Seabrook II

Seabrook, WA. Such a lovely escape, especially when we need to take deep breaths of fresh ocean air and the kids need to roam free. On one of the nights, Jon and the girls were outside at the fire pit roasting marshmallows and getting to know the other vacationers in the area. I felt like I was being anti-social sitting there alone in the cabin. I was experiencing allergies whenever the front door opened and feared going out would only exasperate whatever it was tickling my nose. Jon however was right at home chatting away with strangers who just so happened to live in our neighborhood in Seattle.

 

We arrived at our cabin confronted with a steep ladder that led the girls to the sleeping loft where there were two cozy beds and an old steamer trunk for which to store their clothes.



At times I felt the ladder was a bit too steep for the rascals.

Isn't it interesting how pictures reveal personalities? In the image above you see Alex front and center -- Alex is not shy. Then, in the background is my cautious, shy child, Sammy.

 

We love it so much here. We hope to come again this summer.

 

Summer Days

We're only a few days into the school year and already my children seem more settled. They're in a routine, spending time with friends, doing brain work. I love it.

This past weekend Seattle got a sneak peek at autumn. Rain, wind, and a canopy of grayish blue skies encouraged me to rifle through my collection of sweaters and jeans for something just right. Something not too heavy, and not too light.

Mornings are brisk and now jackets are hanging at the ready near the front door. Summer appears to be getting smaller, much like the view of a tall building when driving out of town; after some distance, you don't even see it anymore.

I feel this way about vacations too. Vacations are fleeting, and I suppose, after wearing a sweater for two days in a row, it ignited in me a desire to reminisce. Our trip to Sunriver was only a month ago and yet it feels like an eternity .

Here are images from that trip:

 

Dosewallips State Park

Our family took a trip unlike any other. We went camping. Not the regular kind of camping where you wrestle with setting up tent, instead we stayed in a platform tent complete with electricity and heat.

We stayed for two long days in the wilderness, cooked over an open fire, and walked a few yards to the communal bathrooms. I'll admit that the outdoors was more pleasant than I thought it would be and it wasn't the least bit scary. We tried to give the girls a 'real' rustic camp experience despite the comfortable quarters.

It took us some time to understand what the heck we were supposed to do out there along the banks of the river so when we saw other campers hurling rocks into the river, we decided to do the same. Turns out, hurling rocks is fun.

Even though Jon and I told the girls not to get wet, Alex proceeded to pull up her pant legs and walk in anyways. Note to self: the girls have selective hearing in the wilderness too.

 

We were hoping for sandy beaches and instead got this. Beautiful, but no where near sandy. No matter, the girls still had a great time.

 

Ranger Eric taught us which plants were edible and which would kill us. After class, I let the girls know that even though we now know that Huckleberries grow on the tops of tree stumps -- because that's where Robins like to poop -- for safety reasons, we should never pick and then eat them. Huckleberries look a lot like other berries and we don't want to eat the wrong plant. Blackberries, good; everything else, bad. I certainly hope they didn't have selective hearing during this conversation.

We brought along Alex's bug kit and it certainly came in handy.

 

Water bugs are just as creepy up close as they are flitting around in the water.

 

I'm guessing we were the only ones out there toasting bagels over the fire.

 

We didn't need the bug kit for this guy.