June Books

 I read 8 books in June. Here's one way Amber likes to read:

Denny Creek Trail Hike

On Saturday, July 9th, we went on another family hike. In early July it is tricky finding a good trail that's two hours away or less that isn't covered in rattlesnakes (north, south, and east of us) or snow (west of us). After browsing and pondering, I selected the Denny Creek Trail in the Snoqualmie region of the Cascades. It was right around a 2 hour drive from our house and only 45 minutes from Mel and Braxton's place, so they met us there for our second hike together of the summer. We lucked out with another Saturday of perfect weather. It was in the high 60s and partly cloudy but not misty. The trail was well-traveled and in spite of a very full parking area and long lines at the vault toilets, we didn't feel crowded on the trail itself. 

Sleep is secondary

Who needs sleep anyways? Summer nights are so short, it's nearly impossible to get enough sleep without the sun peeking in a poking me awake. Add a huge heap of activities on top of that and sleep is even more limited. This week was extra busy for our family of homebodies:

Monday was Independence Day, with all of its back-to-back-to-back activities. (documented in a separate blog post)

There was no swim team practice on Tuesday morning; just cross country practice. For the rest of Tuesday I got a bit of a breather, with only a Relief Society presidency meeting in the morning and my family art club Zoom meeting in the evening.

The 4th of July

 Independence Day 2022 was all booked up:

• 8am: Annual White Family Independence Day 5k
• 9:15am: Annual Wise Family Independence Day Breakfast
• 11am: baptism of Rose and Amber's neighbor buddy Dekker Martin at the church
• 4pm: my first ever attempt at cooking on a grill
• 8pm-midnight: loud, sporadic booms and pops of independent fireworks coming from all directions

Post-5k family patriotic picture

Silver Falls Hike

On Saturday, July 2nd, we went on a family hike at Silver Falls near Mt. Rainier, a 2 hour drive from home. This trail was the number one vote when I asked the kids which trails they wanted to visit again. When I saw that it was almost equidistant between our house and Mel and Braxton's place, I invited them to come with us. We met them at the Ohanapecosh campground, which was packed with cars, making parking hard to come by. Eventually we parked and hit the trail. 

We couldn't have picked a more perfect bluebird glory of a day. It was about 65 degrees when we started hiking, with sunlight filtering through the bright green forest. When I did this trail with the kids on one of our Wedventures two years ago, it took us a nice long time to journey to the waterfall because the kids climbed on every stump, log, and rock along the trail. This time we were fast! Jay, Rose, Jeff, and Braxton cruised up ahead at a speedy clip. Mel, Amber, and I walked at a more normal speed, with Amber forcing us to run and catch up to the front group whenever they pulled too far away. 

The kids are in excellent physical condition thanks to five weeks of swimming and running. They are also 2 years older and less interested in stopping to climb and touch every single thing along the trail. Amber wanted to climb and play along the way, but she felt the pull of the fast big kids up ahead, so she kept moving. We finished the hike well over half an hour faster than the last time we did it, even with a sizeable stop to admire the roaring Silver Falls. As we hiked back towards the car, I decided that my now-older, fitter children need longer hikes in the future! 

It was pleasant and therapeutic hiking along through the sun-dappled greenery and tall silent trees with my sister and daughter. It has been a while since I went to a trail with actual other people, and I loved it! Hiking is a very rhythmic restful activity. Trail running has a certain frantic element to it due to terrain-dodging and ankle-risking, but hiking is very Zen. 

Silver Falls was MASSIVE. Last time we visited, it was September and the falls were more of a gentle gush. Turns out in early July they become a roaring beast. The clear blue Ohanapecosh River is supplied by creeks farther up in the mountains rather than from melting glaciers, which apparently is what gives the water its crystal blue color. (Glacier-fed rivers are milky white with suspended sediment, the website says.) We could barely hear each other talk over the roar of the swirling frothy water. 

After our hike, we found a river access point and sat on a log, tentatively dipping our feet into the FRIGID water. It was so cold, even tough skinned Jeff couldn't hold his feet in the water for more than 2 minutes at a time. Once we had soaked and snacked, we said goodbye to Mel and Braxton, and drove the curvy highway 12 homeward. 

With zero warning after about 45 minutes of twisty-turny mountain pass driving, Amber suddenly puked. Thankfully she grabbed one of the blue barf bags that I keep stashed in the van seat pockets and used it properly. After our last carsickness vomit debacle, I ordered a case of blue hospital grade emesis bags from Amazon to keep on hand. It was the tidiest backseat barf-a-thon we've ever had! When Amber started hurling, Jeff pulled over as soon as he could and when she was done, I simply took the bag and tossed it in the nearest trash can. Boom. No mess. 

We went to Costco on the way home for a late lunch/early dinner/$350 of groceries.

Sun-dappled forest: my fave. I can almost SMELL that fresh Cascades air just from looking at this picture.

