little black journal

Good golly, October was full.  Birthdays and skydives and a trip to Paris (someday I’ll get those pics up on the blog!), leaves galore, and some hardcore Halloween-ing.

Our morning walk (or bike) to school has been chilly as of late, but I’m loving that crunchy sound of leaves under foot (or tire).

I headed to the Arboretum on a drizzly Friday for some me-time and wandered among the golds and browns and reds – this place is an October staple in my Fall folio.

The Japanese garden across the street was nearly empty due to the rain, so I pulled up the hood of my rain jacket and took advantage of the quiet.  I haven’t been here for years, as the parking lot is chock-full on sunny Fall weekends.

These. Colors.

It was clear from this tree that I missed “peak” foliage, but no matter.  If only it were sunny…

And the next day it was!  Shane, Juliette and I found ourselves with an open Saturday afternoon and headed right back out to the Arboretum for more leaf-peeping.

“Autumn Jules”:  I love her.

Jack and La Verne treated Shane and I to a very special meal at Archipelago in Columbia City for our birthdays at the end of the month.  We filled half the seats in this 8-person restaurant and relished every course, each of which came with a heartfelt origin story from the chef.

Ah, and Halloween!  So good this year!  Juliette loved pumpkin-carving…

And decorating the mantle with the few glittery owls and spiders that we picked up from the dollar store.

A guy down the street spent the entire week before Halloween carving pumpkins and we walked by there nearly every day to check on his progress.  107 pumpkins all-in!

Juliette found a bumble bee headband, wings and skirt at the dollar store back in September when we were buying supplies for her birthday party and asked if she could please be a bee for Halloween.  Cheers to the cheapest, easiest costume EVER!  She got all decked out for her school’s annual Monster Mash on a Friday night and had a blast fluttering down the halls and around the gym with her buddies.

And the main event!  The October 31st festivities kicked off with Juliette playing a little ditty for a small crowd of kids at the community center where she takes piano lessons.

We darted home to eat a quick bite, do a little face paint, and then snap the obligatory porch pics.

Shane busted out his Matt Cain jersey and dressed up as Giant.  In jeans.

And no shoes.  Thanks for trying, though, hon.

Juliette buzzed outside the moment she saw neighbor kids emerging from their houses, eager to get her trick-or-treat on.

Let’s do this!

Our neighborhood felt so friendly and festive, with decorations on most porches and everyone stopping to compliment each other’s costumes.

Ok, this house hardly screamed “friendly”, but hey, they had candy!

And now our pumpkins have gone squishy and been thrown in the compost bin.  Juliette’s trick-or-treating loot is gone (sweet kid donated all but 10 pieces of it to her school’s candy drive for the troops).  The owls and spiders are tucked into storage.  Happy November.  16th.  !!!

I sat down to write this post on Father’s Day, but then we went camping, and then we went camping again, and then school started and Juliette turned six and I went to Paris and now my Father’s Day Ode is a Happy Birthday Dedication to my favorite guy, who turned 40 two weeks ago.  The reality is that I thank my ever-lovin’ lucky stars for Shane daily, but it feel like he’s due for a mondo helping of gratitude.  So I’m gonna try to lay this on extra-thick.

We took Juliette to a Mariners game over the summer and as we were leaving the ballpark I saw a mom grasping the arm of her toddler as he melted into a full-on tantrum: spaghetti legs and ear-piercing wails and tears that shot out of his eyes in wide, gushing arcs.  My heart-strings tugged as she struggled to get him back on his feet and just as I was about to offer her that empathetic “hang in there, Mama” half-smile, the kid’s dad swooped in from behind, flipping the boy over his shoulders and eliciting shrieks of laughter as he twirled him in the air.  I saw the mom’s shoulders relax as she fell into step behind them.  That moment felt so akin to the dance that Shane and I have come do over the past few years of parenting Juliette.  Granted, we’ve exited the melt-down phase, but Shane’s still swooping in, holding down the fort at home when I have to travel for work, signing up for after-school programs the minute they open because I’m not so good at keeping track of those kinds of things, pulling out the Legos and calling to Juliette when I’m trying to get dinner ready and she’s rapid-firing questions at me.  He’s the Batman to my Robin, the peanut butter to my jelly, the co-parent I’d go batshit crazy without.  It feels like we’re in the midst of a particularly full season of life right now, but he makes it work.  Ok, we make it work, but there’s no we without he!

