Politics

Politics according to a 6 year old:

Kai: Mom, have you voted for the president yet?
Me: No, we haven't had our turn yet and this will be the first time I'm allowed to vote
Kai: Who can you vote for?
Me: Well, there are 2 Democrats - Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton
Kai: I want Hillary Clinton. I think she's a girl and I want a girl president
Me: There are also 3 Republicans. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump...
Kai: I don't want him. I don't like his name.

I suspect that he's heard Ben & I talking about Donald Trump in an unfavorable light :)

Mt Rainier

Last week the kids and I headed off to Mt Rainier with my good friend and her son.   Ben came up on Friday night and joined us for a weekend of hiking and camping.

Mt Rainier is usually aglow in color in August, thanks to the wildflowers in bloom.   However, this year summer came early and it's been very hot and dry.   As a result, Washington state has been in drought and has been facing some of the worst fires in the state's history.   Even though there is no fires near Mt Rainier, our days were hazy due to the smoke drifting over from the east side of the state.

Despite the dry conditions and lack of wildflowers, the scenery was still very beautiful.    It reminded me more of Autumn on Mt Rainier.

Here are a few of my favorites photos from our weekend away.

On Saturday we did a few small hikes and one medium hike.   Our first hike was near Reflection Lake.  Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating to allow us to see the reflection of Mt Rainier in the lake.

Liz took a pause for a moment and I snapped this photo which I love.

Next we headed to the Grove of the Patriarchs.   It's a very easy and beautiful walk.   The kids loved pretending to hold up this tree.

And the suspension bridge was a hit with all ages.

The boys all thought it funny to lay on the railings.  

This is my favorite of my boys.

I have always found it hard to coordinate 3 kids for a photo.   Putting a 4th into the picture was even harder!   This was the best of the bunch. 

And I adore this one of Kai and Jonathan.

And Isaac.

And this one too!

I asked Kai to take a photo of me - I think he did pretty well :)

Our next hike was super short - around the Box Canyon.   There was a drop of 180ft from the bridge.   Liz decided to ham it up 

And we got this photo a little further away from the edge!

Our last hike was the most beautiful.   It was to Snow Lake.   The colors were more like Autumn here, although sometimes you could catch a glimpse of the last of the wildflowers.

On the way we passed by Bench Lake.  

Our final destination was Snow Lake.  It was stunning and this photo does it no justice.   The water was a glacial blue, surrounded with white rock and brilliant green forests.

A toilet sign was found, and a sudden need came upon a few people.   However, when we finally found it (about 10 minutes walk along another path) we found it was an open air toilet.   Liz quickly decided she could wait another hour to get back but Kai decided to try it out.

Isn't it gorgeous!

By the end of the day we had hiked about 8 miles, and according to my Fitbit, just over 18000 steps and 129 flights of stairs.

Ben arrived on Friday night and joined us for our hike on Saturday.

On Saturday we did a hike called "The Trail of the Shadows"   Early on the walk, I said "I wonder if we'll end up climbing up there?"   Well - the answer was yes!   And didn't we feel it the next day!

Along the Trail of the Shadows we saw this beautiful work of the beavers.   I think they might be almost finished.

As we walked along the Trail of the Shadows, we came across the sign for the "Rampart Ridge Trail".  This was our goal, so we took the turn.   We climbed up and up and up some more.   This was the most interesting tree on the way.

Toward the top, we took a little break on a rock overhang.

And how can I not share this photo of this gorgeous man!

We were almost at the top when we came to a gap in the trees.  All the way down the bottom we could see the park rangers offices and Inn where we had started.   We had climbed about 1700ft.   

But at least the view of Mt Rainier was gorgeous despite the haze from the fires in the state.

Kai was our only tiredness victim this year.   He managed to get a piggy back ride from Ben for the last mile.   I think he did amazingly well, considering we had hiked 5 miles the day before and then 5 miles again on Saturday (half of that uphill)

5th Grade Promotion

Liz finished Elementary School on Wednesday.   It's hard to believe that 6 years have passed and she's half way through school.   Isn't she looking beautiful?

This was her 5th grade class.

And look where we've come from... That smile hasn't dimmed!

Growing Up

I had one of those moments today.   Do you know those moments, when you are all alone and you suddenly realize how much your children have grown up?

I had one of those moments driving in the car today.   I was thinking about the fact that the school year was almost over and that Kai would be finishing Kindergarten.   It seems like it was only last year that I was holding him in my arms.    But no - he's now almost finished his first year of school.

And then I realized in just five years, he will be where Elizabeth is right now, and finishing elementary school.    But even more shocking was the thought that Isaac was going to be finishing high school when Kai is finishing elementary school.

My babies are growing up - and those five years are just going to fly by.   Wasn't it only yesterday that I had older mothers telling me that the years would fly!   I didn't really believe them back then.   But now I understand.

The funny thing is that I remember being in school and thinking that the year passed so slowly.   And now, as we get older the days fly past.

I love you "this much"

Today when we were walking home from school, Kai said "Mum, I love you a little, a lot and a million".  

I responded by opening my arms wide and telling him that I loved him "this much".

He laughed and said "Well, I love you this much" and pushed his arms backwards (because love is a competition!).

Then he added on...

"But I love you even more than that, I just can't open my arms big enough.".

Awwww.   What a sweetheart.

Smart Cat, Annoying Cat

We have a smart cat but there is a good reason we shut our cats downstairs overnight.

Each morning, when the first child goes downstairs, Charcoal runs up to our room.   There is no smooching or loving pats from this boy.  

No.  Instead, he jumps on the bedside tables and starts batting the cord on our lamps.   The metal on metal makes a very effective bell.  

He doesn't do it at any other time in the day.   Just in the morning, to let us know it's time to get out of bed, give him food, and let him outside.

As I said - Smart Cat.   But oh so annoying.

Now I need to train the children to make sure he is fed and let outside.  Then he might pester them, who are already awake!

Poetry

Elizabeth has been learning about concrete and abstract nouns in Language Arts.   They had to write a poem about an abstract noun (an idea, feeling, quality or characteristic) - and use concrete nouns (things that can be seen, heard, smelled, touched or tasted) to describe it.   

I was a little stunned with Elizabeth's poem.  I found it very profound and moving.   Her teacher loved it and has kept it for showing future classes, however she did ask me about Elizabeth's emotional well-being during our last parent-teacher conference last week, because of the poem.