Dylan & Heather: Saddlebag Island!

My family absolutely loves the ocean. Every summer we go crabbing at least once. Sometimes (like this year) things work out and we get to go camping on a small island in the San Juans. Dylan, Hendrix, and I headed up a little early to spend some time with Natalie and Aaron (they couldn't go to Saddlebag because of work) and to see Lisa and Quinn's new house!

Aunt Natalie read Hex a Pride and Prejudice Counting book, which he loved of course.

Napping with Grandpa, Playing with Uncle Kyle, and getting rocked to sleep by Grandma.

The sunset from Lisa and Quinn's porch. They have a gorgeous view of the ocean!

Hex's cousins love him so much! They all took turns holding him, feeding him, getting him dressed, and even changing his diapers! If it were up to them they would have kept that little boy.

Dylan wasn't paying attention when he was eating a go-gurt. What you can't see is it's also ALL OVER the rock wall behind him.....

Another sunset from the deck

Lisa is the soap Queen. I want to get into making my own so she showed me the ropes and sent me home with some goody bags to try when I get started. We had so much fun, we just wish we had more time to soap!

Finally it was Saddlebag Island time! Mom and Dad, Tycen (Lisa's oldest), Kyle and his friend Glen all went up on Tuesday to reserve campsites. It's first come first serve and there are only 5 on the island (to be fair, the entire island is 24 acres)! The Johnsons and Isaacsons went up on Wednesday. Janeways Thursday. Harstons came up Thursday too, just for the day, and Lisa and Quinn's friends joined us for part of Friday. Then Saturday we all went home. You can only have crab pots in the water from Thursday through Monday, so Wednesday we just set up camp and hung out. It was so fun! Hendrix did such a great job the entire time. He thought wearing a life jacket was silly. Didn't even know he was on a boat. Was totally content and happy. He is such a fantastic child, we are so extremely blessed.

First time in Grandpa's boat! And Uncle Kyle rowing us to shore.

On Saddlebag!

All of the Johnson kids slept in hammocks. Dylan was helping Quinn and Kyle set them up and tested out Kayla's. Before he even had all of his weight in it the knot snapped and Dylan backflipped over the edge......he was okay, but this started a trend of him hurting himself......he is dangerous!

Tycen swam almost every day we were there. The water actually wasn't too bad, but it still was PNW ocean cold! The kids all loved it still. Lisa and I had fun walking around and showing Hendo the Island!

Kyle's friend Glen is literally dangling over a cliff. He had to monkey through the trees to get to this spot. Luckily he found a better place to hang his hammock before dark.

The Johnson Kid's hammocks. They made a triangle on these trees and Tycen added his to the side around bedtime.

Grandpa catching some rest.

It's finally crabbing day!

Absolutely gorgeous.

Lance figuring it out.

So many keepers!

crabbycrabbycrabbycrabcrab

Lance wanted to pull a pot up. He did a great job! He did it almost entirely by himself

I sure love my Dad!

Sunset. We were the only boat out for a while. Towards the weekend it started to get more crowded but we had our little slice of paradise

Lance helping to clean the crab. We like to clean them before we cook them.

Dad took us out on a sunset boat cruise. We chased the sunset. It was completely gorgeous.
I guess I'm turning into a softie because I literally started tearing up a few times because everything
was so absolutely beautiful and peaceful. We truly are so blessed to be surrounded by so much and
to have the ability and capacity to enjoy it.

Hendo has his little sunglasses to protect his eyes! My Mom didn't want too many pictures because she hadn't showered, but hey, neither did the rest of us! (did I mention no electricity, running water, or facilities? There was 1 composting toilet for the whole island). Also every time we brought in a haul we promptly cleaned, cooked, and ate it. We sat down to fresh crab at least three times a day! We caught 93 keepers, so not a bad haul! Our limit was 150, so we weren't even close!

Lisa and Quinn brought their little boat. It's maiden voyage! It was great to have not only to shuttle us back and forth from Dad's boat, but to pull crab pots in too! Their kids loved it as well.

We were all packed up and ready to go (it took 3 trips in my Dad's boat to get everyone and all our stuff off the island) and my Mom decided she wanted to kayak back. She is a rockstar! It was 6 miles back to the boat launch, fighting current for the beginning, and in a kayak, that while it was a great kayak, was NOT an ocean kayak. She is so incredible and such an inspiration to me to challenge myself, have fun, and accomplish hard things.

On a trip back to the dock we checked in with Mom. She asked for sunscreen but besides that she was doing great!

Here she comes!

6 miles in 2 hours and she didn't even seem tire. My Mom is a champion!

Hex dreaming of the days when it's his turn.

This bridge swivels 90 degrees so the train can cross. Normally it's open so boats can pass but it was swiveled so the train could go (boats can still fit under, just not tall sail boats or yachts). It was kinda cool to see it in use.

Just chillin after the long weekend

We had such a great time. We spent one more night at Lisa and Quinn's to recover before hitting the road on our way back. We love our family so much and loved this experience!

*These pictures all came from Kimberly and I wanted to include them but didn't have the patience to put them in chronologically, so here are many more!

Here is the bridge swiveled open

A full pot!

Twins reunited!

Kimberly

Kyle and Maverick (Kim's youngest)

It's eating time!

Tycen, Quinn, and Lance crabbing in the little boat. Quinn showing off his crab balancing skills

Kayaking was one of my favorite parts. I went out a few times, this time with Kimberly!

We adapted this lady, Lara. She was suppose to meet someone on Saddlebag and he canceled last minute so she didn't have enough food for her stay. She came and ate with us and even went out crabbing. She was a school art teacher and had so much fun with the kids drawing and painting. It turns out she lives on Camano Island (where Lisa and Quinn live) and I'm sure we will keep in touch.

Can't hardly wait for it to cool down before we dig in!

Playing in the cutty

Captain!

It was so fun to have the kayaks. I was so impressed with the kids! They had no fear and would go out and paddle around our little cove without hesitation

cleaning!

There were shaded trails, grassy hills, rocky cliffs, tide pools, and pebbly beaches to explore

Madrona trees shed their bark. It's beautiful.

Grandma took the younger grandkids out for kayak rides

hauling up a pot

Jenny's turn!

We saw bald eagles, blue herons, seals, porpoises, crab, sea anemone, deer, and coyotes just to name a few!

Grandpa teaching the girls how to measure the crab

Lisa and Kyle on the red double kayak playing chicken with me in the yellow. I was totally game! Lisa told me last minute I didn't stand a chance because they weren't stopping and their kayak would just go right on top of mine. They proved it later when they rammed into my back!

Too small + a female. Throw her back!

We accidentally ran over one of our buoys and severed the line. Luckily the line fouled the prop and got stuck (the lines are weighted so they sink to try to avoid this type of thing. We would have lost the pot if it hadn't tangled! I put on a life jacket and hung off the back of the boat with Kim and Dad hanging on to me and untangled the line. Dad jerry-rigged (jimmy-rigged Kim ;) the buoy pieces so we could still use that pot!