Mary Poppins

This last weekend we went to visit my grandparents.  While we visiting we went to see Mary Poppins with Bockum and my parents.  It was the first time we have taken the girls to see a play.  I wasn't sure how things would go because the play was outdoors and didn't start until 8:45pm, well past bedtime.   Red Fish was definitely a little tired but she made it through the entire play.  She liked the play and really enjoyed the tap dance numbers.  It was fun to watch her face when horses crossed the stage.  She was blown away that real horses were allowed on stage.  She loved the story line.

New Fish was completely entranced by the play.  She absolutely adored every second of it.  They were both so quiet and good during the play.  I did have to put my hand over New Fish's mouth on the multiple occasions she was tempted to break into song.  She did a lot of dancing along.  At the very end of the play when Mary Poppins felw over the audience with her umbrella it was completely quiet and New Fish suddenly shouted: "Goodbye!  I will miss you!"  Everyone around us burst out laughing.  It was beyond cute. 

Watching the girls was the first time I have felt like myself in months.  It was a good feeling. This was one of those nights that felt pretty much perfect.  (Other than Grandma not being able to be there with us.)

Painting Sculptures In The Backyard

Zions

 A quick trip to Zions. The girls couldn't stop marveling at the beauty around them.  It was so cute to listen to them. Red Fish is really gaining a true love for the outdoors.  When we drive places in the car she marvels over the view.  She is noticing beauty all around her.  I hope that somehow she can maintain this childlike ability to see the magic in everything, to see unicorns and rainbows in everyday life.

Printmaking in art group

 The last two weeks of art group have been all about print making.  We have made monoprints and used foam printing plates.

Water Park Day

Our city has a parade and fair every year.  I've been going since I was a little kid.  The girls really look forward to it.  We started the day with the parade with friends and then skipped the fair (it has gotten expensive and lost its charm in a lot of ways) and headed straight to the waterpark.  I think visiting the waterpark once a year is one of my kids' very favorite things.  This year Pop Pops joined us for the first time.

 

Summer Vacation Part 9- Lassen Volcanic National Park

 On the way home, we took an unexpected route and we happened to drive right by Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It was entirely unplanned but we stopped for a few hours to check it out.  Red Fish really liked the park and kept talking about the process of lava going from a  liquid to a solid. I taught her about solids, liquids and gases a few months ago and she loves pointing them out.  She is our little scientist for sure and we had just finished reading a book about volcanoes and mountains, (Usbourne Wild Places) so she was full of interesting facts.

Red Fish standing in the devastated area on a chunk of lava.

Summer Vacation Part 8 - Redwoods National Park

"Big Tree" Yes, that is really its name.

 Our next camping spot was Redwoods National Park.  We have always wanted to go here and never had a reason to head that direction.  We figured that it was never really going to be "on the way" someplace so we made time to get there.  It was definitely impressive.  It is very small and doesn't have a lot of variety so it was good it was combined in with a bigger trip.  There were a lot of people from other countries there.  Several asked to take pictures with our kids.  Apparently our children look very American and people love Red Fish's red hair.  It is quite the novelty.  This is not the first time that our girls have experienced this in a National Park.

Big Tree trail

 Our favorite part was probably Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Trail.  The girls loved all of the "goose pen" trees.

Goose pen tree in Lady Bird Johnson Grove

 We flew our kite in Humboldt Lagoon State Park.

Summer Vacation Part 7- Oregon Coast

 Next we drove the entire Oregon coast.  My favorite stop was Cannon Beach.  I loved the little town and the kite shop run by old hippies who "don't technically work there."  If we went back I would want to stay in Cannon Beach instead of Astoria or Seaside.

Haystack Rock

 We went to the Tilamook cheese factory.  I was blown away by how many thousands of people were streaming in and out of that place.  The cheese and the ice cream are delicious but still... it seems a little strange to me that it is that big of a tourist attraction.

Yaquina Lighthouse

 Just outside of Newport, we stopped at the sealion caves.  These are a total tourist trap and a huge rip off.  I might have thought they were more worth the money if we hadn't just seen the amazing elephant seals in California last summer.  The girls did enjoy the seals.  They enjoy all animals, even if they are far away and hard to see.

We camped in state parks on our way down the coast.  The beaches are really well cared for and the parks are all really clean and nice.  I enjoyed the coastal drive for the most part but there are about 200 miles there in the middle where you can't see anything interesting.  I could have skipped that part for sure.

Summer Vacation Part 6- Seaside Oregon

 We went to Astoria and Seaside, Oregon next so that we could go to the beach.  We stayed at the Inn On The Prom, which was very cute and right off the promenade and beach.  Our sunny beach day was an epic fail.  It was on 47 degrees and we were freezing. The girls couldn't have cared less though.  We bundled them up and went out to the beach anyway.  The girls completely covered themselves in mud and had a grand time playing in the sand.

 Two Fish has decided that the girls need Wildcat sweatshirts immediately because he got tired of everyone congratulating them on being Gator fans.

We also rented a surrey and pedaled it all around town.  It was hard work.  I thought it would be much easier to pedal than it was.  The girls riding in the front and they really loved ringing the little bell.

Summer Vacation Part 5- Mt. Rainier

After we left Seattle and Two Fish's side of the family, we headed to Mt. Rainier National Park.  It was a gorgeous park and we enjoyed being in the mountains.  We camped at the Cougar Rock campground.  We started at the Nisqually entrance and worked our way up through to Sunset Peak. We stopped at the Longmire Museum and looked at some of the animals and information about the park.  On the way up Rickseeker point road for some spectacular views and stopped at Narada Falls.  The Paradise area had some amazing wild flowers.  I think that was my favorite part of the park, all of the wildflowers.

Narada Falls

We did the Box Canyon loop to look at this gorgeous river carved gorge and then did the trail through the Grove Of The Patriarchs in the Ohanapecosh area.  They were perfect hikes for a three year old.

Hike through the Grove of the Patriarchs

Sunrise Peak

We ended our trip through the park at Sunrise Peak, the highest point that can be reached by car.  It was cold and beautiful.  After spending the day hiking and driving around Mt. Rainier we roasted marshmallows.  Camping just isn't the same if you don't have a fire and smores.  I don't even like marshmallows but I always make sure we bring some.

Summer Vacation Part 4- More Seattle

 On the 5th we went into Seattle again to do some exploring.  We ate at Beecher's Handmade Cheese and then walked all over Pike's Place Market.  We watched them throw fish and Red Fish pushed her way to the front and caught one with another kid.  It was disgusting and splashed all over her face.  The girls got little bracelets made with their names on them.

Her face right after catching a fish

 We took a very long walk down to the pier to look at the ships and then we went to the Seattle Art Museum for the last hour it was open.  We just ran through a few of the exhibits. Red Fish was so exhausted that she started to cry and told me that she really wanted to see all of the art and have me tell her about it but she was just too tired to pay attention.  I'm going to have to take her on a little art museum date sometime soon to make up for it.  We tried to cram so much into a few days that she was just completely exhausted.

We spent the evening back at B and R's house and gathered around the fire pit for smores and stories. We missed one family from the group picture because it was getting too dark to wait for them.  It was a pretty big group that made the trip to Washington.  The four of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We had such a wonderful time with everyone.