Lucky Them

 For the end of August, it's been pretty mild weather - cold, cloudy, rainy in the morning and a very gradual clearing by mid afternoon each day.   So, when I suggested a hike to Teddy Bear Cove today (it was cloudy and drizzly),  my friends and my kids thought I was nuts.   My friends got to say "No thanks, you go ahead without us" but my kids didn't have a choice.

And... lucky for them!  It turned out to be a fantastic afternoon with beautiful blue skies.

 We love this hike.  It's down, down, down through a pretty forest, across the railroad tracks, and ta da!

 This one was wiggling all over the place.  It was cool to watch.

 There are actually two beaches in this area.   The small cove is the real Teddy Bear Cove.   But then you can hike to the top of a little hill, take some lovely photos, and then head back down the other side to get to the much bigger beach.

 Great madrona trees at the top of the hill.

 Before we went down the other side, we found a good place to stop for a snack.

 Perfect snack spot.

 On the other side, the kids climbed on all the cool honeycomb/sandstone rocks.

 Henry kept calling this "the ravine."

 They had a cherry pit spitting contest.  Obviously, they both have a different method.

 Henry (shock and surprise) uncovered a ton of crabs.  Some were quite large.  With creepy eyes.

 Alice had fun exploring.

 Another picture perfect setting.

 Serious boy.

  Smiley girl.

 We had the beach to ourselves and it was wonderful.

 When Henry and I were ready to go, Alice wasn't.  She wanted to go back to the cove on the other side, so Henry and I found a place to sit and amuse ourselves.

 The amazing suction cup shell.

 Ooh.  Ahh.

And on the way back up the trail, guess what we found?  Yet another example of slug love in the northwest.