Of course, it’s not just the logistical relief and mad calendaring skills he brings to our family.  He’s exceedingly engaged, patient beyond reason. When Juliette started showing interest in sounding out words, he bought “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons” and spent a couple of evenings a week on the couch with her, plodding through each page and offering her just the right amount of guidance when she got frustrated and wanted to give up. When Juliette said she wanted to play music, Shane spent hours looking for a West Seattle piano teacher and signed her up for lessons, sitting through each lesson himself so that he could help her along. He’s intent on giving her every opportunity he can offer, often with a deep investment of his own time. I’m guessing he’d like to watch his beloved basketball games with a little peace and quiet, but instead he invites Juliette to head downstairs with him after dinner and then answers her endless questions about who has the ball and why isn’t Kevin Durant playing and where’s Lebron and why does Pops look so mad?  Juliette bawled her eyes out when the NBA season ended in June, not because she was disappointed with the outcome (girl loves Kawhi!), but because she wanted to watch more basketball with Daddy.

He’s so present, physically and emotionally, and on the rare occasion that he can’t be around, like when he had to leave for a business trip on the first day of Kindergarten, Juliette still knows he’s thinking of her:

He brings a lightness to our house with his incessant air guitar, a sweetness to our lives with his gifts of affection and affirmation, a sanity to our days with his insistence on an 8:00 bedtime for Juliette.  He’s IT.  So when a milestone birthday rolled around, I started dreaming of ways to honor my guy.  Rent a party-pad in the mountains for the weekend and invite all our friends?  Cater a fancy dinner at our house?  Go on a bender with the gang and end up a karaoke bar?  I was ready to go big, but Shane would have none of it.  He wanted a mellow morning at home, a taco dinner with our nearest and dearest, and creme brulee for dessert.  Your wish is my command, Shane Schnell:

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by Shane’s birthday celebration request.  Dude hates karaoke.  However, I about fell out of my chair when he said that for his gift he wanted to go sky diving.  Shane, who prefers the gentle swish of cross country skis to the zip of downhill slopes, wanted to jump out of an airplane?!  He asked Jason and Jack to join him and once they recovered from their similar shock, they said they were game.  We convened in Snohomish last Sunday for the big event.  Let’s do this!  (And by “let’s”, I mean…”you”.)

The guys completed their training, suited up, channeled their inner Mavericks, and then were AIR-BORNE!

I quickly lost sight of the plane, but several minutes after take-off I saw their parachutes dot the sky.

Shane’s partner had a camera on his arm and the footage is pretty unreal.  The scenery from up there!  And Shane’s grin through it all!

I was fairly calm through the whole thing, but still felt my shoulders relax when I saw Shane’s feet touch ground again.

The guys were silly-giddy afterward, sky-high on adrenaline for the rest of the afternoon.  Total bro-fest.  I was so happy for Shane, so thankful for friends and sunshine and this guy that’s still manages to surprise me 20 years after our first date.

Happy Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, Happy Ever After to my one and only.

Fall has fallen and it suddenly feels like we’re on the cusp of winter, with cold weather and bare limbs on many of the neighborhood trees.  This season feels more fleeting than ever – seems we may not be able to make our annual pilgrimage to Kubota before all the leaves have fallen.  I mean, I haven’t even made pumpkin bread and already Target’s aisles are lined with Christmas decorations!

We’ve seized what brief autumn moments we could, like when we headed over to Lincoln Park last Friday afternoon to see our favorite tree and go a few rounds on the zip line.

This is as golden as it gets…

Juliette has transitioned into her “fall look” – her hair seems darker these days and already her summer freckles have faded.

I don’t have a lot to say here other than…good God, I love you, Seattle.

Shane kindly requested that we skip the pumpkin patch after suffering through the traffic and crowds at Bob’s last year, but I was pretty resolute that we find someplace other than Trader Joe’s to pick out our pumpkins.  We settled on Jubilee Farm out in Carnation last Saturday, which was a bit of a trek, but was wonderfully mellow, with plenty of parking and no wait times for hayrides.

We rolled up just in time to witness the daily launch, where they catapult a giant pumpkin out into an open field so that the kids can watch it explode.  It was weird, but amusing.

Out to the patch!

And then…the search.

Juliette was really into the mini-gourds this year and had an impossible time picking just one or two favorites.  We bought seven.

