Marymoor Park, Scootering, and Rice Socks

Well, here it is...barely 7 am on a Saturday. Hubby is gone to work and all three kids decided on a pre-7 am start time. Isn't that peachy?

In keeping with my New Year's Resolution, I want to take the kids hiking this morning. I failed to remember to line up some adult help (usually my dad or FIL) so it will just be me and the kids. I'm trying to decide what to do. Part of me wants to grab the girls' scooters and just head down to Marymoor for the nice paved trail. In some ways it seems easier...less whining if the kids are zipping around, less mud, almost no hills, no need to layer up like Eskimos. But in some ways I think it could be more difficult. For example, Sweetness has a razor-like scooter which is MUCH faster than Spunky Girl's scooter. THAT could be an issue. Also, we could get a mile out there and one of the girls could fall off their scooters and want to be carried back. And when I say "No Can Do" to that, because I'm already carrying the Big Guy or pushing him in a stroller, they will try to find a way for me to carry their scooter and they'll limp slowly back to the parking lot...which will seem like a VERY long way back. Hmmm. Perhaps it would be better if I didn't consider all the possible outcomes and just went and did it.

Today I also need to find the materials to make rice sock/bed warmers. My Girl Scout Daisy troop is making these on Monday for the residents of Issaquah's Tent City (a homeless camp for those of you who are out of state or otherwise have your heads in the sand). Buying the rice and the socks is easy, but I want to buy stuff to put in them to make them smell lovely.

Rosemary, Lavender, maybe Mint. Anybody have any suggestions on where I can get that stuff? I figure I can buy Rosemary and Mint from the grocery store, but I'm not sure if the stuff in the refrigerated section is really what I want. It seems like getting rosemary twigs right off a plant would be better (and more cost effective?). And what about the lavender. I know there is a lavender farm on San Juan Island, but that trip won't fit into my day. I need somewhere local. Any ideas????

Okay, I'm off to get everyone dressed and going today. Hmmm...I think I'll start with me today! That's what people mean by "putting yourself first", right?

Letterboxing with Grandpa

Today my Father-in-law and I took the kids letterboxing. Letterboxing is hiking, clue-finding, and stamping all at once. You use the Internet to look up which trails have hidden letterboxes and then use clues to find the boxes hidden in the forest. When you find a letterbox, you take out the stamp that is hidden inside and stamp your own notebook. You also bring a stamp with you and leave an impression of your stamp on the booklet included in the letterbox. Here is the link to the North American Letterboxing site: www.letterboxing.org There are letterboxes hidden all over the world!

Letterboxing was great fun for Sweetness and even Spunky Girl too...it adds another element to hiking to make it more fun. Plus, it is like giving the kids a license to go off-trail when their mom usually says "we should stay on the trail and not disturb the underbrush" when we're hiking. Here's a cute picture of Sweetness looking for a letterbox on top of this huge stump.


Here is a picture of Spunky Girl finding a letterbox (with Sweetness and Grandpa looking on).


There was one funny, slightly gross thing that happened while we were out today. Grandpa had the kids up the trail looking for a letter box, so I slipped away towards a fallen tree that I thought looked cool. Once I got back to the tree, I noticed that someone had littered a piece of paper back there...and it appeared to be the same letterboxing clue page that we were carrying with us. I thought I should do the world a service and clean up the other person's littering...you know, the whole "make the world a better place" thing. As I picked up the paper, I noticed that it had something brown all over it. Let's see...a piece of paper with brown on it, back by this fallen tree that would make a good place to sit privately. Ewww. I didn't make the world a better place after all, 'cause I left it right there and skedaddled back to my kids.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning. Beautiful scenery. The girls loved looking for the letterboxes. The Big Guy wasn't having a great day and he pooped out early, so I got extra exercise in by carrying him ALL THE WAY BACK. The little bugger is heavy! I'll leave you with these pictures of my angels:

The Big Guy:

Sweetness:

Spunky Girl:

Another great morning

In keeping with my New Year's Resolution, I took the kids hiking this morning. Today we tried Soaring Eagle park in Sammamish. I had been watching the weather forcasts all week and was expecting to see rain this morning, but it turned out to be a perfect day. Skies were blue, air was crisp but not cold.

I wish I brought my camera to take a picture of the huge mud bogs we trounced through. The kids loved it. Unfortunately, I had the kids hiking in their tennis shoes rather than their rain boots. Those tennis shoes will never be the same. I've got mine soaking in soapy water now (and should probably get all the kids shoes in the water). Even though I did say "please don't scoop up the mud" and "could you walk around that puddle" a few dozen times, I'm glad my kids got to enjoy some mud time. I want them to enjoy the great outdoors and not being willing to get a little dirty doesn't fit into that.

I liked Soaring Eagle park for several reasons:
1. The trail is really wide, so three people (a mom and a kid on either side) can easily fit.
2. The trail is surrounded by nature, including lots of streams, but you can still see quite a ways...which is advantageous when your older daughter always wants to run ahead.
3. It has nice rolling hills. It is really more of a walk than a hike, but I call it hiking for my kids so they'll grow to love hiking as they get older.
4. The main trail is the perfect length. It took us about an hour and a half to walk the main trail and back to the car. I think it would have taken about an hour if I didn't have a 2 year old with me.
5. Dogs and horses! The kids loved the other trail users. What is better than petting horses and dogs on your hike?


I can't wait to bring the family back here for some bike riding when the trail dries out. There are lots of side trails to explore too. Dad said he was going to come back and run them.

Hope your Saturday was awesome!