Labor-less Days

We closed our summer with another National Park expedition. This time found us heading to North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. Jim and I had been to the North Cascades over Thanksgiving, but didn't get a chance to do anything as it was raining like crazy and we were on our way to Victoria. This time we made up for it.

At the visitor's center, we were told about this local waterfall that isn't part of the park at all. Evidently the area provides hydroelectric power for the city of Seattle and the head honcho over the power company back in the day wanted to show the public that "anything was possible with electricity" and illuminated this waterfall. The pathway walking up to it was lit and was supposed to have a bunch of tropical plants strategically planted next to lights so that the PNW could actually grow plants such as Orchids. I didn't look closely enough to see if it had worked, I was much more focused on this:

Over time the lights changed colors; blue, to purple, to bright, obnoxious red, to pink, and back again. Aeryn still thinks it's one of the coolest parts of the trip.

We hiked to Diablo lake which is honestly the most interesting colored lake I've ever seen. It truly is this teal green color as a result of the glacial sediments that are in it.

Aeryn giving a wary smile... she was up and down and all around on this trip. I think the anxiousness for school to begin was eating at her. She did really well half of the time :)

This overlook looks at a place that one of the rangers used to teach about avalanches and how to recognize them in the landscape. All the stripes free of trees are places where avalanches have knocked them out of the way.

Our second night there we attended a ranger program on how to escape Seattle and survive a zombie apocalypse. I just about died laughing as it was the most awesome program ever. That ranger was seriously funny and made survival sound possible, even in the most gruesome of situations.

One of the things we knew we had to do was hike to the Sol Duc waterfall. It did not disappoint. The three separate falls were so lovely and I found myself wishing I had a wider angle lens to capture it more fully. It was a really fun place to play around with shutter speeds and camera angles.

The area seemed much smaller to me before Jim climbed down there. It wasn't especially large, but it does put some perspective on things. Aeryn climbed down there with him afterward and I think she felt is was the coolest thing ever, for that minute anyway.

After two nights in the forest we headed to Olympic National Park to camp by the beach. It was the most amazing campsite in the entire world. The coastline there is all part of the National Park and one campsite up from us was a trail to the beach. It was at most a 5 minute walk and we were there. Luckily we arrived and had camp set up in time to head down to watch the sunset on the beach. Even more remarkably, it was clear enough that there was something to see. 

We checked the tide tables and headed to the beach first thing in the morning to check the tide pools. They were some of the most convenient I've seen as the sand completely surrounds the rock and a freshwater stream flows out toward them creating a small estuary of sorts. 

We didn't have to climb over any rocks and we saw more starfish than we typically do.

Jim and Aeryn chased the seagulls and all I could think of was Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. "Suddenly I remember my Charlemagne. 'Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.'" Only we didn't send any WW2 era Nazi planes into the ocean as a result.

We found this log covered in mussels. The critters were extended from the shells and we watched them move. Then we feared that since the log was a good 150 yards from the water they would all dry out and die. Jim got the idea that he was going to return the log to the sea to save their little lives (awww...) and spent quite a good chunk of time maneuvering the log down there.

Then we went back to the beach at high tide and found that our 150 yards of beach was completely submerged and the log had washed ashore again not too far from where we initially found it. We had both remarked that this was the largest beach we've ever seen and seeing it completely engulfed in turbulent waves was a crazy thing. Between waves we could see the faintest tip of the rocks where the tidepools are. In this picture it's out at the last visible row of waves toward the left, almost invisible. Oh, the power of gravity.

It was awesome. This little project of ours to visit all the National Parks is really quite a blast. I think everyone should camp by the beach as often as possible. We will definitely be going back.

It Happened.

Summer ended. Can you believe the audacity of such a thing? This has been such a busy one for us, and the time has gone very quickly. With it comes the starting of school. Sometimes I think people get tired of hearing my shock (every. single. year.) that Aeryn keeps growing. I love it, but I don't think I'll ever get used to how quickly time goes by.

This year she's in fourth grade.

Holy moly. That's all I can say.

For the first day she chose to wear this cute striped dress that her dad's girlfriend picked out for her. I suggested the leggings and an undershirt (the dress is sleeveless) since I know she's going to do flips on the bars at recess.

Getting on the bus is always fun. She has so many friends now but it's crazy to see how much taller she is than most of them. This year ought to be interesting. She's got a couple friends in her class including one boy from church that she seems to have a serious crush on. She will neither confirm nor deny the accusation, which in essence is a confirmation.

Real life is back, full force.

Eugene Celebration

This is dedicated to the friends and family who still think Eugene is just a cute, green, charming little town. It definitely is all those things, but it's also quirky beyond belief. There is a general acceptance to being whatever breed of different anyone wishes to be and it has certainly enabled me to more fully embrace my natural self. Sometimes I wish it didn't. I feel so much better when I primp a little more.

I apologize right now for the numerous pictures. I just couldn't choose what to leave out. In Jim's words "This is the strangest thing I've ever experienced."

We sat with friends since finally summer vacation is ending and the families we love are coming back again. I'm sure all the husbands are less excited for summer to end and grad school to resume, but I sure do love having friends around.

The parade had it's fair share of typical entries like this high school dance team...

