little black journal

Since our first attempt at family camping was a rather damp disappointment, we figured we needed a re-do.  Shane did some sleuthing on Washington’s most beautiful campgrounds and we settled on Colonial Creek in the North Cascades as our Take Two destination.  We turned on our out-of-office auto-replies, played a few rounds of cooler Tetris as we struggled to get all our gear into our car, and on Wednesday morning, we were mountain-bound!  We rolled up to camp shortly after noon and snagged one of the last water-front sites – this place was hoppin!  I mean, of course it was – check out the view…

Jules and I scoped out the bathroom situation and paid our fees at the ranger station while Shane set up camp in record time – this guy was clearly Jonesin’ to get out on the paddle board we had borrowed for the weekend.

Juliette was wound up with the excitement of it all, but quickly crashed once we settled into the tent for naptime.  Snuggling up to this sleeping kid has become one of my favorite parts of camping.

I’m glad she rested, because that evening her buddies joined the party – all aboard the camp chair choo choo train!

This girl looooooves the babies.

And this guy loves the water.

We cooked a mondo steak over the campfire for dinner and then capped off Day One with toasted mallows.  I figured we could push back Juliette’s 7:30 bedtime, it being vacation and all, but was a little surprised when I checked my phone as we tucked her into her sleeping bag – it was after 10:00!  Ah, well, carpe diem – how often do we get to completely lose track of time anymore?

Thursday morning was sunny and glorious – the guys got back out on the water, the kids played in the mud, and I took my time drinking my large cup of coffee.

Paddle board yoga!

Once Shane and Brian were properly zenned, we packed up a few PB&J’s for lunch and hit the Thunder Creek trail right near our campsite.

Jules can be a tricky hiking companion, often darting ahead or lagging waaaaay behind.  Hence the lollipop bribe to get her to hang tight in the backpack.

Juliette asked if a dinosaur broke this rock:

We told her yes.

The woods were dense and lush, Shire-like with the abundance of moss.

We were bound and determined to make it to the bridge, even if that meant carrying Jules the last half mile (see previous two photos).  Finally…voila!  The river and lake are this amazing aqua blue, colored by the minerals from the glacial melt.  Incredible.

We grabbed a river-side log for lunch and took a much-needed load off – that may have been the longest two miles I had ever walked.

The water was freezing, but too tempting to resist a quick little splash.

Eventually I told Jules it was time to hit the trail back to camp.  She just shushed me.

We eventually coaxed Juliette into the backpack and high-tailed it back to camp for naps, pausing only briefly along the way to take in these colors.  THESE COLORS.

We dozed a bit in the afternoon, and then these speed-racers rolled into camp Thursday evening – welcome, Rusts!

This is the face of a kid sister that just can’t quite keep up…

Meanwhile, Shane was…

We chowed down on another campfire meal and then walked/biked over the amphitheater for the 7 pm ranger talk, which turned out to be a rather dry discussion of the concept of wilderness, spiced up only by folk tales about salmon women and demon elk.  Not quite the bedtime story I’d planned for Jules, but we went with it, hoping the ranger’s monotone voice would tee us up for an easy bedtime.  No such luck – this girl was pumped!

Up next:  a lookout, a goat, and lots more paddle boarding!  Stay tuned.

July 1st was the beginning of what turned out to be a pretty grand four-day weekend.  We toasted to the new month on Friday evening with beer and tacos at Chuck’s Hop Shop, and then headed over to Miller Playfield for a romp in the evening sun.  I couldn’t tear these kids off the swings…

Until I muttered two magic words:  ICE CREEEEEEAM!!!  Meet Hello Robin’s happiest customers:

The kids burned off their sugar rush with a quick yoga session on the lawn and a game of “Ding” Around the Rosy near the car, and then we called a day.

Saturday held adventures of the indoor variety, as we met up with several of Juliette’s buddies for her very first movie.  She’s been a huge Nemo fan for awhile, so the chance to watch her experience Finding Dory on the big screen was pretty irresistible.  She sat through the whole thing, happily munching on popcorn and then exclaiming, “that was fun, Mommy!” as we walked out of the theater.  We hadn’t even hit the sidewalk before she asked to go again (not happening!).

Mitch, Kathryn, and the girls rolled into Seattle on Sunday afternoon.  Shane grilled steak and veggies for lunch, I filled our glasses with white wine and beer, and then we settled into the patio chairs for a long, leisurely lunch.  Morgan and Juliette were thrilled to be reunited after several weeks apart.