We were just about to call it a day when we discovered a whole other field on the other side of these sunflowers!

 

 

 

 

 

She was pretty excited about this pomegranate look-alike.

Mission accomplished!

We wrapped up our visit with a cup of hot cider and a quick spin through the hay maze.  Ok, two spins.  Maybe three.  It was free and Juliette couldn’t get enough.

Juliette’s been cuddling with this silly little gourd all week, laying it right on her pillow so that it’s the last thing she sees as she drifts off to sleep.  Way to feel that October spirit, Jules…soak it up while it lasts.

It’s been a big couple of weeks for Juliette, with the start of Kindergarten and the onset of SIX.  This growing-up thing continues to happen way too fast, but I’m hanging on for dear life and reminding myself to enjoy the ride.

The first day of elementary school arrived with much fanfare, in the form of a new pink backpack and front porch pictures and SO MANY HUGS before we said good bye and left her in the hands of her sweet new teacher.

Three cheers for walking to school!  After the 20-minute schlep it took to get to preschool, this is such a treat.

Juliette bravely rocked her first week of school, though all three of us were exceedingly happy when Friday rolled around.  And since Friday was her Birthday Eve, there was extra cause for celebration!  Her teacher made her a birthday crown and invited me in to read a story to the class at the end of day; Juliette showed me to my chair up front and then proudly introduced me to each and every one of her classmates – nineteen names learned in just five days!

To Market, To Market got lots of giggles from the class, which Juliette quickly shushed so that I could carry on with the story.

I spent Friday night decking out the living room and wrapping gifts; after the busy week we’d had, I was going for a birthday vibe of “quiet-but-festive”, so we spent Saturday morning opening gifts and eating pancakes and sipping hot chocolate.

Juliette asked for “fancy things” for her birthday and was thrilled with these ridiculous sparkly dress-up shoes, which she spent the rest of the morning clomping around in.  Pink cowgirl boots, a couple of twirly dresses, and a hot pink glittery headband rounded out her new wardrobe perfectly.

Plus…

I just couldn’t help myself.  We saw Aladdin over the summer and Juliette’s had Jasmine-fever ever since.

Juliette had some birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa that was already burning a hole in her pocket, so we went over to our new neighborhood bookstore after breakfast to check out their shelves.  I anticipate spending a lot of time in this cozy reading corner in the chilly months to come.

Juliette picked out a Pigeon book and then we hopped next door to Youngstown for a muffin, where the nicest barista ever made Juliette a free hot chocolate with rainbow sprinkles when she heard it was this kid’s birthday.

We spent the afternoon cycling through Juliette’s new clothes and playing balloon volleyball in the living room.  We had decided to save the party for the following day and I was exceedingly grateful for these mellow moments with my favorite kid.

Oh, Jules – how I love and loathe to watch you grow older…

Sunday was party day, and again we kept it lower-key – after last year’s bounce house bonanza, I felt like we were due for a smaller gathering just with Juliette’s best buddies.  The theme was “campout” and we had planned on a backyard tent and outdoor games, but rain drove us indoors where I laid the table with a trail mix bar and a campfire cake.

And a blanket on the living room floor for our “hot dog picnic”…

The kids were told they’d have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the hidden s’mores supplies, so they made their own headlamps and set off on the trail of clues.

Treasure discovered under the sleeping bags in the bedroom tent!

We gathered round to sing Happy Birthday to Juliette, which she loved (little lady has zero qualms about being the center of attention), then we gave the kiddos the choice of chocolate cake or backyard s’mores (Juliette picked both).

Three plus three makes SIX.

We wrapped up festivities with an impromptu living room dance party, where Juliette twirled to her heart’s content.

We tucked Juliette into her bedroom tent that night and then I happily obliged her request that I lay next to her for awhile.  She fell asleep in about 15 seconds flat and then I was left to wallow a bit in those post-birthday blues, where I begrudged the passage of time and felt all those future birthdays barreling toward us like a freight train.  I know I’ve gotta let go of this irrational resistance to the future, got to embrace all this growing and changing, because dang if this girl doesn’t get more fun, more joyful, more interesting with each passing year.  Juliette Grace, don’t let your weepy ol’ mama hold you back – keep leaning into these new phases and experiences, keep twirling at the speed of light, keep being YOU.  At six years old, you are lovelier than ever.

