At the Playground

There is a little playground at the reservoir that we love to hike to. Dashiell is no longer content to watch while his sisters play... he wiggles, squirms, and shouts until he can join in the fun. And then, of course, everyone is entertained.

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."

Camping Fun

For those who may not know, camping is basically our favorite thing to do. Camping on the water? Even better. We are so fortunate to live where just a few miles up the road one way we have a major city and a few miles the other way you're lost in the wilderness.
To say that Dashiell loved his first camping trip would be quite the understatement. (We figure he can't help it, it's in his blood.) The girls started asking all sorts of questions about their first camping trips and we realized that everyone but Seleia went camping "in my tummy" and all went as babies. Elora was our youngest camper at four months old, and is now also possibly our most enthusiastic camper. Makes you wonder.
Seleia, big girl that she is, had her first cup of coffee as a special treat (okay, so it was really partially hydrogenated international imitation goodness that I break down and buy once about every 3 years. I forgot the french press.) and you can see her beaming at the picnic table above. Really I'm not to worried about any growth-stunting nonsense with this one.
Elora created quite her own little world, wandering through the woods and naming the plants and animals.
Amarra was head chipmunk hunter and bug catcher extraordinaire. Do you like her all natural umbrella hat?
Dashiell, umm, loves pepperoni sticks. I gave him a taste of mine foolishly thinking that the spiciness would be too much for him and he would quit trying to grab it. I created a monster. He proceeded to yell at anyone who had one as if they were stealing from him and actually fought Seleia a few times to try to get hers...I guess he felt the need to have one in each hand.  Crazy kid.

Now we just can't wait to go back......