DisneyWorld and Universal Studios November 2015

DisneyWorld and Universal Trip #2

Thursday  November 6th, 2015

Soo, what do you do when you have annual passes to a place in Florida and only got to use them on one trip?  You find a reason to go again!!  It worked out perfectly: there was an Optometry Conference at the Grand Floridian at Disney so we could do a few days there.  Then head on down to Universal Studios to use our passes.  We arrived late last night after a nice but bumpy flight.  Hopped on the Disney Magic Express and made it to the hotel.  Ahh, the Grand Floridian.  Such a beautiful hotel!   We bought our refillable mug and drank three hot cocoas before bed!  Animal Kingdom was on the menu today! It was wonderful to get to go there again since we had to skip it last trip. Mt. Everest was classic and so much fun with Jadeyn along. I had forgotten just how dark the backward trip was! So fun! Next the Kilimanjaro safari before it got too hot and the animals got sleepy in the heat.   Kevin had to head back to the hotel to attend a few hours of his conference (you know, the whole reason we came back to Florida!) while Jadeyn and I got to hang out at Animal Kingdom for awhile longer.  We watched the bird show with owls and hawks swooping over our heads.  Jadeyn even joined me to watch Nemo.  It is such a sweet and tender musical and I love it every time!  Jadeyn loved Dinosaur again and especially exploring the playground afterwards.  And then of course his favorite: the dig site!  We spent a good amount of time unearthing a giant dino skeleton!

 

We met Kevin at the Contemporary Hotel for dinner at the California Grill.  Tasty food there!  Then we headed to EPCOT to take advantage of the late magic hours.  EPCOT is celebrating the Food and Wine Festival and so it was crazy busy!  Fun to go around and try all the country's foods and also to people watch!  So we started out at 8am and made it until 10pm.  9.2 miles today!  We are definitely back on vacation mode!

Friday  November 7th 2015
So, what better way to start the day than a mad dash to compete in Toy Story Mania!? We caught the bus to Hollywood Studios and waited for the rope drop. This ride is so popular that it will usually have the longest wait times in the park almost immediately, but it's worth it. Waiting in line though, is pure pleasure. We become toys ourselves and everywhere we turn we see giant versions of our favorite nostalgic toys! Etch a sketch, Lincoln logs, massive monkeys above our heads linking arms, we are walking g on the squares of candy land and chutes and ladders. I am not quite the competitive type, but I have a reputation to defend in this game. Wow, by the end our arms were so exhausted from pulling the trigger, but when the scores were revealed, it couldn't have been closer: 142,900 to 14,3400! One more broken plate and Kevin would have beat me! So, he tried to make the excuse that be didn't have his 3D glasses on for half the time, but I still beat him! By the time we finished that one ride, its wait was 45 min! 

 

 Ready for one of the best rides in the park? Star Tours! Yay! We took our tradition photos of Jadeyn and I in front of the Tatooine Traders and Kevin and Jadeyn on the Speeder Bike. The giant Walker made shooting sounds and blasted steam out of its turrets this time! And, we don't think they were doing the Jedi Training because of all the construction for the new Star Wars land. Then off the fly to parts unknown. Okay, so we know them well enough to make a guess. We were right on both of the two adventures:
the icy world oh Both followed by the getting caught in the clutches of that 'bigger fish' in the underwater world of the Gunguns. Oh that ride is so much fun!
Across the park now for the rockin' world of Arrowsmith! One of Jadeyn favorite coasters now! He did still get a little nervous when he saw the stretch limo car in front of us blast off like a bullet! We loved it again, listening to his voice hollering in delight!
Starring Roles: a delightfully delicious tradition of ours: a double chocolate peanut butter cupcake and red velvet cupcake. Oh my, fingerlicking good!
One last right before Kevin had to head off to his conference (what a dutiful soul!) Hollywood Tower of Terror!!! Jadeyn still refuses to go on it after his first time two years ago terrified the socks off him, so we aren't pushing him. The fast pass worked beautifully and we took turns. After our rides, we both agreed that they had changed something: my ride was totally awesome and seemed longer with more lifts and drops. Kevin's was longer too but with a peak at the ghostly family in the middle making him thing the rude was over before blasting him straight up again to continue! Sweet!

