La Wis Wis

I caved to peer pressure and got us a spot to camp at La Wis Wis. It was a little on the chilly side, BUT we did manage to spend two nights with toasty campfire as the burn ban didn't go into effect until our last day. For the win!

I have now taken to bringing the hammock and it is one of Isaac's favorite parts. Even when we stretch the 2 person recommendations.

No one really sleeps in it, but some of us enjoy faking it.

On the second day, I decided we should hike the Naches Peak Loop trail which has amazing views of Rainier. We didn't expect to have snow on the trail, but, again, lucky!

It was a cloudy morning, but we had high hopes the clouds would burn off. And they did.

Even the ones on the trail.

For a few minutes anyway.

30 seconds later:

We kept on trekking with less and less hope for views of stunning vistas. And here is Rainier:

We finished the loop even as Jason and Isaac doubted my claims. Back at the campground, we found our way down to the Cowlitz River for the afternoon.

The next morning, we loaded up the car and then stopped at the Blue Hole to get Isaac's feet freezing wet before we went home.

We aren't normally the meandering sorts when we travel, but Mossyrock Dam also had porta-potties so we hopped out for a look.

Another successful trip. We'll have to see where peer pressure takes us next time!

Fun at the Zoo

To start off Jason's week off, we took the bookends (aka 1 and 4) to the zoo with us. The weather turned out to be nice and cool so the animals were fairly active. 

Isaac, shockingly, still isn't as tall as male polar bear. Gotta work on that.

 It is always fun to touch the wildlife.

Sadly, Isaac's favorite exhibit is no longer there, but he and Josh did spend a few minutes in the Hurricane Simulator. It was hair raising.

As usual, Isaac took a spin on the carousel. He is the only one who wants to and will do this, but based on his facial expressions it may not be his thing much longer.

We ended with a trip to the gift shop where we spent more than we should have. Then a final pic with the gorilla and our time at the zoo was done.

Fathers' Day

 

I don't know how many more of these we'll get all together, but all the boys were here for Fathers' Day! 

Cycling on the Chehalis

No one can accuse us of trying to get our kids on bikes at too young of an age. Poor Isaac has two parents and no one who has been able to run behind him holding the back of his bike in his younger years. Bless the YMCA/City of Lacey for holding a learn to bike clinic earlier this year. With a three day weekend and some sunshine, Jason had some time to get the bikes prepped (tires pumped up and cobwebs wiped off) so we could take our newest biker out on a bike ride. 

We ended up doing a bit over of six miles with Isaac pumping his legs and Jason carrying Gatorade and snacks in the basket on his bike.

And though the bikes were ready and the snacks were plentiful, we still managed to forget what should be a Miller Cardinal Rule: always, ALWAYS bring tissue.

Easter........-ish

It has been a rough few weeks....eons...ages... Which meant a family Easter dinner was out. We didn't even have a particularly special meal for the four of us. BUT I did order this Reese's Egg weeks ago and saved it for our special Easter dinner dessert. 

And then I made Jason cut it up and most of us thought it was too sweet and Isaac got to eat most of it.

Here's to holidays in 2027 - they have got to be better.

Getting our Pi(e) On!

 With the musical in the evening, we gathered earlier in the day to celebrate what today is all about: pi!

Well, most of us celebrated. Some us are anti-pie. 

Freshman Singer Showcase, ft. Michael

You only have a Freshman Singer Showcase once. Which made it seem like the thing that we should go visit Bellingham for.

And once we got there, we found these flyers in the music building, much to Michael's disgust.

 We left Ben and all his activities and commitments behind, but we dragged brought Isaac with us.

Since many people in the audience had come with plenty of time to spare, the professor made the wise decision to use the resources available to her and had Michael play some prelude music.

But we did get to hear him sing, too. Always a lovely experience.

A lovely group. Michael enjoyed this class and even started hosting game nights for the class at his place. It will be exciting to see how some of these folks grow over the next few years.

Before we left, we had to make a pit stop at Michael's place to appreciate the decor. 

And then we took the scenic way home and tortured Isaac by making him get out of the car and pose in front of the view beautiful views.

Lake Cushman

We took the day to have some fun in the sun.  

Ink

I have developed a set of recommendations regarding tattoos that I share with the boys when the topic comes up. 

1. Wait until age 25 when your brain has finished developing
2. Once you have a design you want, sit with it for a year to make sure it is what you really want
3. Start with one in a location on your body that can be easily covered

Then Michael went to Mexico with a bunch of friends. I should have seen this coming. I really should have. Alas and alack. 

Today Michael sent Jason a picture. So far, he has sent me texts more often than Jason. It probably isn't too difficult to understand why this one went to Jason. 

We were both surprised and not. But it did inspire us. Well, it inspired me and I roped Ben and Jason into my plan. I bought a tattoo pen (washable) a while back and haven't been able to convince anyone to use it. But, this was an opportunity I could not pass up. Part of the issue is that I have to have buy-in from Jason since I am a horrible artist. 

Here is the image Jason sent back after explaining that Ben was jealous when he saw Michael's picture:

Twins, right??

Car Museum in the Heat Wave

Holy heat wave, Batman!

We scored some tickets to the car museum in Tacoma from Doug and Cody. A heat wave seemed like a great time to enjoy cars and air conditioning. The museum was a mix of old cars, strange cars, super sweet rides, and interactive exhibits. The only drawback is that the museum closed today before the heat broke. But everyone found a car to swoon over and several cars to gawk at.