Tumwater Falls

The family and I spent a little weekend getaway in Olympia and explored some of our old city!  We spent our first 18 months living in WA in the Olympia/Lacey area and really like that part on the state.  We spent some time at Tumwater Falls loved walking along the river and seeing the falls.  Little Rosie walked the entire route around and loved being so independent and thinking she was as big as her older siblings.  The falls also have a fun little park that the kiddos can play at and when the salmon are running this is a great place to explore.  We love getting outside and exploring! 

A 4 Year Old's Birthday

Little D is growing up too fast!  She turned 4 last weekend, yet she seems even older than that.  Technically she got 2 birthday celebrations this year since we also had a party for her when we were in Reno as well.  The party here in WA was just with out family and she had a full day planned out for us all.

We started the day out with pink and green pancakes for breakfast, then we got ready for the day and headed out to get some donuts!  After the donuts she wanted a happy meal for lunch, so McDonald's it was.  Then mom and baby R headed home for a nap and I took the older 2 kiddos to the movies.  We saw Kung Fun Panda 3 and had a great time in the recliner seats at the theater with popcorn, candy and soda!  After the movie we headed home for dinner, cake and presents!  Darla helped make and decorate her cake and she was so pleased with how pink it was.

What a fun day celebrating a fun, vibrant and energetic girl!  Darla is full of personality and energy.  She is a joy to have around and we love her being a part of our family.  Happy Birthday Darla!

Mt. Rose Ski Trip

 While we were in Reno last week, we spent one day up at Mt. Rose skiing!  Mr. T was excited to go again and this time his cousins were there too!  I think it was motivation to have them there skiing.  As soon as he saw how fast they were going he really stepped it up and started doing a lot better.   He is picking it up quickly and skis pretty good for just beginning.  He was a blast spending all day on the slopes with his cousins and hey, we even got the wifey on the slopes again after 8 long years of not skiing! 

Fatherhood These Days

I was at a work networking breakfast event the other day talking with a gentleman and he asked me about my personal/family life.  I told him that I was married and had three young kiddos, ages 6, 4, and 1.  His jaw dropped!  Literally!  He told me I was brave and probably too busy to have fun or even enjoy life.  I quickly corrected him and told him that being a father to these young kiddos is what makes my life fun and enjoyable.  I briefly told him about the fun adventures that my family goes on and how we like to get out and explore on a regular basis.  I told him about where we hike, what towns, parks, rivers, lakes and mountains that we have been too.  He had never been to most of them or even heard of them.  It was an eye opening experience for him as well as I continue to talk about our next adventures that we have planned.

After this conversation, I am certain that he left having a different opinion about my life, about my family, about what was fun for me and my family.  It felt good to voice my opinions about having kids and how they are a handful, yet totally worth it!

Here's my crew below as we went on a little walk/scooter ride to the park down the street from us.  

Teaching my kid to ski

The time has come that I start to teach my kids to ski.  I grew up on the slopes in Utah and spend a lot of time skiing as a child, a teenager and an adult. I use to work in Park City and skied a ton, worked a lot of night shifts and tried to take come classes for school.  Since the resorts here in WA have gotten quite a bit of snow this year, we decided to head up and take advantage.

We went up to Crystal Mountain, up by Mt. Rainier National Park and had a great day there. This was T's first time on skis and he did really well.  We picked up some rentals from Sports Authority and I dusted my skis off since they had been sitting int he garage for the past 3 years!  We were up at the mountain by 10 am, took the shuttle up to the lift and spent the next 6 hours skiing!  T did really well overall after about 20+ runs on the bunny hill.  I don't know how great of a teacher I am, but he seems to be picking it up and we are planning to go up again.  It feels good to have your kid enjoy something that you enjoy so much.  I hope this is the beginning of a great realtionship with skiing!

Winter Hiking @ Sequalitchew Creek Trail

We had some sunny days last weekend so we spent Sunday afternoon out and about hiking around the Sequalitchew Creek Trail and along the shores of the mighty Puget Sound.  This was the second time hiking here and it was nice.  They actually paved the first few hundred yards of the trail now and then it turns to dirt.  It's just over 1 mile in to the tunnel and the coast.  One you get there there is plenty of beach to explore, especially when the tide is low.  The views are amazing and we always have a great time hiking around town.