The BAMS Series

    I initially wanted to write about these two neat coastal visits along with a couple other things we saw on one of our trips  HOWEVER I took so many pictures that these get their own post entirely. Rialto Beach, located along the Olympic Coast, is decorated with tons of smooth and flat rocks, different degrees of driftwood, beautiful green forestry and many many sea creatures. The day we went it was foggy and on/off raining. We left early enough to get to the beach at low tide. We specifically wanted to get there at low tide so we could hike the 1.5 miles (roughly) to the sea carved arch (Hole-in-the-Wall). Along our hike to The-Hole-in-the-Wall you could see many "islands" that I later discovered are called "seastacks". On our hike we also had to cross over what I thought was just a tiny stream but later found out it was actually the Quillayute River, and when the tide is high it helps completely separate the 3 beaches. The first beach is on an Indian Reserv...

Think about this time last year. Think about the annoyance of having to schedule your kiddos dental visits, the annoyance of driving (for us) 30 mins one way to a really great dentist for kids, and the overwhelming knowledge that at some point during this dental visit your children will fight with each other. If you are like me and have more than 1 kiddo...you may find scheduling their visits back to back on the same day so it is more like 1 and done situation. For us...we would make the drive out to Puyallap, park next to a Starbucks which always had the question "Can I get a cake pop" or "can we get coffee" being asked. We would get out of the car and walk up this giant flight of stairs that curved around a fountain. The kids would walk in and go straight to the "game room" where they would instantly pick up controllers and play mario kart on the switch their dental office has. I would go sign them in and sit in a chair and usually scroll facebook until ...

     Today was a pretty exciting day. Today we took a family trip to Vashon Island here in Washington. Last time we were stationed here, we would pass the ferry dock every time we went to the zoo and I used to think...how cool would it be to take Austin on a ferry (since back then we only had Austin). Today we woke up, Brian went and topped off my gas tank (gas here on post is $2.61 a gallon...gas on Vashon Island was $3.57 if I remember correctly per gallon), the kids ate breakfast, they got dressed and got most of their chores done. We packed up and left. It takes maybe 20 minutes to get to the ferry, the ferry ride itself is maybe another 20 minutes (which going to the island they had made an announcement that you had to stay in your cars- insert eye roll and sarcastic thanks covid comment) I was slightly bummed because this was my children's first time on a ferry, I texted my mom and sisters about how dumb it was. Luckily we were very close to the front of the li...