 

Just me and Jadeyn then to fill a few minutes. Well, back to Star Tours, right? This time, Wookie planet! Then something totally new: we got chased down by a Bounty Hunter in an asteroid belt. Then we escaped into the clutches of Darth Vader in the Death Star. Safely escaping, we returned the rebel spy! Waiting in the line is an experience all on its own surrounded by funny droids.  In line again! This time there was a 'slight malfunction' on loading the star speeders so it took a little longer. We got to fly in the pod races, and then got attacked in a battle by buzz droids. We shook them off and dove into the depth of Corriscant to escape them.

 

The bus ride back to the hotel took almost an hour for Jadeyn and I thanks to two wheelchair scooters, an unruly family and a girl who was blind, but we made it back with time left to hit the pool. We played in the Mad Hatter's spray and play area first and then moved to the Sandy beach. Pure white fine sand on the shore of the lake. Army barricades built with sea kelp to be washed away by the waves. Then off to the big pool to try out the slide.  Jadeyn joined Kevin at the vender exhibits and scored a nice set of marbles (not sure why there were marbles!?) Them Kevin had two more hours of class and we played at the hotel.

 

 Evening: Magic Kingdom. Holy smokes: its Christmas. A 40 foot Christmas tree greeted us and wreaths and garland, and giant nut crackers and Christmas music! Wow. And every inch of the castle was covered in perfect white lights. No kidding. Magnificent! Wow! We have always wanted to see Disney at Christmas. The Jungle Cruise was a riot at Christmas time! All the jokes were puns on Christmas, even the caged tarantula had a tiny Santa hat on! Thunder Mountain, a blast again, all our favorites. We had a unique experience. Kevin got Jadeyn an ice cream while I was at haunted mansion. Jadeyn ordered it, they said he was such a sweet and we'll behaved kid that he got a Mickey moment: ice cream for free! We had never heard of that before. It was so special. The greatest part was a little while later when we stopped by Gaston's for an ooey gooey cinnamon roll, the worker gave Jadeyn his own Lafrue's Brew 'on Mickey!' Two 'Mickey Moments' in one night!

 

 One of the coolest parts of the night came right outside Gaston's. The fireworks started and it get like we were in the middle of a battle! The stars blasting over the castle on one side and the massive regular fireworks on the other side of us. The concussion was amazing. After that we enjoyed some peaceful classic moments: Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Goofy's Barnstormer and ended it with two rides on Thunder Mountain. Electric parade and then a close up walk around the Incredible Castle.  It was incredible to have the castle practically to ourselves.  Usually there are so many people everywhere that its crazy to get a picture without other people in it.  Tonight was totally peaceful and quiet at the castle.  Wow! It was midnight by the time we got back to the room. Jadeyn was out on my shoulder before we got out of the park.

Sunday November 9th 2015
Sleep in! Well, at least until 6:30. Kevin got one hour of class in before we headed to Magic Kingdom. Last night the wait was too long last night so we walked as fast as we could this morning to get there. What? Already 50 min?! You're kidding, but we had to do it. Turned out it was only 15! Nice. Then Thunder Mountain, another "Jingle cruise." Oh the jokes were classic. My favorite was at the very end when the skipper said: if u liked the trip, my name is Jenny, if you didn't, my name is Elsa, and you need to let it go!" Splash Mountain. So its 80 degrees, so we donned our rain ponchos that we are carrying, or do we just get wet. We decided to wing it and see if we get drenched. We love this ride. We even sing zippity do da to Jadeyn almost every night. Plunge on down and we actually escaped saturation pretty well! It was 10:30 before Jadeyn piped up that he hadn't had breakfast yet! Off to Gaston's for two giant cinnamon rolls: one for me and Kev. One for Jadeyn! So yummy. Gaston arrived just as we were finishing. No real fanatical ladies this time, but fun to watch. 

 

 After quite a bit more fun, we decided to switch gears and head to Epcot for the food festival. So many countries are represented even beyond the ones that are permanently there. We went from booth to booth to see what sounded interesting or might taste delicious. We made some excellent choices with... Yup we walked our legs off again all around the world. There were some breathtaking chocolate sculptures too! We had almost decided to go back to the hotel for a moments rest when we realized it really would only be a moment. Well, might as well go straight to Hollywood Studios for dessert!
Tragedy! starting Rolls closed at 4pm, we were 10 min late! So sad. So ice cream sundaes for dessert/dinner. Another Mickey Moment coming up! Jadeyn asked for extra hot fudge. Not only did they give him a separate cup of more hot fudge, but they gave him two brownies! Sweet!
imagination station,
Hollywood Studio Star Tours last run, Fantasmic light show, Osborne light show, packed bus
The Osborne light show. There is really no way to fully describe this experience. The workers escorted us around to the entrance so we could see it all at one in its glory. A whole two blocks of street covered in lights. Every square inch literally covered in lights and all coordinated to dance to the music! Completely overwhelming and magical! Then the snow started to fall and wow, it was a wonderland if Christmas.


