Odds and Ends of Summer Fun

Now that school is starting, I shall quickly reminisce about the smaller memories that soaked up our summer fun.

Trampoline games

Paul's brother Matt and their family came to visit for a few weeks this summer. Reina of course enjoyed playing nearly every day with cousin Madeleine who is the same age. I only managed to get one picture of all of them together out back eating ice cream!?!

 We had some really hot weather this summer...easy 90-100 degree days which called for lots of water fun.

Esther Short Park Splash Pad

Jaden's Birthday way back in June when the weather was still slightly chilly

Cottonwood beach is a 15 minute drive to the "beach" (Columbia River). It's great when you want to get away but only have a couple of hours AND the water is much warmer than the coast.

Yes, that's Reina leaping over a fire pit. NO fire.

As a reward for passing off her box of Bob reading books, Reina got to choose what that reward would be. She chose to do the trampoline thing at the mall she's been eyeing and go to Dizzy Castle.

Baelor got another hair cut...I was snapping the picture while Paul was cleaning him up. I promise those are not my hairy arms. I can't cut all the super blonde hair off though- too precious!

I cooked some Kokane salmon and Rainbow trout that Paul had caught in eastern Washington. Some of the best fish I have ever had! Wish I could remember the exact marinade I threw together!

Reina and I took a day for just the two of us to go to the Clark County Fair. It was the first day with my new Galaxy s5 phone so I had fun figuring out how to use it :/

She still reminds me how much fun it was. And it was.

Since our first real hikes with the kids in the Olympic National Forest and Mt. St. Helens went so well, we thought it would be fun to take them to one of our favorite hikes in the Columbia Gorge called Oneonta Falls. It is a very short, but sketchy hike. I say sketchy because it is not the most ideal with kids. You have to climb over a huge pile of fallen logs and to get to the waterfall at the end you have to nearly swim in the ice cold mountain water. Eh, we were up for the challenge! Paul was in charge of Baelor (i.e. keep him safe in the backpack) while I was in charge of every careful step Reina took.

The logs definitely made me a little uneasy seeing that if Reina slipped and I wasn't right there with perfect footing to catch her she could slip down 10 feet. I really don't panic in situations during them, just realize how risky things are AFTER. The hike was just as pretty as we remember, except now people have added little rock sculptures. So cute!

Remember how I said that you have to nearly swim at one point to get to the end? Well, I couldn't hold the backpack (to keep the camera dry) and Reina. Daddy was such a daddy to take both of them and trudge along probably making him stay longer in the water than if he did it alone. I couldn't help but take a picture.

We made it to the end! The kids LOVED it. Even Baelor would laugh when the freezing cold water crept up the hiking backpack.