These girls and their babies!

After a total naptime bust, Shane offered to haul all three kids to Seward Park on the bike.  Uncle of the Year!

We spent a couple of hours down by the lake, tossing the frisbee and playing in the sand and eventually soaking a couple of pairs of pants.

I know, I know, why do I wait until her clothes are soaked before putting on the swimsuit?!

I ducked out in the evening for an art class I’m taking while Shane put our over-tired wound-up kiddo to bed (no small feat).  I met up with the guys after class for a late-night drink at Raconteur, followed by a late-late-night drink at Union Bar.  Mitch and I haven’t been out together past midnight in years.  Many years!

We spent Monday morning eating pancakes and watching Stage 3 of the Tour de France, then eventually rallying for a stroll through the Cheasty Greenbelt.

We made plans to head up to Jefferson Park and Morgan begged Uncle Shane to take her in the bike trailer.  It’s quite a climb to the park, and we’d had those late-late-night drinks, so I wasn’t sure he’d be up for it.  But he channeled his inner Tour de France-r and went for it – somebody get this guy a polka dot jersey!

We hit each and every piece of playground equipment in that big, sprawling park.

Several times.

We grabbed an afternoon cup of coffee in Georgetown and then the Jarrells hit the road.  Jules bawled her eyes when we said our good-byes.

I barely held it together myself!

Luckily, there was more fun to be had that day, as we spent the evening at the Rusts eating and drinking and playing.

You’re cute, Jules.

Brian showed up with a bucket full of fresh-caught live crabs.  We all had a good laugh while watching Jason ever-so-anxiously transfer them from bucket to pot.

This scene looks so sweet and serene, doesn’t it?  It sounded like pure chaos.

Isaiah keeps a pretty good beat, though!

Happy Independence Day from this crazy crew!  Looking forward to more summer shenanigans with you all!

We’re only 10 days into the official summer season, but we’ve already made some good progress on our summertime bucket list.  These sun-shiny months have a pesky way of flying by at warp speed, so we’re doing our best to make the most of them.  This means…

Berry-picking!  We spent a Sunday morning out at Remlinger Farms a couple of weeks ago and walked away with five pounds of raspberries and seven pounds of strawberries.  At least, that’s what was in our bucket.  Throw in another pound or two for the loot in Juliette’s belly.

Kudos to Shane for staying focused on the task at hand…

Biking for beer has become something else of a summertime tradition for us.  The ride from Matthews Beach to 192 Brewing in Kenmore is a favorite route – nachos and Pilsner at one end…

And then back to the beach to cool off in Lake Washington!

Shane thinks Juliette looks like one of the Golden Girls in this swimsuit.  I love it.

When Juliette wants to ditch the bike trailer and strike out on her own, we head to Lincoln Park for the water-side pathway.  She’s gettin’ to be a speed demon on that thing!

Must be these expert demos:

We’re spending plenty of time at the tried-and-true favorites, like the Jefferson Spray Park (note to self:  she will always get soaked.  always pack a swimsuit!).

And the Cheasty Greenbelt across the street from our house.  We don’t have much in the way of backyard, but this is a dang good substitute!

And last night, an intense wrestling match on the lawn at the Columbia City Farmer’s Market – what you can’t see is the cherry juice dribbling down these kids’ chins!

Comin’ tomorrow:  JULY!

Some of my earliest, fondest memories are of family camping trips in the Colorado woods.  Drinking Tang and building campfires and hanging out along the river, playing with worms while my dad and brother fished nearby.  And so I was pretty thrilled when Shane (warily) agreed to book a weekend at Beckler River Campground with our friends.  We were doing it!  Becoming a camping family!  Jules was going to love it!  We would go on beautiful hikes and eat delicious meals cooked on a camp stove and spend our nights snuggled warmly together, snoozing soundly in the great outdoors!  My mind swirled with exclamation points.  Shane bought us a big new tent and I made a grocery list that included marshmallows and graham crackers – we were due to head toward Skykomish on Friday morning.

And then…

I checked the forecast.  RAIN.  So. much. rain.  Dang, I was bummed.  More than bummed, actually – I was a wreck.  In the wake of the Orlando shootings, I was desperately needing a breath, a chance to get away and soul-share with some of my nearest and dearest and to rejoice in the beauty of summer in the PNW.  We were on the verge of begrudgingly taking a literal rain check, but regrouped with the gang and decided we’d try our luck at a campground further south with a slightly better forecast.  Shane stayed true to character as the skeptic, but he decided to go with the flow after watching me weep over the thought of throwing in the towel (seriously, folks, I was a mess).  We would give it a go.  Owhi Campground for the win!

