Hiking with Friends

There's not much I'd rather do on a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest than go hiking. My friend Lori has been an avid hiker (and climber for that matter). So, since I aspire to be one we've been hanging out more and hiking with our kids. She's my resident expert on great family hikes! I love that my kids are having so much fun exploring the beauty of God's creation that is all around us! They have become real troopers on the trails - MOST of the time. Even Kaitlyn can handle almost a 2-mile round-trip hike on a good day.

In August we hiked to the Ice Caves in the Cascade Range. Here's the little crew.





















The view as we cross a bridge over the stream.
















Trail buddies!
















The caves are formed as the snow & ice melt. By September these are completely gone. They are very unstable since they are constantly melting, so it's wise to keep your distance. So, we told the kids to go only as close as we let them go and definitely not to run inside the caves. Well they received an interesting lesson when we arrived at the foot of them to find adults inside the caves taking pictures. Hannah was very curious about it, and was intrigued to find out that just because an adult is doing something, doesn't mean it's wise. :) The fun effect about standing in front of the caves though was that it felt like standing in front of an open freezer. So refreshing on a warm day!





















The kids had fun climbing on all the rocks.
















Taking a break...
















I'm not sure why Kaitlyn is upset, but I'm guessing Jacob may have tried to take some of her snack. When it comes to her food, you just don't mess with Kaitlyn. Well, right now, you just don't mess with Kaitlyn period - she's 3!
















The veiws were amazing. And I especially loved the abundance of purple flowers - purple lupen I think they're called.















































Another great hike we went on was the Denny Creek trail that led to pools of mountain water fed by a waterfall. It was a perfect day for splashing around. No one minded the icy water. In fact it was quite refreshing!