Into the Woods

Our family has been spending a lot more time in the woods lately. We've found some kid-friendly hikes around here and have been taking the kids out every weekend. In part, because I am determined to get my Fitbit to 10k steps each day and because Cam, too, is trying to get more steps in each day.

 Dutch says "Wait, sister stood like this on a tall rock, I suppose I better strike the same pose here on this stick."

 This little hike is pretty much our favorite. We can be in the woods AND at the lake at the same time. And it's here that both of our kids' personalities become so apparent.

Dutchy needs a job to do. He's always moving or lifting or compiling something, especially on top of logs. Here he was moving sand from the sandy part of the beach over to the rocky side, shoving sand into the holes on the driftwood pieces and logs washed ashore.

 Meanwhile, Clementine is far away in her own imaginary world. She's fishing, building fairy ferry boats out of flat pieces of wood...

"Wait, sister has a stick, maybe I need a stick..."

Clem spied it first and called out "I see a balloon!" (Cam and I ran to check that it really WAS a balloon...) and the kids worked on how to get the balloon from the tide without getting wet.

 And while they worked out those details the tiniest ladybug you've ever seen landed on me! Can you see it on my ring finger there??

 Today, Clem and I were off on another adventure. We did an un-toddler-friendly hike as Dutchy is at school today. This one has lots of switchbacks and a big elevation gain. Since Dutch moves ONLY in one speed (50mph) we know better than to try this one with him just now.

 We were the first ones at the trailhead this morning. The place was cool and quiet and peaceful. But Clementine kept saying "I'm creeped out like someone is watching me!" And sure enough, as we came around the last switchback there was a pair of free-roaming puppies waiting for us. They obviously knew we were coming (Clem thinks that's the pair of eyes that gave her the willies) and they couldn't wait to greet us! They had been swimming and showed off for us for a while in the water and then we got around to wondering who they belonged to. One had tags so I called the  number on there and it turns out the owners live up there on the lake. The dogs had wondered off but promptly were called back home. Clem loved it. I think she'd hoped we'd pick up both stray dogs and take them home.

 

 

 

 

Saturday Hike

 You never know just how this crew will do these days. This  morning, we woke up to a nice break in the heat wave we've been  having (it was very humid but only 70 degrees!) and decided to hit the trails. Upon hearing this news, both kiddos howled in despair.
BUT! Once we hit the trails, Dutch took off like a natural hiker--he was seriously the best out of all 4 of us. And Clem finally settled down after discovering a way to carry her baby doll along with her.

 So off we went. There was much to see-the lake to one side and the forest to the other side of us. Dogs everywhere (both kids cheered!), a waterfall, some runners and lots of flora and fauna.

 We weren't walking at a quick pace, by any means (well, that little one was) but after about a mile it was time for a quick juice break.

 With everyone in good spirits, we decided to turn this party around and head back. Somehow, going back the opposite direction seemed to take double the time we took to set out.

 Mostly due to a great deal of selfies...

 and some losing focus-

 Then I discovered that if I ran ahead and teased Dutch, I could actually get him moving in the right direction. Here he is being a crab, trying to pinch my butt. (Moments later, a group of three older women passed us by on their walk. Dutch yelled "I'm a crab! Pinch pinch pinch!" and attempted to go after their butts, too. Good times.)

Finally, we made it back to the car in one piece.

Pacific Science Center

 Last week was our 4 year wedding anniversary! We decided to celebrate it a few days early with a trip down to Seattle to the Science Center. Clem and I went a few months ago but the boys hadn't been.

 Dutch has been crazy about dinosaurs lately and I couldn't wait to show him the animatronic dinos. This was yet another reminder how unpredictable this fellow can be. He took one step in to the room and froze. He wouldn't move and he was trembling! I think it was a bit overwhelming at first. So Cam plopped that boy up on his shoulders and we explored a bit more. (Cam is being a bit theatrical in that photo above but he said he could feel Dutch shaking the entire time we were in there!)

 Clementine knew just what to do so she raced on over to the control board and commandeered the robotic dinosaur frame. She's a natural.