And then…

Juliette woke up Friday morning grumpy and complaining that her ear hurt, so I called her doc right away and got her in for a 10 am consult.  The pediatrician said it looked like she had the beginning of an ear infection.  We could still head out for the weekend, but it was suggested that we pick up a round of antibiotics for Juliette, to nip any chances of fever and full-fledged infection in the bud.  I cleverly had the doctor call in the prescription to Costco in Issaquah, so that they’d have it ready and waiting for us as we swung by on the road to Cle Elum.  We could still make camp by noon and have our pick of the first-come first-serve sites!

And then…

Three hours later, the prescription was finally ready – the Costco pharmacy was insanely slow and held us hostage in Issaquah way past our target departure time.  But hey, at least we’d be landing at Owhi about the same time as everyone else – we’d be together to pick a spot or form another back-up plan if things were full!

And then…

Nance texted – she was sick.  Really sick.  Their clan was out.  Brian was stuck at work.  They wouldn’t make it till evening.   Josh and Jess weren’t coming until Saturday.  And the weather forecast was looking gloomier by the minute.  If not for Juliette chanting “I want to go caaaaaaamping!” from the backseat, we might have high-tailed it back to Seattle and let her overdose on Daniel Tiger while I sulked and Shane very secretly breathed a sigh of relief.  But we pressed on and rolled up to Owhi, 40 minutes north of Cle Elum, in time to snag the last of the lakefront sites.  We pitched our gigantic new tent, rolled out our sleeping bags, and settled into our camp chairs.  Shane poured me a cup of wine, Jules slurped on her apple cider, and I patted myself on the back for my pig-headedness optimistic persistence.  Things were looking up.

The Hickory’s joined us just in time for dinner.  Juliette and Stella haven’t spent much time together recently, but they took to each other immediately and within minutes had claimed this log as their special spot, as I heard Stella ask, “Juliette, wanna go to our spot and play dinosaurs?”

Eden is the sweetest little photo-bomber ever.

We chowed down on bratwursts and veggies and then pulled out the marshmallows for dessert.  Juliette’s first toasted mallow!  Oh, the wonders of burnt sugar!

We felt the pitter-patter of raindrops as we were cleaning up and headed to our respective tents for bed.  Juliette was pretty excited to crawl into her new purple sleeping bag and do books with Mom and Dad.  So excited, in fact, that she tossed and turned until 10:30 pm.  At least, that’s what Shane tells me – I was out cold by 8:45!

There was one midnight rearranging of sleeping pads and blankets, but for the most part, we slept soundly until 7 am, at which point Juliette’s eyes popped right open and she exclaimed, “I wanna see Stella!”  We piled on coats and hats (it was cooooold) and made our way outside to join the Hickory’s for oatmeal and coffee.  In the rain.  Thank goodness they brought their pop-up canopy.

Eden looks thrilled to be in her full-on winter gear in the middle of June, doesn’t she?

These girls are for-reals thrilled, though – ain’t no rain gonna get them down!

Thank goodness for the ridiculously large tent Shane splurged on at REI – it turned out to be a pretty great play space!

The rain showed no signs of letting up, so we all decided to drive into Roslyn to find a dry place to grab a warm beverage and plan out the rest of our day.  We found refuge at the Red Bird Cafe, thankful for their good coffee and cell reception (Owhi is off the grid) and their kids’ area, where the girls whiled away the morning playing in the little pretend kitchen.  Three hours later, as the woman behind the counter began to wonder if we were ever leaving, the rain let up and we ventured out into the streets of Roslyn.  FREEEEEDOM!

The break in the rain was short-lived, so we decided to drive down to Ellensburg and spend the afternoon at the movies – I’d been wanting to take Juliette to Finding Dory, anyway.

And then…

The dang movie was sold out.  Gah!  We got back in the car and headed toward camp, a little defeated, but consoled by the fact that time in the car was time out of the rain.  The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around camp, venturing down nearby trails with the kids when the rain let up and then ducking back under the canopy when it started to pour.

The Howells made their entrance before dinner, Josh in shorts on his mountain bike and little baby A snuggled into her puffy red rain suit.

