Monday, July 19, 2010

Hsu Family Vacation!

For my dad's 60th Birthday, we gave him a Hsu Family Vacation. In the Chinese culture, turning 60 is a HUGE deal. It signifies a level of enlightenment and if you make it to 60 you should be honored because you have lived 5 rounds of the 12 zodiacs. Well, since we haven't had a Hsu Family Vacation since 2001 I thought it'd be neat. It was really crazy with 10 kids 6 and under, but it sure was fun. We got a rental house that fit all of us up in Sequim and had a blast from Fri-Mon. My FB will have a TON of pics if people want to see it.

The vacation started with seafood night. I never thought I'd get sick of crab, but apparently it's possible. We had 15 huge crabs with oysters and clams! Then Sat we had a really yummy breakfast at Oak Table Cafe before heading to the Olympic National Park. With the amount of kids we had, Mags just given birth to Carly, and me 5.5 months pregnant we chose hikes that were both fun and easy. We hiked roughly 4 miles to Sol Duc Falls and Marymere Falls. Then we went home and had the biggest chinese BBQ EVER! Sun we went to church, then (don't judge me, it was the only way I could plan it) we went to the Olympic Game Farm. You Drive through the zoo and feed wild animals! Then we went to the tidalpools at Salt Creek Park. Ron's family, my dad, and Luke had to leave us on Sun night. My mom and girls and Zeke's family stayed so we got to go to the Dungeness Spit on Mon. It was relaxing and beautiful.

Overall it was a FABULOUS vacation. I haven't decided whether I'm more crazy for planning this and hiking at 5.5 months pregnant or Mags for doing all of this with a 3 week old infant. I think Mag's is crazier. :) But, everyone had a great time and decided that we should make this a regular thing. "Eggs Benny" at the Oak Table Cafe. It's a mix of Eggs Benedict and Biscuits and Gravy. Makes my mouth water just looking at it!

Oak Table Cafe's famous Apple Custard Pancake. This is amazing and so huge and delicious!

Sol Duc Falls - 1.6 miles total hike
Sol Duc Falls.

Marymere Falls at Lake Cresent - 2 miles total hike.

Olympic Game Farm. Ron got to feed a Zebra!

Luke feeding a huge buffalo. It nudged him for more food after that one piece. :)

Luke brought his wetsuit and he swam out to the rocks and found this giant sea star at Salt Creek Park.
Salt Creek County Park.

Lily found a crab. These tidalpools were SO COOL. All the kids enjoyed finding marine life.

Dungeness Spit.

4 comments:

  1. Dear Eileen-

    You are adorable. Can I be adorable like you when I'm 5.5 months pregnant? (Although, if it includes hiking...I guess I'll stay me :) What a fun trip for your whole family! Happy Birthday to your dad :)

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  2. I think you are AWESOME for planning this trip for your whole family! Glad it turned out so well. That Olympic Game Farm sounds like a must do (even if it IS the Sabbath!) And I agree, you look great. (Although I did notice strategic placement of the girls in every picture...)

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  3. Oh, and hilarious that you guys did tie-dye shirts. We just made some last weekend for our family reunion this weekend! And I thought my aunt was so clever...

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  4. HEHE, thanks guys! The whole hiking thing wasn't horrid, just a bit more sore stiff than normal. Strategic placement... I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I really liked the tie-dye shirts, but apparently everyone at Luke's work thought we were nerds. They just didn't understand!

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