Father/Son Camping (video now added)

I (Rob) had a Monday off, so Auggie and I headed out over the mountains to the dry east side on Sunday for an overnight adventure. Went to Icicle Creek near Leavenworth--a gorgeous area I hadn't been to in a number of years.
Auggie had a great time climbing on rocks, big piles abounding in that area.

This one had a hole through it, assumedly from blasting when they built the roadway.

Auggie helps gather firewood.

Our campsite was right by Icicle Creek--which is really too big to be called a creek; it's a roaring river this time of year. Lingering snow on the mountain in the background.

Auggie had a great time running up and down these big logs in our campsite.

Some of the local scenery.

Father's Day

This year Becky let the kids come up with what to do for Father's Day for Rob.
They made a crown for him and decided that what he really needed was a cake--a cake that said "Super Dad" on top of it! Very sweet!

Fremont Solstice Parade

We managed to make it to the Fremont Solstice Parade this year. Becky and Rob love this parade, but our attendance has been sporadic since the kids were born.
We were quite far from the beginning of the parade route and it was moving so slowly that it took the better part of an hour before it actually reached us! The street was blocked off, so the bored spectators took over the road for chalk drawing, bubble blowing, juggling, rope jumping, etc. while waiting for the parade to arrive.

Chalk-outlining was a common activity.

The only picture that we got of the actual parade. It was so late in getting to us that we had to leave to make it to an appointment and so actually only saw the first half.

Great Wolf Lodge

We finally got to make our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge as a delayed celebration of a whole slew of events. For those who don't know, it's an indoor waterpark "resort"--meaning you have to stay in their attached hotel as part of a package. Aunt Juel drove up from Salem to go with us, which was a big help with the kids.
There were big waterslides which the kids were unfortunately not big enough to go on. We adults sampled them, but we all really loved the big wave pool best anyway.
There were lots of squirty play areas.

Auggie figured out how to partially step on a jet and make it spray someone.

The four of us in the big pool. (It wasn't as dark as it looks in there. Our camera had problems with the lighting conditions.)

Drying off and snuggling.

Every night there was a story time (and photo op with characters) down in the main hall of the lodge. Kids were encouraged to come down in there jammies before going to bed.

For additional photos see Juel's blog: www.captwc.blogspot.com

Hike!

Okay, first a random picture of Auggie...

On the first weekend of June, we (finally) had some nice weather, so we decided to try a family hike to Franklin Falls on the front edge of the Cascade Mountains (I went there last summer with Auggie and posted about it). It was a beautiful day for a hike in the forest. We probably went around 1.5 miles total, and the best part was that everyone hiked the whole way on their own two feet!

One of the many rough bridges over creeks along the way.

Salem for Aunt Juel's Birthday

We went to Salem, Oregon over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate Aunt Juel's birthday with her.
One place we went was to the local Children's Museum, which had lots of hands-on things for the kids to do.



For Juel's birthday party a friend of hers came over with her pedi-cab that she actually runs as a business in Salem. She was nice enough to give some sample rides around the alley.