Animal Kingdom. Wandering through this incredibly green and lush park is really a treat. We decided that today we would just enjoy it all and really soak it in. That didn't stop us from going on Everest 8 times! Jadeyn finally really conquered his inner Coaster and circled us back into line each time we finished!! We loved the safari again bouncing over the ruts in the road. Lion King Wes so much fun and amazing as usual. 

 Dinner at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have never been to the lodge before and thought this would be the perfect reason to go. It was a beautiful African themed building, but the really cool part was the Savannah out back where you could watch the giraffes and other animals graze. Dinner was an African Buffet. It had a huge selection and we like almost everything we tried and some of it was pretty unique. Delicious desserts too but we were stuffed and had to roll out way out of there.
Buffet: in the bathroom, can a person really die from his belly exploding? Good cause I don't want to die, I'm only 7. What, were going to magic kingdom? I can't go on any rides, I'm doomed! When j and k's bellies were pooching out so much they thought they would explode, Jadeyn asked why moms wasn't poking out. He said it was because of those two humps. What are they even for anyway. We explained and he said ooohh, like zebras nurse their babies. That's weird.

Monday November 10, 2015

Off to Magic Kingdom. We had just a little bit of time to squeeze in some more magic before our final surprise of the evening. We explored the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, went on Jungle Cruise again, pirates, joked about doing the Tiki room(no way!) And finally made our way over to Tomorrowland for....drumroll please: the Wishes Dessert Party! Sweet! We sat on the terrace above all the crazy crowds, sipped sparkling apple cider and ate all the desserts we could eat! We got to watch the Electric Parade, the spectacular light show on the castle and the Wishes fireworks show! So special. It was a truly magical way to end a great day especially when Jadeyn finally fell asleep on our shoulders.

Tuesday, November 11th 2015

 On our way to Epcot today because the goal of the day was to make it into Test Track! Will we make it? We waited for the rope drop as we watched quite a few people go in early...how did that happen? Once through, Jadeyn practically pulled us through the crowds and we made it to find another 50 minute wait! No worries, we're doing it anyway! Jadeyn was so excited to build his own vehicle. Waiting in line wasn't too bad because of all the interactive stuff to do along the way. Jadeyn build his for speed and Kevin build his for off road and speed. Once on the track we blasted through obstacles, slid through bad weather and finally opened it up on the open road! So much fun and Jadeyn yelled and yelled. In the end, his car took top overall the other cars in our vehicle! He was so excited. Next? Mission Space! J wasn't too sure about this one, but I convinced him that he will breeze through it. Kevin sat this one out. We were briefed on our duties on the space shuttle. One Jadeyn saw the contraption, he understood how it worked and he was excited to go. The whole ship spins so fast giving you the centrifugal force of feeling like you are blasting into space.

 

 We hadn't spent a lot of time at Innoventions and it was really cool! We checked out the weather station and safety during hurricanes and blizzards. We got to design our townhouse and see how it held up. The other part we enjoyed was the Healthy Habits. We each were given an healthy assignment to battle against bad habits. We were hydration, healthy nutrition and activity. It was pretty fun to blast down and battle against the bad habits! Turtle Talk with Crush! Every time we have experienced a conversation with Crush we have laughed so hard. This Crush was awesome! All us parental units sat on the benches while our offspring sat sub level! His jokes were classic!