Welp, I guess that’s a wrap, huh?  School has started, the skies are gray, and I wore a turtleneck sweater yesterday – summer is O-V-E-R and I’m memorializing it with one last photo mash-up…gosh, I’ll miss these lazy lake days!

Juliette and the neighbor kids asked me one morning last month if they could have a campout in our backyard – I said, “Sure, we can do that sometime!”  The words had hardly left my mouth before Rees was rolling up the sidewalk in the ol’ Arctic Cat, backseat loaded with pillows and sleeping bags and flashlights.  I guess we were doing this!

Shane set up the tent and the kids played in it for the better part of the day, coming out for hot dogs and s’mores before tucking themselves in for the night.

Sweet, sweet summer dreams, kiddos…

We spent a lot of time in the yard this summer, trimming and weeding and mowing, but also jumping through sprinklers and grilling with friends.

Gratuitous freckle shot!

Juliette and I spent a glorious wide-open Friday at Coleman Pool – I thought we’d ditch the arm floaties and test her swim skills, but she had a such a good time floating freely back and forth across the pool that I didn’t push it.

That same evening, we traded a damp swimsuit for a dry one and biked down to Alki Beach for a birthday party.  From Pool to Sound…summer livin’ in West Seattle is so, so good.

We ventured a little farther from home on a Saturday to swim at Anderson Pool in Bothel – this place is great, though swimming inside felt like a waste of sunshine!  You can find us back here in November.

There was a quick trip to Portland to pick up Juliette after her few days in Idaho with my parents – I didn’t take many pictures, but these couple with Morgan and my parents deserve a spot on the blog:

Summer ain’t summer without a visit to the ball field, so we headed to a Mariner’s game on a Sunday afternoon to cheer on the hometown heroes and run the bases.

And…the fair!  After our visit last year, this has officially become a Mama-Jules annual tradition.  Farm animals and ice cream and roller coasters, OH MY.

The ferris wheel was fun, though a bit tame for my speed-loving kiddo.

So we strapped ourselves into the mini roller coaster, which made Juliette wild with joy.

The kiddie-coaster was so much fun that we decided to level up and try out the Wild Cat.  Juliette cleared the height requirement by a half-inch, so ready or not…

Truth be told, she vacillated between laughter and near-tears with each terrifying dip, but we lived to tell about it!  This was our last real Friday off together before settling into our new school schedule, and we most certainly made it count.

And outside of all this boppin’ around, there was the simple sweetness of a PNW summer.  Family bike rides down to the water…

Neighborhood bike rides with the West Seattle biker gang (Juliette’s knees have never been so scraped up!)…

Basement dance parties when it’s just too hot outside to ride yet another loop around the block…

Shady walks through Schmitz Park…

Evenings next to our new fire pit…

And watching Juliette live her very best life, literally playing from sun-up to sun-down on some days and falling into bed at night with pink cheeks and tired legs.

Now pardon me while I fire up the indoor fire place and drown my post-summer blues with a spicy Chai and a slice of pumpkin bread…bring on Fall.

A Spokane contractor I worked with on a project once described Priest Lake to me as “heaven on earth”, so when I saw that there was a lakefront site available there for two nights during our week in Idaho, I snagged it and asked Mitch to pack his tent and sleeping bags before leaving Portland.  It’s a bit of a trek up to Lionhead Campground at the north end of the lake, but we arrived mid-day with plenty of hours left for swimming and sunning.  Except…RAIN.  RAIN!  Big, fat drops started falling just as we unrolled our tents, so Shane and Mitch made very quick work of getting the rainflies up, and then we all huddled in our tents, crossed our fingers and toes, and waited for the gray clouds overhead to pass.  And pass, they did!  The storm blew over after a couple of hours and we dashed into the lake even before peeling off our rain jackets.  The shore was sandy, the water was clear, and the beer was cold.  This. Is. Camping.

The evening was a haze of hot dogs and paddle boards.

The water was super-calm, perfect for paddlers-in-training.

Even little Bina went for a ride!

The girls grudgingly changed out of their swimsuits once the sun set and then joined Mitch at the lakefront for fly fishing lessons.

Seriously you guys – this was the view from my camp chair!  Heaven on earth, indeed.

We woke up to a misty lake on Thursday morning, demolished a pan full of breakfast sausages, and then were right back out on the SUPs.

 

It was toasty that day and by mid-morning I think everyone had taken a dip.

Show off!

My mom and dad joined us for the day and settled into the camp scene quite nicely.

