We hiked up a mountain (again)

Last weekend, we hiked up Hurricane Hill, just like we did last year. The biggest difference was that this year, there was a lot more snow. I mean a lot more. The pack from last winter was dramatically more than the year before, which I think must be a good thing.

Mt. Baker is just barely visible in the distance:

We saw an Olympic Marmot, which was bigger and more golden than I remembered.

And there was no shortage of deer.

Silas enjoyed making snowballs (and then holding onto them until they melted away).

Hello little cloud.

On the way home, we were waylaid by a bridge opening on the Hood Canal Bridge. This gave me a rare opportunity to get out of the car whilst on the bridge in order to take a picture of the Olympic Mountains.
Thus ended our day trip to the mountains.

We hiked to the ocean

Last Sunday we hiked to Cape Alava/Sand Point. This is a 9.2 mile triangle: 3 miles from the trail head to the ocean, 3 miles along the coast, and 3 miles back to the trail head. I was afraid that, going at a 4 year old's pace, we wouldn't make it up the coast before the tide came back in. When the tide is high, this is a much more difficult hike, as the beach along certain stretches becomes submerged, and the only way to get through is to swim, or haul yourself up a cliff with a rope. To avoid that possibility, we walked around Sand Point for quite a while, then headed back up the path. So, about 7 miles overall.

The forest, on the hike in:
Checking out a location for a potential driftwood house:

Look, ma, I'm at the ocean!

On the top of what Silas calls "Dragon Mountain."

Me.

Us.

Strong (little) man:

Putting the finishing touch on the driftwood house:

Ta-da!

Enough of us. Here's what we came to see:



It rained during the hike back. Thankfully, the rainforest canopy kept us from getting totally drenched (sort of).

Long day. Good day.

Anna Smith Children's Garden

We stumbled upon this lovely Children's Garden a few days ago. What a great place to gain inspiration for our own garden! As you can see, Silas loved the been and sunflower tepee. This is a must for our garden next year:

It's a little washed out, but Silas is about to step on a hopscotch board:
Shots of the garden:

My strawberries are overtaking one of my raised beds, so Drew will build me a strawberry bed like this one (square upon square upon square upon square) for next year:

We've been talking about building some mason bee homes in order to attract them to the garden and increase pollination. We'll probably base ours on the ones we found at this garden:

Bamboo mason bee home:

Unidentified beautiful flowering tree:
And, ending this post with a non-plant picture: Same park, down through the forest to the beach, Silas shows off his hook arm (paper cup + straw), which he would not take off all day. Sometimes it's the simple things in life...

Strawberries and Butterflies

We're right at the peak of strawberry season. Yum! The garden grows bigger each year, and as strawberries are want to do, they have spread out from last year, giving us quite a few more berries this summer. Again, yum!
Earlier this spring, I noticed a chrysalis on one of the shrubs I was planning on transplanting. Not wanting to disturb or destroy it, I clipped off the branch it was on and Silas put it in his nature explorer box, that his Aunt Amy and Uncle Jeff gave to him for his birthday. Then, we waited. And waited. After a few weeks I began to wonder if the thing was ever going to hatch.
But as you can see, it did!
I identified it as a Lorquin's Admiral. Right after the picture below was taken, it flew up and away.
Good-bye pretty butterfly!

Cap'n Red Gnome

Give him a hat and a peg leg...

Add an eye patch and a parrot on the shoulder.

Don't forget the sword...

...and a beard...
...And you've got Cap'n Red Gnome, scourge of the Salish Sea! Aaarrgghh!

(Taken at O's birthday party, several weeks ago. What a blast!)

Parade Picture Palooza!

Thanks to his preschool, Silas got the chance to show off his tricked-out bike at the 4th of July parade yesterday. I walked with him, and D took lots of pictures...

Getting ready, along with the other preschool families:

The anticipation is mounting!


And we're off!
As nervous as he was before the parade began, it wasn't long before he started hamming it up for the parade-goers.
According to their website, this is the longest continuously running parade west of the Mississippi. So there you have it, we're part of history :)
This was my favorite float. I had to include some shots of the circus troop. They were awesome!
Check out the bearded "lady." The parasol was a nice touch.
Loved the mustached strong (mini) men with dumb bells.
The weather was PERFECT and our day was delightful. Hope yours was too!