Annual Father-Son Camping Trip

This year the boys and J hiked up Mt. Pilchuck. They camped at Turlo campground, in Verlot, 10 miles east of Granite Falls. They camped mid-week for the first time which meant there was no-one in their campsites to their right and left. 

The next section is written by J.

The first evening it rained as promised, which was a bit of a first for us. We cooked our Italian sausages over an open fire. After the meal we went to bed very early. C got to sleep first, but A and I didn't pass out until darkness fell. Despite the early bedtime, we slept a long time and didn't get up until about 7AM when a crow decided to go crazy over our head with caw-caw-ing to some other crow far away.

After a breakfast of bacon and baked beans cooked on our Coleman camp stove, we packed sandwiches, prepped a backpack with 5 water bottles, and headed out to the trailhead. I was glad I brought the Jeep, because the old forest road, now called Mount Pilchuck Access Road, is massively potholed and non-maintained in the middle, unpaved section. We started walking at exactly 9:30 AM. There was cloud cover and mild temperatures. 

It's officially a 3 mile hike each way, and 2,200 feet of elevation, spread out pretty much over a constant grade. It took 2.5 hours to get to the top and 1.5 hours to get down. I had to rest a lot with the pack I was carrying, that included the water, snacks, and Sheila's camera. The boys did well, though it was a challenge to be sure. A is a master of the climb up, whereas C comes into his own on the descent, where other people's ankles and feet start getting very sore.

There were really very few other hikers on the trail. Near the top we asked a couple of groups how far we were, and got some encouragement to continue. One group of middle-aged single women were alarmed by seeing a man with a hunting knife in the wilderness to protect his children. Sigh. At the top, which has a refurbished fire lookout, you scramble up some big boulders and then climb a ladder. There were two other parties there when we got there. 

It was completely clouded in at the top when we got there, so there wasn't any view to enjoy. We set about eating our sandwiches, and I noticed that there was a gal on her phone, so I realized we suddenly had cell coverage.

I called S from the top of the mountain which was fun, and each of the boys talked to her also. After about 20 minutes up there, another hiker said: "Look, the clouds are breaking." And we all turned and saw our first view. Fortunately over the next 10 minutes the clouds increasingly moved out and about 180 degrees of the view became visible, in the westerly direction towards the sound. You could see all the way out to the water. 

After taking a bunch of pictures we headed down. While the going is tough on the ankles and knees, I was so glad not to be lugging that pack against gravity any more.

We were very proud of ourselves for our achievement and grabbed some drinks and ice cream. After that we went shooting with their new air rifle I bought them and their bow-n-arrow. A local convenience store owner told us where we could find a shooting pit the locals use, up the old forest road towards Lower Boardman Lake Trail. There was no-one else there and we had a great time for about half an hour plinking cans with BBs we bought from Cabelas. We also tested out the bow-n-arrow which was fun.

A says he'd like to try an even more challenging hike next year!


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One Thousand Gifts #326 to #333

I usually write these posts on Mondays but I realized my attitude needs some adjustment so I'm counting my gifts today.

326.  I love my new flooring in my kitchen and dining room. I'm so thankful that process is over! We had a water leak way back in the winter and I was without a floor in the kitchen for months! We used to have carpet in our dining room. I'm so glad that is gone.

327. A mini date with my hubby while our boys were at a birthday supper at the neighbours' house.

328. In July my friend Noelle came for a visit and took our family portrait. I'm very happy with the photos she took.

329. An entire month without rain.

330. My husband truly loves me and tells me all the time.

331. The local jazz radio station.

332. I bought new backpacks for my boys (when they weren't with me) and they loved them. Phew! I really don't like doing returns so I was thankful that I picked out colours they liked.

333. It rained yesterday. This was a relief to me since I'm getting pretty tired of watering my garden. :) No, this isn't a conflict with #329. He he.

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The Wheel.

Do you know the old song, Ezekiel Saw the Wheel? Well, I kept thinking of it as we went to the Seattle Wheel last night.