Lake life 4-eva.

I had planned on a hike, maybe a ride to the general store, but we only made it as far as the campground ranger station for ice cream bars before heading right back to our little stretch of paradise.

We closed out the day with a sunset paddle to a little cove around the bend, where Morgan and Juliette hopped off the boards to grab a couple of special stones to bring back with them.  I’m sealing that evening away in the memory bank: sitting back on the board while Juliette paddled us, Mitch and Morgan to my left and the mountains to my right, the water shimmering and golden all around us…it was somethin’ special.

…And then, bedtime.  I took one last peek out our tent at the velvet blue sky before zipping it up and calling it a day.

Friday was go-day, but we squeezed in one last paddle, this time over to Upper Priest Lake, which was as quiet as quiet can be.  Shane and I aren’t shopping for retirement homes just yet, but the quaint lakeside cabins that dot the shore there sure are tempting.

Ahhhh, sayonara site 133…  This place was a dream!

The next couple of days were spent back in Post Falls at my mom and dad’s house, playing catch…

Visiting the biggest wagon EVER…

And checking out Farragut State Park, which was gorgeous but quite windy.

Juliette and I set out on the SUP, but turned around once I realized I was rowing in place.

The girls served up imaginary cherry Cokes for my dad at the playground, and he proved to be a very difficult customer…

But Elise got even.

We busted out the Bean-Boozled jelly beans on Saturday evening and shared a good laugh when Shane thought he was getting Peach, but actually ate Barf (and seriously, it tastes like barf).

My mom wondered aloud why we’d subject ourselves to such horror, but her face says it all.  There’s just so much delight in watching your son ingest a Spoiled Milk jelly bean.

Once we’d dried our tears and cleansed our palettes, we took a walk through the neighborhood to enjoy the evening’s stellar sunset.

And then, all too soon on Sunday morning, it was time for Shane and I to hit the road and leave Juliette with Grandma and Grandpa for a few more days of Idaho fun.  While I was the feeling the need to get back to Seattle and back to work, I certainly wouldn’t have minded another week of puzzle-doing and paddling.

Until next time, I guess!

I’ve been itching for a return visit to Idaho ever since we ventured over there last October to visit my mom and dad. North Idaho is rich with summertime lakeside hangouts, so we spent a week there in August, paddling and camping and hanging with the cousins, whose visit happily coincided with ours.  Together again and it feels so good!

We laid low our first couple of days, doing the playground and park circuit with the kids.  Post Falls has no shortage of places to play, and Falls Park is one of my favorites.

Juliette is a monkey bar machine these days – just tonight I noticed the thick callouses that have formed on the balls of her hands.  Girl’s got grit.

After the playground, the kids dipped their feet in the Spokane River at Q’emiln Park.

And then spent the afternoon romping through the spray park that’s right across the street from my mom and dad’s new house.

 

Elise is 11 and almost too cool for school, so I reveled in these moments when I saw the goofy girl I’ve known for the past decade emerge from her pre-teen shell.  These three!

We headed into Couer d’Alene Monday morning for coffee and muffins, then hit the trail at Tubb’s Hill for a mini-hike.  First though, a photo op with Mudgy the Moose.

We rewarded our little hikers with treats and balloons from the Main Street candy shop.  Mitch grabbed a box of Bean-Boozled jelly beans, but more on that later – I’m still recovering.

We cooled off in the evening back at Q’emiln Park…

And then set the kids free at the park across the street from the house.  We joked that my mom and dad have the biggest front yard ever!

I got out for an evening solo stroll and felt that beloved country vibe as I cruised past cows and goats and horses and sheep.

We were back on the lake circuit Tuesday afternoon, this time testing the waters at Honeysuckle Beach on Lake Hayden.

The water was nice, but the ice cream truck was the real standout of the day.

A few of us headed over to Corbin Park after dinner for disc golf, fishing, and rock-skipping.  The course here is not for the novice golfer, as most holes require you to thread your disc through a gauntlet of pines.

That said, Juliette wasn’t gonna let a few measly trees get in her way!

Th stretch of river here is gorgeous – golden and serene and sprinkled with plenty of perfect, flat skipping rocks.

Mitch caught a four-inch trout that he promptly threw back.  When Shane joined us after his round of disc golf, Juliette excitedly shouted, “Daddy!  Uncle Mitch caught a fish and it was FOUR inches!”  Size is relative, I guess.

