The weather was beautiful!!

We returned from our annual camping trip to Kalaloch today.  My family has been going every year for as long as I can remember.  I'm pretty sure I've only missed one year in the 25 or so years I've been going!  My parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all go and it is a blast!  This year we were blessed with beautiful weather which is unusual for the Hoh Rain Forest and outlying areas where Kalaloch is located. 

Lincoln and I headed out late Wednesday morning.  Josh had to work so he came up Thursday night with the dogs.  On our way we stopped to stretch our legs in Amanda Park and also make our last phone call to daddy before we would be out of cell service. 

 Lincoln loved exploring in the woods.  He had some lessons from his older cousins about climbing over logs, ripping the bark off of trees and hitting trees with sticks...

One of Lincoln's cousins, Ally, became Lincoln's best buddy while we were camping. He followed her around everywhere and was even asking for her at bedtime :-) We really hope Ally and Samuel will be able to come visit for Christmas this year!

Of course while camping, food is never in short supply.  There are coolers full of snacks and delicious goodies around every tree!  My grandpa always makes sure to bring a cooler full of hostess products and a cooler of pop for everyone to enjoy!  Here is one of the delicious dinners that Josh cooked for us. 

Every year we take a beach walk.  It ranges anywhere from 2 to 4 miles and is one of my favorite parts of out trip, but this year I had to skip out.  Josh took Morgan while I stayed near the bathroom (ahh, a pregnancy downfall) and kept an eye on Lincoln and Rex.  This year was actually one of our smaller walking groups, but here are a few of the brave explorers!  This years walk was relatively calm compared to last years!  Timing the tide is oh so important! 

As I said the weather was beautiful! 

My brother and Necia enjoyed the beach walk for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Riddell!!  There will be many more of these photos to come! 

While others were on the beach walk, my mom and I took Lincoln down to the beach to play in the sand.  He was scared at first of the ocean, but he warmed up to it eventually.  He and the dogs had a blast!

Hanging with grandma is always fun times!  In fact, if grandma is around, who needs mommy?

We had to make sure Rex got the appropriate amount of loves as he missed the beach walk he loves so dearly due to bad hips.  Not that Lincoln laying on him is good for his hips either...  Oops!

There is just something about a boy and his dog/dogs :-)

Of course our trip would not be complete without roasting marshmallows for smores!  Josh prefers them with Reese's peanut butter cups instead of Hershey's chocolate bars.  We also experimented with chocolate and caramel marshmallows as well.  They of course were delicious.  At this point Lincoln was soooo tired! 

We also had to pop some Jiffy Pop before heading to bed on our last night.  Delicious and fun entertainment!  Overall, we had a wonderful time.  Now to take that much anticipated shower and to unpack all the gear....