Ezekiel saw that wheel
Way up in the middle of the air
Ezekiel saw that wheel whirling
Way up in the middle of the air
Now the little wheel runs by faith
And the big wheel runs by the grace of God
And a wheel in a wheel whirling
Way up in the middle of the air

We wondered if Seattle's Great Wheel would seem too scary for any of us but we were all fine. It is completely enclosed. The view was amazing!

It is a pricey attraction so be warned if you are thinking of visiting. It was $50 for the four of us.

It is air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. It lasted a good long time.

I can mark another thing off my summer bucket list!Pin It

We Have Two Treehouses In Our Backyard

My father in law was visiting us for a week back in June. He typically visits once a year. His main goal this time around was to help my hubby construct a tree house. Well, one tree house became two tree houses!

The project was only do-able budget-wise because I found a great supply of free wood using Craigslist. All the flooring and walls were free, only the 2x4s for the foundations were purchased.

Here's day one of construction.

The boy in the middle is our neighbour and friend.

The first tree house is the talk of the neighbourhood. All the kids want to be part of the fun. Hubby says it is 8 feet by 8 feet square, and about 10 feet off the ground, in a pine tree (all that we have). It is designed as more of a fort than a house, so right now at least it doesn't have a roof. In order to get up to it, we experimented with home-made rope ladders, but the kids found those were harder to use than they expected, and we are using a real ladder for now.

The second tree house is two trees up, the same size, but twice as high. Eventually they will be connected by a wooden ladder (think Swiss Family Robinson).

Here are the builders up in the high tree house. There were some real challenges figuring out how to get the foundation built that high up. The builders had to try three separate ideas before finding one that worked.

We've decided that the second tree house is only for our own kids, for safety sake. The treehouses are one of the few building projects that J had ever undertaken in partnership with his Dad, who is 83.Pin It

Summer Vacation - Harrison Lake, Kelowna, and Penticton, BC.

This year our destination was the Okanagan area of B.C. So many of our local friends don't know where this is! We just tell them it is a lot like Lake Chelan. Much bigger, though. We stayed two nights in Kelowna, two nights in Penticton, and one night in Bellingham, WA, on our way home. We could have just driven home but I wanted to extend our vacation and explore Bellingham.

We had an awful time arranging accommodation for this trip. Our original destination was Calgary but there was terrible flooding there in June. I wanted to show off my hometown to my kids but not when it is torn up and muddy. Plan B was Sandpoint, Idaho but our favourite vacation rental condo was all booked up. We were thankful to find anything at all in Kelowna/Penticton since we were making arrangements at the last minute, it is high season, and a very popular destination, for Canadians, that is. Next year, we'll plan our vacation at least two months in advance, right Sweetie??? :)

Day One. We drove north on I-5 and stopped for lunch in Lynden at the Dutch Bakery. They make an amazing raspberry pie! We also picked up some delicious fresh banana bread for snacking. We drove straight north and crossed the border into BC at Sumas/Aldergrove which had a short wait time.

Our next stop was Harrison Lake which is near Chilliwack, BC. We had hoped to soak in the hot springs but found the options for that were very limited. There is an expensive hotel where registered guests get the most authentic hot springs experience OR an indoor public pool that wasn't very appealing on a hot sunny day.

Harrison Lake

We noticed the gorgeous lake with hardly any boats on it and a place to rent jet skis. We splurged and rented one for an hour. My hubby took our oldest son out for about 30 minutes and then I took our youngest son out. I wish I had rented a wet suit! I got splashed a lot and got cold quickly. I was happy that the boys enjoyed the experience. They have gotten so much braver.

We had supper in Hope. There wasn't much hope for a good meal there. The drive from Mission to Kelowna was so boring and there were no places to stop at all!

We were pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel in Kelowna had a big waterslide.

