time flies

The end of our time in Seattle has really snuck up on me—we leave next Saturday! (Insert crying emoji here.) We have loved the last few weeks we've lived here and I'm going to be really sad to leave, but I'm happy to be going back to our house and another new routine... before we go on vacation again for a couple of weeks. We're really just trying to avoid the hot, muggy end of summer grossness as much as possible.

So here's a recap of the last few weeks...

Rhoda the mad scientist

Robbie's parents came for a visit! One of Dave's favorite spots we visited was the Chihuly Garden, which was pretty awesome. And we got this very awesome complimentary photo out of it.

On the Fourth of July we went to Bainbridge Island to check out the festivities. We left before the parade but Rhoda got some sweet swag and we ate some good carnival food.

Every day

On the train to Phoebe's. Rhoda is super into pictures of the temple lately after we had an FHE lesson about the temple. She has some confusion though about whether or not all tall buildings are temples.

I mentioned on Instagram already that Rhoda is obsessed with Phoebe's dog Rex, but those two crack me up. One day Rhoda woke up crying after her nap and Rex went and stood at attention at the top of the stairs until I went to get her out of her crib. And then he just snuggled with her like this afterward. Babies and dogs, you guys.

Rhoda walking like my dad at the arboretum

We had access to a car last week so we got a lot of our Seattle trips checked off our list, including a picnic at Gas Works Park. Such beautiful views of the city.

I go to Pike Place Market almost every day and I keep finding new corners I've never seen before. I think I'm going to miss the proximity to an awesome market more than anything.

Seattle, man! I'm obsessed with this place.

almost paradise

I'm a bit behind on posting about a trip we took over our anniversary weekend (June 28th) because of some technical difficulties but I'm finally getting around to it! Thanks to some more great recommendations from local friends we had the best time hiking and camping in Mt. Rainier National Park.

First up: the Summerland trail, which is a portion of the much bigger (like 93 miles) Wonderland trail. Our friend Jordan made the recommendation and she is the ultimate camper/backpacker, so I was a little worried it might be out of my league? But it really wasn't too bad. I'm not in the best shape of my life but I have been running a bit more since we got to Seattle and I've been conditioned by the crazy hills here (we don't have a car here) so I basically rocked it. I think we ended up hiking around nine miles but there is a bit of an elevation climb and switchbacks at the end so it winded me at times and it took us like six hours round-trip... embarrassing, I know, but we were carting a toddler! So I'm gonna blame Rhoda and not my bad physical state.

The trail and the views at the end are really so incredible. One upside to the drought and unseasonably hot weather of June was that we got to see the wildflowers in peak bloom earlier than usual up near Emmons Glacier, where the hike ends. It was really so gorgeous and our camera really can't capture how pretty it was. There were times where we thought the hike was coming to a close and we'd ask hikers on the return how far we had to go and they'd all say "you've got a ways to go... but the views are SO worth it!" I feel like I could use that analogy in a Sunday school lesson someday.

Rhoda was obsessed with Robbie's Camelbak, which started causing problems when she started whipping him in the face with it.






Glad you get a nice view of Robbie's trekking poles here






I think this might be Emmons Glacier? I'm not really sure the difference between the glaciers and what is considered the actual mountain...




Seriously, so glorious


Got a lot of these bum shots of Robbie. Which is accurate, since that was my view for most of the hike.


Imagine a soundtrack of babbling brooks as you view these


A little parting shot of Rainier on our drive out

We camped again this weekend as well, this time at Ohanapecosh, at the Ottleys' recommendation. So much fun. It's a big, family-friendly (read: completely exposed so you can hear your neighbors spanking their naughty kids) site next to a river that runs off from one of the glaciers. It still isn't getting really dark till 9:30 or so and when we got to camp around 7 pm there were still a lot of families hanging out at the river and jumping off the rock outcroppings into the frigid water. Since we were in the middle of one of the many heatwaves we've had this summer (I think it was still 90 degrees when we got in) it was definitely a welcome activity.

After camping at Ohanapecosh we took the scenic (ie, long) route out of the park to hit up Grove of the Patriarchs and Paradise. We were a little burned out on hiking by this point but Grove of the Patriarchs is an old-growth forest and it's an easy 30 minute hike to see these amazing ancient trees that are secluded on this island in the middle of the Ohanapecosh river. Nature boggles my mind, you guys.

The first of many suspension bridges we've walked on in the PNW. What is with the obsession with suspension bridges here?




