Hurricane Ridge, WA

I still have tons of pictures from our Malaysia trip that need to be updated. But for the time being, here are some pictures from our recent visit to the mountain. 

Aug 31, 2013

I woke up to a beautiful morning today. The weather was perfect and it would be such as a waste to just stay inside and do the packing. We're moving in 18 days and there are so many things that haven't been packed up yet. I told Daniel that I wanted to go to Hurricane Ridge just because it was on my mind for quite some time since I saw some pictures of it on my friend's Facebook. We did go there in 2011 during winter and it was so pretty. But it was too cold for us back then. We didn't properly dressed for the weather and thus didn't explore the place at all. Unfortunately, Daniel already had some other plans so he didn't want to go. So it was just me, Sarah and my dad. 

It took us approximately 2.5 hours to get there. But with nice views along the way it didn't feel that long to me. I think my dad enjoyed it too. As for Sarah, she slept for the most part on the way there so that was such a relief. Being stuck in the car seat for a long time is not something she looks forward to. 

My dad has a thing for old stuff so when I asked him if he wanted to stop and look at this flea market, he right way agreed to it. The sign said the flea market is held every Saturday from 8 am - 4 pm from May to September. We got there around 2.30 pm so there weren't many vendors left. But still it was a fun thing to do. 

Breathtaking view of the Olympic Mountains from the parking lot. We got here probably between 3.30pm - 4.30 pm. There was quite a crowd but we didn't have any problem finding a parking space. 

Tok Wan and Sarah, on the way to the visitor center.

Enjoying her cracker amidst the great view

The visitor center from afar

We had a quick snack at the Snack Bar inside the visitor center. The fish and chips was pretty descent albeit on the expensive side.

Love the different shades of blue.

She got a teddy marmot from Tok Wan from the souvenir shop. 

My Abah aka Tok Wan

Photo: http://www.liftopia.com/ski-resort-info/resort/999988375/WA/Hurricane_Ridge.htm

I decided to just do a short hike and thought that the Big Meadow Loop was the perfect one. We headed to the Overlook and then continued to Cirque Rim trail, passing the start of Sunrise Point trail and back to the parking lot. These trails are paved and easy, perfect for children. I really wanted to go to Sunrise Point but it is a dirt trail and it would be quite challenging with the stroller. 

The view on our way to the Overlook.

We met some of the meadow's residents. 

She loves her marmot.

View of of the Overlook. From here you can see part of Port Angeles, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island, B.C

We can see ski lift from the Cirque Rim trail.

The Cirque Rim trail

Abah is reading some information about the trail

The Big Meadow

Going back

Saw a couple more  these guys

Malaysia Trip Part 1

After almost 4 years, we finally made it! We FINALLY went back to Malaysia. The bonus part was Daniel's mom was able to go back with us and that made it so much better. 

It was a quick trip. Two weeks was a really short period of time. But we did manage to see most of our relatives, thanks to my parents. They held a family gathering a day after we went back to my hometown, Alor Setar. And that was awesome, just to be able to meet (almost) everybody. Plus having everybody together at one place was really a time saver as we had quite a busy itinerary. 

July 30th 2013

We had a 4 hour layover in Taipei. I was so glad when we landed. I'm not a fan of flying, especially a super long one. It took us 12 hours to get Taipei from Seattle. The boys did really well. Sarah cried quite a bit on the plane and just wanted to nurse all the time. She did however sleep for a few hours.

Morning

Picnic with kids & friends

July 3rd, 2013

My friends and I had been planning to have this picnic for a long time but there was always something going on that we kept postponing it until today. I was glad we made it because it was such a beautiful day out there. 

We decided to go to Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck. It took us 30 minutes to get there.

 These were some of the views that we saw along the way.

I guess I was busy eating that I didn't even remember to take any pictures of our picnic table so I went to search for old pictures of this place. This one was taken way back in Aug 2010. I still remember it was our first time here and we were fasting in Ramadan. 

 I was eating (again) when I saw this sail boat passing by and quickly grabbed my camera and took a few shots of it.   

It was low tide while we were there. The boys had a great time in the water.

Amazing view of the Olympic mountains.

Sarah loves the water. 

I had to take Sarah out of the water after awhile because she started to shiver a little bit. Her brothers follow suit not long after that. The two ladies in the picture are the only Malay friends that I have in this area. 

Meanwhile Ezzat kept swimming for a long time. The water was just nice but once you get out of it, you could feel pretty cold due to the breeze.

Sarah is easy to warm up to new people. She had a short stranger anxiety moment when she was younger but now she can be pretty friendly.

Finally Ezzat decided that he had enough swimming for the day and Sarah gave him a hug.

My sweet little girl. Thanks Grammy for the swimming suit. Finally she's able to wear it.