On Wednesday we headed to Priest Lake, and Idaho leveled up.  You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

In another stroke of superb timing, the rain stopped falling on Friday morning just as we emerged from our tents.  Look at these lucky ducks!

Juliette has loved, loved, loved having our buddy Jordan around this summer – he’s got such a gentle, silly soul that really speaks to the spirit of our five year-old.

We truly had nowhere to be on Friday, so breakfast was extra-long and followed by a La Croix chugging contest between Jordan and Jack.

This is what you call “making your own fun” for the 40-and-over crowd, I think?

Jordan was strangely amped-up after downing 12 ounces of seltzer water in 15 seconds flat and challenged the guys to a swim across the lake.  “Across the lake” is a loooong way, so Juliette and I tagged along on the paddleboard to keep an eye on them.

They actually made it quite a ways out there before turning around.  Nance, Isaiah, Jules and I herded them back to shore.

I don’t know that there was a single moment over the next several hours when there wasn’t someone out in the water, paddling or floating or swimming or wading.  We had all found our happy places.

Oh, Jordan.  Always good for a laugh.

These three-dollar Target floaties are by far my best bang-for-the-buck summer purchase!

This is summer, folks.

We brought the party back to camp late in the afternoon, where we changed into dry clothes and popped open a cold bottle of rose.  First though, ice cream appetizers at the general store.

Remember that job interview Shane had to stay back in Seattle for on Wednesday?  It went well.

La Verne and I went for a sunset stroll after dinner along the trail to the Lake Quinault Lodge, and ho-ly golden hour, this place glows.

The Rust clan headed out to the Hoh Rainforest on Saturday morning while we stayed back with the Chens for a nearer-by hike.

This icy little creek was the perfect place for Shane to cool his heels.

 

Buddies!

…and buddies!

We scrambled over some roots, crossed a bridge, and then bee-lined back to camp to change into our swimsuits.

We did more paddling and floating and played a few rousing rounds of log-jousting, which the kids thought was hilarious.

By this point in the weekend we had depleted our beer and wine rations, so we headed to the lodge before dinner to sip margaritas and watch the kids play tag on the nicest lawn ever.

We convened at camp for one last sunset, one last round of s’mores, one last night at what was shaping up to be my new favorite spot to pitch our tent.

Hard as it was to leave our idyllic lakeside compound, we were all in pretty desperate need of a shower by Sunday morning, so we packed it up right after breakfast, snapped a few pics, and hit the road.

Juliette’s goodbye with the Rust family was drawn-out but so sweet.  Bunch of huggers, these five!

‘Till next year, you crazy cats.  Quinault 2020?

Though Shane was up at the crack of dawn back in October trying to secure us a summer campsite on Orcas Island, he had no luck – I thought he was the only guy that planned camping trips nine months in advance, but apparently there are other people that wait with bated breath for site reservations to open up.  Foiled!  We weren’t just gonna roll over and give up our lakeside dreams, though. Nancy and I did a bit of research and found ourselves four nights at a lovely waterfront site at Lake Quinault on the Olympic Peninsula.  Pack that paddleboard!

Juliette and I met the Rusts at camp on a Wednesday evening at the end of July – Shane had stayed back in Seattle for a job interview, with the promise that he would join us by the end of the week.  Juliette barreled down the road on her scooter with the boys while I set up camp.

Our tent turned out to be a bit big for the site, but Jason and Jordan came up with a totally solid workaround.

It had been a long day of packing and driving and missing Shane, but I washed away any residual angst with a sunset paddle.

We lounged around camp Thursday morning, enjoying the water view and a poetry reading by Jason around the campfire.  This is about as mellow as it gets!

We eventually rallied for a mid-day hike at Graves Creek, where we strolled among the Sitkas and crossed paths with a couple of llamas.

Juliette lost steam mid-way through the hike and I was fresh out of Skittle bribes to coax her along. MAJOR kudos to Jason for somehow getting her to skip-jog the two miles back to the car!

We returned to camp hot and tired and ready for a dip.  This stretch of beach next to our site turned out to be headquarters for the rest of the week.

These PNW lakes!  Nothing better.

I love this kid’s summer uniform.

The rest of the gang, including Shane, rolled up Thursday evening.  Shane got right to work moving our tent (he was having none of that propped-up corner business) and then settled in for chili and s’mores.

