What a summer!!!!!!!

Well...the boys are back in school (sniff, sniff)...summer vacation is officially over. Our family trip to Washington turned out to be so amazing and relaxing it's hard to describe. We were so happy to finally get to introduce Kailahni to her Grandma (Doug's mom), Aunt, Uncles and cousin. We went on hikes, played at tide pools, walked on the beach, and ended our trip with a 4 day sailboat trip through the San Juan Islands. It was awesome. We got to experience all kinds of nature...we saw humpback whales, dolphins, seals, deer (Jacob fed one from his hand...swear to god) and even ORCAS!!!!! We sailed through a pod of over 30 orcas that were breaching and splashing all over the place....one even came directly under our boat. I have a video clip of the amazing orcas, but it doesn't do the moment justice....it was a once in a lifetime experience! The tail end of our trip coincided with our trip to China last year. One morning, I was sitting on the front deck of our boat drinking my coffee (go ahead and be jealous), and I realized that "one year ago today" Doug and I were climbing the Great Wall. Being together as a family in such a beautiful as the San Juan Islands was an awesome way to celebrate our one year anniversary. There was so much uncertainty in our lives a year ago...we've had a very BIG year! It felt so good to be all together, to feel so settled in our life, and to get to enjoy all the beauty of the San Juan's as a family. I can't post all my pictures because I took way too many, but here's a few...














If you watch the video clip, you're going to want to view it on full screen and you should probably hit your mute button because my screaming is a bit over the top. The orcas were much closer to our boat than it appears in this video. Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera rolling most of the pod had already passed us, but I managed to get some of it recorded. Be patient...the most exciting part is toward the end of the video.