On Sunday we woke up early in the morning and tried our hardest to make it to church. First we swung by Piroshky Piroshky and bought a ton of delectable piroshkies for breakfast. I told Abe to buy enough for us and the Martineaus, and he bought so many they gave him a free tote bag. Sadly, we had zero self control and sampled them all without realizing it. By the time we met up with the Martineaus, there were almost no intact piroshkies left. Oops!
After acquiring our breakfast, we asked the internet to find a church near us. Unfortunately, the interent thought we were still in our Air BnB, and sent us back over the bridge to Bellevue. We did not realize this was happening until we were actually crossing the bridge. (That bridge, by the way, is so scary! There is just a little teensy wall between the road and the water below. Abe and I had a long discussion about what we would do if we were in an accident and flipped into the water. We decided Abe would rescue the kids, none of whom can swim, and I would drown after pushing them up through the sunroof to him. Then Abe got depressed and asked that we stop discussing it.)
When we arrived at the lovely chapel in Bellevue, we learned that the ward there starts at 9:30 instead of 9am. We were trying to meet up with the Martineaus and catch the 10:35 ferry to Bainbridge Island, so we decided to skip church and make our ferry.
When we got to Bainbridge Island, we headed to a nearby beach and let the kids explore and get their wiggles out.
Then we all headed to a crepe place to eat delicious crepes for lunch.
Then it was time to drive the gorgeous drive to Olympic National Park. We stayed the night in a cabin at Sol Duc hot springs. The first thing we did after a peremptory unpacking is head for the Sol Duc waterfall hike. The Martineaus stayed behind in Bainbridge for some extra sightseeing, so we had a head start on them. We honestly thought they would miss the hike, but they were so fast and we were soooooooo slow (mostly my fault!) that by the time we reached the waterfall, they caught up! I saw a family with three kids heading toward us and thought, “We’re obviously not crazy to be doing this hike because look! Here comes another family with three little kids!” …And then I realized, with great delight, that they were our friends and had unexpectedly caught up with us!
Then on our way back to the cabin, we saw a black bear by the side of the road!
After that excitement, we ended up by relaxing in Sol Duc Hot Springs. The kids loved playing in them, and the adults enjoyed the rest. I didn’t take any pictures because I feared my phone would get soaked.
Then we went back to our cabin. I headed to the lodge and ordered some food for Abe and me while he fed the kids Trader Joe’s corn dogs that we had brought from home, bathed the kids, and cleaned the entire cabin. I came back with delicious chowder for Abe and me and discovered a sparkling clean cabin, clean and tired kids, and my amazing husband. It was a great day.
I had been terrified that Ammon would not go to sleep in the same room with us because the last time we tried that, he screamed all night. However, he thrilled us all by compliantly falling asleep and sleeping all the night through–every single night of the trip!! What a star.
