Camping

It has been a little while since I have updated this sucker. SO much going on. I thought once the kids were in school I would have a little more time. Not so much! It seems I have more than ever to do now that my day isn't consumed with fighting children. Yes mine have fought all summer long too! OK they played together a little!
Our camping trip was fantastic. The kids and I went up before Scott and found a campsite at Ohanapecosh in Mt Rainier National Park. It wasn't the site we wanted but it would work. We made quick work in the rain to get camp up as quick as possible. About an hour after we got totally set up, the site we wanted opened up. I know, call me crazy, we had to do it. We moved and set up camp all over again! It drizzled a lot on our little trip, but we still had fun. On Friday we decided to go hiking before Scott came. We did the loop that runs past the Hot Springs and connects to the Silver Falls. It was 3 miles going up 300'. It was not a constant uphill. We would do some flat and mild up hill and then extreme uphills. It was labeled as a moderate hike as opposed to easy. But the easy (hot springs) was so easy, I didn't think anything of it. Alex had a hard time. We rested after the first mile and had a sandwich before we continued on. We crossed a very narrow temporary foot bridge. The original was washed out and was in the process of being replaced. The Falls were gorgeous. The trail looped back to the campsite and Alex had to be carried on my back for a while. I loved being out there. It had been so long since I had been out on a nature hike. I think by next year Alex will be able to do more of these hikes. It was so good to see the kids working together and encouraging each other, even though they were so tired. We had a blast together. The kids all got their own pocket knives in Packwood to carve their own walking sticks with. Our next adventure will have to be somewhere we can find good branches to carve into walking sticks. It was the only vacation we managed to get in this summer, but it was the best we have had in a long time. It was so simple and uncomplicated. No amusement parks or fancy restaurants. A camp fire and a tent was all we needed. It ended our summer on a positive note!