End of the Summer at Blake Island

For the sixth year in a row, we headed off to Blake Island for our annual camping trip with my family.  After a fun, but very exhausting, summer of hauling Logan and Ella with me everywhere without help from a working Ron, I decided to be selfish and leave them home with him.  I hired a babysitter to watch them during the day while Ron was still at work.  As a result, I was able to go with just Lia and I had the most relaxing and enjoyable time.  As much as I love my two little ones, they are just a lot of work right now so it was a little slice of heaven to get a 30 hour break and be with my oldest and easiest child.  :-)  Lia and I just love Blake Island and our camping trip out there is one of our favorite activities each summer.  We thoroughly enjoyed the beach, the marina, the playground, the stunning views, and spending time with my family.   As always, thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for making this possible as we could never get out there without their boat!

Lia and Vivi spent quite a bit of time playing on the playground while we were out there.  They eventually discovered that their favorite game was making silly faces for the camera while going on the zip line.

Lia being silly!

After dinner, we enjoyed a walk out past the marina and to Tilacum Village.  Here is Lia with grandma, Aunt Rebecca, and Vivi.

Mother and daughter and the marina.

Lia and Vivi posing in front of one of the many Native American pictures painted on the lodge.

Three generations of campers.

The children had fun building little homes out of various shells, driftwood, pine branches, rocks, and other items they found outside.  Here they are working on their masterpieces.  

Lia and her little house.

As always, the kids had fun playing on the driftwood teeter totter.

Lia, Vivi, and Callie did another round on the playground as the sun was setting.  Here goes Lia again on the zip line.

Lia and Vivi sliding down the slide with a silly Callie trying to get them from below.

Saturday morning brought more time at the park.  Lia just could not get enough of this playground.

The kids also spent quite a bit of Saturday morning climbing around in the large tree near our campsite.

Lia was too scared to climb it and spent some time hanging out below.

We enjoyed a nice walk along the beach after breakfast.

Here is Lia walking on the massive log we found on the beach.

The three girls stopped during our walk to stay and play in the sand.

Eric and Garrett climbing a massive tree that had fallen from the cliff above the beach.

Eric, Rebs, Garrett, Brynn, Chris, Trenton, Natalee, and me.

We enjoyed some quality Frisbee time on both Friday and Saturday.  I actually played my first Ultimate Frisbee game in years and it felt great!  Here are Eric and Garrett fighting over a Frisbee that Chris had thrown to them.

Lia and I wandered back over to the Tilacum Village Lodge on Saturday before their lunch time cruise arrived.  We got a kick out of watching them set up the delicious salmon fillets in the fires to be cooked for the meal.

Starting the fires!

Lia, a totem pole, and the Puget Sound.

Lia enjoyed some Frisbee time, too.  She played in our Ultimate Frisbee game with the group on Friday evening and tossed it around with Chris and Trenton on Saturday.

Lia throwing the Frisbee to Trenton.

As always, the raccoons were in abundance all over the island.  Like last year, they were almost as bold during the day time as they were during the night time.  Although I can't stand the vermin, it was kind of cute to see the mother-baby combos running around.  Here is one mother with her baby investigating our campground as we were packing up to leave!  

Until next year, Blake Island...