Everyone is Asleep Before 9:00

School starts tomorrow. 

I am laying in bed and I sang out loud "schooooooool's out for summer!" and it almost made me cry. Remember two seconds ago when I was blasting that song on the driveway as the kids got off the bus? 

Well now, it's over and we start it all up again tomorrow. I can't believe what mixed feelings I have. The mixed of all the mixed. 

I don't feel like captioning all these pictures, but this is basically how we spent the last two days of summer break:

Meet yer teacher, play at the park, first soccer practice. 

Then I made the Blacks join us for some Edaleen and the sunset. 

We sat backed up against the fire place and watched the sky turn colors and dark and talked about stuff with the umbrella of knowledge hanging over us that this is the last of the last of carefree summer nights. 

Then today we went to the waterslides for a million hours. 

Lindsay and I parked it under a pavilion and talked our deep thoughts. If the timing is right, she and I can get very close to solving all the problems in the world.

 (I got home and realized I hadn't put on any mascara today - just talked to Lindsay for hours with virtually no eyelashes). 

Then we ate a dinner that I actually made from scratch (rare in the summer),

and the kids played in the neighborhood (which I thought we weren't going to do since we were so "tired" from being at the waterslides for a million hours)

and Jessica and her cute kids came over and brought us chocolate chip zucchini bread, 

and all the kids were running around like crazy,

and around 8:00 I made them all mad when I told everyone to go home slash come inside for some FHE.

We discussed being the nice kid this year,

and Jim gave them all a blessing, 

Now they're asleep and I can't believe it. 

Don't let me forget to set my alarm for 6:45.

The Day We Didn't Go To Mt Baker

Why do we go on adventures as a family? 

To see this amazing Earth. To see what the mountains look like when all the snow has melted off. 

To be together and have memories and traditions. 

To take pictures in the same place every year and compare how different we are from last year. 

Mostly the tradition. Mostly to see the beauty. 

This year we had to wait for the smoke to clear out. We had to wait until Jim wasn't on reserve since there isn't good phone coverage driving up to the top of a mountain. 

We packed in the car. We said a prayer that we could get along and be happy and safe. We brought our sled this time because the kids were excited to play in the snow.

We drove through Bellingham, turned on Baker Highway. Climbed the mountain roads. 

They are windy and they are beautiful. There is the Nooksack River out my window. 

The kids started whining. They started complaining. They started fighting. 

We talked them through it. We threatened. We problem solved. 

They whined, they fought, they were miserable. They were a little car sick, but mostly they were just bratty. 

We were about 20 minutes from the top. We had been driving for about an hour and half.

20 minutes from the top!

Whining, complaining.

"We need a break!"

"Ok, we'll stop at Nooksack Falls" (beautiful).

"Uhhhh....I don't wanna waaaallllkkkkk."

Jim pulled over and literally turned the car around.

"Ok then, let's just go home and do chores. All day. 

We don't have to come up here and have fun together. We don't have to go play in the snow.

We don't have to see the beautiful mountains."

They cried and begged.

We doubled down.

I think we both thought we might turn back around - 20 minutes from the top. 

But we didn't. 

We drove home.

I cried. 

I cried because we were so close! because I love exploring and seeing this beautiful Earth. 

I love this tradition. It's our last summer adventure! Summer is shutting down, but at least we have our Mt. Baker tradition. 

And here we are, turned around and heading home.

And the lesson we are teaching our children is too valuable to go back now. 

They are remorseful. They are sorry. They are suddenly so thankful for all the things we got to do this summer. They are silent. They are contrite. 

I am crying. In the passenger side. 

We get home and I make a sign for the front door: "no friends today" and we get to work on chores.

They vacuum out cupboards,

clean bathrooms,

do laundry,

clean their rooms,

vacuum the upstairs. 

They take breaks between chores, but there is no tv and no devices.

Finally all the chores are done and I take a mourning nap.

They play together happily without devices, without friends. Without snow. 

The year we didn't go to Mt. Baker, but we almost did.

Mt. Rainier

I feel the change in the air. Summer is wrapping up. It breaks my heart; I am talking myself into letting it go. I found out who my kids' teachers are, and the internet is plastered with back to school pictures. It's all happening; my poor, lovely summer is almost over.

I guess this is obvious, but I realized that blogging is a good processing sesh for me. I was feeling so sad that we aren't camping anymore, but feel solace in writing about it and reliving it and making sure I don't forget it. 

I am kind of a freak, aren't I? 

I am. A nostalgic freak. 

So, camping this year was probably my favorite of all our times. The kids are at a great age, and Rainier is magic, and I loved it all. We definitely could have, should have stayed one more night. I never felt that feeling of "ugg I'm over this".

We camped by the Ohanapecosh River, which provided great white noise at night, and there was a spot to swim - or dip our feet. Evan was the only one brave enough to get in past his waist. 

It is cold glacier melt.

Plus I didn't pack any swimsuits. I thought weather was going to be chilly, but it was HOT! I packed a lot of sweats for no reason.

