BBQ time

Karlie, Jordan and Fisch ventured to Auburn for a lovely summer BBQ, a belated bday bbq for me.  We enjoyed the warm weather, great food, bonfire and great company. 

You'll be hearing more about my gluten free refined sugar free cupcakes later :)

Cheers!

And of course, it isn't the Hauck house without the entertaining animals.  We had a few unwelcome guest appear unfortunately (a snake and a mouse) but you know...it is wild out there!

Bumba LOVES Karlie! 

And Barlee was happily showered with love.  <3

Lovely evening!  Thanks mom and dad for always creating a welcoming environment and perfect BBQ place. 

Whales!

Four years ago, we went whale watching for the first time for Fisch's birthday.  It was amazing then and our recent trip was just as amazing!  We ventured out with Deer Harbor Charters and enjoyed the journey.  Again, it was challenging to capture the moments in pictures, so video will be the best bet.  The one amazing photo that I got is this...a little tail flap for you :)

Here's the video!!!!



Hope you enjoyed seeing our adventures in Orcas Island.  It was a truly memorable time.  Great weather, great food, great company, great sights.  Thank you, Tyler, for making my 30th birthday memorable!

Our first time kayaking...

I can't wait to go kayaking again!  A few words to sum it up: amazing, peaceful, surreal...

We joined the 3 hour sunset cruise offered by Sheerwater Kayaks from West Beach Resort.  There was a 15-20 min lesson or so, then we headed out to sea.  Tyler made a lovely video of our kayaking adventures, which includes my other favorite pictures!  Check it out :)

Orcas ~ day 2

While on Orcas, we stayed at Judd Cove Suites which was on a twenty acre property on Judd Cove.  We took a few strolls along the waterfront, which was very peaceful and lovely.
There was a Japanese style boathouse nearby, pretty cool looking!

The waterfront...

We learned about the history of lime kilns and found one along the beach.

Day 2 on Orcas turned out to be a busy day.  We stopped by the farmers market...

 Saw some old cars at the car show...

old planes at the fly-in...

 

Ate a delicious lunch at Olga Cafe...

Hiked around Cascade Lake at Moran State Park...

And last but not least...we kayaked!  I think I'll leave that to its own seperate post.  It was THAT amazing :)

Super cute!

In case you didn't see it on Facebook, check out this super cute video!

30 years of life, 5 years of love

Over the weekend, Tyler and I celebrated 30 years of life (my birthday) and 5 years of love (our anniversary) on Orcas Island.  For those of you who don't live around here, Orcas is part of the San Juan Island which are northwest of Seattle and known for their beauty!  The trip was amazing!  I really hope to go back again soon.  We were busy, but had some time to relax...a nice balance.

We left early Friday morning (you can never be too early for the ferry line). Thankfully, we discovered a nice beach near the Anacortes ferry dock to stroll along while we waited.

My new flipflops and pedicure came in handy!

The scenery on Orcas is never ending.  Here are just a few snapshots of the beauty:

Our first stop was Moran State Park to climb Mount Constitution.  Thankfully the clouds cleared in time for a pretty decent view at the top.  The hike began with a stroll along Mountain Lake, very beautiful and peaceful.

I was mesmerized by these beautiful flowers, foxgloves apparently.  I even bought one for our deck at home!

Beautiful forest!

We stopped at twin lakes for a snack!

And yay, we reached the top.  We made the extra climb up the observation tower to soak up the amazing views.

 Wow!

So happy!  Loved this hike :)

Kachess Ridge Hike

Tyler and I ventured into the great outdoors on Sunday for a beautiful hike, east of Snoqualmie Pass, to Kachess Ridge.  Way back when, I went snowmobiling near there with the family once...good times!

Yesterday was the hike and the weather was beautiful!  The bugs were out in full force, unfortunately.  While we didn't make it to the top, we saw some fabulous views!  Here are a few images decked out, courtesy of http://www.picnik.com/!

And how about a little Instagram action now?!  Instagram is a cool new iPhone app!

Let's get back to some "real" photos...

This is how steep the climb was at times. 

 Lunch time!

Pretty flowers!

It really did feel like we were on top of the world :-)

Next up: hiking Mt. Constitution this weekend on our Orcas Island get-away, a belated anniversary early birthday trip!  Can't wait.