Exploring

Most of our exploring is actually a quest for a fishing spot. Tonight we decided to go check out another place we were told had trout for Josh to fish for. Something that isn't common since almost all the fishing done here is for salmon or steelhead. So off we go!

The directions took us to the town of Rainier and then down a really pretty road in search of "The first yellow gate on the left" We found the gate and then had to set off on foot. Both of us hoping that Keegan was up for it. He's 5 but sure he still needs to be carried way too often.

Trees covered in moss like this make me think of fuzzy spider legs.

Huge slug, 1/2 the length of my foot. And unfortunately my feet aren't dainty

Lumpy moss

We found this.....I'm not too excited about this discovery. I'm pretty sure it's poison ivy

leaves

here's where we ended up stopping for a bit of fishing. We saw fish jumping so josh was excited

Josh caught one right away! But it seems that they are all the size of sardines, this is Keegan holding the whopper of a fish

Sand in the City

This weekend was the Sand In The City Festival

They truck in a bunch of sand down by the new Childrens Museum which is also by the Farmers Market and then teams get busy sculpting. Josh had to work so Keegan and I went to explore.

There were all sorts of things for kids to do since it is all put on by the childrens museum. There were crafts, booths, face painting and food and music.

Gone Fishing....uh swimming....

Josh and I got our WA drivers licenses yesterday specifically so that Josh could get his fishing license as a resident. So today were were off to go find some fish, hopefully some that aren't steelhead or salmon because Josh's rod is not made for those.

While Josh fished Keegan and I spent our time on a little island of sorts. He was splashing in the water, throwing rocks for Koda and having a good time.

The next thing I hear is a splash, an ugh, and a "Um, Did you bring a towel?"

This was actually the 2nd time falling in, Koda tried to yank a stick out of his hand and pulled him over. It was quite funny from my point of view. Not sure Keegan felt the same.

Keegan got the stick back

Found a bigger stick and lost his shirt.

Do you see this?? It's not an arm, this is KEEGAN'S BACK

A little lunch, Koda wanted him to share.

Koda's favorite thing to do. Keegan throws rocks in and Koda pulls rocks out.

After fishing we decided to walk down the path further down the river.

The Deschutes River

Back-to-School Wreath

Now that we have our own place again I'm excited to be able to decorate our front door for all the different seasons. A friend found this idea on-line and I decided to try it. I already had the wreath form and the scrap fabric. Crayons were the only expense but since it's back-to-school time they only cost me 80 cents. Other than one minor blister from the molten glue, this was VERY easy.

Do you see this cute thing? They grow all over the place up here, and they are my new obsession!

Seriously they are all over, in yards, fields, on the side of roads and train tracks. They are HUGE mean bushes. I don't care though, since moving here I have become obsessed with the thought of making blackberry jam, blackberry pie, blackberry cobbler......

I find myself driving along and seeing these bushes trying to decide who's land they are on, is it private, public, open space....does it belong to a business??? Do you think they are going to pick them??? Do you think they would let me pick them if they don't????

Ocean Shores, WA

Today we decided to head to the beach, how fun is that?? We live somewhere that we can wake up that morning and say "Lets go to the beach today" After I gave both the boys a hair cut, I packed a lunch, a change of clothes, towels and sand toys and we were off

It's kind of hard to feel like you are heading to the beach when you are driving through this. I love love love all the trees!

Here's another look

We made it to Ocean Shores, WA after a gorgeous 90 min drive

Keegan played in the waves, ran around with the dog and then got to work building. The best part is that he tried to make a lake. See that smooth patch of sand right below the pink shovel? That is the lake, he ran down towards the water, filled his bucket and ran back, poured the water in to the lake. It wasn't enough so he took off running back to the ocean to get another bucket full of water. This time back he didn't run back but walked, by the time he got back the water had disappeared. He was sooo confused, it was funny. So we told him HURRY HURRY and get some more, he took of running as fast as his little legs could take him. The water had again "sunk" out of the lake before he could get back. When he got back he decided that his lake was broken and it would just be a "dried up lake"

Keegan doing what he loves best at the beach, chasing and then running from the waves.

My Boys

A VERY happy beach dog. Koda NEVER barks but when Josh would stop throwing the ball for him Koda would start barking at him. It scared us the first time.

Back at it, this dog couldn't get enough

What a fun day trip. This beach was so much fun, you get to do all the things you always wish you could do on a beach but aren't allowed at the beaches in CA. Dogs are allowed, you can have a fire on the beach, horse back ride, rent scooters. Oh and the best part, you park ON THE BEACH for FREE

Priest Point Park

Today we went and explored some more. We ended up going to Priest Point Park it was gorgeous, there are miles of trails, trails that go down to the rocky squishy beach. Picnic tables galore, tables that are hidden away and private so you don't feel on-top of the next picnic spot. A sweet playground with a pirate ship, a rose garden.

So here's the one picture I took. It's a daisy, it's happy

I didn't take any other pics because while we were down on the beach area I was busy trying not to get too much mud on me and trying to stay upright. That stuff was slippery! Then while we were traipsing around through the ivy and ferns I was worried about spiders, there were webs all over the plants and I was sure one was going to try to hitch a ride on me.

Tumwater Falls Park

Tonight after dinner we decided to go exploring. Josh had googled some places he thought might be fun. So we started off by going to Marathon Park that is by Capitol Lake. It has a nice path around the lake and in some spots a great view of the Capitol.

Afterwards we headed down to Tumwater Falls Park. It's a series of small falls that used to be used to run the machines that ground grain. It was a really nice walk down in the gully, very green. It's kind of funny because you drive right past in on the freeway but don't really see any of it. We were told by our real estate agent that it was there so we knew where to look.

This is towards the end of the walk, there was part of an old cement pillar that had a plant growing right out of the top.

The upper part of the falls. Where we were standing to take this pic was right over a series of salmon ladders.

A pic of the river further down

The I-5 freeway over the river.

The lower falls

Day #.......

We went exploring today. Josh had the day off today and this morning went on a bike ride and did some preliminary exploring. He came home and told us all about it so that we could go later. We found a cute trail to walk on with Koda that has a little stream near it. He also found railroad tracks, well he found where the end of the railroad tracks are.

Here are Keegan and Koda walking on the tracks. And before you think I'm nuts for letting my son and dog play on the tracks I'll just say that 20 feet behind where I'm standing the tracks end. So I was pretty sure we were safe.