McPhee and Me: beach

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Camping the Key Peninsula 2015

We went camping! It was great! Before you ask how Lucy did, let me assure you: she did great -- at home with Nana! We wanted to get away together one more time this summer, and it turned out that Lucy was recovering from a pretty icky virus, so she and Nana stayed at the condo and snuggled and slept and swam, and generally had a great time.

Isaac and I went to Penrose Point out on the Key Peninsula, south of Gig Harbor. It was hot, but quiet and beautiful!

Our accommodations

Our campground was filled with so many cool trees!

We were able to talk, laugh, play lots of games, dream, and just generally enjoy one another without interruption.

Kicking my butt at Farkle!

And losing spectacularly at Golf!

We bought a crabbing license, borrowed some gear, and improvised the rest, and did some crabbing! Sadly, we weren't able to toss the trap deep enough, so we didn't catch any legal crabs. We did catch dozens of juveniles, though, about 4 inches side to side. It was really fun and we really look forward to crabbing some more before our license runs out (especially now that we know what all we actually need).

He's a stud!

Improvising a bait hook.

Almost big enough to eat!

I did the meal planning and Isaac did the cooking. I got to sit back, relax, sip hot coffee or soda depending on the time of day, and watch this handsome guy cook up a storm!

We did lots of walking along the beaches, some kayaking, and wading. We found so many cool creatures: the most anemones ever, the most sand dollars ever, etc. It was epic! Seriously, it was like levels of a video game. Isaac even named them all... I wish we'd gotten pictures of all of them.

Hey mom, remember the time you made us all search for two identically sized sand dollars so you could make earrings? Well, I found you some! Unfortunately, they didn't survive the trip home or you'd be getting some new jewelry soon! ;)

Pretty sure we were the only ones to enjoy this log before the rangers came and stole it away.

Poor little guy only had half his limbs. He's a fighter, though!

Huge jellyfish

Friday, May 29, 2015

Beach Baby!

Living on the west coast of the Pacific Northwest has its perks. Among the best is living within an easy distance of the Puget Sound. I lived on the water until I was three, and I've always felt the salt water was in my veins: it's just a part of who I am. We want our baby to be every bit as much a water lover as we are, so we're there every chance we get!

Lucy is still pretty uncertain about walking on uneven surfaces

No fear! She was all about getting into the water!

Getting more comfy!

I suppose it's a right of passage. As parents no matter how hard we try: children, if given the chance, will eat sand...and rocks...and seaweed. I suppose that's what gave us our great immune systems. So as we continue to try to avoid letting her straight up munch sand, the occasional sampling isn't going to hurt her!

Sand: yummmm!

Sand, sand everywhere!

I found a huge shell on the beach (it's from some sort of sea snail, the name of which escapes me) and gave it to Lucy, thinking she'd have fun playing with it. Apparently she thought it was something to eat. Oh my, was she ever disappointed and rather annoyed at mama!