Floodwood Mountain...or bust

Mom took last Monday off from work (enjoying a four day weekend) and the kids and I met up with her for a "hike." We packed sandwiches, water, tea and a few snickers bars (good idea Mom) and set of for Floodwood Mt. As soon as we parked the car, both kids were hungry...not a good omen. Mamee came to the rescue with her snickers bars and we started walking. You can't drive to the trail head and so we had to walk a good distance in before hitting the trail. Bailey ran circles around us, sniffing every twig in sight. Colton talked, and talked, and talked to Mamee. And Lennon, her little legs weighted down with big boots did her best to keep up. Finally we reached the trail head, Lennon insisting on helping and adding to her load...

We started up the trail, snow specked and muddy, all of us hungry now. Talking about food and leaping on slippery rocks to keep out of the mud we keep pushing forward, in hopes of actually getting to the hiking part. Then we heard the sound that turns any wise hiker around. Gunshots. Damn hunters...or maybe not. We walked back out to the trail head and stopped for lunch. The tea that Mom had packed refused to be let out of the thermos, no matter how hard we tried.

Lennon had lost any interest in walking and I gave Colton the pack so she could ride on my back, her snowsuit and my vest violently repelling each other giving me a great workout trying to keep her from falling off. In the end we made it back to Mom's for hot tea (we did get the thermos open...it wasn't warm) and hot coco. Another great family adventure on the books.

Mt. Baker on a sunny November day.

It was a little tricky navagating down the mountain (it feels funny to call it a mountain)today and took me a bit longer than I thought it would. The trail was full of mud and ice, but the air was refreshing and cold. When the weather turns cold and wet I just can't wait for the snow, it's so much easier to navigate than mud. My goal is to pull out the snowshoes I got for Christmas last year and hike at least twice a week this winter...maybe.

My sweet Colton

Mornings around here are somewhat of a chore and I am usually exhausted by 8:30 and ready for a nap. Today was a little different because we were headed for the award breakfast at Bloomingdale Elementary. (I bet you are all jealous...I got to eat school food, ha, ha, gag!) We are so proud of him! His teacher, Mrs. Munn (aka Kara Pandolf) gave him this certificate and glowing comments. Colton has been searching for a little time without Lennon recently and we have dedicated Friday night to be his night with Mom and Dad. So far we have played a few games of Sorry and Clue Jr. and created a "Monopoly Monster." I have never had so much fun, watching him try and trade Water Works and Electric Company for Josh's Boardwalk and Park Place...he was so serious. Now, every night he stays awake in his room for a little quite time after I read. I never know what I will find when I check on him. Sometimes he is in bed, lights on, glasses on, book on his chest. Other times there in a pile of papers on his desk covered in either drawings of monsters or math (the kid loves to add long numbers). One night last week this is what I found:
Lyrics to a new song. I just love watching him grow. He puts a smile on my face everyday!!

Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Super Girl had a great time "flying" around town and protecting me from the villains on the loose.
Lucky for me my "Hulk" was friendly!
We went out on Halloween and therefore had to dress up. Josh has been playing with a new band, Professor Chaos, and stepped up for 8 songs that night. It was nice to not have him on stage all night. We didn't get any pictures earlier in the night so my hair is flat and Josh's "wound" fell off, but you get the point.