Behind the Seeds!! The last time we were at Epcot, we discovered that there was a tour here, and we were so excited to be able to do it! They took us behind all the plants and greenhouses to teach us the details of their discoveries an growing techniques. It was so cool to see the tomato plants wound around and around, some of them a good 15 feet long. Most of the plants are hooked into their hydroponics system and we saw the fish and the water dispersal system. One of the coolest details was their battle against the miner bug that lays its eggs inside the leaves and can take our a whole orchard! They discovered a natural solution by accident. A little miner wasp flew in and lays its eggs right inside the bug larva. Problem solved. Now the grow their own tiny wasps to take care of. We were really proud of Jadeyn for being brave enough to ask so many questions. The funniest was about how they bred a fast growing fish with a good tasting fish. He asked: did they make them mate? The tour guide was hilarious as she delicately answered and then gave us a thumbs up asking: are we okay with that answer parents?
The tour was totally worth it and was perfect for us!

We were pretty hungry by 2:45 when the tour ended so we wandered over to the countries and had former Mac n cheese with bacon, which actually had quite a kick to it, and raviolis at another country. We had about three hours before our reservations tonight and I guess we hadn't walked enough yet, so we decided to take a 'stroll' to Hollywood Studios. It took us on a path past a lot of the other resort hotels which were pretty cool to see. At HS, we were able to squeeze in a few of our favorites one last time: Arrowsmith! And then, dusk brought on the Christmas lights! We got to walk down the Osborne lights one more time and experience the magic. Wow!

We took to boat back to Epcot and on the way Jadeyn room a nap. We decided to let him sleep because we have carried him home so many nights, maybe a few minutes of sleep will help. We had reservations at La Hacienda right on the lake front where we would be able to watch the firework show on the water. Dinner was quite tasty and the show was great. We got to leave with the masses of people and pile onto the monorail with everyone. Whew! Big day today and a wonderful way to end our Disney trip!



Wednesday November 12th 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Waking up this morning I found myself singing to Garth Brooks: oh, I am sore in strange places! We have walked well over 8 miles each day, going from 7 or 8 am to 11 or 12 each night! After these 5 full days, we will need a tiny bit of downtime at Universal!
We are staying at the Royal Pacific this time which is just a little bit away from the Portofino we stayed at last time. It is beautiful! A Polynesian flair with incredible carved wood statues and solid stone elephant statues. So cool. Our room wasn't ready when we checked in, so, what to do but head for the park!

We love the feel of these parks, totally different than Disney, but just as fun!
Highlights of the day: Jurassic Park times 5! When we were here last, it was bring refurbished and Jadeyn was almost devastated about that. Now it's all brand spanking new for us, new and ready for us. We wore our rain ponchos so we could go over and over again, and we are planning on getting wet tomorrow. The dinosaurs were awesome, knocking our boat off tour into the restricted area. And the, the reason we came back to Universal: the T Rex! Before just his head growled above our boat, now it's his complete massive body standing above the boat and snapping at us before we plunged down! Jadeyn was exhilarated! 

.......Men In Black. Oh yeah, I still whooped Kevin! 249,000 to 223,000. It's nice to still have a bit of competition in me! Spiderman, a total classic and really fun. I think Stan Lee shows up in it in four different places. Transformers was great again too. ET made us smile, and we even gave code names for him to day at the end! Thrasher, Gru and Krylon.
We stayed at the park until 6pm then headed back to have dinner at the hotel club lounge. While there, wouldn't you know it, but Karate Kid had just started and Jadeyn has been wanting to see it. We continued watching it back in the room sprawled out on the beds. Great day!

Thursday. November 13, 2015

 To the park for the early entry. We took the awesome pathway along the river and went straight to Hogsmeade. Gotta get right on Forbidden Journey before the lines get long. Such a fun ride! It's one where you can just lean right into the picture and really be a part of the quidditch match and be flying right alongside everyone. Jadeyn did much better with the Dementors after having read the book. Whew! We spent a good amount of time this morning simply enjoying the Potter world and watching Jadeyn work on his spells.

