Yay... they were both looking.

Look at that air!

She tends to run down the slip-and-slide.

What a nice way to cool down. 

 

They were so cute riding together.

Wesley mostly rode the .32 mile loop.  He rode around at least 6 times.

After a couple of laps around the park they cooled off in the sprinkler.

And blowing bubbles.

Filling her tub so she can get Wesley.

She is throwing her water onto me...

Then they started dumping water onto their heads.

I love how he is holding his nose.

Full dump with no nose holding.

Then I tried to get a picture of them together…this is the best I could get:

Jillian: 4y 0m 24d Wesley: 5y 9m 11d

Then they warmed up in the sun.

A bit of playing on the playground was next.

Monkey Bars!

40 minutes of bike riding rounded out the rest of our visit to the park.

We sure did enjoy our last day of summer vacation!

 

They put up this new sign while we hiked.

Sauk Mountain may be my favorite hike. It is short, with great views the entire way, and with only a little effort you get up above the tree line. I’ve hiked it more times than I can count. Sometimes alone, sometimes not. Last Friday we hiked it all together and it was great.  The weather was perfect and it wasn’t that crowded (sometimes the parking lot gets so full you have to park down the road a long way from the trailhead).

We took it really, really slowly. The GPS says we averaged 1.08 mph for the trip (that includes the descent). When we stopped at switchback number 10 for lunch we’d already been gone longer than it takes me to hike it alone. But, and somewhat to my amazement, both kids hiked all the way to the top without needing to be carried. They needed some encouragement, but they made it. It took two hours and five minutes, but we made it! Hurray!

Excited to be on the summit!

Wesley on the summit.

Jillian on the summit.

Near the summit there was still some snow. This was a huge, exciting thing for the kids. We insisted they not slide around until we were on our way down. Good thing, too. They got so cold they both had a few tears. I think the time in Texas may have softened them up.

Getting really cold hands in the snow.

The area around the lake was also covered with snow. And the lake itself had more ice in it than I can ever remember. Wesley when he got to the top and looked at the lake and mountains said “Wow! This is so beautiful!”. Hopefully he won’t complain so much before the next hike.

Ice in Sauk Lake

On the way down Jillian did get to ride. This made the descent a lot faster. And for a mere $1 bribe, Wesley walked all the way down to the car. The best $1 I’ve spent in a long time.

We didn’t see any Pikas this trip. But we did see a chipmunk or two (Redmond was furiously flipping over rocks trying to get at them) and several Marmots. This one just stood up the entire time and looked around. He didn’t scurry off until we were 25 feet away.

Marmot doing a Meerekat impression.

Like I said, it was a nearly perfect trip. The wildflowers were in bloom, the kids were cooperative and in good spirits and even Redmond was well behaved.

Bicolor Lupine

He loves to hike even more than me.

And of course the view was wonderful.

Looking East over the Skagit Valley

We even got to see the Elk east of Lyman on our way to drop the kids off at my mom’s house. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to do it again next summer.

Our hike on Google Maps.

 

At the East entrance to the tunnel

The tunnel is 2.3 miles and almost perfectly straight. It is also nearly pitch black and 55 degrees inside compared to the bright sun and 75 degrees at the entrance.  Armed with sweatshirts and nearly all of the flashlights we owned we had a ton of fun walking in the dark.  The kids managed to walk all the way in one direction and a portion of the way back.

Not ones to let nearly total darkness stop us from taking pictures we did manage a few inside the tunnel (thanks to a very bright flashlight).

About midway down the tunnel.

Without the flashlights it looks like this:

The view most of the way.

At the west end of the tunnel are some picnic tables and probably the nicest compost toilet I have ever had the privilege of using.  The view isn’t bad either.

Looking East over I-90 from West end of tunnel.

At the ends of the tunnel you do get a bit of light and you don’t need your flashlights right away.  It does get dark pretty quick, though.

Heading back to Hyak.

