Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Summer: Better Late than Never!

At long last, summer has arrived. The last 2 weeks have been down right perfect, and O and I are trying to get out as much as possible!
A week (or so) ago, we joined our friends Chloe (4) and Olivia (21 months) at Fox Hollow Family Farm .

It's a private home/farm that is open for special events and limited hours during the summer as a play area for kids. I hear their sponsored Easter egg hunts have a wait list.

The farm is out in Issaquah, WA, one of my favorite mountain towns. Can you imagine if this were your daily view?
This is the view from the backyard. Rumor has it salmon run down this stream during peak season.

The farm had these adorable John Deer tractors for kids. Chloe and Olivia took off for these immediately. Andrea (their mom), and I were cracking up. After Chloe got bored and went to the next best thing, Olivia tried to drive it herself. This baby #2 has no fear, and she keeps her mama on her toes!

Chloe 'planting' and digging in the vegetable garden.
This garden makes me 'green' with envy. I do dream of this some day. Until now, I'll have to keep attempting my lettuce and zucchini vegetable starts. (You'll notice they haven't been featured on the blog.. that's for a reason).

Olivia chased these chickens for 20 minutes. I don't know why it's so fun to watch toddlers toddle. She's got a quick toddle though!

Andrea snapped this pic of our little O. This is the first time I let him play in the grass, and he loved it! His nails were caked with dirt and he had the time of his life. If only I would have let him eat the grass...
Here's to my little boy becoming a little boy. I am sure I'll need to let go of some of my germophobia..

Later that week we packed up the baby, the dog, and the new baby backpack (thank you, Craigslist), and headed out east about 25 miles to twin falls. This was supposedly a relatively slow incline, and only a few miles round trip. We thought it would be a great way to attempt a first hike with the four of us.

A stream followed the trail and ultimately led to these falls. There is nothing like the sights, smells, and sounds of pine trees and a babbling brook. You really feel removed from life and liberated by the beauty of God's creation.

Owen was a content little hiker. We're thrilled that this backpack holds up to 40lbs.. so we'll use it a lot. It also came with a waterproof hood to protect from the rain. Perfect for Seattle!

Oskee had the time of her life! She swam in the river and drank water out of every little stream she could find. Her nose had a blast that day, and she was really well behaved. She didn't bark at any other dogs or people (both of these we've been working on with her training). I think this picture captures her grin well!

Though well behaved, she was still difficult for me to handle (I lack confidence and consistency in my commands), so I got what I consider to be the easy load: carrying the baby down the mountain.

We hope to have many more posts about our hiking adventures.

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