I can still smell the campfire smoke as I look at these pictures.
We decided to try to get in two hikes and camp. However, on our way there we discovered that there were some road closures and we wouldn't be able to make it to our second hike. So we just set up camp and enjoyed our time. There were only a couple of camp sites left, one too small for our tent and one next to the camp host's noisy generator (the hosts' concern, not ours). So when a group site opened up as we were talking to them, the said we could have it for the single site price. It was gorgeous! Too big really, but right on the water and awesome.
There was a little hike in the campground up to a waterfall. After we set up camp we took off and broke ourselves in a little. We also effectively turned a half mile hike into a mile hike because Harrison dropped his hat and we had to backtrack to find it, and then we found that my hat had fallen off the backpack so we got to hunt for that too.
It was a sweet little hike :)
I couldn't get the right angle with Harrison on my back and all those slippery rocks, but I loved this little tree.
Had fun with my settings and got some misty water.
Hi Mommy!
Selfies are hard with kids on your back
Emerson behind the lens
The view from our tent
My favorite thing, waking up and seeing some gorgeous water-based nature
Camping!!
Sausage dogs on the fire
My men
My loves
Emerson was really into taking pictures.
There were also several shots of the car, her feet, the fire and the neighbors.
All the trip reports will tell you, the roads getting there are rough, the trail is steep but fair and there are a few bugs along the way but oh my, is it worth it. The views from the top are just incredible.
The fire lookout is really cool. Sadly, it's so vandalized by the hundreds of people that trek up there. It's only about 1.8 miles so it's not enough of a commitment to weed out those that don't have enough respect for nature and history to leave the poor thing alone.
I, of course, took forever to make my way up. Incline is my arch nemesis and instantly makes my legs weigh a thousand pounds and feel lifeless. It's not a matter of if I'll make it, just when.
Trailhead... albeit not much of one. I know, the hat. I lost my prescription sunglasses and this was my only solution.
A little bit of gentle trail
A glimpse of Mt. Rainier, some motivation to keep going
Some more motivation.
The end in sight
Just a crazy crag at the top
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Rainier and Cora Lake peeking out from behind that rock.
Inside the look out
On the selfie platform ;)
the crazy scramble up to the look out. Not exactly the most kid friendly destination.
Snack break
Taking it all in
Getting ready to head back down
From the road.. that is the look out up there!
And another view of the majestic mountain on the way home.
This month caught me off guard! It's kind of a milestone month too, the next big month is 12 {tear}. And it was a big month at that!
Harrison got his top teeth, mastered sitting, started creeping/army crawling and started pulling himself up! He's also getting more interactive, putting his toys up to our mouths to eat, banging toys together and noticing when I leave the room.
He is 28 inches long and 17lbs 10oz. That's half an inch in a month but only 10oz in 3 months! He really just isn't that interested in solid food. A few bites now and then but most of the time I offer it to him he doesn't want any. He has noticeably slimmed down in the last month since he started moving around so much. His diapers were finally fitting well until this month and now we're struggling to get the legs tight enough (most of them need new elastic).
He is really good at creeping now and really wants to crawl on all fours but just doesn't have the strength yet. He also really gets around in the walker. He can maneuver around in that like nobody's business.
In general, he's still pretty easy going. He does get cranky when he's hungry and is more demanding about what he wants, be it fed, held or entertained. He's getting difficult to hold because he's so wiggly, yet he doesn't want to be put down because really he just wants to do what Emerson is doing. He still loves his sister. Can't get enough of her (except when she wants to snuggle and he just sees it as being pinned down and held back) ;).
Here are some videos of him pulling himself up for the first time. It cracks me up how tickled he was with himself!
This was another challenging photo shoot! His mobility and lack of enthusiasm for photography make it too easy for him to effectively say, "That's enough! I'm out of here!"
Harrison was less than enthused but Emerson was killing it with the legit sweet smiles.
