Lydia turns 2!

Our activity for Lydia's birthday this year was a trip to Build-a-Bear. Amanda and Jared had gone a few years ago, and so this time it was Lydia and Curtis's turn to pick a special critter. The options were overwhelming, but in the end Lydia got a koala and Curtis got a monkey. However, the birthday evening had just begun. Our next stop was a visit to one of Mom's very dear friend from high school. She and her family graciously let us join them for dinner and a little cake party for Lydia. Here's Lydia getting ready to blow out the candles (with a little help):

And here she is pleased with the finished result:

Hooray for Lydia!

A little hiking

One evening as the Muffins were restless, Mom decided it was time to check out one of our long-neglected local attractions: Bridal Veil Falls. We drove up the canyon, parked at the park, and began our little hike. Here are the Muffins at the start of the trail (for our purposes, anyway):

A look down the trail:

The Provo River, which ran alongside the trail much of the way:

Bridal Veil Falls, upper section:

Crowds and camera issues kept us from getting any good Muffin pictures by the pool at the bottom of the falls; we'll just have to go back sometime.

Splashing at the Riverwoods

We made a remarkable discovery back in Utah: they've got places to play in water, here, too! Here are scenes of the Muffins enjoying splash time at the Riverwoods shopping center.

Apricots

When we first moved in to our Utah home last summer, we were a little disappointed to see that we'd missed the fruit season for the apricot tree in our yard. Not this year!

Here are Amanda and Jared hard at work trying to harvest whatever they could:

Amanda with her apricot knocking implement of choice:

Jared with the harvest:

We enjoyed the fruit while it lasted. After our tree ran out of pickable/eatable fruit, we got some from the store. The Muffins agreed that they just weren't the same as the tree ripened fruit.

Home again, home again (jiggity jog)

The day that Mom the Seattle fan had been dreading all summer finally came: time to go home. However, in the interest of preserving the spirit of adventure we'd discovered in Seattle, Mom planned a couple of things to do on the way home. First stop, the Hagerman Fossil Beds visitor center. We saw several fossils inside and part of the visitor film, but ultimately the restless Muffins preferred the hands-on fossil bed just outside, where they eagerly dug up and recovered the remains of what was most likely a contemporary bovid.

We then had a chance to have lunch at a park with friends, followed a few hours later by dinner at another park with Grandma and Grandpa. Here's Curtis on the playground near Grandma and Grandpa's house:

A Mercer Island Adventure

in all fairness, we had lots of Mercer Island adventures, mostly involving Mom getting on or off the freeway at the wrong place and having to turn around there. For once, though, we went there on purpose to join some friends in a playgroup. Most impressive sight while there: little Muffins Curtis and Lydia scaling the sides of the pyramid structures on the playground. (And, of course, we enjoyed visiting our friends, too.)

One more taste of Seattle

Our time in Seattle was growing short, and Mom still had a couple of important items to check off her list, so she took Amanda out one evening to join the fun. First stop, Chocolati for gourmet hot chocolate and a couple of truffles. Amanda chose a strawberry truffle, Mom chose an extra chocolaty one.

Next stop, Ivar's. What can we say? Having been in Seattle before, we just couldn't leave without going at least once. We even took some fish and chowder home for Dad because we're nice like that.

Golden Gardens with Dad

We finally got Dad to the beach. :) Some friends invited us to join them at Golden Gardens for a family home evening activity. Dad really got into the kids' sand construction projects and ultimately declared the beach to be a good one.

And then Curtis and Lydia began rock climbing instead of playing in the sand . . . time to go home for the evening.

Olympic Peninsula, here we come!

We did it! We went to the Pacific Ocean! Here you can see our faithful minivan parked right on the beach somewhere between Pacific Beach and Moclips, WA. 

We had long planned to visit a beach somewhere in that area, but what Mom hadn't anticipated was just how much the ocean beach would turn out to be like our "practice" beach, complete with a creek running down it to the water. Score!

Seashells, of course, were also a big attraction there, and sand dollars in particular were quite plentiful.