We ate dinner in the drizzle and did our best to keep the campfire going.  It really started coming down just as I was about to settle into my camp chair for a cup of wine and a s’more.  I looked up at the sky and dramatically shouted, “Whyyyyyy???!!!”, at which point we all just laughed.  Turns out there’s a special kind of camaraderie that comes with camping in the rain – come hell or high (high) water, we were going to make the most of the weekend.

We all turned in early that night – Jules drifted off without much trouble and Shane and I capitalized on the opportunity to catch up on some reading.  The rain continued throughout the night but proved to be a pretty soothing soundtrack, as Jules didn’t move a muscle until morning.  We left the cocoon of our sleeping bags at Juliette’s urging and layered up again (38 degrees out there!) to join the group for breakfast just as the skies began to clear.  And wow, did they clear!  By 9 am we were peeling off jackets and taking turns on Brian’s paddle board.

THIS.  This is what I had been waiting for.  I paddled out into the middle of Cooper Lake and just let myself drift for awhile.  Thanks, PNW, for coming through in a clutch.

We slowly packed up camp, letting the kids romp in the empty tents as we trekked sleeping bags and coolers up to the cars.

The weekend certainly wasn’t ideal as far as weather goes, but I’m still glad we pressed on.  We got to catch up with friends we’ve seen far too little of over the past year.  Jules had a total blast.  And after enduring the elements without crying or freezing or checking into a hotel, I’d say we’ve officially earned our badge as a camping family!  Already lookin’ forward to next time.

We’re due, aren’t we?  I’ve only got another one or two of these in me before my little babe turns THREE.

While Juliette still loves to be wrapped up in her towel after her bath and snuggled to the tune of Rock-A-Bye, Baby, she’s daily planting her feet more firmly in big kid ground.  She doesn’t sit in my lap for bedtime books anymore and insists on a silly game where I try to sit in her lap before we each settle into our respective sides of the glider.  And last week, when I started in on Harold and the Purple Crayon, she said, “No, no, no, Mommy!  I read to you!”  She’s got her own version of Barnyard Dance and needs only minor prompting for The Itsy Bitsy Snowman.

(Who looks more ready for bed in this picture?!)

It might be a stretch to say she’s really reading, but she’s super-interested in letters these days.  She tackled lower-case characters last month and seems quite pleased with her progress (b, d, and h are all mixed up, but we’ll get there).  p.s. No reason to be concerned about her forehead – band-aids are just her new favorite accessory.

Her mouth runs a mile a minute, and while we’re dealing with much-too-much whining and repetitive questioning (“What is this is, Mommy?  What is that is, Mommy?  I neeeeeeed it!”), the random stuff that comes out of her mouth is pretty good.  Like when we drive past some woods and she says ever-so-hopefully, “Maybe there’s some goats in those bushes?  You tink so, Mommy?”  Or when she throws open the bathroom door and yells, “DADDY!  ARE YOU GOING POOP?!”  (Privacy is nothing but a distant memory.)

She doesn’t go anywhere without Purple Baby anymore – PB comes to church with us and waits patiently in the car all day while Juliette’s in school and loves to ride along in the bike trailer (Jules is not sharing that Kombucha, though!).

But who’s an even better playmate than Purple Baby?  Her buddy N, of course.

Grandpa had an overnight layover in Seattle a couple of weeks ago en route to the East Coast – Jules was more than willing to show him the ropes at the neighborhood playground.

This picture is a couple of months old, but I just came across it on my phone and feel compelled to share it…

I guess she’s still got some baby-ness left in her, huh?

Happy 33 months, sunshine!  You’re da best.

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.  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.  This picture makes it hard to believe that summer hasn’t officially begun:

We spent Saturday morning down by Lake Washington, sunning and paddleboarding.  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.  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.  So far, so good!

May was good to us.  A little hectic at times, but chock-full of joy.  Outside of the trips to Whidbey and the mountains and Portland, there was a lot of good stuff happening close to home.

There were backyard BBQs and post-dinner walks with buddies…

There was one glorious 80-degree day at the beach:

There were a couple of pretty great bicycle Sundays at Lake Washington Boulevard with our crew:

There were some very productive afternoons in the yard with my little helper:

And there was the celebration of buddy N’s third birthday this past Friday, with cake and balloons and a wild rumpus at Wiggleworks!

(photo by La Verne)

And then, because that kid is a party animal, a second celebration on Memorial Day for Mr. N, complete with a Snoqualmie steam engine ride and pizza and cupcakes and giggles, oh my!