The trail, especially after the recent work, is so wide (you could drive a train on it!) and flat that we played games on the way back. Running and chasing, hiding and general goofiness ensued.  The only major concern is bicyclists. There are lots of them. Bikers outnumber walkers at least ten to one.  Most have lights and most probably wish they had brighter ones. We didn’t have any problems, but we were sure to move over and give them plenty of room.

Isn't she beautiful!

And how do you celebrate a successful hike on the I-90 corridor? In our family that means root beer floats from XXX in Issaquah. Well the kids had root beer floats. I had a root beer shake and we all shared some fries and onion rings.

Tasty onion rings at XXX.

If you want to hike the tunnel it is now open. It had been closed for the last several years for repairs. And don’t forget that for safety reasons it isn’t open in the winter. They gate the tunnel closed November 1st through the end of April.

Just for fun I tracked the hike using the gps on my cell phone. Just curious what it would do. You can see that we started at Hyak, magically popped out at the other end. The big empty section between the blue lines is the tunnel. It is so apparent on the map because they keep the trees cleared for the power lines that run over the top.

Google map of our hike

From the GPS we know it took us exactly 3 hours and 4 seconds to make the 5.6 mile round trip journey.  You can take a look at the interactive map and view the data here. Heck, download it into google earth if you want.

Hike information: Snoqualmie Tunnel – wta.org

 

Both of them are enjoying every minute of it.

For the next 11 weeks this is what Wesley will be doing late in the afternoon on Tuesdays.

Warming up.

Working on flips on the bar.

Using his balance.

Bouncing on the long trampoline.

And getting stamps after his 1 hour class.

Thursdays after lunch for the next 12 weeks will be a lot like this:

Warming up/Stretching

Walking with her arms out and toes pointed.

Leaping across the room.

Getting a sticker at the end.

Showing me how she puts her feet together - the sticker help her know what to do.

The energy in Wesley’s class is very wild/high and the energy in Jillian’s class is very calm and focused.  I think each class is a good match for their personalities. 

They can not wait for next week!

 

• A decent bike makes a huge difference. This one is a huge, huge step up from what I had before. Lighter, more efficient tires. I still don’t like riding, but it is better on this than the last one.
• If  your wife tells the friendly bike guy at REI your butt hurts when you ride he will explain to you in rather specific detail what a perineum is (I already know, thanks) and why it gets sore when you ride your bike.  Not a conversation I thought I would ever have with anyone, anywhere, let alone in a retail store with a stranger.
• Drivers don’t understand hand signals. In fact when I signal right they seem to think I am waving at them.
• Lights don’t change for you even when you are in a bike lane.  You have three choices:

Run the light (just do it).

Wait for cars to come (you may wait a very, very long time).

Either get off or ride your bike to the curb (even if you are in the far left turn lane) and press the crosswalk button, then wait some more.

• Bike lanes are the trash cans of the roads. They are filled with pot holes, broken glass, loose gravel, pinecones, fast food containers and dearly departed pets.
• Biking is too efficient and doesn’t burn nearly enough calories. I only burn 44% of the calories I would burn from running the same distance.
• 30 plus mph is lots of fun and just the right amount of terrifying.
• I will never “break even” with the cost of a bus pass because the required accessories (fenders for rain, rack and panniers for stuff, pumps, replacement tubes, etc) cost a small fortune. You could get a decent bike for less than an expensive set of panniers.
• At a signal, when the light turns green I can beat most cars off the line and across the intersection. It is simple physics that I have a lot less mass and better gearing for that 2 seconds of the ride. There are a few exceptions. The following people will floor their car to beat me across the street:

The person in the car next to me is a man of any age driving a sports car

The person in the car next to me is a man of any age driving a really crappy car.

The person in the car next to me is a man under 25 driving any car of any kind.

• People have three ways of passing:

Never actually pass. Just ride right up next to me so that if I were to swerve a few inches I’d collide with your front bumper.

Pass me in residential areas at about 60 miles an hour.

Pass me at 60 miles per hour without moving over an inch even when there is no bike lane. This one is preferred by cab drivers.

