above the clouds!!

on friday we were lucky to have shawn and gabe both off, so we decided to venture over to the olympic penisula! we started off the day with a ferry ride from edmonds to kingston. once we were off the ferry it should have only been about an hour and 15 minutes to the olympic national park, but as many of you know we can rarely stay on route! so we ventured to the little bay village of dungeness, washington! it was just a little 25 minute jaunt off hwy. 101 through the quaint little town of sequim. as the name may elude to there is a lot of opportunity in dungeness to partake in some dungeness crab! after cruising around seeing what there was to see...mainly just a lot of water-we decided our tummies were hungry, so we headed to a restaurant off the beaten path---3 crabs! it was a dandy little find right on the bay---and we had the best lunch! i had a fresh crab burger and shawn had a salad with 2 layers of crab hidden within! grady of course had the fish and chips (he always has this--no matter where we are!) and gabe had the chicken!! with our bellies full, we decided to get back on track and head to our original destination!! on the drive up to the mountains, we were feeling a little disheartened---it was very cloudy, so we were prepared to see nothing but clouds when we got to our hiking spot! strange thing happened though, we actually drove above the cloud line! (actual word?-is now!) above the clouds was the most amazing view---snow capped mountains and tons of wildlife! we decided to hike at hurricane ridge/hill. this was supposed to be an easy hike for kids to the top of a "hill" with a great view! okay so off we go! the hike started out super-kid friendly, but the further from the army we ventured, the steeper the "hill" got! i don't know about you, but anytime i climb 1000 ft. in elevation in a mile--i may tend to call that something other than a "hill"! but all whining aside, we hiked all the way to the top and of course it was worth it! once at the top, we had an energizing little snack of raisins and water and of course picture time! after we were feeling rejuvenated we decided we should start the 1.6 miles back down!!! going down is always such a pleasure!! we even skipped a little on the way down...no doubt suffering from a lack of oxygen to the brain while at the top!! ha! after arriving back at the armada, we decided we should head back home...and maybe stop off for some dinner! we found another neat little find for dinner! it was an old fashioned diner on highway 101 -- complete with malts and sundaes! score! shawn and i totally broke from our diets and had the best, greasiest burgers and onion rings you could ask for!!! yum-o!! the boys had waffles and oreo malts - now that's what i call a well-balanced meal! with our tummies full once again we headed towards home!!! i want to end the post by sharing what gabe said about our day.... as we were climbing back down the "hill" enjoying the amazing view--talking of how lucky we are to be spending this time together he said, "you know, this is going to be a day we never forget!" i second that gabe!