Happy Twelfth

Savannah will turn twelve, God willing, on this Thursday. She will turn twelve on Illinois soil. She is going home for her birthday, to spend a couple of weeks with friends and family, then bring Grandma and Grandpa back with her. We will miss her terrifically but we look forward to having a visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

The weekend flew by from Saturday's trip to Deception Pass and hurried celebration for Savannah's birthday to a trip to a local lake side beach. It always goes quickly. The whole weekend was full of sunshine. There were more mountains to see in the clear skies.

We went to Deception Pass Saturday. We hiked around the park, played on the beach climbed some rocks, and watched the boats run through the pass. The views of the trees, water and beaches drew crowds. We walked across the bridge with traffic whizzing by on our right and a rail protecting us from a long drop to the water on our left. Views of the whole area opened up around us from the deck of the bridge. We watched a bald eagle land high in one of the large evergreens anchored in the rocks on the shore of the water.

We drove to the Clinton-Mukilteo Ferry stopping at Fort Casey State park just before we reached Clinton. The fort was built in the 1890's to protect the Puget Sound from possible naval threats. The fort featured large guns and mortars in fixed positions facing the water. The remnants of these armaments remain for visitors to climb on and walk through. The views to the sound and Olympic mountains were spectacular, Mt. Rainier was even visible in the clear sunshine. The western edge of the fort was spread with bright yellow flowers where at one point a black tailed deer walked through to say hello. An old lighthouse would usually serve as an interpretation center but on this day was closed for repairs.

We came home and had Savannah's friend Laura, the main initiator of the trip home idea, tell Savannah about her birthday present. The whole day we built some suspicion about her birthday. We bought a cake from the Edmonds Bakery in the morning and told Savannah she would have to open one of her presents on Saturday. We did all of this planning before we left for our sight seeing agenda. Now at eight pm we returned home and Savannah called Laura. After she stopped jumping up and down, screaming we all had cake. It took a little while for the kids to settle down after the large dose of sugar but I think Savannah enjoyed the birthday surprise.

Sunday we went to a local lake where the kids swam in the muddy water and played in the sand. We enjoyed the sunshine while the kids splashed and swam around in the shallow water. The beach area was busy attracting everyone in the area. We had arrived at first mocking everyone for wearing their bathing suits. We couldn't imagine anyone swimming in 74 degree sunshine. We only spent five minutes in the park before deciding to go home and change clothes. The kids and the water were great friends all afternoon.

Finishing the Olympic Peninsula

We went to some more of the beaches in the area just south of Forks but the kids had seen enough of the ocean to not be too excited. Nearly 8 hours in the car over the two day trip was beginning to fray some nerves. We took a little side trip to see the big cedar.

The big cedar had been cited in several sources as a must see if you're in the area. We turned off highway 101 at a marker directing us to the tree. The pavement ran short quickly and turned over to a gravel logging road. The signs were all tree stumps with arrows pointing toward the big tree at various splits in the road. We bounced down the poorly maintained gravel path, scraping the sides of the car on trees, nearly hitting our heads on the roof of the car. A testament to the true hypnotic properties of television was the children's complete and total ignorance of our surroundings. The kids never asked once where we were. The road was terrible to drive on, no longer a smooth swift black top highway with cars buzzing by. There were holes we had to either slow down to 5 mph to navigate or drive around. The kids said nothing until the car stopped. They looked up, the car in the middle of the forest and began asking where we were. They were less than thrilled to find out we had driven into the unknown to look at a tree, the largest western red cedar in the world.

We got out walked around the massive trunk and journeyed back to the highway, slowly bouncing along without a word from the children. Until we stopped again at Ruby Beach. Savannah protested, "Haven't we seen enough of the ocean? All of the beaches look the same, let's just go home!"

So we did. Only there was one more big tree along the way.

We looked at the second big cedar and then travelled home. We had dinner at a place called Billy's in Aberdeen, Washington. They served up some good fried seafood. It was really good. Then we saddled up, drove through Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle and arrived home safely ready for another week of school and work.

Monday went by fast. Tuesday was P.E. day for the Miller Academy. Savannah, Shane and I spent a few hours in a climbing gym in Everett while Sophia and Traci explored the Everett Children's Museum. The museum reminded me a little of the Magic House in Kirkwood, Missouri. The main floor had a little main street, a farm, an airplane and bus, and several other interactive play areas. The roof had a playground. We were able to join Sophia and Traci at the end of the day as the last half hour of business was a free admission time. Shane and Savannah were a little jealous of Sophia, the museum was full of things to do.

We plan on a trip to Deception Pass this weekend. The sun has been scheduled to make a glorious appearance all weekend.