Take a Hike

Over the last month Sundays have been just that Sun-Days. Finally it has been time to get outside.

 So with a hefty REI dividend to spend I kitted the kiddos out in hiking gear, including proper mini hiking boots and we have been introducing them to the 'mountains'.  The kids are great walkers and love being outside.  The first hike we did was out of North bend and is called Twin Falls.  No prizes for guessing it is a hike to 2 waterfalls.  It is close to 2 miles round trip and M and Z walked pretty much the whole trail.

After that we got more adventurous and hiked some of the snow covered trail to Cannon falls.   This trail was pretty remote and we didn't see a single other kid out there, but Max had his kryptonite on and just kept moving.  Zoe had to admit defeat after a while and hitch a ride in the back pack, but we still stayed out for 5 hours.

This passed Sunday we hiked up Little Si.  It is 4.5 miles (Round Trip) and about 1,000 of elevation gain and exactly the kind of trail I  never would have hiked pre kids.  It's true in my past life I was a hiking snob.  Less than 3,000 feet gain? Not worth doing! Less than 8 miles? Don't waste my time!  But I really enjoyed this hike with Scott and M and Z, and all those years shlepping a 40 lb pack certainly helped me hoist the Pixie one up the hill.

Fairground Junkies

I am just figuring out how to work the new blog spot format.  I used to have to work backwards, but looks like they changed that so i can type first, then post pictures.  So I'll try that next time:)

Last fall we took a trip to the Puyallup fair and it was a big hit, so I decided to head back this Spring, to the spring version.  The Spring fair is smaller than the big end of summer event, but it had everything we needed to have a great time.  A few of those things were rides, duck dogs, farm animals, song and dance shows, pony rides and of course cotton candy.

Welcome to the realm of Camelot

Camelot is a theme park close to where my sister lives.  As the name suggested it is based on the story King Arthur and the knights of the round table.  We had a fabulous day going on the rides, watching a very exciting jousting tournament and feeding the animals at the farm.  We arrived shortly after 10 in the morning and were still going at 5:15 p.m., in fact we left at the same time as the staff.  Max and Zoë had an amazing time spending time with their cousins and I think the mums liked it too:) 

Ponty Pandy Rocks

So who lives Ponty Pandy? Fireman Sam of course. Max's ultimate hero. Fireman Sam is a welsh fireman that makes his living saving naughty Norman Price from various predicaments. When my mum knew we were coming for a visit she very kindly booked us tickets to the live Fireman Sam show in Southport.

It was a huge hit. I know this because Max sat through the whole 90 minute show without a peep. This is the longest he has ever watched anything. It was a well done show for very young children, though there were a few out breaks of chaos in the wordy parts. If you can imagine hundreds of 2 year old boys in yellow fireman hats all clamoring on their mums shouting "where is fireman sam gone" then you can picture it pretty well.

Such a fun way to spend an afternoon especially if you area 3 year old with a passion for all things fireman.

Riding Lessons

On a very chilly afternoon M and Z joined Jack and Theo for a real riding lesson. They started off by getting 'suited and booted' and then they were off to get on their ponies. They practiced walking and trotting with some help from the leaders. They finished the class by playing the game 'Around the World', in which they have to rotate 360 degrees in the saddle as fast as you can. I used to love that game when I had riding lessons, and M and Z both made good attempts. It was only a 20 minute lesson, but that was just long enough to keep it fun:)

Fun with the family

So much fun, so little time to blog:)

So here are a few pictures of our trip to England. The first week we were here we were treated to a freak spring time heatwave. It was glorious to be out and about in the English countryside with sunshine in the sky, and the daffodils in bloom. We were even able to have a family BBQ and the kids loved having their own table.

We have been having a ball hanging out at Nana's and playing with Jack and Theo and the latest addition to the family 'baby' Martha. We have been taking advantage of the dry weather and have been visiting lots of farms and playing out in the woods.

Now the weather has returned to normal we have been enjoying playing inside and today the kids got their face painted at Happy Hippos play center.

It's hard to believe that this time next week we'll be headed Stateside again. Until then we'll continue our adventures for a little while longer.