When Mar and Lar come to town

you know you aren't going to be sitting around. No siree. True to form our weekend was action packed full of fun. Saturday morning we set out bright and early to take on a 10 mile hike at St. Helens. However when we arrived we found the mountain closed due to snow. The National Parks website is not very good at updating their closures. And who wants to trek through snow on such a sunny beautiful day? Obviously we were not about to let that ruin our day. We found ourselves in a darling little town called Woodland. After stopping in the equally darling little tourist center we found ourselves on our way to the "famous" lilac festival. And I am oh so glad we stopped in. It was quite possibly the most adorable place I have ever been. The gardens were beautiful and fragrant- the little old ladies in fancy hats and dresses were to die for and the sun was warm and shining. I loved every second of that place. It almost made we want a life in the country. Almost.

My cute mother in law, Marilee, and me enjoying the beautiful day.

Lilacs have the most amazing scent. And this little place smelled like heaven.

After we left the lilac festival we decided to take a scenic drive up to Mt. St. Helens. It was a fabulous day for a drive. Every inch of the drive was beautiful. We stopped at all of the scenic outlooks to walk around and take pictures. It was breathtaking to be so close to the mountain.

But mostly I just enjoyed the sun and took advantage of all the little benches along the way.

Our final stop for the day was at an amazingly beautiful lake with gorgeous views of the mountain. We layed on the pier over the lake and took naps and soaked up the sun. Then I went for a little rejuvenating dip in the ice cold lake. It was freezing- but I loved it. We finally made it home after about 230 miles and 9 hours. It was a lovely day.