Elora's Big Year

Turning seven is a very big deal in our family. Seven, you see, is the magic age at which one is allowed to ascend the staircase to the top of the North Head Lighthouse. Seleia was finally old enough to be admitted last summer (We saw whales from the top of the tower! Beautiful!) and this year was it was finally Elora's turn........except for the fact that all but the foyer of the lighthouse is closed to visitors for safety reasons. What safety reasons, you ask? Well, it turns out that when they went to do a bit of interior painting they discovered that the previous painters had used the wrong paint. So much moisture had been trapped under the paint that the metal spiral staircases and the metal landings had been rusting and rotting away, and no one had been any the wiser. (Can I just say that knowing I was on those last year, and seeing their current condition, has in no way helped with my irrational fear of spiral staircases?)
So. Elora knew it was closed before we got there, but it was still quite a let down.  She was a great sport, though, and told the volunteers that she had been waiting and waiting and she was finally 7, and why couldn't she just go up? "I'm sneaky, I can step over those broken parts." But very graciously she settled for learning about the lighthouse and viewing the damage from the ground floor. When asked if she knew what a lighthouse was for, Elora replied, "To tell ships it is not safe to come to land there, but that there is somewhere safe nearby." Even I was impressed with her answer. They took quite a bit of time with her, asking her questions and answering hers, before they gave her a bookmark and some brochures to remember her almost trip to the top. She put a few dollars in the donation box  (Lighthouse repair is so low on the government fiscal totem pole that they are relying on the buck-at-a-time donations from tourists to be able to complete the repairs. That makes me so sad!) and proudly took her literature, thanking the volunteers for all that they taught her.

The day wasn't a total wash though.  She did get to hold a puppy.

Hiking by the Sea

A sunny day by the sea is always a lovely thing, but oh how we love love love those gray and mysterious days. (The Washington Coast is quite good for that, really.) The wind whips around the cliffs, howling as it goes, lonely and lovely all at once. The stories of the lighthouse keeper's wife who "could no longer bear the constant howling of the winds" and threw herself over these cliffs comes readily to mind as you stare down from the top to the raging sea below.

We love to hike, taking in new and different scenery (or in this case, old and familiar). Hikes that throw in a bit of history?  All the better. The hike to and from (returning on the lighthouse keepers trail) is always a favorite of ours, and the girls have been quite on my case for not sharing with you the pictures from our most recent trip there! So here you go!

At The Lighthouse

 

My whole family.  In a picture.  Together! Here we are at the North Head lighthouse, one of our very favorite places. More lighthouse pictures to come soon. 

  

xoxoxo

Camping Bits & Pieces

Here are some random snippets of our camping/hiking/biking/climbing/scootering and all around general merriment from the last week. And glow in the dark swords by the campfire? HUGE hit. One thing we love so much about Cape Disappointment are all the great paths & trails for the kids to ride their bikes on (and we've decided we finally need bikes, too. Next year everyone should be old enough we can start putting some miles in as a family!) right near the campsite. They can ride around and make friends while Dash plays happily on his blanket and Joel and I putter around cooking and playing with the campfire. Elora was all about doing tricks on her bikes and climbing 30 or 40 trees, while Amarra was blazing the off-road trails on her Strawberry Shortcake ride and finding new "hiding spots" all around. Seleia was making friends with every other kid around and pretty much entertaining all of the parents. (At one point I saw her clearing off someone else's table for them and helping to set it for their dinner.) Then we all take breaks and go on a "real" hike together here and there...and then back to relaxing. I love it.