Ruby Beach Rock Throwing

I tried to be selective with photos from our first full day at Quinault, but it was too beautiful to narrow down much.  We woke up to this scene from the back porch - 

Collin and Brownie went for a morning kayak ride -

I don't think my two-year-old fully appreciated the scenery, but he still talks about kayaking at Jan's lake house.

Lounge chair, sippy cup, lake and mountains -

Where we ate our meals - I could definitely get used to these views!

Alex and Coady at breakfast -

After an incredible breakfast made by Uncle Walter and Aunt Cheryl, we headed to Ruby beach, at the south side of Olympic National Park.  We skipped rocks -

And Collin played in the rocks.  He could have happily spent the entire vacation throwing rocks into the water.

Posing for pictures with Mommy was torture when there were millions of rocks just begging to be thrown - 

But sometimes he'll humor me for a kiss -

The foggy Pacific coastline -

Exploring hermit crab shells with Brownie -

Alex and Sapphire worked to build bridges, while Coady with her sandals happily splashed through the water.

Getting sandy -

Playing chase -

Our sweet, sandy guy -

Getting a little dirtier -

I like the Collin trail -

Messy monster -

Mischief in those eyes, coming to wipe sand on Uncle Walter, who fought him off with the classic nose grab

Driftwood = drum sticks as he played the ABC song for us -

Jan spent the time at Ruby beach painting; she's an incredible artist -

Son & proud father -

Posing with Coady & Alex.  My hard-working husband was back at the cabin handling emails on Friday, but was able to relax and join us for the rest of the trip.

For some reason, we took the native Washingtonians advice and wore shorts to the beach - and it was FREEZING.  Luckily we had lots of layers for Collin, but the rest of us found warmth by lying on the rocks which had soaked up some summer heat -

Collin was not happy to leave the rocks behind, and he threw his last few into the pond before we drug him away kicking and screaming.  Luckily, Lake Quinault offered him ample opportunity to continue his new favorite pastime of throwing rocks into a body of water.