Some weird tree details. The one above reminds me of a freaky horse. I'm pretty sure it's the last thing you see before you die.




More pics of Robbie standing sideways and showing off his trekking poles


Some twin pines (cedars? firs? I don't remember)


Rhoda was such a good sport about being toted around all weekend. I don't know how my friends' kids sleep for hours in their backpacks because Rhoda only gets about 15 minutes before she wakes up angry and disoriented but she got over it pretty quickly.


One of the pretty vistas in Stevens Canyon. We were tempted to pull over about a dozen times because the views were just so amazing around every turn.


Paradise! No, seriously, this area is called Paradise.

We ended the trip with lunch and a little walk around Paradise Inn before heading back home. A nice way to end a lovely weekend! Thanks, Washington, for being amazing despite your scary Cascadia subduction zone.

i want to go back to san juan (i know what boat you can get on)

Bernstein fans, rejoice at my pop culture reference.

This past weekend we took a little trip north to the San Juan Islands to camp for a couple of days. It was awesome! We've never camped with Rhoda so we were a little nervous about what was ahead for us, but she was a champ! She loved it and still talks about camping every day. (Major thanks to our friends Jake and Jordan for lending us their gear for the weekend, because that made our lives 10000% easier.) We barely fit our travel crib in the tent along with our two sleeping pads and sleeping bags, but it was worth it to not have Rhoda crawling around on us in the night. And once we realized that Rhoda would sleep through the night if we turned on the white noise app on my iPad, it was smooth sailing from there. The one drawback of camping on summer solstice weekend so far north is that it's light outside until at least 10 so it was hard to put Rhoda down at her usual time, but she was distracted enough with the rocks and leaves in our campsite that she didn't have a big bedtime meltdown and went to bed fairly easily. Anyway, unless you have toddlers and are considering camping in the near future that information is pretty irrelevant, so I'll stop now.

So the San Juans are made up of many little islands (Orcas being the main one that most people have heard of) but we ended up just staying on Lopez Island because we had heard great things about camping at Spencer Spit (it WAS great!). We decided once we got there not to try to get to Orcas because it got complicated with the ferry schedules. Also, it was much easier to find a campground there because it's not as popular as Orcas. If Orcas is everyone's favorite then I wonder if I'll be blown away if we get to visit because we loved Lopez! It's a sleepy little island and everyone waves to you when they drive by. It's really quite lovely with lots of farms and pretty views and made for a relaxing few days, even though a 25 mile bike ride and sleeping in a tent aren't really the most relaxing activities.

Photographic evidence:

Riding the ferry over to Lopez

Props to the Kindercone for containing Rhoda when she was having a hard time in her crib the first night

"Mohneen!" (Rhoda's version of "good morning!")

At the Lopez Village farmers market, where Rhoda got a chance to see animals she has only seen before in books

I begged Robbie to let me pay these girls a dollar to let Rhoda hold one of their chickens and I think he'd agree it was totally worth it. Rhoda was so into her chicken (a Silkie!) and had a really hard time parting ways with them and had a little meltdown when we left. A couple of hours later she finally admitted defeat and kept repeating "night night, chickens."

Imagine this view on repeat. Just so pretty.

Cute lil church

Cute lil view

In the middle of the aforementioned 25 mile bike ride. I read somewhere that Lopez is pretty flat and easy to get around on, and that's not true. I mean, it wasn't that hard? But I hadn't been prepared for a long ride (but Robbie bikes that distance every day) and it was definitely hilly and I am definitely still saddle sore.

Rhoda was super into the bike trailer. And super into wearing the helmet over her face (not pictured).

False advertising

Pretty sunny

It was impossible to capture how pretty the scenery was. This was at one of our breaks at Agate Beach, where the residents are pretty clear about their disdain for trespassers (how many "PRIVATE BEACH" signs are excessive? Two? Ten?).

Rhoda enjoyed helping Robbie hammer down the stakes with "Ro-rah's rock" (as she called it)

I'm pretty sure I took this picture because Rhoda had been laying down on the tent floor quietly for about ten minutes and when I went in to check on her she said "wye-downing!" (lie-downing). Kidspeak is hilarious, guys.

Running free on Spencer Spit

Cool dad Robbie rocking the baby backpack

Family picture featuring me in my weather inappropriate hiking gear. It was about 10 degrees warmer and not windy at our campsite where I got dressed, and by the time I got to the beach I was wishing I'd brought a jacket with me.

Till next time, SJI! And thanks, Seattle, for having so many great places to go see within a couple of hours' driving distance!