 Then we went to see the Butterfly House. On this 80 degree day, the Butterfly House was 85 degrees inside! And lucky me, it was my turn to contain Dutchy through the exhibit. He was happy to be up there, thankfully.
And, once again, Clementine, the pro guided us through the different areas looking in all the right places to show us butterflies.

 We zoomed around the Butterfly House as I was pretty warm with a 45 pound wiggle worm on my shoulders.

We had a great time exploring all the exhibits.

Birch Bay Kite Festival

 Today was the Birch Bay Kite Festival and of course we HAD to go! There were kites everywhere--some pretty cool ones, too! So it was the perfect time to get out the two new kites the Easter Bunny brought last Spring!

 Dutch has an R2D2 kite and is new to this whole experience. He wanted to hold the kite handle all by himself AND chase after his kite's sparkly blue streamers. This was a confusing situation for a three year old.

 

 

 Clem, on the other hand, knew exactly how to do this. She had a new Ninja Turtle Kite that soared the whole time.
(We started out in a fenced grassy area so that Dutch could run to his heart's content--see earlier post.)

 Then we crossed the street to see the other kites. There were all kinds! It was pretty incredible.

 My kids (and Cathy) had had enough kites so we checked out the beach while the big guys sat this part out.

 Minnows! Crabs! Sea Grass!

 

And Dutchy's favorite: mud.

Holy Berries!

 Last weekend, I had a crazy hankering for fresh strawberry short cake. We found out that our favorite (and top secret) u-pick berry spot was also nearly done with their strawberry season, so off we went, with Jim and Cathy in tow, too!

 There were beautiful berries as far as the eye could see and it didn't take long to fill up FOUR of our buckets!

 If you know Dutchy, then you know how much-y he can be. As soon as his feet touch the ground, this kid takes off. Cam and I devised a Dutchy containment plan: Cam would be at one end of a row and I would pick at another. Dutch could be between us and do his thing. For a while this worked and boy, did we feel clever. And then we were out-clevered when Dutch found a break in the row and he took off, running away so fast that he lost one of his sandals along his escape route.

 A search party quickly spread out through the fields and the lost sandal was found.
(Side story--whenever we drive through farm land-which around he is pretty much everyday-I gawk at the neat rows of beautiful crops. The symmetry gets to me and feels me with joy. When I expressed this to Cameron, he said "You love it because the lines of crops are like nature's excel spreadsheets." What I'm saying is: this man GETS me.)

We went home that night with MORE than enough berries for shortcake. We ended up with 10 pounds of berries! I made shortcake, gave a big bunch to Cathy and Jim to take home, made a big batch of jam AND we STILL have berries in the freezer.

Balance

 Every weekend, we strive to find Balance--the balance between what we *have* to do and what we *want* to do. Also, the balance between what each of the littles love--finding time to balance the quality time between each of them has proven tricky with their age difference.

 But I think we nailed it this weekend. On Saturday, we hit up the Whatcom Co. Safety Fair, knowing there would be a helicopter there (which just screams Dutchy!) to explore, but also lots of other equipment to learn and explore (hellooooo! Clementine!).

 We missed the landing of the helicopter but our kids didn't mind. They both checked out the cockpit for a while before we went off to explore a bit more.

 Out of all the other things to explore, Clem said that the "smoking house on fire" where you had to "escape" from the second floor down a ladder was her all time favorite.

 We explored most of the other exhibits, too, where folks tried in earnest to teach my rugrats about safety. Dutch wanted to hear none of it. In reality, he was biding his time to get back to the "hello-copter." And Clem wanted to "escape" down the ladder a few more times.

 Later, we hit up the Scottish Highland Games to check out the men in kilts. (And inexplicably, camels.)

 While Clem got her face painted,

 Dutchy was checking out North American Predator's display (also, inexplicable--isn't this the SCOTTISH Highland Games???)

Somehow we nailed it this weekend. My house is (mostly) clean, all the laundry has been washed. Groceries got. Babies happy. Perfect Balance.