In the morning, we all took turns on the slide but the pool water was a little too chilly for me. It was great to just relax by the pool while the boys spent a long time enjoying the waterslide. Yesterday my friend asked the boys what was their highlight of vacation and they said the waterslide at the hotel. :)

Hot tub

Our plan for Kelowna was to walk along the Myra Canyon trail. This trail has such an interesting history. The Myra Canyon was traversed by the Kettle Valley Railway which opened in 1916 and contained 18 trestles and two tunnels blasted through rock. The railway was abandoned in 1978. The right of way became popular for hiking and biking so decking and railings were eventually built for safety and later it became a provincial park. In 2003, there was a huge wildfire that destroyed 12 of the trestles. The Myra Canyon Restoration society rebuilt the trestles and the park was reopened in 2008.

This photo reminds me of model railroads.

In this next photo you can see (if you squint) another huge trestle in the distance. We didn't get that far.

We went over 7 of the 18 trestles and went through one tunnel. It was pretty hot.  If it was a cooler cloudier day, we would've walked farther. I was pleased to see many other walkers on the trail even thought it is promoted as a bike trail.

Our hotel in Penticton (50 minutes south of Kelowna) was very conveniently located next to the River Channel and one of the beaches. Penticton is located in between two lakes which both have beaches. For those of you not familiar with the area, here's a photo (not mine) of the Penticton airport.

image source

Our main activity for Penticton was floating down the river channel. It is the blue ribbon in the middle of the photo above. It is about 4 miles long. You get in with your floating device (tube/boat/etc) at the beginning and at the end of the channel there is a bus that takes you back to the start. Normally it would've been $20 for the bus ride for the 4 of us, but it was customer appreciation day and it was free! I don't have any photos of this activity since I didn't want to take my camera on the water. J and the boys were in our inflatable boat while I was on a lounger. I was wondering if it would be crowded with people but it was just fine. There is a highway that goes right next to it and some truckers honked their horns as they went by. I think they were pretty jealous of us!Pin It

Lil' Slugger

My youngest son played baseball this spring for the first time. I'm so proud of him for his dedication and perseverance. It was a tough season. His team (randomly formed) was full of first time players like him. The Red Hots only won one game. The other teams were almost all comprised of more experienced players. One team had been playing together for years! Unfortunately a few games ended because of the mercy rule - we were behind 10 runs.

I took photos of the team at all the games I attended. I enjoy having a goal while I'm watching. I created a Shutterfly team site to share the photos with the parents.

C a the first game of the season.

First time at base.

Fielding in the rain.

At the bat, on a sunny day!

C playing catcher position.

C and his teammates in the "dugout."

My hubby helped out with coaching as much as he could. He's coaching first base here but he's also joking around with C.

C running to first base.

C and his teammates improved so much over the season. C says that he might play again next year. So for now, A's sport is soccer and C's sport is baseball.Pin It

More than nine dollars worth of fun.

We've had a few very hot days, for the Pacific Northwest. We're going to get more. I bought the boys a new slip and slide for about 9 dollars.

Today, we tested it out on our sloped backyard. My husband was skeptical, worried they might slam into the fence. I wanted to see if we could make lemonade from the lemon that is our sloped area. J added a tarp at the end of the slide, as well as a big ball to protect them if they did get too close the fence. The tarp was a great idea. It helped create a water barrier and kept them from getting covered in grass clippings.

They had a blast. Who needs Great Wolf Lodge? :)

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What's Blooming in my Garden? June edition.

It is a busy and beautiful time in the garden. I have to remember to take photos fast since many flowers are only at their best for a few days.

My peonies have already bloomed. This white one is one of the last.

Here's a photo from June 10th of a pale pink peony (say that ten times fast!).

Cloudy, rainy days are good for photographing plants.

I have about17 delphinium in a border in front of our front porch. Since they don't all bloom at the same time, I don't have a good photo of all of them. Here's a few.

We've had a few days of heavy rain which knocks these delicate flowers down.

The roses are in bloom. My favourite are the purple ones.

I also have some coral coloured ones:

I bought a new rose bush on Memorial Day weekend. This bush was 7 dollars, I believe.

I'm slowly adding plants around our gazebo and landscaping as well. It needs to be prettied up a bit to really show off the gazebo.

