i want to go back to san juan (i know what boat you can get on)

Bernstein fans, rejoice at my pop culture reference.

This past weekend we took a little trip north to the San Juan Islands to camp for a couple of days. It was awesome! We've never camped with Rhoda so we were a little nervous about what was ahead for us, but she was a champ! She loved it and still talks about camping every day. (Major thanks to our friends Jake and Jordan for lending us their gear for the weekend, because that made our lives 10000% easier.) We barely fit our travel crib in the tent along with our two sleeping pads and sleeping bags, but it was worth it to not have Rhoda crawling around on us in the night. And once we realized that Rhoda would sleep through the night if we turned on the white noise app on my iPad, it was smooth sailing from there. The one drawback of camping on summer solstice weekend so far north is that it's light outside until at least 10 so it was hard to put Rhoda down at her usual time, but she was distracted enough with the rocks and leaves in our campsite that she didn't have a big bedtime meltdown and went to bed fairly easily. Anyway, unless you have toddlers and are considering camping in the near future that information is pretty irrelevant, so I'll stop now.

So the San Juans are made up of many little islands (Orcas being the main one that most people have heard of) but we ended up just staying on Lopez Island because we had heard great things about camping at Spencer Spit (it WAS great!). We decided once we got there not to try to get to Orcas because it got complicated with the ferry schedules. Also, it was much easier to find a campground there because it's not as popular as Orcas. If Orcas is everyone's favorite then I wonder if I'll be blown away if we get to visit because we loved Lopez! It's a sleepy little island and everyone waves to you when they drive by. It's really quite lovely with lots of farms and pretty views and made for a relaxing few days, even though a 25 mile bike ride and sleeping in a tent aren't really the most relaxing activities.

Photographic evidence:

Riding the ferry over to Lopez

Props to the Kindercone for containing Rhoda when she was having a hard time in her crib the first night

"Mohneen!" (Rhoda's version of "good morning!")

At the Lopez Village farmers market, where Rhoda got a chance to see animals she has only seen before in books

I begged Robbie to let me pay these girls a dollar to let Rhoda hold one of their chickens and I think he'd agree it was totally worth it. Rhoda was so into her chicken (a Silkie!) and had a really hard time parting ways with them and had a little meltdown when we left. A couple of hours later she finally admitted defeat and kept repeating "night night, chickens."

Imagine this view on repeat. Just so pretty.

Cute lil church

Cute lil view

In the middle of the aforementioned 25 mile bike ride. I read somewhere that Lopez is pretty flat and easy to get around on, and that's not true. I mean, it wasn't that hard? But I hadn't been prepared for a long ride (but Robbie bikes that distance every day) and it was definitely hilly and I am definitely still saddle sore.

Rhoda was super into the bike trailer. And super into wearing the helmet over her face (not pictured).

False advertising

Pretty sunny

It was impossible to capture how pretty the scenery was. This was at one of our breaks at Agate Beach, where the residents are pretty clear about their disdain for trespassers (how many "PRIVATE BEACH" signs are excessive? Two? Ten?).

Rhoda enjoyed helping Robbie hammer down the stakes with "Ro-rah's rock" (as she called it)

I'm pretty sure I took this picture because Rhoda had been laying down on the tent floor quietly for about ten minutes and when I went in to check on her she said "wye-downing!" (lie-downing). Kidspeak is hilarious, guys.

Running free on Spencer Spit

Cool dad Robbie rocking the baby backpack

Family picture featuring me in my weather inappropriate hiking gear. It was about 10 degrees warmer and not windy at our campsite where I got dressed, and by the time I got to the beach I was wishing I'd brought a jacket with me.

Till next time, SJI! And thanks, Seattle, for having so many great places to go see within a couple of hours' driving distance!