June, you’ve got some big shoes to fill.

Trips to Portland are fewer and farther between since we had Juliette, but it feels like every time we go down there, we think, “What took us so long?!”  We made it to Mitch’s house around lunchtime on Friday, after an easy (although not altogether quiet) drive.  As soon as we walked in the door, Morgan grabbed Juliette’s hand and said, “Do you want to come play in my room?”  And with that, they were gone!  The girls spent the next hour trading baby dolls back and forth while Shane and I ate a peaceful lunch and caught up with Mitch.  This cousins thing is money.

Elise came home from school a couple of hours later and we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the yard, cardboard sledding and testing the range of the rope swing.

Last time we were in Portland, Juliette was happy to play the part of the baby.  Now it’s, “Come sit on my lap, Elise!!!”

We ate dinner at the house and then took the kids out for frozen yogurt in Multnomah Village.  Nothin’ like an up-past-bedtime sugar high…

Saturday was cool and damp, so we opted for a morning indoors at OMSI, bouncing from the giant sand box to the turtles to the earthquake house.

When we got home, Morgan and Elise offered to put Juliette down for a nap.  I’ll give you one guess as to how well that went.

But finally, once the cousins were sent upstairs and I let Juliette climb into our bed, she slept.  As did I!  We woke up refreshed and ready to hit the hot tub.

We closed the day out with a trip to the library and playground, followed by dinner at the neighborhood Mexican joint.  Not a shabby Saturday!

Sunday morning was quiet and lazy, perfect for coffee-sipping and lounging indoors (until the kids started climbing the walls, at which point we headed up the street to do our coffee-sipping at Starbucks).  Kathryn and Morgan went out to run some errands while Elise enjoyed some solo time with her little cuz.

Elise is really into the Harry Potter audio books right now, but quickly learned that Juliette isn’t the most attentive listening companion…

So out to the trampoline we went!

We closed out our visit with what has become our traditional living room dance party.  The grownups and Elise pooped out after a couple of Miley Cyrus songs, but Jules and Morgan rocked out to what felt like Billboard’s entire Top 40 Pop.

One last snuggle for the road as I prepared for that familiar ache of missing my nieces…

See you sooner rather than later, Jarrells!

Ten years ago today, Shane and I said our I do’s.  Wowsers!  Either I’m getting old, or we were just a couple of kids when we got hitched.  Maybe both.

We dropped Juliette off at daycare yesterday and played hooky from work so that we could pay homage to ten years with a kid-free day of marital bliss.  We kicked off the celebration with breakfast at London Plane and probably said more to each other at that meal than we have in the span of the past few weeks. Juliette is insistent on playing a central part in all of our conversations lately (talk to ME, daddy!), and while I love an adorable toddler tale, it limits our subject matter.  It took Shane and I a few minutes to find our footing on grown-up ground, but soon enough we were laughing and then I was soul-baring with tears in my eyes and then we were laughing again, giddy with each other’s undivided attention.  The bill came and we just let it sit there for 20 minutes while we talked some more and I savored another refill of coffee.

We left the restaurant hand-in-hand and thought about going grand with a day of indoor rock-climbing or outdoor exploring, but at 10 am we found ourselves back at home, in our pajamas, spreading blankets out on the living room floor and queuing up a movie.  Talk about bliss!  After we’d vegged and dozed and thoroughly recharged, we visited the Frye art museum to check out their Young Blood exhibit (go see it!) and popped into the Chop Shop for happy hour bubbly cocktails, toasting to ten years past and decades to come.  It was a decidedly quiet day, not quite the trip to Paris I’d envisioned years ago for our milestone anniversary, but still, it was perfect.

Our friend Steve, best man at our wedding, has been holding onto our written vows since our wedding day and sent them to us in the mail this week.  As Shane and I held the wrinkled pieces of paper in our hands today and re-read the promises that were made a decade ago by a couple of starry-eyed twenty-somethings, we smiled at all the ways we’ve both fallen short of and exceeded our wildest dreams.  We’ve done good.  And we’ve done…not so good, sometimes hurling hurtful words when the going got tough or falling into the roommate rut when the going got slow.  But we’re in this for the long haul, Shane and I.  We’ll keep relishing in the joys, doing our best to band together when life feels hard or just incredibly mundane.  I imagine some day we’ll look back and think, “Ten years?  We were just getting started.”  And then we’ll take another bite our Nutella crepe as the lights of Paris glimmer on the Seine.  😉

Ahhhhh weekends: a precious time to recharge and reconnect after a long week.

