Relaxing on Orcas Island with Grandma and Grandpa Pastorius

By Mom of TJB and MMB September 16, 2012

Seth, Theo, Katie, JoAnn and John overlooking the Cascade Mountains from Mount Constitution on Orcas Island.

Orcas Island, San Juan Islands
Orcas Island is in the San Juan Islands and is one of our favorite places to visit in the greater Seattle area. We spent Labor Day weekend with the new grandparents - John and JoAnn - at a little cottage at Leiber Haven Resort. We spent most of the weekend relaxing: we watched the sail boats and ferries go by and made s'mores by our beachside campfire. We also managed to hike a few miles around Obstruction Pass State Park, go to the top of Mount Constitution on a perfectly clear day, kayak around Obstruction Island and see a few seals and Mount Baker, watch the L pod (a resident Orca pod that lives in the area) fish for salmon off San Juan Island, and see the beautiful wooden boats in the Deer Harbor Marina.

Theo loved the motion of the ocean and slept the whole time in his "infant" life vest.

Washington State Ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island

Christmas card?

What is this thing?

One of a dozen Orca whales that swam by our boat.

Stellar Sea Lions basking in the sun.

Mount Constitution

Seth, John and Katie kayak around Obstruction Island.

After two hours and a beautiful sunset... we made it back and didn't get too wet!

Cool dudes sitting in front of our little cottage.

Hanging out with gramps!

The wooden boats in Deer Harbor (in another life my Dad would own one of these)!

It was Theo's first overnight trip and he was a champ (except for his fussiness that kept the whole cottage up at night). He loved hiking - well being carried in the BabyBjorn - and looking at the trees and blue skies but the thing he loved most was being held by his Grandpa and Grandma. They both fell in LOVE with him and had a hard time letting go when they had to go back to Minnesota. We miss you G&G!

Spray Park, Mount Rainier
Today, Seth and I took Theo on a seven-mile hike (yes, what were we thinking!?) on Mount Rainier. It was spectacular but we were all exhausted at the end of the day. He slept most of the way except for when we all stopped at Spray Park for lunch. Everyone we passed congratulated us for getting him started early (I figure he only weights 13 lbs and it's a heck of a lot easier to carry now then later). On a development note, he holds his head up well and has started making fun sounds, like coo-ing, in addition to his well-established grunting and wailing. He hasn't slept through the night but he has been sleeping 5-6 hours in the evening but then has a had time sleeping after feedings and wakes mommy up a few more times during the night (boo).