several kiddie pools, foam lightsabers, slip and slides, and a playground with a water slide.

 

 As the evening went on, the kids got into battle gear.

 

Meanwhile, Reed got into the action, even doing several turns on the slip and slide. What a wonderful 7th birthday party and we hope Zach has an amazing year!