The plan today is to get wet, really wet! So, we went around the park hitting whatever ride caught our interest up until lunchtime. The Simpsons ride was an absolute riot as usual. Neither Kevin nor myself grew up watching the Simpsons, but we have since watched enough episodes to really get the humor. Jadeyn on the other hand, was just like yesterday at Krusty Burger: I don't get it! Terminator is still a great classic! We forget every time we go on it just how enjoyable it is and loved sharing it with Jadeyn. Rip Ride Rocket: definitely on my top favorite coasters! That coaster flies and lets you sail right along with it! We left our seats a little loose so we could really catch air and fly. Mummy: Jadeyn still won't go on this ride and I am totally fine with that. We did child swap and had a blast. It's a pretty creepy ride and parts are whipping you around in the pitch black! Shrek 4D. So funny. You know, we started thinking about the hero's I. Universal compared to the Disney ones. Universal's are quite a bit more in the rebellious or mischievous side!
We had lunch at Mythos and wow, it was great again! I had the Bleu Cheese Crusted Pork with apple slaw and braised cabbage. Kevin had a Pad Thai shrimp and chicken. We shared with Jadeyn and added a spinach wonton wrap to the mix.
Ready to get soaked! We found a locker for our stuff and headed straight for Pluto's Plunge. Since we knew we were going to get soaked, and were prepared for it, we were able to totally allow ourselves to have a blast. We went on this ride three times in a row, each time getting to know the other people in our raft. We hooted and hollered and got soaked. Next, was Popeye and Pluto's Barges.   It's a round boat ride where usually whoever is the unlucky one gets soaked. As this ride progressed, it for wetter and wetter until, there wasn't any hope of having any dry spots left! Again, getting to know our boat mates was fun. And yet. We were saturated. One more time on Pluto then we had to figure out how to dry off a bit. I know! Dr. Doom' Drop tower! Yup, it certainly helped! Back to Diagon let for a hot Butter Beer. It hit the spot. Jadeyn made a special discovery. He could two secret spells! He was so excited to know about some that not many people even knew what to look for. At Hogsmeade, Kevin and I took turns on the Dueling Dragons. Back to Diagon and back again the other way right before park close. We make it to Escape From Greengot's. We practically had the place to ourselves. Normally teeming with people, the peacefulness was wonderful! Perfect was
to the night!
Back at the hotel, we enjoyed desserts at the Clubhouse. Yummm!



Friday November 14, 2015
Wow! Did we ever sleep in; almost 7:15 by the time we rolled out of bed. Nice! Breakfast was quite nice at the club and then off to the park. Our goal was to get to the Raptor experience right when the whole park opened, but dang it: the experience didn't open until 10am! So...we went on Buckbeak's ride and checked out the shops. Humm, what to do with the remaining few minutes? Jurrasic Park three more times! Yay!
The raptor Experience was incredible. We were the first group, so the raptor hadn't even come out yet. Her name was Roe and she was 8 years old. We couldn't believe just how life like she was. She would listen to her trainer, them disobey and he would have to call her attention back again. Wow! So cool!
Minion Ride. Oh, so many smiles there! We actually got to sit together! We've been on this ride probably 8 times and always were split up!
Rip Ride Rocket again, but this one trying out the secret code for extra songs. You hold down the main logo for 10 seconds, then enter your song number that you had to look up before you got on the ride. I think I might have entered mine wrong because I didn't even recognize my song. Had an awesome flight though. But when I got off, I ran out to Kevin and Jadeyn and begged to go again! So much fun!
....
We had a scoop of ......ice cream in Diagon Allley. We did Curdled Cream this time. It had a cream cheese type flavor to it. This year we have had ice cream from there three times and, yeah, the flavors are very creative, Jadeyn hasn't liked any of them!

Minions, Rip Ride twice, lunch back at hotel, street breakdancers, Forbidden Journey, and Greengot's Bank, ice cream, mini golf!
...Highlight of the night: we did miniature golfing on CityWalk! Pretty cool. We did the "aliens" themed side and it was so clever. The course was hilarious with all the aliens and then downright tricky. Some places would drop you in a hole and end up somewhere totally different, or drop your ball into a contraption that transported it up a spiral thing to move it to the next spot. The hardest had the hole on a rotating floor!



Saturday November 15, 2015
Final full day. Wow, we have filled every day so full and have come home wiped out every night. Every day of this trip we have logged over 8 miles, even on our half day! Pretty awesome. Today was actually the chilliest day we have had. It was only going to be a high of 78,but it was the light breeze that kept the goose bumps coming for the first few hours. Heading to the park today, we had a few goals. Have a butter beer and go on Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, there were really long lines for the drink (meaning 25+ people!). So we wandered through enjoying the park and discovering new things for Jadeyn. We took him up to Popeye's ship where he could use the water blasters on the unsuspecting people on the raft ride. Remember how cold it was? Well, these people hadn't gotten saturated yet, so they really hollered when we got them! Fun! We watched the Raptor Encounter for a little bit and were still so amazed by it. In the Dinosaur Discovery Center Jadeyn got a special experience. There was a new baby raptor hatching from her egg. It was very realistic. They said that one of the witnesses of the birth gets to name the new baby. Jadeyn's hand shot up so fast. He got to name her Thrasher (of course) and even got a birth certificate with his name on it too! He was so proud! 

