June has brought her A-game this year, kicking off the month with a solid six days of sunshine.  Shane had Friday off and suggested a family hike in the mountains – I wasn’t sure I was up for a long trek, but when I saw him throw Juliette’s bike in the trunk, I figured we were in for some pretty mild terrain.  We made a pitstop at the bakery for sustenance, and then found ourselves nestled among the Cascades at the Gold Creek Pond trailhead just one hour later.  The “trail” was flat and paved and the perfect place for Jules to practice her cruising.
And Gold Creek Pond was a glistening turquoise lake, clear and serene and all kinds of lovely.
We found a patch of grass and a shady picnic table where we could have a snack and then dip our toes in the freezing water.
I love baseball cap weather…
Our mile-long loop left us all parched, so we hopped over to Dru Bru for beer and ginger ale. Â Cheers, kiddo!
After a solid family nap in the afternoon, we met up with some friends at Jefferson Park for a taco picnic and a romp in the splash pad. Â This picture makes it hard to believe that summer hasn’t officially begun:
We spent Saturday morning down by Lake Washington, sunning and paddleboarding. Â It took some major negotiating to pry Juliette off this thing – had to promise the kid treats and a trip to the plant store (she loves Lowe’s these days).
Sunday was hot, hot, hot, so we headed to the mountains again, this time to check out Franklin Falls.
Shane wanted to save his shoulders and asked Jules to walk the first part of the trail.  She made it…0.1 miles before begging to get up in the backpack!
I’ve been on a couple of waterfall hikes that end with an anti-climatic trickle over some rocks.  Not the case here!  This baby was roaring.
Juliette wasn’t a fan of the cold falls-spray and spent our time down there nuzzled into my chest. Â There are worse things, I guess…
We plowed through the crowds back toward our car, scoring a sweet little spot near the river to stop and refuel with strawberries and pretzels.
And we found ourselves back at Lake Washington on Sunday evening, eating pizza with Jack and La Verne while the kids ran circles around us.
These ring-around-the-rosy pics would make the best flip book ever!
Ahhhh…June. Â So far, so good!