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!

The Best of Friends

Dashiell and his Daddy kind of like each other. Just a little bit. So they both love it when it's time for a hike and Dash gets to see the world from high on Daddy's back, and get Joel all to himself (or so he thinks, anyway).  Even when tuckered out after a long day when Little Man is drifting towards dreamland, his hand is holding tight on to his Daddy.  I love these guys.

The Lagoon

We happened upon a little, out of the way cove while hiking a few years ago, and it has become one of our favorite places on Earth. We've affectionately nicknamed it our lagoon, as only once have we ever encountered anyone else there. There are beautiful grassy trails, a little sandy beach, and plenty of rocks and logs to climb on and play with. A bonus, it is on a good sized lake, so we can paddle out a bit and the view is amazing. Every once in a while when it has rained and rained I admit I have those, "WHY do I live in the Northwest?" type moments. Then we head 30 minutes away to some place like this and I'm reminded, "Oh, yeah, THIS is why."

Nature Class!

Outdoor education is so much fun.  I always learn something along with my children (or occasionally from my children). After hiking learning about the birds and bats and all manner of flying creatures, we headed in to a classroom to learn about everyone else that they share the forests with! Coyote, deer, raccoons, beavers...we handled their pelts, antlers, skulls, bones, footprints...learned about their habits and habitats.  (For instance, I did not know that they knew the difference between antlers and horns, and was astounded when Seleia asked if deers had a pump for their blood in their hooves like horses do.  Horses have a pump in their hooves?) And headed to the Wildlife Care Center to meet some American kestrels, turtles, a turkey vulture, a spotted owl, a red tailed hawk, and see what they do to rehabilitate animals to their own environment when possible and care for them when it is not. Seleia, debating a veterinarian career, was full of excellent questions. Something else that is so cool? Hiking with the kids elsewhere afterwards and having them recognize footprints and bird calls.  They can't wait to take their nature guides camping them next week.  I love that they love learning.

The Audobon Society

Can I just say WOW? We had such an amazing time learning at and hiking through the Portland Audobon Society Sanctuary. We hike and camp a LOT and spent a lot of time out of doors, but to find this amazing ancient forest literally two minutes out of Northwest Portland was such a surprise!! A few of us home school families (Uncle Jesse, our resident bird expert, joined the kids & me) spent the morning learning about birds, their calls, their habitats...and it was so much fun!  We started with some bird and bird call identification before heading on a gorgeous hike through the sanctuary.  I cannot express how beautiful it was, and pictures do not do it justice!! We hiked woodpecker trail, bluejay trail...listened for birds, spotted a few and found some friends like newts as well. We'll be heading to Powell's for a new bird guide and picking up some more binoculars very soon.