We came back for lunch and Jadeyn and I hit the pool. The water was nice and warm. It made it so it felt warmer in the water than out (at least if you are wet and out of the water). We had a ton of fun playing volleyball with a beach ball. Jadeyn came up with a game. It you touched the red side, you were Sith, if you touched blue, you were Jedi, and yellow was a Bounty Hunter. Pretty clever. We even went out to the beach of the Lagoon to play. Jadeyn especially enjoyed the ducks that kept landing a swimming g around us in the pool. He loved going under and watching their webbed feet!
About 15 minutes before we were going to get out of the pool Jadeyn suddenly started hollering. Somehow, a bee had gotten on his hand and was struggling to survive and stung him right on the palm. Poor guy! I held onto his little hand to keep him from touching it and we waded over to the lifeguard. He did really good with Jadeyn and put on his blue gloves to pull the stinger out. I know it had to hurt pretty bad but Jadeyn played bravely until we got out. At the park Kevin and I enjoyed The Mummy and Rip Ride Rocket, then finally got Jadeyn an icee so he could ice his palm a bit on it too. 

Men In Black. I really do think this is one of my favorite rides here. Kevin. Thinks it is hilarious because I normally am not competitive. What can I say! We went through once and then Kevin popped out another little known secret about the park: you can ask for a behind the scenes tour of the Men In Black facility! He asked our ride attendant who said: sure, do you want to do it now? We were escorted through a few doors where we waited for our official "man in black" complete with the sunglasses. He took us to a few rooms and finally out to the immigration floor where "Bskrgd and Bob" were. We got to sit in the funky chairs and even sign our names in the immigration log book! So cool! Then, our guide told us some of his favorite scoring secrets. The biggest secret was to look for the pug dog and shoot his collar. Next to shoot our own transponder instead of the one in the car opposite to us. We just had to go again now! We asked for the "pug side" and did our best. I scored 415,000! No way!!! We couldn't tell if the pug helped or not, but the transponder did along with us deciding to aim at a target and keep shooting at it instead of constantly switching around. (We still let Jadeyn get the 100,000 bonus at the end!)

Back at the park after dinner, we donned our rain ponchos for a night trip down the river. Awesome! Another butter beer, and then enjoyed a few more night rides before the park suddenly became filled with people. There is a concert tonight of somebody we hadn't heard of before and as a result, the park closed at 7pm. We people watched all the concert goers and finally had a peaceful walk home. We grabbed cookies and milk at the lounge and ate them in bed before sleep. Whew, another full day.


Sunday.  November 16, 2015  
Ahh. The last day of our vacation. Normally the last day is filled with travel to get back home and not much fun. Not today! Our flight isn't until almost 4pm, so there was plenty of time to enjoy the parks again. Up and at 'em early to pack everything in our suitcases, grab a quick breakfast and drop our luggage off at the front desk to hold for us. Then, off we go. We figured that in all the days we have been here, we have only taken the boat twice, so we hopped on and enjoyed the river. We started again in Hogsmeade for the early hours and did everything we wanted: Forbidden Journey, and all the spells for Jadeyn. Then we caught the Hogwarts express to Diagon Alley to do the same. One last ride on Escape from Gringott's was interesting. There were quite a few people in line and there must have been a breakdown or delay because it took awhile. But it allowed us to get to listen to the banter between all the paintings in the walls. Normally we go through the line so fast that we miss a lot of it. It was great especially when somebody leaves his painting and joins another painting! We wandered through Diagon and did spells, bought two butter beers (a hot for me and regular for Kevin and Jadeyn!) Jadeyn really relished the idea of knowing a secret spell that most people didn't know about. We also loved watching the fountain that randomly shoots out water and were dying to see it soak someone!
We each had a request for today: Jadeyn's was Gringott's and Minions, Kevin's was Rip Ride Rocket, and mine was Men In Black. We fit them all in! We really wanted to take the tricks we learned yesterday and top yesterday's score of 415,000! We came close: I got to 343,000 twice! So here are the secrets that worked: shooting the pug's collar supposedly did something for us, but we're not sure what, finding a single target and shooting it until you can't see it any longer, and finally, shooting your own transponder instead of the one on the car in front of you. Awesome! Minions was so much fun again and really made us laugh! The last ride was Rip Ride Rocket. We did express pass child swap and both rode it within 10 minutes! Brisk walk back to the hotel where we took the black car service to the airport. That means the trip really is over. What an incredibly memorable trip! Wow! We figured a very conservative estimate of the miles we walked was 72+ miles!?! We did a minimum of 8 miles on each of our 9 days and some of the Disney days were a lot more! Every mile was a memory!
We had about two hours to kill at the airport and Jadeyn and I filled them with getting all of his homework done! We did it! He finished up his test during the first part of the flight and then could kick back the rest of the flight.

