Three summer outings as a family.
#1. The Fairy Forest. We have hiked to the fairy forest in the past. This time before the hike we painted rocks from our yard the night before. We had Jake carry them in a pack- yes lots of heavy painted rocks, and our lunch, in a backpack. We discovered that the forest is now not a secret and super popular and crowded. There were tons of people there and tons more contributions to the forest since we went last. Also we couldn't find our little house we left last time. We did place some of our rocks at the very back of the forest so hopefully we can find them next time. Bethany cried and refused to leave her rock so we ended up packing out the heavy rock. Oh hilarious life. The kids also found a little character from a Happy Meal in the car they found a house for. And were obsessed with hiking sticks.
We stopped to have a little picnic too where we mentioned something about "leave no trace" and the kids talked about it and asked questions for a long time about it.
We took a picture on a log sitting, Jake and all the kids the same log as last time I thought might be fun to compare. The weather was beautiful either way despite our secret fairy garden in the Kamas forest being very well publicized now.
#2. Kamas river evening. We picked up a pizza and went to a river we've passed twenty or more times on our way to Kamas. The river looked shallow and like a really fun place to play, though we had never seen anyone ever there. That should have been a clue. We drove to the area and hiked in. The hike was about twenty minutes all on boardwalks. Which shouldn't have been too difficult except that Beth was afraid to walk on the cracks between the wood slats of course! We arrived at the river but it was very rocky, and the rocks were all covered in moss, and the kids couldn't really walk on them, I even slipped. So holding pizzas, cameras, and kids the situation became precarious. We sat on a log and ate our dinner and threw some rocks in the river. It was crazy how slippery the moss made the river. We played for a bit in an area that had some dirt. But then we hiked back. It was still an adventure, but now we get why we never saw anyone playing in what seemed like a really fun river bed :)
#3 Jordanelle Paddle Board Night. We packed all our water gear and a picnic dinner and headed to Jordanelle. We have never been to this lake as a family though it is a mere 15 minutes from our house. We rented a paddle board from the marina there and set up a little day camp. Jake took each kid out on their own on the paddle board. Some were braver than others, Kate seemed to like the paddle board the most. In the end both Kate and Sam did it for a bit by themselves even. Marianne was willing to go with Dad and had fun, but Bethany cried and screamed in terror! So the little girls and I mostly sat on the beach digging in the sand. We had a delicious dinner on the beach and played in the sand some more and in the water. I tried the Paddle Board on m own as well and stood up and was rowing just as I saw Jake get the camera I yelled "you better hurry if you want a picture I'm going to fall" and seconds later I did just that. Yes- Paddle Board and I aren't a great match. But the evening was fun and inspired a second lake night later in the summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment