We have followed a tradition in our family for the past few years, where all the children who are over the age of eight get to go on a camping trip with Dad.
This was the first year that William was considered old enough to go! (Technically, he would not be eight until the next week, but we squeaked him in.)
I only heard about it afterwards, but from what I can gather, a lot of time was spent playing by this river. There was a big boulder that was perfect for sliding down.
At night, the kids created shadow plays on the walls of the tent.
The next morning they all went to climb Mt. Pilchuck. I haven’t had the pleasure of doing that hike, but the pictures show it to be a spectacular journey.
Five miles up the mountain — the last mile is scrambling over boulders.
And what became of Katie and I, you ask? To make up for missing out on the Daddy Campout, we had a Katie & Mommy Weekend of Fun.
First, we went to dinner at the McDonald’s with a playplace. Katie had been begging me to take her there for weeks. She talked about this trip all the time, listing the order in which she would play on the different playplace toys, and exactly what she wanted in her Happy Meal. Fine by me, I am always down with a restaurant where I get to sit and read a book while munching on fries.
The next morning, we had breakfast together at Shari’s Diner, then headed off to the Kruckeberg Botanic Gardens for their “Picnic in the Garden” activity.
There was a bouncy house! Pony rides! A marimba band! A curiously disorganized staff of volunteers who didn’t have a record of my online ticket purchase, and I had to show them the receipt on my phone as proof of purchase!
(Eh.)
The point is that Katie and I had a blast, and then came home and collapsed shortly before everyone else came home and collapsed.
Many were the collapsing family members. Sign of a good weekend, I guess.
Casa Camisas 