Cowiche Canyon

It's becoming a tradition to go on a spring hike with Grama Meri. Almost exactly one month ago on Friday, May 12th, I took the kids out of school to meet her in Cowiche Canyon for a hike. Some online research revealed this gem of a trail that follows the Cowiche Creek. The weather was cool and fresh, the creek was swollen and rushing, and we enjoyed nearly three hours of ambling through the beautiful little canyon before parting ways again. It is always a treat to spend time with my mom. She is such a dear Grama to drive over 2 hours to meet us for a slow toddler-paced exploratory hike/stroll. The kids love her and so do I!

The creek was nervewrackingly full and fast-flowing. I spent a good percentage of the hike dashing after Amber whenever she got too close to the water. She may not have tried jumping into the water on purpose, but she inherited my ability to trip over things like blades of grass. So I tried to stay within arm's length of her whenever the water was in sight. 

 Amber's motto is "the more rocks the better!"

 Grama Meri and Rose Meri.

Rocks!! 

 Snack break at the base of a sizable cliff.

 Jay conquered his fear of heights and joined Rose on her rocky perch.

There were a few stretches of the trail that were leash-territory for Amber, and she was not pleased with the arrangement. The leash really did not end up being very useful, since she mostly refused to walk much at all when it was clipped onto her. 

"I have a strong will and I know how to use it!" Me too, Amby. Me too. 

 Pretty flowers on a woody brushy bush. It always amazes me how much flora this dry area manages to produce.

But, ROCKS! 

Before turning back for the car, we hiked part way up the side of the canyon on a small path. It was steep! I carried Amber up and down most of the way because she kept falling repeatedly. My quads were burning with the effort! 

 Anything for a view!

I love the look of cloud-dappled shadows on the ground. 

Amber became one with nature, jogging and exploring everything on her own two feet for almost the entire three miles. She went nonstop, full steam ahead, the whole time we were there and didn't even fall asleep in the car during the hour long drive home. She did, however finally surrender and fell asleep at 6pm that night, sleeping through to morning. I was comforted to know that the girl does have her limits.

 Hurrah for the Cowiche Canyon!

Hands in the air seemed like the thing to do.

Hiking back down into the canyon 

Jay, herding Amber along the trail with a long stick. 

A low bank of dark rain clouds chased us all the way back to the car, and we almost made it before the rain began, dashing the last hundred feet or so to the car through the downpour. 

Happy hikers, right before the rain hit and I stepped in fresh doggy poo.

Sword fight

We have internet! After two weeks of going without, it feels like pure luxury. I have a serious backlog of pictures to sort through, and I hardly know where to start on the blog catch-up. It has been a unique two weeks for our family. Normally when all three kids are home all day, Jeff is home too thanks to summer break. Since we withdrew Jay and Rose from school three weeks early due to our move, however, it's been just me at home with them every day while Jeff finishes out his sixth school year at Sunnyside High School. While being home solo with all three kids has had its challenges as we've experimented with routines that work for us, we have also had a whole lot of fun! 

Yesterday, Jay and Rose invited me to the playroom to watch a sword fight. They each constructed their own unique swords out of Tinker Toys, divided and donned our homemade armor (I made the t-shirt hybrid chain mail and dragon tunic for Jay's Halloween costume four years ago), secured their foam shields in place, and went forth to battle. What a battle it was! They were play fighting, but they swung hard and dodged, lunged, and hit with force. It was on the verge of the danger zone with those long hard plastic Tinker Toy creations swishing every which way, but I'm learning that the sweet spot for kids' fun lies on the very border of my parental safety zone. So I sat watching mesmerized as they danced, squealed, and parried around the room for nearly an hour. The "terrain" of the playroom in our new house made for a very interesting battleground with all of its nooks and crannies.

Crossing swords

 "To battle!"

 Jay read about a shield move in a Percy Jackson book (The Lightning Thief) and they kept trying to do this shield flipping move to disarm their opponent.

"Surrender! I have the high ground!" I was impressed with Jay's knight-like phrasing.

 Jay was the master deflector, Rose was the master attacker. She developed this speedy spin roundhouse move that was super flashy, however ineffective. 

 Spin move!

 Jump attack!

 The best part was their laughter, story-building, and banter as they crossed swords.

Amber took the opportunity to try on Rose's beloved Elsa dress, and contentedly ghosted around the room in the floor-length dress, playing with toys amidst the raging battle. Somehow she never got clipped by a stray swinging sword. 

Rose's sword fell apart every other swing, but she was undeterred, carefully rebuilding it every time. Jay gallantly waited for her to be armed before resuming the attack. 

Tightening those Tinker Toy joints. 

Miraculously, there were only tears two or three times during the entire battle. I love this picture because Jay had just accidentally rapped Rose with his sword, and her opening wail brought forth his guilty face, looking to me for a reprimand. Since my philosophy is "play rough be tough," I let it go with an involuntary, suppressed "be careful."

The magic of an engaging game is that injuries fade fast. 

These kids sure know how to have fun.