• At the bottom of every hill in which you finally get up some momentum, there will be a stop sign forcing you to eat up all that lovely kinetic energy, grinding it up into worthless heat in your brakes. There will be no coasting for you!
• You aren’t supposed to use all of your gears. In fact some combinations of them will never, ever be used. You aren’t supposed to let the chain go diagonal. So in the first front gear you can use only 1-4 or so of the back set, the middle front gear can only use the middle few gears in back and the third gear in front can only use the hardest, upper gears in the back.  I stole the picture below (highlighting in green which gears you can use on an 18-speed) from a very thorough page with lots more details. I’m not sure how I managed to ride a bike on and off for thirty-one years without knowing this. This is why the internet is now my official best friend.

Being the geek I am I have attached my running GPS to the bike and have been tracking the time it takes for me to ride to and from work. Plus I like to see how fast I can get down the one decent hill (record is 32 mph so far). You can see that I am trending a little faster as the days go, but I chalk that up to my increased willingness to run lights (safely), rather than some improvement in . Each light I run cuts a few minutes (10-15% of my total trip) off my time compared to waiting for it to go green again.

 

Unfortunately Wesley’s bike is just a little too big and even with the seat all the way down he couldn’t get his feet flat on the ground.  So he pushed himself around for a few minutes, but had trouble balancing because he had to lean side to side to reach the ground. We put the pedals back on and after just a few minutes he was riding around for short distances all by himself.

Here we are celebrating his first real ride on a two-wheeler:

And here we are shortly thereafter being attacked by crocodiles (They live in the rain gutter on the inner edge of the track. What, you didn’t know?):

After that Wesley rode all the way around the track:

He was really, really pleased with himself.

He still has a few kinks to work out. This crash gave him a nice mark on his armpit that you can still see. He isn’t perfectly stable, but he is well on his way to being training wheel free!

After riding we spent some time playing baseball, running around and of course, picking flowers.

 

The head and the rock.

On Friday Amber was pushing Wesley on the makeshift swing (actually a tether-ball hooked to a tree branch) in our backyard and it came apart sending him, to quote Wesley, “like a bow and arrow” onto a large rock in the flower bed. He ended up with a gash on the back of his head. It wasn’t too large and Amber was able to control the bleeding in a few minutes, but it was deep enough to see the fat layer, so stitches were called for.

The Rock!

After a bunch of calls we ended up at the doctor’s office. The urgent care clinics around here wouldn’t take him because of his age and the emergency room was probably going to be both slow and expensive given our current insurance. The doctor managed to fit us in and get Wesley taken care of, but it took two hours all told. Wesley did great. For a kid terrified of getting shots he is the bravest thing you’ve ever seen when it comes to getting stitches. He’s terrified of it, but when it comes down to it he holds perfectly still.

As you can see he is doing fine now.  He really liked the green wrap and the way it made his hair look.

Back in full slug collecting mode.

For those of you keeping score at home, that makes 7 stitches in all for Wesley. Jillian is going to have to step up her game if she is going to regain her crown for the most stitches/staples. I guess whoever breaks a bone first, wins.

 

Aerial view of the park

The hike is on a wide gravel trail that leads down from the rather busy parking lot to a small playfield/picnic area and usually beach access. You drop about 400 feet over 1.25 miles as you descend into the gulch. Most of the trail is pretty moderate with a few steep sections, some of which have stairs. The kids managed to walk the whole way down, but rode pretty much the whole way up. Luckily they were fully rested when we got to the top (more than I can say for Amber and I) so they found the energy to swing and climb on the play structure.

Running down the hill. Lots of energy at the start.

Wesley and Jillian in front of a Douglas Fir on the trail.

Stairs on the steepest portion of the trail.

Amber looking beautiful as usual.

Wesley climbing what he named the "Monkey tree".

The trail is shaded most of the way and follows, more or less, the path of the creek. This time of year there are lots of different plants growing along the trail. We had to have a talk about stinging nettles. I’m sure it won’t be our last.

