Olympic National Park

Over Thanksgiving, our little fam headed to the Olympic Peninsula and stayed in a house on a lake.  It was almost perfect.

We made lots of fires, watched the fog roll over the lake, cooked Thanksgiving dinner, ate lots of "left-over" turkey sandwiches (I put quotes because I actually buy like 3-4 x the amount of turkey I'm "supposed" to in order to have lots and lots of turkey for sandwiches the following days... I'm not quite sure planned extra turkey counts as left-overs), cooked lots of delicious breakfasts/brunches, and hiked a few trails in the Olympic National Park.  Cooper enjoyed his turkey and cranberry dressing (which is all over his face in the following pics) and we had an awesome, awesome time together.  I say "almost" perfect because Thanksgiving morning, I stepped outside to the balcony to join Daniel and enjoy the view, pulled the door (which I had not locked) shut, and when we turned around to open it, it was LOCKED, with Cooper inside!  Daniel went into break-in mode and started searching the home for unlocked windows, hidden keys, etc. and I went into damsel-in-distress mode and started knocking on neighbors doors, looking for a way to contact the home-owners who I thought would know the code to the realtor box key on the door.  I found a good Samaritan who helped, but Daniel ended up finding a way in through the garage.  I ran in, grabbed our baby (who didn't even know we were gone), hugged him, then passed him off to Daniel and hyperventilated.  Ha. At least my freak-out moments come AFTER the situation is solved!

We hiked along Crescent Lake and had left-over turkey sandwiches on the water.

And hiked in the Hoh Rainforest, in Olympic National Park.  It makes my list of favorite places.  Cooper remembered how to sleep in the carrier, and wasn't bothered by the cold and rain because of the awesome snow suit my sister saved for us from when my nephews were younger.

Like a fairy-tale, no?

 Overall, gorgeous.  The Hoh River Trail made Olympic one of top 3 favorite national parks because I looove green, mossy, ferny wonderlands and reminded me why I used to be almost obsessed with the color green. So rich, inviting, wonderous, and hopeful.