Blakeslee Family Vacation, Part 2

Tuesday, July 23rd, after a quick doctor (baby checkup) appointment, we headed off to Northwest Trek.  We just recently bought a season pass here.

The most unique thing about this "zoo alternative" is the big tram you ride around hundreds of acres of land to observe animals in their natural habitat.

Ben brought binoculars and they were a hit with the kids.  The only downside was having one pair for 5 kids to share.

Carter was our little Map Man for the day.  He loved looking at his map and telling us where (he thought) we should go.

We were home in the later afternoon and Papa decided it was the perfect time to take the kids to the dollar store to let them spend their $4.  What is more exciting to kids then their own money to spend in a toy store?  Not much.  They were all in heaven.  I went along for the ride and it was so fun to watch the 5 of them pick out their treasures.  We all know the quality of dollar store toys are not top notch, but you would have thought they were shopping at FAO Schwarz for all the excitement they had.  A few of them were pretty confident in their choices and picked out 4 things quickly and didn't waiver.  A few of them were changing their minds every isle, when they'd swap out one toy for a better toy. 

Everyone finally made up their mind- 4 treasures for everyone!

Papa helped them all check out individually.  They loved it.

For the rest of the week, we had 20 different toys floating around the house.  Some of the toys didn't even last the week, and some were quite the comic relief (Mitch's whoopee cushion).  It was a lot of fun.

Wednesday we headed out on a most gorgeous day to Mt. Rainier.  Mt. Rainier is one of the best things about living in the Pacific North West.  If you live in the Seattle area, Mt. Rainier is something to ooh and ahh over every day that it is visible.  It's a reminder to me of the absolute beauty and wonder of the creations of the earth.

On the drive up, we stopped at a lookout point to capture this gorgeous picture of the mountain.

After officially entering the National Park, we were given maps.  The little girls each requested one and kept unfolding them to figure out where we were, then wanting me to fold them back up (all day). 

We stopped to hike at our favorite hiking place in Rainier- The Grove of the Patriarchs.  It is the best hike for kids.

The 4 little's fit inside of a tipped over tree.

Had to get a picture of our twins with the twin trees.

Mitch and Carter got a picture with the twin trees as well.  Being close in age, almost the exact same size, and often dressing alike, they are practically twins themselves.  And his mom and I were mistaken for twins more times than we can count in late high school and college. :)

As we hiked back out, we stopped for a bit to let the kids throw rocks in the river.  It was the high light of their day, I think.

I can't wait to see what sports Leah excels at in life.  She has always had a very powerful throwing arm and loves to throw anything she can get her hands on.

Great follow through, too!

As we continued to drive up to the summit, we kept getting fantastic photo opportunities.

Almost to the top!

We made it to the summit!  We haven't driven all the way up in a few years.  It's a long drive, but worth it every few years.  We walked around the visitor's center and Ben took the kids on some short hikes to see glaciers.

The drive home was very long- with no stops for lunch or photo ops, it felt really, really long, but we had a fun day.

After 3 days of lots of physical activities, we took Thursday morning slow.

The kids had a somersault contest and then talked Grandma into trying it.  It's hard to turn down 5 kids' chants of "Grandma! GRANDMA! GRANDMA!"

Then my dad initiated the Blakeslee family favorite game of "Blind Man's Bluff."  We used to play this game sometimes multiple times a month growing up.  The "blind man" has to put on a blind fold and try to find everyone in the room by just feeling for them (no peeking!)  We loved it best when my dad was the blind man- he was hilarious.  When we were little, he'd lay on his back sometimes and throw his limbs all over trying to find us all.  It is one of my favorite memories of growing up.

The kids were fast, but in the end Papa got them all!

Late morning we headed off to Lake Coulon Beach in Renton for a day of swimming.

This is a great beach with great water access on Lake Washington.  It's not very deep for quite a stretch, so it's perfect for small and big kids.  And they have lifeguards on duty, which is great.

It was another perfect day (we had great weather all week) and the kids had a blast.

George was the favorite of the day- he was so sweet to play with the kids all day in the water.

And they loved building sand castles with him!

After getting home later in the afternoon and cleaning up, we all went to the cheap theater and watched "Epic."  The kids loved that and it was nice to relax in a cold, dark theater after our week of walking, walking, walking.  (Or so says the tired pregnant lady).

Friday was our last full day together.  We had originally planned to go out and do something, but we were all tired and decided to just stick around home and do low key things.  My mom and sister and I went out shopping and to lunch for a few hours.

The men took the kids down to a local pond and helped them catch frogs, which they then brought back to the house and swam with in the kiddy pool.

There was plenty of time to play with their ninja weapons.  More of them were acquired this week during the dollar store shopping trip.

Best nina faces!

In the afternoon we headed down to a nearby park to play baseball.  Carter played baseball for the first time this summer at home and he took a few swings. 

Catherine, the softball power house took an at bat too.

My mom has the pictures, but even the pregnant lady batted too.  I wasn't sure I would be able to do it with my belly, but I surprised even myself and it wasn't even painful!  It has been too long since I've swung a baseball bat and I realized how much I missed it!  There just aren't as many opportunities to play sports as a mom as there used to be. 

Saturday morning our visitors left bright and early and vacation ended.  We had a fantastic week!