Point Defiance Family Vacation

The weekend of June 21st, we enjoyed a quick family get-a-way. 
Kyle used to do frequent trips for work up to the Puget Sound area.  On one of these trips, he discovered Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, the largest city park in the nation.  It is right on the Sound and a beautiful location.  There is a huge zoo and aquarium in the park, just to give you an idea of how large it is (although we didn't have time to do that).  We stayed in the same hotel daddy stays in on his business trips up there, and the kids had a ball exploring, hiking, and playing.

We enjoyed riding scooters/walking along this boardwalk overlooking Vashon Island.  The ferry crossing was right in front of us.

 

 

The kids played in the water on the very rocky beach.

 

They made silly faces by this man who was a State Representative for Washington and who helped purchase the lands back from the federal government.

 

We enjoyed walking through the Japanese gardens, rose gardens, natural habitat gardens, and lots of park areas and paths.  We went on a fun hike along the Sound.

We played hide and seek in this little Japanese garden area. (Not in the water, though!)

We explored the Visitor's Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw several different wildlife: turtles and koi in this pond, and deer, raccoons, squirrels and birds.

 

They moved the original Hudson Bay Company Fort (Fort Nisqually) from its original location down south a ways to the park, where it is now a wonderful museum.

Looking out the gun holes from one of the lookout towers.

Playing an old pioneer children's game.

 

Skyler's puppeteering skills in action!

 

Weighing our fur catch.

It was a great weekend together as a family enjoying the beautiful outdoors!