Day Two: Mount Rainier

Before we had booked our flights to Washington, we had been talking with Stephen (Marcus' brother) about what we'd like to do while we were in the PNW and one thing on our list was a nature hike. I had emphasized that I was pregnant and didn't have much endurance, so I didn't want anything too long or strenuous, but was dying to see some of Washington's famous mountains. He picked the PERFECT hike! It was a 3-mile loop in Mount Rainier National Park. There were little wildflowers, hidden streams, insane views and just enough toughness that you felt like you put in a good days work by the end of the hike. We had a slight sprinkle that only added to the Washington experience. I was in love with those mountains and look forward to getting back there someday--we already picked the spot we're gonna build our little red cabin and I'll fulfill my dreams of becoming a witch doctor, right there on top of that mountain, I'm sure the forest rangers won't mind a bit :)

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he's wearing:

blue striped oxford shirt//jcrew factory (buy here)

navy jacket//gap (similar on sale here)

watch//skagen (buy here)

camera bag//case logic (buy here)

jeans//ae (buy here)

boots//last chance (similar here)

she's wearing:

faux leather jacket// (similar here)

denim vest//gap (on sale here)

watch//skagen (buy here)

striped long sleeve tee//gap (similar here)

stretchy waistband jeans//level 99 (similar here)

sandals//old (similar here)

I was pretty jealous that Margo got to hitch a ride for part of the trail ;)

When we made it to the bottom, we rushed to the car to meet the rest of the fam at Duke's Chowder House for some authentic clam chowder. It was my first experience with clam chowder and I was pleasantly surprised--it was super peppery, which i love in foods and I wished we had gotten some to take home for a midnight snack! It's super rich and filling, but i wanted more later that night for sure!

The next morning Marcus went on another, much more intense hike with the boys and then we all ate at Din Tai Fung for Lizzy's birthday dinner. The food terrified me because I'm super visually picky when it comes to meat, and the pork inside these potstickers and dumplings looked, I'll be honest--horrifying, but I was brave and gave them a try and they were quite delicious--although in the end, I mostly filled up on shrimp fried rice (YUM!) and spicy green beans (DOUBLE YUM!).

Next, it was off to Oregon!