Amber and Mel. This picture warms my heart.

Silver Falls roaring.

Sisters!

Amber, hiding from the cool river mist.

Blurry blue waterfall, but THE RAINBOW in the mist!!

So blue.

Mel obliged us and took a few family photo recreation pictures for us. We first visited this spot as a family 7 years ago.

Preparing to freeze our toes off.

Silver Falls: September 30, 2020 vs. July 2, 2022

Top: Sept 2020

Bottom: July 2022

July 2015 // July 2022... our kids have grown.

More trails, please!

Mt. Si

 On Wednesday, June 29th, I went on my first trail run-hike of the season! Lots of my favorite trails are still under mountain snow, so I went out near North Bend, WA to climb Mt. Si. I did this trail three years ago and it nearly crippled my quads on the way down because it is such a steep steep grade. This time I vowed to be careful and gentle with my legs on the way down. I ran almost 4 miles at cross country practice that morning, then got in the van and drove to the mountains for my trail run-hike. The forest welcomed me back like an old friend, and I felt all kinds of Pacific Northwest love as I basked in the greenery and breathed that fresh Cascades air.

"It was calming how the trees stood and offered themselves to my heart." 

--Quiara Alegria Hudes, My Broken Language

June Album

The last half of June can be summed up in four words: swim, run, read, screens. Monday through Thursday were swim team days, with practice early in the morning and one or two meets in the evenings. Monday through Friday were summer practice for the cross country team. Jay and Rose joined in for a portion of the cross country practice after 80 minutes of swimming. They ran for 20-40 minutes with the team most days. Buff kids! 

During Rose's first run at cross country practice, she got a painful side stitch and had to walk a lot, and felt pretty frustrated. That night during family prayer, Jay prayed for Rose not to get any more cramps while running. My coach-brain thoughts said "That's a nice thing for Jay to say in his prayer. Rose will eventually stop getting side cramps when her core gets stronger, her running form improves, and she gets used to the motion of running. So I guess this prayer will eventually be answered." But Rose hasn't had a side stitch since! Time for me to dig up some extra humility and faith.

Denver Solo

Denver Solo sounds like Han's trendy granddaughter, but what actually happened was I went to Denver by myself last week. Math has never been my forte, but here's my attempt at an equation describing the trip: 

Same day x (Father's Day + my Mom's birthday) + [expiring 2020 flight credits] = Solo Denver trip

My Denver Solo trip lasted from Saturday, June 18th to Wednesday, June 22nd. It was a very peaceful visit. I have never spent so much one-on-one time with my parents in my life! The day I arrived, I briefly congratulated my brother Brad on his graduation from medical residency on our way back from the airport. That evening, I got to help my parents prep for a senior missionary social dinner that they were hosting. The 50 or so senior missionaries who came to the dinner were very nice. Several people asked me if I was home from college for the summer, and I got a kick out of that. 

May BOOKS

I read nine books in May.

As a dedicated Kindle user, I don't read paper books very often, so it feels like a photo op when I do.

Last/First

During the first half of June, we had several last days and first days all clustered together:

Shaina Day!

Sunday, June 12th was the second annual Shaina Day, observed by my husband and kids. Shaina Day is a day that is completely my own. It is not a set date; it comes in June when the time is right. In other words, even though the day itself is mine, I let Jeff choose when it happens because that's the way to secure his presence (physical and mental) on my day. A quick review, since this is still relatively new: I share my birthday with Amber, and I share Mother's Day with track season/all mothers everywhere. Apparently I am selfish enough to want a day that is entirely my own, so we created Shaina Day.

Shaina Day is a combination of a birthday and mother's day celebration. My family gives me gifts and writes me notes and I don't have to cook or clean. For my Shaina Day dinner, I couldn't think of anything and I hadn't been to the store in while, and the point was no stress, no work, so I chose to have pre-cooked frozen hamburgers. I keep a Costco box of these quick-heat-and-eat burgers in the freezer for emergency rations (especially handy on Friday nights when my family is indulging in cheesy killer pizza that I can't digest). The kids were overjoyed to be eating my secret stash of hamburgers on Shaina Day, and I love a good juicy burger, so everyone was happy. 

Forty

 Jeff turned the big 40 on June 1st! He is rather birthday-neutral and merely requested brownies for his candles and curry for his dinner. We gave him his birthday presents before school: Jay gave him some new Darn Tough socks. Rose gave him an electric kettle. Amber gave him a velcro ball catch game. I gave him some bluetooth earbuds that he picked out. Our parents and siblings on both sides of the family sent Jeff well-wishes in card, visit, or text form. After school on his birthday, Jeff went on his first real run in four months since battling long Covid: it was a 30 minute jog with Jay and a few kids from the cross country team--a double edged sword of a birthday gift to himself. (Based on Jeff's report, it was a combo of "Yay, I can finally run again!" and "Ugh, I'm so out of shape!")