The past few days have been rather hectic. Toward the end of last week, we visited the Olympic Peninsula with Robert?s mother and sister. On our way to the Hoh Rainforest, a tanker had overturned on the highway and forced us to change our plans. We went up to Neah Bay, the northwestern-most point of contiguous United State. The scenery was lovely and we saw an eagle and lots of hawks. We spent a little time in the Makah museum, and then decided to backtrack to see if we could find another route to the Hoh.

After a long stretch of driving on very twisty roads (which wreaked havoc with Janine?s stomach?she suffers from motion sickness), we finally made it to the Hoh around 6 p.m. We walked around the park for about an hour and were eaten alive by mosquitoes. Despite the lateness of the hour and the bloodthirstiness of the mosquitoes, it?s impossible not to be impressed with the forest. It?s so impressive?the ancient trees draped with moss, the light slanting through tangled branches, the different varieties of ferns. I have yet to take a photograph that captures the magnificence of this landscape, but it stays with me in my mind?s eye.

We hopped back in the car and headed towards Rialto Beach. We arrived just as the sun was beginning to set. What a glorious place! Sam raced across the beach and stood bravely before the oncoming tide exclaiming ?water!? One particularly aggressive wave rushed up the sand towards him, and as he was scrambling backwards to get away from it, he fell flat on his back. The poor little guy was drenched and pretty scared! The evil adults couldn?t help but laugh. He got over his fear pretty quickly and felt much better once we dressed him in some dry clothes.

On the last day of our vacation, we went up to Hurricane Ridge just outside Port Angeles. I can honestly say it was one of the most beautiful places I?ve ever been. The hills were covered with wildflowers?paintbrushes, Queen Anne?s lace, poppies, lilies? It was so high up and surrounded by snow capped peaks?I almost felt like I was at the top of the world!

(Pictures of all these scenic wonders will be uploaded to my photo gallery as soon as I regain internet access from my home computer. We?re having some problems with our ISP right now)

Sunday was a much quieter, but busy day. Robert and I did a lot of yard work. He began building the fence we meant to put up and I planted flowers in the new flowerbeds at the front of the house. The place is starting to look pretty nice!

Monday night was nothing short of awful. Sam woke up crying and could not be comforted. We had no idea what was wrong with him and how to make him feel better?until I finally got him to snuggle up to me on the couch and fall into a half-sleep. Unfortunately, that didn?t last long. He woke up and vomited all over himself, me and the couch. What a wretched moment! Luckily, after that, he seemed to improve rapidly. We were able to take him back to daycare today.

In other news?it looks like my brother will be moving out soon. He?s been with us for a year or so. We were getting accustomed to having him there. We?ll miss him lots. I made him promise to come visit us regularly and he even offered to watch Sam for us if we wanted to go out and do something on our own. How sweet! We?re definitely going to take him up on the offer since our anniversary is coming up (the 29th will mark our third year of marriage).