In the midst of all this Seattle rain, the sun can and occasionally does shine through. Saturday was just such a day. Steven and I woke up and realized that the sun shining and we were out the door in just a little more than an hour to go hiking. We went to a little place called Deering Wildflower Acres. Now the great thing about this spot is that it was about 15 minutes away and almost completely flat, so Liz could hike with no difficulty. There were no grand vistas or photographic gems, just a trail, barely maintained and that required us to duck at times. Jack's face was hit a few times with careless branches that scratched his face and Liz led the way, occasionally running right into spiderwebs. But it was beautiful and for that moment: perfect.
Liz thought that she was having an adventure. At first her cries of "Let's get out of this forest" were irritating, as we had just got there and were having a good time. Then we realized that she viewed the trip as a mission, and just like Dora the Explorer, Lizzy the explorer had her eyes focused on the mission. She even made up a song- "Let's get out of this forest, Let's get out of this Ju-u-ungle!" It was lovely and we all sang together for a bit.
Grandpa came with us on our adventure and helped us to find the park, which was quite well hidden and the entrance looked like someone's back yard.
Grandpa's other primary duty was to carry Lizzy's leash. She doesn't mind the monkey on her back at all, and Grandpa made sure not to hold her back.
Man, I love my kids! aren't they something? We stopped at this small bench for a fruit snack and a view of a miniscule little pond. We even saw a mommy duck and her little babies all in a row. Lizzy exclaimed "They love each other!"
Our only picture with the four of us, snapped by an obliging Grandpa. Steve and I tend to take turns as the camera tsar on different outings and this was his turn.
When I was a teenager, my family always talked about a trip out to Washington to visit the 'rainforests'. However, there were always more important things and our family trips never made it quite this far west. Consequently, in my mind, I built up Washington, especially this area (and the peninsula that I have yet to see) as this beautiful, almost magical land. I think Washington will always be a little more beautiful to me because of that. It is so green, everywhere that something can grow- something does. I think that is why it was so wonderful to take my little family out to this place...
Liz thought that she was having an adventure. At first her cries of "Let's get out of this forest" were irritating, as we had just got there and were having a good time. Then we realized that she viewed the trip as a mission, and just like Dora the Explorer, Lizzy the explorer had her eyes focused on the mission. She even made up a song- "Let's get out of this forest, Let's get out of this Ju-u-ungle!" It was lovely and we all sang together for a bit.
Grandpa came with us on our adventure and helped us to find the park, which was quite well hidden and the entrance looked like someone's back yard.
Grandpa's other primary duty was to carry Lizzy's leash. She doesn't mind the monkey on her back at all, and Grandpa made sure not to hold her back.
Man, I love my kids! aren't they something? We stopped at this small bench for a fruit snack and a view of a miniscule little pond. We even saw a mommy duck and her little babies all in a row. Lizzy exclaimed "They love each other!"
Our only picture with the four of us, snapped by an obliging Grandpa. Steve and I tend to take turns as the camera tsar on different outings and this was his turn.
When I was a teenager, my family always talked about a trip out to Washington to visit the 'rainforests'. However, there were always more important things and our family trips never made it quite this far west. Consequently, in my mind, I built up Washington, especially this area (and the peninsula that I have yet to see) as this beautiful, almost magical land. I think Washington will always be a little more beautiful to me because of that. It is so green, everywhere that something can grow- something does. I think that is why it was so wonderful to take my little family out to this place...
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