Hiking Dworshak

Labor Day Weekend

Not wanting to be fuddy-duddies by staying home the entire three-day weekend, we took a day trip, strapping on our hiking gear and heading up to Dworshak Dam, a short 45 minute drive into Idaho.

This is for you trivia buffs (here's lookin' at you, Steph):
At a height of 717 feet, Dworshak is the third tallest dam in the U.S., and is the tallest straight-axis concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere.

All together now: "Oooooooh...aaaahhhh."

The state park had a nice grassy area and playground that all three boys enjoyed.  On a side note, if Cohen doesn't tumble headfirst off playground equipment by the age of two I will be shocked.

We only hiked about 1.5 miles in/around the reservoir as it proved to have a lot more ups and downs than we anticipated, some of which proved a little tough for Kendry.  I'll admit I'm part to blame as I let him wear generic Walmart tennis shoes with zero tread - not exactly what you would call trail shoes. Lesson learned.

I don't know much about reservoirs but since there were boats all over I thought we would come across as least one flat, beach-like area where the babies could sit and play. Not so. Instead it was all stair-stepped rock. Kendry got to do lots of rock-throwing, but the babes remained confined to their packs.

After a short break on this jetty of rock we headed back to the park area for lunch - or rather our 'Ladybug Picnic'. We had spotted countless ladybugs all over the wood picnic table when we arrived at the park, but didn't think much of it other than Justin commenting, "There must be a nest nearby."

Huh.

"Do ladybugs nest?" I thought.  (You're wondering the same thing now, aren't you?)

After hiking back to the park area, I played a little game of peek-a-boo with Jack by hiding behind a large tree. After noticing how red the bark appeared I took a closer look.

Yikes!

Kendry loved it. I found it kinda creepy.  Ladybugs are cute and whimsical in small numbers, but throw a couple thousand at me and suddenly I'm smack in the middle of a Hitchcock movie.

{My subsequent research indicates that they, in fact, do not really nest but infest.}


In all it was a fun outing, particularly since I finally caught some genuine smiles from this five year old.

Ten on Tuesday {Summer Style}

Welcome back, folks! Let's see if I can update you on our recent summer fun. Although we didn't make an official "Summer 2014 Bucket List", it seems that with each week we've been checking off some fun activities.

{1}

Family Hike at Elk Creek Falls

This was actually over Memorial Day weekend; although the calendar would say otherwise, I consider Memorial Day the official start of summertime.

{2}

Jack took his first steps last Sunday evening. 

He hasn't attempted any since. I have reason to believe he will be the more cautious one of the three boys.

{3}

With the temperature on the rise a little beach time is a necessity.

{4}

We got this "new to us" wood furniture from Justin's parents a few months ago. Believe it or not, this set is older than Justin - and still in great shape! Although it is indoor furniture, we had the idea to use it on the patio. Justin has been painting it this week. I can't wait to show you how it turns out.

{5}

We attended the annual Dru Gimlin 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament in mid-June, where Justin opted to lace up his shoes and play again this year - a decision that resulted in a week of ice and elevation after he developed turf toe. These 30's are a little tougher on the joints than the 20's ever were.

Kendry is quickly mastering his dribbling skills.

We love you, #21!

{6}

Bike Ride on the Levee

Although we have a wonderful path along the Snake River in our valley, we live a few miles away and at a higher elevation, thus making bike rides on the levee a little more challenging. For this ride we opted to just haul the bikes and trailer down to the river in the old pickup.

Jack appears a little skeptical here; he must have suspected Daddy had some swing shenanigans planned for the playground.

Sure enough!

{7}

Last week I took the three boys up to Spokane for a quick over-nighter with Justin's sister and her family. We visited Trader Joe's (a huge highlight for Mommy, not so much for the boys) and walked to the splash pad park.

{8}

We had a wonderful 4th of July, starting with what has become a traditional July 4th morning run, and ending with firework fun and great friends. In between we attended a community Old Fashioned 4th of July where Kendry and I got to ride an old fire engine.

{9}

Now, lest you think our days of summer are all sunshine, fun and smiles - as one might incorrectly infer from the above photos - let me assure you that in reality most of our days look like this:

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

Between church and the grocery store on Sunday morning, we misplaced Jack's lovie, Mr. Frog. I fretted the whole drive home, sure I was going to have to fork out the money for a replacement, and do it quick so it would arrive prior to our flight. We pulled into our drive and were elated to find Mr. Frog propped up against the door, as though he had hitchhiked home and was just waiting for us to unlock the door for him. As it turns out, some friends from church found Mr. Frog in the parking lot and recognized him as belonging to our boys. They drove him all the way across town so he would be home for afternoon nap time. Thank you so much, Misty and Matt!

Jack with Mr. Frog at 6 months:

Seattle Times

The craziness of summer has seemed to carry me away from the blog lately; but tonight I'm sitting (and slowing) down to tell you about two of our Seattle adventures.