We zipped ourselves into our tents on Thursday night just as the rain started; before long the gentle pitter-patter had turned into a full-on all-night downpour.  I burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag, crossing my fingers that the storm would pass by morning – we had so much more paddling to do!  I thought we had paid our rain-dues at Rainier!  I know the weather-gods actually don’t keep track of such things, but Friday was…magic, actually!  Those pics coming up next.

I fell down an Internet rabbit-hole late one night when looking for the best campsites in the PNW and tip-toed into our bedroom as Shane was just starting to doze, my laptop balanced on one palm as I leaned over him and asked quietly, “Think you could take a couple of days off in July to camp at Mount Rainier?”  Thus, a reservation at Cougar Rock Campground was secured for one of the last available sites on two of the last available nights.

We wound our way down Paradise Road on a Sunday afternoon, stopping at every turn to ooh and ahh at the panoramic views…

And then settled into camp with some hammocking and reading and game-playing.

After we’d fully chilled-out, we drove down the road to the rushing Nisqually River for more mountain-gazing.

We went for a short hike but soon circled back to the river to perch on a couple of rocks to take in the day’s last rays.

This has gotta be as good as a summer evening at the base of the mountain can get…

Sunday’s sunshine made us hopeful that the drizzle we’d seen in the forecast would stay at bay.  Shane was so bold as to leave the rainfly off the tent that night, but I woke at 2 am to a damp pillow, so he awkwardly (expertly?) strung up our rainfly in the dark, snuggling back into his sleeping bag just as the rain stopped.  It was just a passing shower.

Or so we thought.

We heard the pitter-patter of raindrops around 6 am and burrowed deeper into our sleeping bags, hoping it would let up by breakfast.  At 8 am, as the rain fell harder, we dashed from our tent to the car and zipped up to the Paradise Inn for waffles and bacon.  We would wait out the rain from the cozy interior of the lodge.

At 10 am we were still waiting!  We left the lodge and drove down the mountain, hopeful the rain would let up by the time we hit the hiking trails.

The mist made for some magical landscapes, but was really starting to dash my paddle board dreams!

We eventually found ourselves back in our tent, where we ate lunch and played games and took a monster nap.  Surely the rain would let up later that afternoon.

We heard the pitter-patter stop around 3 pm and hopped into the car, eager to get out and stretch our legs.  We drove toward Snow Lake, stopping along the way to check out gushing Christine Falls.

We pulled up to the Snow Lake trailhead just as the dang rain really started up again.  Of course this couldn’t last all day, so we had a snack in the back of the car while waiting for the skies to clear.

And…the skies didn’t clear.  It was around this time that Shane asked if we should just call it and hightail it back to Seattle and our warm, dry house, but I remained optimistic in denial.  We’d been wanting to explore Rainier for years!  This was our chance, dammit!  I knew I was being entirely unreasonable, but Shane sensed my determination and so we headed back to camp and managed to start a campfire in the drizzle.

Bright side: this weather was good for snuggling.

Dinner was only slightly misty and then Juliette and I managed to get out for a quick stroll around the campground.  It seemed the skies were clearing – Tuesday would be AMAZING!  PLEASE GOD LET TUESDAY BE AMAZING!

The clearing skies clouded over again on Monday night and spilled forth a several-hour downpour, but finally, the rain let up on Tuesday morning as we were breaking down camp.  Juliette declared this the “worstest camping trip ever”.

But when I asked her if she still had fun, she said “of course I did, Mommy!”

We crossed our fingers and headed east toward the Naches Loop trail for that elusive mountain hike.  These misty roads weren’t reassuring…

But we took our time, popping out to take some pictures while the fog burned off (burn fog, BURN!).

We landed at Tipsoo Lake and the Naches Loop trailhead mid-morning and while it was hardly a bluebird day, it wasn’t raining, so we seized the moment and set out into the white abyss.

I love gray and green, but it felt so good to see some new colors along the way.

The mist didn’t lift, but no matter – it was warm and not raining and still all kinds of magical.

We stopped for lunch at the crest of the loop, which apparently offers epic views of Rainier on clear days.  I’ll have to take the other hikers’ word for it.  However, we did manage a brief, beautiful glimpse of Dewey Lake.

These Rainier wildflowers!  They’re the real deal.

This was most definitely worth a full day of rain.

Cheers to these two for sticking it out with me – there’s no one else I’d rather be trapped in a tent with.