Franklin Falls

Last Wednesday we went on a hike to Franklin Falls up near Snoqualmie Pass.  It was beautiful!  The weather was perfect, and the hike was a great one for kids--not too hard, not too long, and a wonderful waterfall at the end. 

We met my sister Karen and her two girls up at the trailhead.  They had been at my mom's house in Ellensburg for a few days and came over to spend some time with us.  We also had Sarah's friend Abigail visiting with us from Maryland.

William didn't like getting into the backpack, but once we started moving he seemed to like it.  He was glad, however, to get out for a little while at the falls.  The rest of the kids had fun getting close to the falls and feeling the spray.  It felt great on the warm day. 

After we finished the hike, Kate got into the car (she was riding with Karen) and said, "That was a fun hike. I didn't even have to fuss."  I thought that was hillarious!  Like she was already planning on it from the beginning...  Funny kid.

Tacoma Narrows Beach

Last week when Sarah and Rachel were gone to camp, I took Ben, Kate and William to Tacoma Narrows Beach to play for the afternoon. 

The beach has a beautiful view of the very top of Mt. Rainier and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

The weather was dreamy.  We've been waiting for months to see this beautiful clear blue sky.   I think I will have to look at this picture all winter long to remind me that summer does eventually come. 

The kids had fun playing in the water

and in the sand. 

William did not want anything to do with the sand or the water.  He sat on my lap and squirmed all over and finally let me take a few silly pictures showing off his new tooth.  We stayed all afternoon and visited with some friends who just happened to be there too.  It was a nice afternoon.

Cherries

This week cherries have taken over my life!  My mom's ward was doing a fundraiser for girls camp and scout camp by selling cherries for 50 cents a pound.  The ward (and my mom) went and picked them over in Eastern Washington and then my mom delivered them here to Gig Harbor on the 4th of July.  Because the price was so good, I had asked other women in my ward if they wanted to order cherries.  Lots of people ordered, so my mom brought about 600 pounds of cherries and put them in my garage.  The timing was a bit tricky (they were supposed to be ready earlier, but because of the cold weather we have been having, they weren't ready to pick until July 3) since it was a holiday weekend and a couple days before girls camp.  So some of the people who ordered cherries didn't want them anymore. 

I had a lot of cherries to deal with.  So, I dried them,

pitted and froze them,

and canned them.

It was a ton of work.  My hands are still stained red. 

I also spent two days trying to track people down and get their cherries to them.  And then I had to figure out what to do with the extras.  After selling them to everyone interested and giving them away to the neighbors, we decided to try selling them along the road. 

Doing a lemonade stand was one of the things on our summer list, so we decided to combine the cherries with a lemonade stand and sell them both.  The kids made signs and stood on the side of the road waving their signs and selling their wares.  They had a blast!  They even sold quite a bit of lemonade and nine pounds of cherries.

Kate needed a drink, of course, to have the energy to keep on selling.  It was a hot day!  Who knows if they sold more or drank more...but no matter, they had a fun afternoon!

4th of July

We spent the evening of the 4th of July at a friends' house here in Gig Harbor.  Fireworks at home are something new for my children.  In Maryland, personal fireworks, even sparklers, are illegal.  We've always gone to big firework shows, as long as they can remember.  Last year we spent the 4th in Philadelphia, our nation's birthplace.  The years before that we went to the National Mall in DC for one of the most spectacular shows in the country.  Big show and big crowds--that is what we are used to.  We've been to other wonderful firework displays in Idaho, Utah and here in Washington, but we haven't really done fireworks on our own.  Only Sarah even remembered what sparklers were--and she only remembered being scared to death of them.  So, needless to say, my kids were somewhat wary of spending the 4th of July at someone's house.  "Where will we watch fireworks?" they asked.  "There,"  I said.  They were very confused. 

It didn't take them long to get into the spirit. 

3-D glasses make them look really cool!

Sarah decided she liked sparklers after all.

Kate wasn't even scared.

Of course, Ben loved the fireworks most of all!  He kept begging to do more and more sparklers.  Some day, William will probably be the same, but this year, he cried because of all the noise until I finally got him to go to sleep all wrapped in a blanket, trying to keep him warm and his ears covered. 

And Washington is the only place I know of that the kids ask for hot chocolate after the fireworks.  It was cold!