Yes, I do have some annuals as well. These dark petunias caught my eye at the garden store.

I'm looking forward to the hollyhocks, daisies, and dahlias which are next to bloom.Pin It

Summer Activities - 2013 Edition

My friend Colette has been urging me to write this post. 

My boys finished school on Friday. I hope to keep to some regular routine this summer. In the morning, I'd like them to read for 20 minutes and do some basic chores as well. I also do the Summer Bridge books to prevent summer slide.

Back in 2011, I wrote about having 3 jars of ideas for summer. Blue is for rainy day ideas, yellow is sunny day ideas, and orange is outings.

Rainy Day activities:

• board games
• "PE class" - I'm going to get my boys to tell me what exercises they do at school for PE and we'll do them together.
• make a music video together.
• make pretzels
• make cookies/muffins
• fondue night as a family
• do chores 
• invite a friend over, however, this seems to be more fun on a sunny day.
• write a letter to a grandparent.
• drawing
• dominoes
• hotter and colder - hide something and then say whether the person is hotter or colder in finding it.
• card games

Sunny Day activities:

• slip and slide - I think we need a new one. :)
• fly kites
• lemonade stand
• badminton - we found very cheap racquets at Target in the $3 section.
• make stepping stones
• sidewalk chalk
• water gun fight
• wash the car
• red light green light
• street hockey
• blow bubbles
• play hot lava
• red rover

Outings:

• Tacoma Zoo
• splash park like Willis Tucker
• mini golf
• batting cage - there is one in Everett
• beach - so many to choose from!
• the Seattle Great Wheel
• Jetty Island
• Lynnwood Pool
• Seattle Zoo
• berry picking
• explore a new park.
• go to a high school and play soccer and/or practice baseball with a wiffle ball. We recently went to Lynnwood High school and Mountlake Terrace High school.
• Meadowdale Beach - this is a big hike.

Parks:

• Flag Park
• Brier Park
• Bothell Landing
• Everett park with merry go round near boeing
• Lynnwood Park near Meadowdale with zip line
• Edmonds City Park
• Bobcat Park
• Seward Park - south Seattle
• St. Edward state park
• Volunteer park in Seattle - has a water tower to climb
• Logan Park
• many more!

Excerpts from my 2011 list can be found here.

I read this blog post about surviving summer and found some ideas I'm going to adopt.

Here's another good blog post I just found - Frugal Summer Fun in the Northwest.

If you need more ideas, I have a Pinterest board of summer fun ideas.

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One Thousand Gifts - #317 to #325

Boy, it has been a while since I counted my gifts. Life has been busy!

317. The search for a used van is finally over! No more Saturdays spent going to see cars! We started looking in January and took some time off to deal with my health but on Saturday we finally found the right car for our family. I'd like to car pool to school in the fall and be able to give our boys' friends rides with us. Now we have the joy of car payments. :)

318. 15 years of marriage!! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but 15 years ago on May 16th, I married my best friend. We've since moved to a different country, he changed jobs about 6 times, we've gone through rough patches, we mourned the loss of his mother to cancer, we bought a house, we had two baby boys in the span of 24 months, we moved several times, we bought a house and now we're older, wiser and closer than ever!

319. The school year is almost over. This is a mixed blessing. I get less time to run errands alone but I'm always happy to stop driving 20 miles a day. I just hope I don't have to spend too much time shooing the boys away from the computer this summer! I'll write another blog post about ideas for summer activities.

320. I had a fantastic time at the school fundraiser last week. It is a walk-a-thon and the parents get to spray water on the kids as they go by. It was so funny to hear my son's classmates say "oh no, there's Mrs. ......." LOL!

321. A very fun birthday party for my "baby."

322. Good weather so the birthday party could be held outside.

323. A flourishing rose bush.

324. I got to hold an adorable and happy 7 month old baby yesterday. There was a cub scouts leaders' meeting and one of the leaders' wives brought their baby boy. It is great to get my baby fix once in a while!

325. Fun new garden art for my back deck.

I found this for a great price at Sorticulture - a local garden art festival.

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