бухта тихая - "Quiet Bay" Part 1

On Saturday we decided to go hiking / mountain climbing / play at the beach. The weather was gorgeous and it is the last weekend before school starts, so why not do something fun and different. There was a group from Olympia going so my family of 6 (to include our dog) got our own van and headed out at 730am with everyone else. 

It was a bit of a drive. Probably 2 1/2 hours to get there. For those not familiar with Sakhalin, he red dot is where we were and we live in the southern city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. So quite the drive. 

The kids were troopers though! Even with the 630am wake up. They are early risers anyway but this time we had to be firing on all cylinders that early.

The scenery along the drive was fantastic. We drove up to Donlinsk and then followed the coast all the way up. It really is pretty

This is the mountain we climbed - Hannah and I plus dogs went up first while Will and the kids played in the water and then we went up again with the kids.

The other side of the beach

These two goons just melt my heart

Man's best friend!

Mosya was having the best of time running ALL over the place. No one yelling at her for being off her leash, no chaos, nothing. Just a happy dog doing what a dog does. However, she is only 1 so still very much a puppy. She pounced Mike, CJ, and Beth's son Asher one or twice. We need to work on that :-)

Digging for buried treasure 

SELFIE TIME!!!!! Gotta have pictures with that beast of a mountain! And YES.... I have a winter head band on for my ears. It was a bit cold. Plus... It kept my ears from burning and helped keep my glasses on during the climb.

Look how happy she is - no clue what she was digging for :-)

These munchkins had the best of time. They ran all over the place with Mo while we waited for the other cars to arrive

YAY! The other cars are here and that means Mo's best bud Atlas is here. These two dogs RAN ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! It was amazing watching them. Hannah has more photos of the dogs so stay tuned!

Lets Go To The Beach!!! Yes.... There are beaches in Far East Russia

We are in our last week of Summer Vacation as all the kids go back to school on Monday August 31 so today was BEAUTIFUL, just about 80 degrees today. Why not go to the beach!!!! There are a few beaches here but be went out to the Eastern Coast of Sakhalin Island in the Village of Okhotsk (Охотское). It was about a 40 minute drive from our house. 

Approximately 50 to 55 people went with us and it was a BLAST! SO MANY KIDS!!!!!

The sand was nice too! Water was a bit chilly but they did not seem to care :-)

These poor kids!!! The waves were so big and they kept standing in the surf waiting for a wave to come up so they could outrun it. It didn't always work out :-)

Pure Happiness!!! Could not keep her out of the water

"Mom!!! The waves are SO big!"

Chasing waves with Bryan

CJ is my "play it safe" kind of kid. He wants nothing to do with things that can cause him harm (IE - Waves knocking him down), He just wants to sit back and observe

Mike and Mathias

LUNCH TIME!!!! 

Picnic with friends! Ben, Bryan, and Mike

I swear CJ and Will are two of the cutest little people here with their Budda Bellies :-)

Sand Castles

And there it is folks..... The group shot!!!! I never have them looking this good together :-)

Mike: "MOM!!!!! (screeching high voice) THE WAVE IS GOING TO SWALLOW ME!!!!! 

Playing with Barbara and Adler

Like I said... She never left the water

Levi, Adler, Mike, and Will digging for buried treasure

The scenery was gorgeous! All in all a successful trip to the beach!

The bus ride home was full of sleepy children