June: First Camping Trip as a Trio

Rusty blew up his bike a few weeks ago, and part of it had to be taken to a mechanic to fix. John suggested this guy up in Bellingham, so we decided to drive up as a family and make a trip out of it! At the beginning of the month, we drove up and walked around the town while we waited for a table to open up for us. Walking around was fun, but it's not my favorite place. It was kind of dirty and not very inviting, but we didn't have to wait much more than 30 minutes for our table. We ate at this Cajun restaurant that Rusty had found and it was awesome! Not only was the food really tasty, but it was really fun to eat something new. I don't think I have ever been to a Cajun place, except for this.We started out with some crab cakes (my personal fav) and then Rusty got jambalaya, I got bourbon chicken, and Henry got mac n cheese. We drove around and found a giant park with cool hikes to waterfalls that we would like to check out another time!

We also made some financial changes, like closing on the 8 Plex in Colorado and buying a new car. Both of these are very exciting, but I really do love the car :) It's a 2007 CRV and it is beautiful! It looks new and I just really love driving it. It might be a "mom car" but I love being a mom in that car. :)

My friend Katie is pregnant with a little girl so I threw a baby shower for her with her mom one Saturday. It was really fun to celebrate with them, but I was relieved when it was over. I wouldn't say that those kinds of things are a strong suit of mine. While I was at the shower, her husband came over to play with Rusty and Henry and they had a good time.

One Saturday we did a hike with the Hudsons up to Barclay Lake, somewhere that Rusty had camped at for scouts and really wanted to go back to. It was beautiful, and it's always nice to get out. On our way back we stopped to eat at Vick's and got delicious burgers, fries, and shakes.

The weather started to get so nice so Henry and I had been playing outside quite a bit. One day we went somewhere new with Amber and Bennett when we went to Picnic Point Beach in Mukilteo. Rusty and I had visited there a few times, but I never would have thought of it as a great place to take the kids. Turns out though, that big tide pools are left on the flat, rocky shore that make wonderful little pools for the kids to run and play in. It was deep enough for Henry to feel like he was in the water, but shallow enough that if he fell he would only be sitting down. This made it so I didn't feel like I would have a heart attack haha. We played there and had a little picnic before heading back home.

We also did some little things like hiking in Lord Hill Park and taking Henry to the lake to feed the ducks for the first time. I have never thought of that as being "controversial" but while we were there, a little girl mentioned that she didn't have any bread to feed the ducks. So Rusty tried to be nice and brought some bread over to her dad and told him that they could have that. The guy just responded plainly that bread isn't good for them. So it was a little awkward to finish off the bread haha, but Henry really loved watching them.

Father's Day came!! Woo hoo, I love a chance to celebrate my sweet husband and the wonderful father that he is to Henry. Rusty slept in and then came down to breakfast (with a bonus of a no bake cookie) and then he got his gift. I actually was too excited to wait so I had Henry walk it over and give it to him a few days earlier, but we made this craft for him to hang up. His bike costs so much money to fix that he didn't get any other gifts, but he got cookies (I had to make 60 cookies for the men at church) and then a salmon dinner.

We went down to the Mukilteo Lighthouse Beach for a fire for dinner and s'mores with some friends. It was great night and Henry loved throwing rocks into the water. I love summer and I love having fires at the beach! 

We took Henry on his first camping trip this month, and it was so much fun! Rusty has been going for the past two years with the scouts for his calling, but I haven't been since our trip in 2014 when I got sick at the end of the trip... because I was pregnant! Then after that I didn't feel up to camping, and then the next year Henry was too little to take up in the mountains. So needless to say it was a very welcome little trip for us all. We decided to stay close and go for two nights up by Lake Wenatchee, but because these Washingtonians are crazy for camping everything was all booked out. I did find three campgrounds that were first come first served, but by the time we got there there was not a single spot left. Blast it all. We (I) got a little bit stressed about what in the world we were going to do for the night with our little family, but we decided to just pull in to a campground and ask the host if he had any suggestions. He flatly told us that we were just out of luck, but that we could try a horse campground up the road but that if someone with horses came they could kick us out, even in the middle of the night. No thank you. Well, we received a tender mercy in the form of the lady talking with the camp host venturing out the fact that she had reserved a campsite just for the parking spot. If there was somewhere else for her to park, we could have her spot. WHAT?!?! This was seriously the best news we had had all day, and we quickly paid the fees and starting unpacking. And I will say that for just having a site thrown at us, it was a really great one! There was a huge wooded area to the back and side of our site, and it was close to the restrooms but far enough away we didn't get a lot of traffic. We all loved it, but Henry LOVED it. He just ran around laughing and smiling pretty much the entire weekend. Lots of times he would just pick up some dirt in both hands and carry it around with him. Once he sat down on a log and started bouncing on it like he was riding a horse haha. Yes, it's safe to say that he was so happy. It honestly made me feel a little bit guilty for not taking him earlier because he loved it so much haha.