 This ginormous man on stilts...

Monster trucks...

and a Chinese dragon.

Interspersed with all the "normal" offerings were things that are uniquely Eugene, like the Slug Queen (whom I didn't get a picture of) riding in her "carriage" and this giant slug being mercilessly slaughtered by some crazy salt guy. I want to know how to land that job. Seriously, how cool it is to say "I was the salt shaker in the slug parade?"

This is some serious stuff. The Slug Queen's peeps were giving out crochet slug finger puppets to kids. Seriously, who doesn't want a crochet slug finger puppet? (Or a super cute model for one.)

Then there was the appearance of the USA Communist Party, which naively I didn't even know  existed. They had hoards of people shouting (and by hoards I mean about 5) "People before profits." Yes, let's take a look at history and see just how beneficial and sustainable Communism has been.

Then I had to laugh because immediately following the Communist party was this gigantic dove advertising the International Day of Peace. What a contrast.

Um. Yeah. I confess I'm not the biggest fan of Monsanto and some of their manufacturing ethics but this is beyond anything I've ever thought.

Aeryn was super happy to have little people to dote on and play big sister with. Even better, little people that are happy to let her.

What is up with this? I thought the Occupy movement was a little crazy here, but the Octopi movement was just downright hilarious.

Don't forget the Coal Train. We're very anti-pollution here in Eugene, which honestly I can understand. There is so much green and natural beauty here that the effects of non-sustainable living are more readily visible than in communities which are more urbanized.

Tie-dyed puppeteers.

And who-knows-what these things were supposed to be.

With fairies advertising the Country Fair that I hear is not necessarily appropriate for the under 18 crowd. Ok, make that definitely not appropriate at all.

Wrapped up by the local garrison. It was like we were about to be beat into submission by stormtroopers, and if that weren't enough there was Boba Fett to finish the deal (two of him, actually). I could've taken Darth Maul easily since he came without his double ended saber. What is up with that?

After hearing the stories of last year when the nudist colony walked the streets wearing cardboard boxes I was disappointed that this year they were a no-show. In the words of the Eugene Celebration website: "The Eugene Celebration Parade represents the best of Eugene in all its diversity. Not without controversy, this irreverent collection of left and right, alternative and traditional, new age and conservative never fails to delight, entertain, stimulate and provoke the dialogue and interactions that define our community. Ever on the edge of appropriately behaved, Celebration Parade participants are eager to share their own particular ideology for the enjoyment of the community and their fellow citizens."
I'd say it lived up to it's own claims. I seem to think the extreme political bias is due to the upcoming elections but really there is no way to know, it is Eugene after all. What do you think next year will bring?

Somewhat-Fearful Fish

If there is one area in which the girls are most definitely individuals, it is in their attitude about water. Aeryn likes to go swimming but with significantly less gumption than Ellie. Her first round of swimming lessons are done and went extremely well. She's gaining confidence every lesson and getting much stronger. She didn't give me quite the camera-ham show the way that Ellie did. That might be partly because of my attempt to follow her class around the pool hiding behind pillars in an attempt to be stealthy. It didn't work, btw.

In this class they introduced diving. She's been a real trooper about it, since it's something even her mom refuses to do because of a traumatic swim lesson experience somewhere around 1988.

For all the grandparents who didn't think this was a possibility, yes, she went down the water slide! I'd say she almost liked it, if it weren't for her insistence afterward that she never wanted to do it again.

Here's hoping the growing tolerance for water continues, she's got another session starting in two weeks. Looking at pictures of her swimming makes me want to hold her in my arms and apologize for giving her my ultra-fair complexion, but then I remember the kind lady in the locker room who told me how gorgeous my skin is and I take a tiny little moment to smile.

Ellie

Our summer together has come to a close. Yesterday the little ladybug returned to her mom and we are feeling quite a void already. As much as I like the house being cleaner with fewer little people around, I'd rather have all the little people around. Life is just too quiet and... predictable... this way.

As we were getting packed up she and I went outside for a quick little photo op. She made a gift for her mom's upcoming birthday and we needed a picture to go with it. She was so cute for the camera.

Sometimes when Ellie smiles for the camera, her teeth are showing but her face is not really smiling. Once she laid down on the grass the fake smiles started to appear so I tickled her with my foot to get her true happiness to come out. I will miss her ticklishness and laughter most of all.

It's been a great summer, and we've packed in so many good things. I can't wait to be all together again.

Astoria by Instagram

What an amazing 36 hours. This was perhaps one of the best family mini-vacations ever. I decided to use Instagram instead of carrying the big camera for much of the time and still ended up taking about 200 photos on the big camera after the 35 or so on my phone. It was THAT much fun.

Riding bumper boats in Florence

Picnic lunch by the coast

Gallivanting around a playground in Lincoln City

Dinner and ice cream at the Tilamook dairy

Trying to hold our breath across the Astoria-Megler bridge

Jumping on hotel room beds

Flying gliders off the Astoria column

Truffle shuffle at the Goonies house

Getting soaked at the Peter Iredale shipwreck

Junior Ranger activities at the Lewis & Clark National Historic Park

Splashing and exploring the tide pools at Haystack rock

Driving home

The end