Bleeding Heart. These were everywhere.

A new fern.

Horse Tails. The trail was mostly dry but surrounding areas were damp.

Holding hands to keep them moving.

Almost at the bottom, Jillian decides she will go no more.

The face of passive resistance.

At the bottom, just past the ranger’s residence, we took a little break at one of several picnic tables and ate some granola bars and cooled off with some water. Jillian picked flowers and Wesley and I played Frisbee.

Even though the beach access is currently closed it didn’t stop a lot of people from climbing under, over or around the fence and heading down there anyway. We decided not to since it was closed to protect the salmon in the stream. What amazed me most is the number of people who got to the bottom and seemed surprised that it was closed. This despite the fact that it has been closed for months and the dozen or so signs at the trail head. It should open in June as they are able to dredge some of the creek without hurting the salmon. Upstream development has caused it to silt up to the point that they had to remove the trail under the train tracks that leads to the beach.

On the way back up the trail Jillian rode in the Ergo on Amber’s back. I carried the backpack and Wesley on my shoulders. We still passed a bunch of people, but boy was I sweaty. The kids were well rested and enjoyed swinging and climbing on this cool toy.

Hanging out in the "spider's web".

Hi Dad!!!!!

 

In the Urgent Care, Avery Ranch, Austin, TX

Medically speaking, the last week has been kind of traumatic for Wesley. We started out last Saturday with Wesley taking a tumble and cracking his head on the door jamb. There was a lot of blood (but we managed to get it out of all the clothes!)  and we just couldn’t get it to stay closed even with butterfly bandages.  We weren’t sure if he’d need them, but we took Wesley to an urgent care and sure enough he ended up with three stitches. Amber was babysitting for a friend so Wesley and I drove out to the nearest place open (about 25 minutes away) and actually had a pretty good time. We talked and goofed off, looked at fish at the Chinese restaurant next door, drove around looking at Christmas lights and of course had ice cream when we got home. He did really well, by which I mean he screamed bloody murder when he was getting the stitches and anesthetic (two shots), but didn’t struggle.

Looking at his stitches the next day.

On top of the stitches we also had Wesley’s four year checkup scheduled. Wesley hates going to the doctor’s office because he hates getting “pokes”. At four years there are a bunch.  In all he ended up getting 5 shots and two flu spray mists up his nose.

Wesley’s checkup went fine. He is growing well and aside there were no concerns.

• Weight: 38.75 lbs (75th centile)
• Height: 41.25 in (75th centile)
• BMI: 16.0 (65th centile)

We were surprised to learn that at 4 they also do urine and blood work.  If you think getting a shot is terrifying, getting blood drawn is much, much worse.  At first Amber tried to hold Wesley in her lap, but he was struggling too much so I had to hold him. He is getting so strong!  I was a little afraid he’d snap a bone the way he was struggling. Imagine the shots for that. Again he screamed like you wouldn’t believe, but once it was started he actually watched the blood being drawn and had lots of good questions.  And it wasn’t all bad. He got to pee in a cup!

We made a "Not at home" rule for peeing in cups.

On Friday we had to go back and get the stitches removed. By this time Wesley was terrified of going to the doctor. He even started begging me to take out his stitches at home, which I probably would have done had Amber been home to help hold him still.  Plus one of his vaccines (DPT we think) had caused his leg to swell up so I wanted to have it looked at. His poor left thigh is about 1.5 inches bigger around than the other. It is stiff and quite warm. The doctor looked at it and said it occurs in about one in thirty vaccinations (though it is getting less frequent since they have changed the composition of the shot). I had the same reaction in my arm to the same shot a few years ago (a booster I got while working at the UW) so I guess it’s genetic.

So for those of you keeping track:

• Shots: 7 (5 vaccines, 2 anesthetic)
• Sprays up the nose: 2 ( 1 per nostril)
• Blood draws: 1
• Stitches: 3 (six pokes in all: in one side, out the other)
• Unusual and painful reaction to a vaccine: 1
• Pees in a cup: 1