Snoqualmie Lake

Last weekend Pete and I went on an eight-mile hike to Snoqualmie Lake. This was the first time for us in 8 YEARS to go backpacking without kids!! The hike was loooonnnggg and my legs felt like rubber by the end, but it was awesome! It felt good to get outside and put all our every-day life troubles to the back burner. Friday night we finally made it to the lake after 8pm. We found a nice camp spot to set up our tent. There was an issue with not being able to get fire started. Pete didn't bring a lighter, and the matches he had would only lite on the scratch-thingy on the box they came in, which he had discarded. Since it was so late and we were exhausted, we decided to just eat cookies for dinner and go to bed. The next morning Pete was lucky enough to finally get a match lit by scratching it on the metal fire pit that was already in place at our campsite. I was so happy. I don't think I would've been able to hike out that day with my legs being so sore and exhausted. So starting a fire was a good sign for us, as well as the sun popping out later that morning and staying out. We attempted to fish on the lake, but didn't catch anything. I took a much needed nap in the tent while Pete swam in the lake. The hike out the next day seemed to take forever to me. When I saw the parking lot at the end, I was ecstatic!! With that long hike and me working long hours at work doing painting tasks, my legs are STILL very sore. I think a visit to the hot tub this weekend is in order :)

OUR CAMPSITE




OUR VIEW








FIRE!!!!






MOUNTAIN MAN!! (pete tying some rope and climbing a tree barefoot to hang our food bag)






LOOK AT ALL THAT GRAY HAIR!!!!


PAYBACK!! (years and years ago pete took a pic of me having to do my business while on a snowshoeing trip. felt this was appropriate payback)




NEW STOVE


GOOD MORNING!!!




LOOKING LIKE A DORK!!! (i don't care how dorky i look in this pic. it kept the mosquitos off of me!!)

R.I.P. Squeakers

In a post a while back I shared about the little fiasco dealing with the boys' mice (one ate the other). Later that day, we ended up having a burial service. Pete came home early that day after receiving a call from Clifford asking him to come home. Clifford has never asked this of his dad, and Pete felt so bad for him. He tidied things up at work and took the rest of the day off. The neighbor kids Sam and Aliya were over playing, so Pete took Clifford into the house to talk privately. Not sure what was said, but it made Clifford feel a bit better (he was really upset over his mouse being dead). All morning long Clifford wouldn't go into his bedroom without someone being with him (that's where we kept the mice cage). To help him feel better, Pete lit some incense in Clifford's room and told him it would cleanse the room. That seemed to do the trick for him. Then they came back outside and proceeded with the burial. Pete dug a hole and placed Squeakers in. He was about to cover the hole when Clifford stopped him. He wanted to do this himself. Sam, Aliya and Kristjan picked leaves off a tree and placed them over Squeakers grave. Clifford had me write on a leaf to use as a tombstone. THEN we had to deal with Fuzz Ball....the canibal mouse. We had him out in the open outside. Sam looks at the white mouse and said "He's going to Hell...that's the devil world". I CRACKED UP laughing at this, just the way he said it so seriously. Gotta love the things kids say so innocently. I really didn't want to keep the mouse so we decided to set it free in the swamp field behind out old apartment building. We then walked away thinking that was the end of it......BUT THEN....

This last Tuesday night as Pete and I are sitting on the couch, a neighbor gal from the apartments across from us (right next to the swamp field) knocks on our door. She had seen the mouse cage sitting out on our back patio while walking her dog, and wanted to know if she could buy it from us. Her son had found a white little mouse, one you would see in a pet store, on their back patio a few days back, and has been keeping it as a pet. ARE YOU SERIOUS????!!! Pete and I just looked at each other and laughed. Fuzz Ball ended up finding a new home. The canibal mouse lives on!!!! We gave her all the supplies we had. We weren't going to take any money from her, but she insisted. I told her to just pay each boy $5 (though I'm feeling a bit guilty now about this. we forgot that the boys actually bought the cage themselves with their own bday money. oh well...)

Fourth of July Long Beach Trip

Here are the pics from our trip to Long Beach for the 4th of July. We had so much fun!!! This year we stayed in a motel (boys were really excited to do this!). We did the usual walking around town. Pete and I splurged and bought some candy at one of the shops. We tried choco-covered bacon, choco-covered twinkie, choco-covered whoopie pie, and a few other choco-covered items that I just can't remember. All I know is our tongues swelled up from all that sugar!! Uncle Dale and Sherry also came down to Long Beach for the festivities. They came to pizza dinner with us. Clifford and Kristjan kept hitting them up for dollar bills to use at the arcade there. The actual day of the fourth was a blast!! Pete and Daniel got up early that morning to claim a spacious spot for us on the beach. Boys played in the sand, Daniel 'n Pete built sand sculptures. The 'hit' of the sand sculptures was the urinal they made so they didn't have to keep walking to the porta-potties. Even Uncle Dale used it!! It was hilarious. We bbq'd up some burgers for dinner. There was excitement on the beach with two swimmers needing rescue from the water. Ambulance, police cars, search 'n rescue all went speeding down the beach. A diver got suited up as well and went in the water. Luckily everyone got out safely. Once night time came, the fireworks started. Daniel and Pete helped all the boys to light off the kid fireworks we had. For hours, all you could hear was 'boom' or 'crackle' from everyone lighting off fireworks. Once it was completely dark, Long Beach started their show. This years was slightly disappointing...not as good as previous years. The next morning it was really hard for all of us to get up and ready for the long drive home. All four of us had a blast!!! We already reserved the same motel room for next year. Can't wait!!