Our First Summer Hike

We got invited to hit up a summer hike which occurs weekly. I've been trying to get my act together so that we could go. Each time it rolls around there was something preventing us from getting to go. This Wednesday however I made it happen.

This hike was at the Tacoma Nature Center. We've never been out there and weren't really sure what to expect. Megan was less than thrilled to be going hiking. She seems to get "tired" of walking pretty much anywhere we go. I told her to put on her happy face because we were going and it was going to be fun. We've been in the house for two solid days while I've had to work and we had to get out.

I really don't know why kids doubt their Mothers. Of course once we pulled up and saw other kids and Moms, Meg was all smiles. She enjoyed every minutes of our time. Andrew was in heaven with other boys and was definitely working on getting his wiggles out.

The trail was beautiful. It was so nice for me to actually have other Mom's to talk to while we did our hike. I think the kids also liked having others to play with as we explored. It was nice for us to be social. It's usually just the three of us on our outings so this was a very nice change up and might I add much needed.

After the hike we explored the Discovery Pond area. This was probably Andrew's favorite part. I don't think he stood still the whole time we were out. It was fun to see him so alive and active. Megan was a bit more conservative with her play but still enjoyed herself. These two just couldn't be more opposite from each other. I find it so interesting.

I enjoyed being outside and just listening to the giggles and joy from all the kids. There is something about Mom's and kids getting together that just works.

They even had a nature center which we got to check out. Andrew was really reluctant to leave the play area and after some chasing we finally got to go inside. It was a cute little play area with interactive stuff to do. They also had some turtles on display which were neat to see.

We had a great time. So thankful for Sarah Jaggi and all her efforts to coordinate the summer hikes. I hope we'll get to hit up a few more. I'm gonna have to figure out how to make my schedule work so we can go again.

Park Exploration

So considering it's Friday the 13th and my morning did not go well I decided we had to get out of the house. I found this new park in Auburn for us to explore. It was a bit of a drive but we are in need of new territory to discover.

This park has a whole dry section and a sprinkler wet section. The kids were so excited to be in a new place and didn't know what they wanted to do first. As usual I had Andrew wanting to do dry while Megan wanted to start wet. Those two are never on the same page.

I made the decision to start dry as I figured once they got wet we'd spend the rest of our time in the water area. The kids hopped from one item to the next, they wanted to try it all out. They couldn't decide what they liked and just wandered around.

They made quick work of the dry and were ready for the wet. They got right in and decided the water was a bit cold. This sprinkler park was a bit smaller then we are used to and there wasn't much there but it was different. The kids were all smiles and having fun. It took about 20 minutes before Andrew slipped and fell. He was so sad and got a nice red scratch on his elbow. He didn't want anything to do with the water section after this.

This was fine with Megan as she was ready to go back to the dry to explore some more. They played in the sand and got nice and dirty. I figure we were there to play so why not make a mess right? It's more fun when you dig in and make a good mess.

Andrew arm was burning a bit from the fall and he just lost his desire to play. He came and sat with me for a bit and Megan wanted to go back to the wet. We were on a roller coaster of sections let me tell ya. Nothing really captured their full attention for too long.

It wasn't long before I decided to call it done. It was a cute park but there are some closer to home that the kids love. We explored and had fun but probably won't be going back any time soon. It had new equipment that we've never played on before but really not worth the drive. The kids just didn't care to stay that long.

We ended our exploration with hitting up $1 cones from Burger King on the way home. The kids were super happy and I was glad we got to go out even on this weird day.

This Is How We Roll

One of my favorite memories as a kid was when my family would go out skating/biking after dinner. My Mom and I would skate while my Dad and brother rode bikes. We'd go out at least once a week and it was a ton of fun. I loved roller skating and could do many tricks. It saddens me that I have never taken my kids out skating. Don't really know why it's never been something to come up till now.

Came across a kids skate free during the summer and I immediately signed them up. This Wednesday at the last minute we were actually able to go out for the first time. I thought this would be simple. I got the kids their skates and all set. I thought I could sit on the sidelines like all the other Moms and watch them skate away. It quickly became obvious to me that I was going to have to rent skates and get out there.

After the kids only went a few feet and ended up on the floor more then they were standing I decided to get skates on. Once I was ready I got out on the floor and it all came back to me quickly. It was kind of exciting to still have it and do a few laps without any issues. After getting my footing I went over and took turns helping each child.

Poor Andrew was so scared he wouldn't listen to any instructions and just wanted to hold on to me while he rolled along next to me. Megan on the other hand listen to what I was telling her and before she knew it she was out there on her own doing a good job. She was slow and still had some falls but kept at it. She had a great time and didn't want to leave till the time was over.

There was a Grandma there and she offered us her rented stand to see if it would help Andrew. He felt more comfortable using it but still wasn't enjoying himself. He didn't like not being able to get his balance and he hated falling. He spend most of the time sitting on the sides and would go out with me on occasion. He turned in his skates early and was ready to go.

All in all I think we had a good time. I know Meg and I did but Andrew doesn't care to go back. I'm hoping that we can continue to practice and maybe they'll start to get the hang of it. I know Jeff is already talking about going out with us one day, which would be fun. It wasn't bad for a first time and I'm glad we went. We'll have to see what happens next time.

Freedom

So this year for the fourth of July we were able to hit up a fireworks show on July 3rd. I found that Lacey was having a show the day before. This worked perfectly for our plans and we made sure to factor it in. Since Grandma & Papa live there they were able to scope it out and get us all set up for the show.

We usually hit up a show in Puyallup but they didn't have a show this year. There were a few other venues that we could have hit up but those were on the 4th and with Jeff having to work the next day we didn't want to be out late. Since this was on the 3rd we were thrilled to get the chance to see a show.

This was a smaller display then we usually see and I'm not sure the kids cared that much. I think these shows are becoming less and less around as it's so expensive to put on. I'm just glad that while the kids are young we've been able to see fireworks so far. We did miss the music that usually goes along with the show but we were glad to see something.

Since our fireworks show was out of the way that left us wide open to do anything we wanted on the 4th. There were a few options out there and we decided to hit up the Tacoma Freedom Fair.

This fair was all along the water and gave us beautiful sights to look at. The weather was so nice and we just enjoyed being outside and soaking up the sun. This fair had what you would usually expect to find. There were vendors for misc stuff and food, kiddie zones, mini car races, pole vaulting, bmx tricks, airshow, and more. It was fun to walk down the strip and just look at everything.

Our first plan of attack was to walk the whole strip and see everything that there was. We got there early so we had no crowd issues and enjoyed our walk down. After seeing it all we then settle on a spot to watch the airshow and divided up for food. We all enjoyed something fun from the vendors and waited for the show to begin.

The show was a little late to begin and we got a little bored while the time ticked by. Once the first plane came it was cool to watch. It was a female pilot and she had some awesome moves. There was a bit of a gap between planes and it seemed to be a bit slow. We only saw a handful of different planes and not what we were used to as far as airshows go. It was still really fun to watch and I think we all had a really good time.

We had an awesome 4th of July celebration and loved being with family. It was a lot of fun to get out and do something different. As we did the walk of the strip back to catch our shuttle bus it was super packed with people. We were glad that we planned to go early and skip the fireworks since we already saw them on the 3rd. I was really happy how our plans turned out and all that we were able to do. Fun times.