We ate fire roasted pizza, then went down and explored the river. 

Andrew is such a mountain goat! He has a feel for the rocks, adjusts his balance and clambers along and freaks me out a bit as he goes all the way up, but I'm learning to trust his ability. 

Avery loved this outfit she is wearing. She wore it every single day. 

She too mountain goated up the rocks to stand by Jim. 

The return of the Jim-sloth. 

Remember last time Jim became a sloth? Look how little they were back then. 

Andrew in undies with his skinny limbs makes me laugh out loud. 

We ate smore's before dark. 

Jim was laying on the table, and Andrew climbed up and lay next to him. They talked about whether or not the tree branches were a ghost, among other things. 

The next morning we drove over to Comet Falls trail head. 

It was such an amazing drive. 

For some reason we thought we wouldn't see Rainier at all. It was too smokey, she's too elusive, etc.

So we were driving along, turned at an S turn, and suddenly we were face to face with this:

Out of nowhere! 

We yelped in surprise and awe. 

If the moon came down and landed on the Earth, this is what it would look like.

It just seems so big and not of this world. Plus the white glaciers mixed with the "crater" looking rocks...

It is just spectacular. 

So, I knew this hike would be a stretch for the kids. But I knew it would also be awesome. 

This was a bridge over Christine Falls at the beginning. 

A few times we would be walking along and Rainier would peak through the trail. See her up in the corner? It could have been the moon peaking through. 

For the most part, they did great. Evan had the hardest time. A few times he sat down and gave up. One time he cried in frustration "It's just too hard! My back itches, I'm hot!"

Which is so strange because he easily has the most energy of us all. 

We are so close! You can hear the waterfall!

Andrew was the best hiker of all the children. He rarely needed encouragement. 

Except on this bridge. I love how he's clinging to Jim. 

And then there she was. 

We sat and ate our apples and nuts and chocolate. 

We walked up to the base.

The feel waterfall spray on our hot, tired bodies is a memory that I will love forever.

It was just so beautiful and felt so good. 

Avery wanted to "drink Rainier", so she walked up and caught spray in her mouth. 

I know this looks like a "husbands of instragram" picture, but I swear I didn't know Jim was taking it.  I was a little bit crying at how beautiful and awesome it was. I loved that it was a hard hike and that we did it together as a family. 

I'm sorry to say my children, but this is only the beginning of hard hikes together. 

Going reluctantly back down the mountain.

***

When we got back to camp, the kids had some down time and watched a movie in the tent. 

I went for a run to Silver Falls near our camp. 

These falls were awesome...but anticlimactic in comparison. 

I was cooking hot after the run, so as soon as I got back to camp, I insisted we go get in the river water.

We spent a few hours playing on the rocks and getting in about knee deep. 

A fish swam up to Jim and brushed against his hand like a cat. 

Andrew pretended to be a ninja.

Evan and Avery made towers with the sand.

We watched people jump from the cliffs.

We went back to camp and ate the best hot dogs of my life. 

We went on a family stroll to check out the hot springs.

The kids played hide and seek.

We stared at/ poked at the fire. 

The next morning we ate pancakes and pizza for breakfast while Jim took down camp and packed the car. 

This picture is from the drive home. See Evan in Jim's clothes and my shoes?

Well that is because he got car sick and when we pulled up to Cafe Rio north of Seattle, he said to me "my tummy hurts" and then puked all over. 

I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning up as best I could. 

The good news is, he felt fabulous the whole rest of the ride home. 

Next year we plan on returning to Rainier. There's still so much to see. 

The Summer Days

I realize all these summer pictures are beginning to blur together into white noise,

but I love it all so much, I need to cement it into the archives. 

EVEN THOUGH most of these activities involve me getting in a yelling fight with this or that child,

and EVEN THOUGH most of these activities involve whining, unappreciative children,

and EVEN THOUGH most of these activities involve sand everywhere, me sweating while loading the car, me dragging the children all over the hot town...

yet I don't want it to end. 

August is the month of denial for me. I'm desperately clinging to it all, ignoring all the people going back to school tomorrow.

I pretty much repeat myself every year, and all of this is exactly what I said 

last August and last August and last August. 

Into the archives, ye summer days! 

*The day we went to the new Starbucks*

Before this, they ran around the park. We pulled up the same time as a giant bus full of kids from The Y...

We had been gone to The Island over the weekend, so these Sagebrush Lane kids were happy to be reunited.

Right next to Edaleen, they built this giant, awesome Starbucks. 

It is beautiful.

 *The day we went to Lake Whatcom again*

It was kind of chilly, as I recall. But the kids got in the water anyway. 

I wore a sweater. 

On the way home we stopped by this new farm stand. 

A family moved in, farmed the land, and is selling all their fresh stuff. I'm so excited for the sweet corn. 

*The day we rode our bikes to Halverson*

After a while the boys tried to "get air" off this jump. 

We feasted on wild blackberries before the ride home. 

They were still a tad bit tart for my taste. 