We took several sand dollar pictures, and then we realized just how many sand dollars we were up against (that's what all the white spots in the sand are):

Amanda and Jared really got into the waves:

Curtis did, too:

Lydia enjoyed the beach, too, until she got overly sandy for her taste. However, the adventure was not over yet. Mom was determined to see the Olympic Peninsula. Next stop: a rest area in the Hoh Rain Forest.

We also pulled off at a scenic overlook in Olympic National Park and got a look at the Destruction Island lighthouse:

Here's a look north up the coast from the same viewpoint:

We also stopped in Forks, as in the one featured in the Twilight series. Being the highly dignified Mom she is, Mom wasn't about to join the crowds getting their pictures taken in front of the city welcome sign. No, she just took a picture of other tourists taking pictures. 

We also saw Canada, sort of. If you look closely in the picture below, there are mountains barely visible across the water, which happen to be in Canada. (Picture taken in Port Angeles)

The drive around the peninsula is pretty long, but we made it, using the Tacoma Narrows bridge at the end to shave off a little time. Perhaps a little excessive as day trips go, but Mom felt very accomplished at the end of it regardless.

But is it art?

One of the fun things in Seattle is first Thursday, when several of the museums offer free admission. Mom decided to give the Henry Art Gallery at UW a try with the older three Muffins. It turned out to be a very good thing that we went on free day. For one thing, it seems that the Muffins are not quite ready for the quiet of an art museum. For another, we happened to be there between major exhibits, meaning there wasn't quite as much to see as usual. A nice day not to worry about admission, to say the least. We did find this interesting maze, which the Muffins lost no time in exploring at full speed:

And, once we got outside, the Muffins saw a sculpture of someone they recognized: George Washington.

Adventures in search of pirates

Every year the Seafair Pirates land at Alki Beach as part of the summer fun in Seattle. Mom decided we should all go try to see them. The good news was, we got everyone in the car, including Dad. The bad news was that the most direct way to the beach was under construction that day. By the time we finally made it to the beach area, parking was nonexistent. However, since the people we saw on the beach as we drove past still seemed to be watching for something, Dad drove around the block a bit to give us another chance of seeing the pirate landing. We didn't see the actual landing . . . but we did see the pirates and their boat, driving past us down the road (gotta love amphibious vehicles):

Since the younger Muffins had been catching a nap on our adventure to find the beach, it seemed a shame to take them right back home again. So, we went downtown to the waterfront so that Dad and the smallest Muffins could have a look at the aquarium. Here's Curtis checking out a tide pool:

Lydia especially liked the tanks at her level:

This harbor seal saw it all as just a typical day:

The otters were generally laid back either relaxing or napping: 

The sand pipers were up, though:

And we found these active critters peering through portholes:

Lydia enjoyed sampling the wares at the gift shop:

All in all, a pretty fun family outing. (And there was even a pirate standing outside the Pirates' Plunder shop was we went past.)

Woodland Park Rose Garden and Zoo

Another attraction Mom had advertised to the Muffins was the zoo. Having practiced our zoo skills at two other zoos, the day finally came for visiting the Seattle zoo. First stop: the rose garden outside the zoo.

Next stop: the zoo itself. The zoo recently acquired some exotic swine, and there were hoof print paths painted on the sidewalk leading to them. It turned out to be a "half zoo" day for us (hopefully we can catch the other half someday), so we only ended up seeing one of the new additions, the Visayan warty pig:

We took plenty of time for elephant watching, though:

Here's an Asian elephant:

And here's an African elephant:

The tapir was napping, but Curtis thought it would be fun to pet it anyway:

We saw some orangutans having lunch:

The Muffins were not the only kids who wanted a turn with this statue:

Hey, elk, watch out for the wolves! Don't worry, the wolves can't really get to the elk (at least not easily), but what a natural-looking habitat setup, eh?

We saw some brown bears:

And some very lively otters:

We also saw an eagle:

And a wallaby:

There came a time, though, when the Muffins (particularly Curtis), were rather more interested in rock climbing than animal viewing, a sure sign that it was time to go home.

On the way back to the car, Mom finally got a chance to photograph some of the sweet peas that grow wild all around the Seattle area:

Now, if we can just find an excuse to go back to Seattle and see the other half of the zoo . . .