friday harbor

Well, the weather forecast was promising sun. And we have learned while living in Washington that you do not take the sun lightly around here. When it pokes its head out in April you get out there and soak it up.

The San Juan Islands have been on our Washington bucket list. We have heard so much about the whales and the water and the absolute beauty. So we took a day and explored Friday Harbor on the San Juan Islands.

We drove to Anacortes and waited for the ferry to leave.

The ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor is about an hour. Plenty of time to enjoy the water, the wind, the blue skies, and "drive the boat" for awhile. Eric pulled out his binoculars and we got some spectacular views of birds, sailboats, and the smaller islands we passed. And Kyler had plenty of time to lose himself in a book.

Our first stop on the island was to play at the park and eat lunch. Look at the cutest yellow house behind her.

Then we visited Lime Kiln. It wasn't whale season, but the view was absolutely gorgeous.

Perry was terrified of the "dangerous" cliffs. This was as close to the edge as he would go.

We hiked over the Kiln and fired the boys up.

Our next stop was English camp.

Isn't this just the prettiest place?

And it was quite peaceful, too, until we began a game of hide and seek in the garden. The rules were set and we ducked, crawled, hid, and tried to run to the center tree before we got caught. The game got even more exciting, and took a time out, when I crawled near the bushes and nearly put my hand on a snake before it slithered ahead of me. Yikes.

I peeked out to snap a picture when it was Layla's turn to count and find us.

You couldn't go inside any of the buildings, but we peeked inside the windows and enjoyed walking around.

We found another park to play and eat ice cream sandwiches at before heading to the American camp. The American camp had a visitors center. And right outside of it a telescope was set up perfectly to view a bald eagle's nest.

We wandered all around the American camp.

We walked down to the beach. And the kids had fun playing in the driftwood forts that lined the beach. Until Perry had fun destroying the fort.

So now we know that the San Juan islands are absolutely lovely and charming. And I would love to go back.