Friday night we just unpacked and set up camp (it was kind of late by the time we got a site) and then made a fire to make dinner. I had bought a little pie iron thing to try out and so our first dinner we made tiny pizzas, which were a huge hit for us all. Then we put H to bed and stayed up to watch the fire and make smores.

Saturday we hung around for a while playing in the hammocks and exploring around the site. I realized that we have not had a vacation where we just relaxed and did nothing since.... probably before I was pregnant. I always feel the need to pack as much into our trip as possible, and it was surprisingly nice to just do nothing. In the afternoon we went over to Lake Wenatchee State Park to eat lunch and play in the water. We had tried to bring the canoe, but we had too many issues with keeping it secure on the CRV so we had to leave it. Henry got to play in the water on the beach though, and he had a blast. That boy loves water that's for sure.

After we had spent a few hours on the playground and in the water, we came back to the campsite and had some more down time and then walked on some trails to find river access. We found the most beautiful scenery! That canyon by Leavenworth is truly breathtaking. After enjoying some time throwing rocks in the water (Henry's new favorite thing) we went back to make dinner, smores and enjoy some time by the fire again.

Sunday morning we woke up to Henry bringing our shoes up on the bed making all kinds of sounds. When Rusty asked if he wanted to go outside he repeated "ya ya ya!" over and over. We had breakfast, broke camp, and then hiked back out to the river once more before heading home. Originally we were planning on spending some time in Leavenworth but we decided we were ready to just head home. We did make a quick little drive through town (I just love it there so much) and then drove through the gorgeous canyon. After a quick stop to get some fresh cherries we got home, showered and clean. :)

Henry's Highlights

• Henry is just learning and growing so much! It is amazing and fascinating to watch, yet it also kind of hurts my heart that it is happening so fast. He is not a little baby anymore. He has started to talk more, and now says mama, dada, nana (banana), dog, no, ya, quack quack (what a duck says haha), car, baby, and all done. Sometimes it sounds like he is saying hi and shoe.
• He understands so much more than he can say, and has started to respond to things like "Go get a diaper!" or "Put that here", "Bring it to Daddy/Mommy".
• One of my new favorite things is that this month he started saying "Mmmmmmm!" when he eats something he likes. He gets really into too, sometimes his whole body jolts with the exclamation haha. I love him.
• We got Henry a new car seat, one of the big toddler ones. I was pretty sad about this new change, but he really likes his chair!
• His favorite place is still out in the area in our front yard, or driving a car.
• He loves to close doors and to knock on doors now. He knocks on everything haha.
• He loves the Foot Book, and has started to laugh hysterically at the "slow feet" part haha.
• He watched his first TV shows, and likes them both but probably Little Einsteins the most, and then Daniel Tiger.
• A smile is always on his face, and laughs are coming easier.
• Lately he has really become quite the snuggler, which I am all about!
• I gave him first "kind of real" hair cut: I did it at home, but I did more than just trimming the mullet he has.
• He has 8 teeth now.
• Henry had his first sucker! A lady at the store gave it to him and he was so excited
• He has started to really like some of his puzzles and can do them with a lot more success than ever before.
• Takes Geoffrey and his blanket with him when he wakes up in the morning or after naps.
• Still loves food. He has started to just stand by the microwave when it's on and talk to it excitedly while he waits for it to end.
• Henry likes to try to put his socks and shoes on (or ours on us), brush his hair, and brush his teeth.

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