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! 

Isaac is Moving UP

Isaac is moving up to middle school! We weren't too worried about this, but we do like to celebrate an accomplishment. Isaac got to walk across the stage at a ceremony that lasted less than 45 minutes (WIN!!!). Weird to think this is our last leaving elementary school. 

Of course we had to take a picture of Isaac and his amazing teacher. Ali has been wonderful teacher and has encouraged Isaac to participate in leadership activities and Battle of the Books. He has grown a lot this year in many ways under her care.

Jason and Nana (not seen here) were able to come as well so we were able to make a bit of noise when he walked across the stage and take pictures after.

We're proud of this kid and excited to see what comes next!

There's a Ginger in Town

A little over 10 years ago, I called my Dad to tell that Josh had been hit by a car. Josh was fine. After I recounted the entire story to my Dad, he asked me if I would please, in the future, lead with "Josh is fine" before breaking the rest of the news.

That was fair. 

That memory came to me early in the morning on June 1st when Michael texted me "mom something crazy happened."

See, that particular phrase could go so so so so so many ways. And it was 6am which would seem to indicate that "crazy" probably wasn't a good thing.  

Turns out:  

"Crazy" is code for adorable ginger kitten that Michael dubbed "Calvin".

Calvin was an early birthday present from his girlfriend and since that slightly worrisome text early that morning, I have been getting videos and pictures of Calvin in texts. The anticipation has been intense, but Michael brought Calvin down with him when he came home for the weekend.

No matter how darling this bundle of fur is, he could not stay at our house. Josh kindly allowed Calvin to stay at his apartment.

Annie was not pleased.

We all think Calvin is adorable, but we're all Team Annie when it comes to being sympathetic to having her home turf invaded by another cat.

During the times when there were no human referees, Calvin lived in Josh's bedroom and Annie had run of the apartment. But when people were there, Calvin and Annie had the opportunity to hiss and watch each other closely.

Calvin is tiny and we found his hissing adorable. Annie was not amused.

Isaac was also a little unsure of Calvin as an animal with claws and little self control.

But he enjoyed playing with Calvin.

Eventually, Isaac was confident enough to hold Calvin. Though, I don't think that Calvin was confident about being held by Isaac.

Michael and Calvin are back home but we enjoyed seeing them both.

Rainier to Ruston

Ben was invited to run. In a relay. By people who have run more recently than their freshman year. 

Of course, he said yes. Peer pressure is real.

It was hours and hours and involved a minivan supporting the group. Not really a spectator event, but I did manage to grab some photos from Instagram so here they are:

He came home with aching legs and some pretty sweet swag.

5th Grade Track and Field

The one and only sporting event of 5th grade is the Track and Field Meet. The kids practice after school twice a week for all of May and then today we all assembled at the South Sound Stadium for all manner of throwing, running, and jumping. 

Naturally today was about 15 degrees warmer than yesterday and 20 degrees warmer than it will be tomorrow. But everyone stayed in the shade when they could and worked on hydrating so the event was a success. 

Isaac ran the 50 meter and was the second leg of the 4 x 100 meter relay. This meant quite a bit of waiting which he spent cheering on his teammates.

And then it was time for him to run.

And run he did...

...all the way to 2nd place!

Then back to waiting with some of his buddies. 

Eventually the relays started and he was back on the track.

Running, running, running.

Again running to 2nd place!

I may or may not have pulled up the pictures from Michael's 5th grade Track and Field Meet to discover that Michael came in 4th twice. Isaac now claims that he is faster than Michael and Michael is challenging him to a race so this all ends well.