July 15-17

We stayed with Jolene, my sister with her kids Shawn and Autumn. Her husband, Pat, was on a trip out of the country.

July 15
After church, we drove to Penrose State Park and did a short hike. I saw my first bald eagle which was far away so it looked like not much with a white speck of a head. We walked out but water was low so it was sort of mucky and stinky.  We drove to Horseshoe Lake which was busy and Shawn does better with less people and commotion so we visited it later in our trip.

July 16
My sister and we went for a walk and visited her neighbor's pigs and I foraged wild black berries, half of which were sweet. Then we went to the peir and watched fish, jellyfish, and a seal.  After that we were off to the spit on Fox Island and the kids swam near sea anenome type creatures, seastars, and crabs, while Jolene and Shawn and I looked for mud babies, a clay formation that oozes up on the beach there, and tormented itsy bitsy crabs with love.

That afternoon my mom took us back to Horseshoe Lake and we got Shawn to join us in the water. Got some great pictures of him too.

July 17
I woke up this morning knowing that this was the last night I could stand to sleep with my sweet daughter and from this point forward shared Jolene's bed.

I am on the edge of the bed. There is 2 feet on the other side of my child. Two feet of completely unused space.

Today the whole family headed to Port Townsend and we explored the old batteries and lighthouse.

There is a beach there where you can collect sea glass because the ocean was their trash can and they'd dump it off a cliff.

After a great day, Dad treated us all to yummy burgers at a place with great character. Smitty's? I think was the name.

Center: "Go Dutch! We miss you, Neal"