 *The day we went to the zoo*

I remember we had to kind of hurry home to pick up Jim's car in the shop and take dinner to the Livingstons because they were in the middle of moving to Texas. The Livingstons were the first people I met when we moved here. 

*The day Jim puttered around on his bike to avoid exercise*

*The day I harvested broccoli*

The backyard is in such a state of August.

The grass is dying a slow death, everything has bloomed (except the sunflowers - so close), everything is done "growing" and is in the process of "fruiting". 

The pumpkins get bigger every day! They are so fun to watch.

The tomatoes are turning orange to red. 

I have to remind myself to water it all. 

PS Zinnias are fabulous! They grow from seed and are a fun burst of color among the late summer green/yellow. Plant more next year. 

You must harvest the broccoli before the bugs get to it. 

*The day we went to Semiahmoo again*

This was the same day that I did a Chuckanut run in the morning, 

and a Padden excursion in the evening. Another "sun up to sun down" day - living my best life.

*The day we went to Fiamma Pizza after playing at Padden, after swimming at Semiahmoo, after running in the Chuckanuts*

This is the sun down portion I was talking about of that same day. We ate the most delicious pizza with our most delicious friends and then the kids went bonkers on these street features. Evan is "in the jail".

*The day Andrew "searched letters"*

That's what he calls it when I open a blank document and he types words. 

 *The day we went to Halverson, but this time with goggles*

The Dicksons went out of town over the weekend, and came back with snow goggles. 

Now snow goggles = mountain bike goggles, and I think it's the cutest. 

Evan wears them everywhere. 

On this particular day at Halverson, Evan cut his toe on a stick (because of those dumb shoes he's wearing),

then he got a bloody nose. It was so bloody that we had to take his shirt off and use it for absorption.

Then he had to go poop, so I walked with him down to the bathroom by the beach. 

After THAT was taken care of, and me and Lindsay were deep in mom-talk,

I hear Andrew yell "mommy! help me!"

So I ran to see what was the deal,

and I found him stuck in quicksand/mud. 

See his muddy feet? He couldn't budge.

I've referenced the show Clarence before...and I'm going to again:

I showed the kids Andrew's muddy feet and said "look, he's like Clarence!" and they all laughed (because there is this one episode where Clarence reveals he doesn't wear shoes, his muddy feet just look like shoes).

And then Andrew told me to take a picture of Avery. She didn't have any mishaps this day at Halverson. 

 *The day we went to the dentist*

This day was a busy and fun one.

It started out with some neighborhood play with goggles.

Off to the dentist. 

I took half the kids to the library/skate park while waiting for the other half to get cleaned. 

The path to the library is lined with the most delicious, giant, ripe blackberries. We ate and ate. 

I would pick the really plump ones from up high and share them with Andrew. 

That boy is a berry hog. 

After the dentist, (no cavities!) we went to Bham to grocery shop. 

Goggles and pizza. 

Then we met up with Jim at Whatcom Falls. 

When Jamie came to visit in early July, they found this secret swimming spot we didn't know about.

It would be really really awesome if it wasn't so crowded with so many big people cliff jumping. 

The kids got in and swam anyway. 

It was the hottest day of the summer! 

The car temp said it was 91 degrees out there. That's cooking. 

*The day we hiked Chuckanut Falls*

I've spent hours and hours on these trials, and this is the first time we've seen a horse! 

The kids were so excited. 

Near the end of the hike, there is another waterfall that isn't much of a waterfall this time of year.  Me and a few brave children climbed up to see what's on the top and the top and the top. 

Avery led the way while I made sure everyone was safe. 

This is the perspective from my camera...

and here is the perspective from Lisa's camera. 

There is something so magical about a waterfall.

*The day the Ice Cream Truck came*

*The day we hiked around Padden*

(*Which is every Saturday*)

We forced the kids to take the higher/less traveled horse trail. They complained a lot. 

We rewarded them with a snack at the "double decker couch". 

Then the shirts come off. 

I love this. 

Eventually there is a fork in the trail. One leads down to the "regular" Padden trail, and the other continues on the upper horse trial. 

Four of the kids took the trail down, and the rest of us continued on the upper.

After about 15 minutes we could hear them and they saw us and we all got super excited. 

We sat on this bench and waited for the dads to ride up. 

I love this picture of Hunter. He's my favorite. I love when kids absentmindedly rest their hands on mom's knee. 

I must also cement the memory of this morning when me and Lisa went and ran hills/stairs at Pt Whitehorn. It was our first time engaging in such an exercise together - and she thinks she's not athletic, but the evidence showed that true to Lisa form, she is a Roman Candle at all things including running. 

She sprinted up the hills and stairs so fast and sprinted through the trails with agility and it was so fun and I was giggling behind her as I tried to keep up, and between sprints she insisted that I "write this down! put this in your blog! today is a game changer!"

So here I am, doing my duty in documenting the day Lisa sprinted so fast and felt so powerful in her own body. 

At the rendezvous point, as we decided on where to go eat dinner, another rainbow smiled upon the Black-Larsen family. If you're counting, that is two rainbows for us on these summer days.