Riiiiiiight.

Juliette woke up at 5:45 on Saturday morning.  I think she was in time-out twice before 7 am.  Shane and I had made grand plans for a fun family hike in the mountains that day, but when I came out to join them in the car, I found Jules laying on the floor of the back seat, scowl on her face and arms stubbornly crossed, and Shane on the verge of losing his shit.  We almost called it a day.  At 7:45.

We pressed on, though, as the thought of shuttering ourselves indoors with our little monster was hardly anything to look forward to.  We sweet-talked Jules into her car seat, put on some music, handed her an apple and a couple of books, and just north of Seattle it seemed the toddler tides were turning.  We all sang along to “Ho Hey” and decided it was going to be a great day (Lord have mercy, please make this a great day!).

We arrived at the Heather Lake trailhead around 9 am and loaded up our backpacks – I carried snacks, water, and sunscreen while Shane hauled the kid (I got the better end of the deal, for sure).

The trail was a little more rugged than we anticipated, but Shane channeled his inner mule and plowed right on ahead.

Oh, and look who came along for the ride – three Rust boys!  And a dog with a gimp leg!  (That’s Dexter, their weekend dog-sitting charge.)

Juliette has no idea how good she has it.  Actually, judging from that face, maybe she does.

I had my qualms about setting out on a five-mile hike with three kids and a gimpy dog, but the boys scrambled over the rocks like little mountain goats, chattering happily as I struggled to catch my breath.

PLEASE let that be the light at the end of the tunnel!

And…voila.

We sat on the shore of Heather Lake and dipped our toes in the freezing cold water, thankful for our long trek’s stunning pay-off.

Once we’d hydrated, we set out for the short loop around the lake.  It was an easy walk and the perfect place to let Juliette do some “hiking” of her own.

The kids were stoked about the patches of snow along the trail.  A snowball fight in May – who’d a thought?!

Juliette spent much of the day yelling, “Gryffin!  Hold my hand!”  He was so sweet to oblige.

We found a shady spot on the water’s edge to stop and eat lunch.  Juliette snuggled into my lap and I marveled at how lucky we are to live in the PNW.

Soon enough, it was time to hit the long dusty trail back to the car.  These two make hiking looking so fun.  And deceptively easy.

Juliette started getting antsy toward the end, so we pulled her out for the last half mile and let her grab her own walking stick.  Ok, actually Shane lost his balance and she kind of fell out, but thankfully, no one was hurt.  I tell you, we’re a bunch of troopers.

MADE IT!  It was a long, exhausting day with a touch-and-go start, but a grand success in the end.  Kudos to Shane for upping the adventure ante – he always seems to know just how far to push us.

For Mother’s Day, I asked for nothing more than rest.  Juliette obliged and didn’t stir until 8:30 on Sunday (penance for the previous morning’s obscenely early wake-up).  Shane took her downstairs while I slowly rolled out of bed and I came down to find the two of them busy in the kitchen, Shane at the stove and Jules at the coffee grinder.

Shane served me perfectly crispy bacon and just-gooey-enough poached eggs with my fresh-brewed coffee and then Juliette and I piled blankets and pillows on the living room floor so that we could snuggle up with a movie.  Once we’d sufficiently vegged, we headed out for an easy family bike ride.  We drove over to Marymoor Park and then hopped on the Sammamish River Trail.

I’m getting on board with this bike thing.  Particularly when it involves biking toward french fries and beer – Redhook, here we come!

It was so serene out there, all gray and green, cool but not cold.

We rolled up to the brewery just in time to beat the lunch rush.  Juliette was a lovely little dining companion and could hardly believe her luck when Shane told her that our next stop was for ice cream.  Mother’s Day was suddenly right up there with Christmas on her list of favorite holidays!

French fry high?

Shane had read good things about Shug’s, a fancy new ice cream parlor in downtown Seattle, and it did not disappoint.  I recommend a scoop of the blueberry.  And a scoop of the coffee.

And oh my word, the cookies and cream!

I’m so thankful I get to be this kid’s mama.  No doubt, it’s not all smiles and snuggles, but my word, she’s amazing.

I sneaked away in the afternoon for a pedicure and coffee with La Verne and made it home for a mellow dinner and goodnight kisses.  Shane fell asleep at 8:00 and I finished out season 6 of Gilmore Girls.  Ahhhhh…weekends: they really can be so, so good.