Back in June we had those three crazy weeks during which I left my boys to their own devices for two weekends in a row.

Funny how bittersweet it can be to have them function so well in your absence.

After my whirlwind trip to Texas on June 16th, I was home for three very short days before jetting off to Seattle to visit my girlfriend Amanda.

Amanda and I both grew up in Alaska and first met each other at a junior high volleyball game. Later in high school we took a lot of the same classes, played on the volleyball team, and all too often found ourselves lingering after school together, waiting for our older brothers (also friends) to finish wrestling practice or football practice.

After high school, I stayed in the northwest while Amanda headed off to New Orleans for college. Lucky for me, about ten years ago her work transferred her out to Seattle.

It was a lucky move for her as well. Three years ago she met the man of her dreams and they were engaged in 2011.

June's trip to Seattle was for  -- you guessed it -- the bridal shower and bachelorette party!

Amanda's future mother-in-law hosted a beautiful shower for her at The Georgian.

The flapper-girl themed bachelorette party followed later that evening.

It was a fabulous weekend!

Fast forward to August 9th and we were headed to Seattle again, leaving Kendry at the halfway point with Grandma and Grandpa - and cousin Paxton.

Justin and I took in Discovery Park on Friday, before heading down to check in to our hotel.

That evening we tried out the lightrail for our first time and traveled downtown for the rehearsal dinner.

Our friend Ashleigh, also a former Alaskan girl, flew in from D.C. with her husband that evening.

After walking 5 blocks from the lightrail to the restaurant in new shoes (silly, Jody!), I had horrible blisters on each foot. My knight in shining armor left the restaurant and trekked a few blocks until he found a Ross store with some flip-flops in my size.

My hero!

 

Finally, the wedding day!

The photo of me with the bride is still with the professional photographer so this photo will have to suffice for now:

It was a wonderful weekend celebrating and catching up with friends, and the hubs and I enjoyed some quality time as a party of two.

On our drive home the next day, we stopped off at Snoqualmie Pass to hike to Snow Lake.

This was a trip well worth the 6.5 hour drive both ways.

I love Seattle.

And if all goes as planned we'll be making the drive again in a month for a visit to our clinic! Please be praying with us. -JJ&K

A Spring Sunday

This last Sunday we played hookie from church and embarked on our first hike of the year.
Palouse Falls is located about an hour and a half from our house, which proved to be a fairly easy day trip to tackle with a toddler. Arriving at the falls by 10am, we were a bit disappointed that the windy weather from Clarkston had indeed followed us to the falls, but we quickly discovered that if we kept moving we stayed plenty warm.

The park itself has a great view of the falls, but its the various trails around and behind the falls that really give you the full experience. We let Kendry hike a bit on his own until he began to tire and it became a bit too treacherous for him to be, for lack of a better term, loose.

Kendry's key phrase for the day month: "No, I want to do it myself."

Talk about a bittersweet stage. Part of me was so proud of him for climbing up some pretty rocky parts of the trail all by himself, but another part of me wanted him to hold out his hand and ask for my help. 

Please humor me for a little while as I pretend this isn't just the beginning of the eternal mommy dilemma I will battle emotionally for the rest of my son's life, okay? I am saving that reality check for the day he no longer needs me to tie his shoes.

After stopping for a quick snack along the trail we put Kendry into the Kelty and set off to find a trail that would lead us down to the water above the falls.

Oops, dead end.

Nope, we're not making it down this way either.

Finally we wandered back to the railroad tracks and found a much easier path that descended to the upper part of the falls.

Had we let him, Kendry would have spent hours throwing rocks into the water.

And while he threw rocks I inspected this strange paw print in the mud.

I'm convinced it was left by a cougar, so naturally I was scanning the terrain suspiciously the rest of our hike, on guard for any cougars that might be stalking my child. (Before you laugh, you should know that a cougar was actually shot and killed in a Central Washington neighborhood earlier this month.) 

Between the water, steep ledges, sharp rocks and cougar paw prints, my momma bear instincts were running on overdrive  - enough that I'm pretty sure I came home with a few gray hairs.

Oh no wait.

Only two of those gray hairs were from Kendry and the steep ledges.

The third was from my husband getting close enough to the top of the falls to snap this photo.

Justin assured me that had he fallen in would have shouted "As you wiiiisshh!" on his way down.

You gotta love a guy who quotes Princess Bride, no?

But speaking of going down the falls...

Would you believe that a young man actually kayaked over the falls a few years ago?

I know all you moms were ready to smack that boy upside his head as he left that voicemail for his mother.

Our hike ended with a nice picnic lunch back at the park. Then, after an appropriately timed dirty diaper, we loaded everything up and were on our way back home.

Have I told you how blessed I am to have a husband who loves the outdoors like I do?

Priceless.

 

Last but not least, I was smitten with this awesome rock formation at the top of the falls.

Don't we have an amazingly artistic Creator?