Anderson Island - photo heavy

We spent another wonderful weekend out at Anderson Island. We spent the morning doing a nice little nature walk and exploration of the gardens, grass field and old structures over at their island farm. This is a fun spot to spend a morning - beautiful flowers, neat garden, birds galore, amazing old buildings and much fun to be had! Deer tracks we discovered.
Banana slug enjoying some breakfast!

Later in the day we headed down to the beach for some beach combing! We found many great treasures and critters. A friend gave us this neat card to help identify beach animals. It was so fun to use and try to identify various shells and such. We did a nice walk that started out in the sunshine however it quickly started to sprinkle and then before we knew it a hail storm passed by. Luckily this beach has a lot of tree cover along the cliff wall - so, we all hung out under the trees for a bit while it passed and then wrapped up our beach excursion. Looking for sea lions that are bobbing about in the water, watching us. Always a fun activity!
The sprinkles start in slowly....
The the heavy rain begins....
Then the hail moves in!

Waiting the out the squall!
Rain & Hail.... Yet it is still so beautiful!

It was a wonderful weekend!

Sea Star Hunt

This weekend was filled with beautiful sunshine and we decided to get out and enjoy some of it! Nothing like a crisp fall day that is clear and perfect. We were out at Anderson Island this weekend and enjoyed a long walk on the beach. After we arrived to the beach we starting finding Sea Stars on the beach... lot's of them! Then it became a hunt for Sea Stars. There were lot's of them - all the way up the beach near the bank and back down to the waters edge. I haven't seen anything like it. It made for a great beach combing experience though!

The Beach & The Mountains...

What a fun weekend we have had! We went over and stayed with Grandpa at Anderson Island. While we were there we went beach combing ~ although it was pretty cold, we had fun! Holly enjoyed the childhood fun of tossing rocks in the water, collecting white rocks and we even found some sea shells. While we were there she also discovered the water fountain. Here she is trying to figure it out!

We also headed up to Mt. Rainier for a fun day in the snow. It was a beautiful drive, stunning views, elk & deer. Can't beat that! When we arrived at Paradise (Mt. Rainier) we got out to play... and let me just say, it was COLD and WINDY!!! I can't even imagine what the wind chill factor was - but, it was low! We had lunch and then headed out to play - for about 45 minutes. Much too cold for a 2 year old to enjoy. Holly didn't want to leave, but didn't want the wind in her face - that is a hard goal to meet. We decided to pack up and head home. We will head up again later in the season - we have a year pass - so, we will be sure to do it again. Mt. Rainier - what a beautiful sight!