Maroon Bells, CO

 September 18 - 20, 2015

One last amazingly beautiful camping trip of the summer!  We headed up towards Aspen to take in nature's fireworks!  Wow!  The leaves were at their peak!  We spent the first night at Mollie B, a sweet little campground near a lake.  A nice crisp night and we woke up to ice and frost covering everything outside of the tent!  Brrr!  28 degrees!  The funniest part was when Jadeyn set his hot chocolate mug on the metal table and whoosh!  It slid all the way off the table! There was so much ice that nothing would stay on the table until the sun came out!
 
Off to the Maroon Bells.  Again, we were blown away by the color of the leaves and a light dusting of snow on the tops of the mountains accenting the rocks made for a beautiful picture!!  We have decided to stop and talk to any park ranger we come across because you never know how much you can learn.  There was a park ranger discussing insects and plants.  She pointed out so many of the different ways that little insects can find branches and leaves to make their homes.  All these little abnormalities we have seen are their little homes.  Pretty cool.  The hike was pretty awesome with a destination of an amazing view, and then a lot of rock chucking into the lake!
We decided to take a 4x4 road to find a campsite.  Taking the Jeep onto the dirt was pretty fun, not quite like the RZR of course, but we bumped and bounced into the valley.  We found a nice place in the trees and again enjoyed a nice evening in beautiful nature.  While we set up camp, Jadeyn entertained himself by chucking rocks into a creekbed and seeing how many he could shatter! 28 degrees again last night. Jadeyn was pretty excited to have earned 2 "frost points" for Cub Scouts! Great weekend!!
 

A New Cub Scout

Jadeyn started Cub Scouts at the end of the summer.  I can't think of anything more perfect or more right up his alley!  It fits everything he is the most passionate about: taking care of nature, adventures out in the wilderness, building things and following rules!!  He LOVES it!!!!

His first introduction was to join the water cannon blaster night!  The boys got to build their own rockets out of 2 liter bottles and decorate them with paper and tape.  Then they mounted them on the launch pad, pumped the air into them and then let 'em fly!!  So much fun!  Jadeyn's paper wings shredded and fell down on us like confetti! 

His second activity was the Bike Rodeo where they learned about bike safety and maintenance and then got to participate in different obstacles and skills at each station.  Jadeyn's Wolf pack is huge!!  There are at least 22 boys!  Wow!  His buddy Finn has decided to join as well!


Family Campfire night. All the Wolves and their families gathered around a campfire at Union Reservoir in Longmont to enjoy the boys performing skits and the roasting s'mores!

Popcorn Fundraiser.  The boys only have one fundraiser for the year and it is selling yummy popcorn!  Jadeyn was so excited to reach his goal and set right out selling away.  It was excellent for him to get past his shyness and really talk with people.  Everyone was so nice and he did really well!

Every few nights we have been working in his scout book and marking off the acheivements as he reaches them. 
He was so excited to be able to report all his hiking and camping trips too!  Last weekend when we camped near Aspen, he even earned two Front Points for camping when the temperature reached below freezing!

 We even took him out to target practice with Kevin's old BB gun.  He was a pretty excellent shot!

Lagoon, Utah August 13-15, 2015

Lagoon, Utah    August 13-15, 2015


Okay, can we squeeze in one more amusement park this summer???  You bet we can!!!  Jadeyn has never been to Lagoon and that place is chock full of memories for both Kevin and I when we were kids.  Many times in our childhood, our parent had taken us there; wouldn't it have been crazy if we had met back then?  A lot has changed over the years, even since we were last there together over 15 years ago. 
 
Our first day there brought back so many great memories just walking through and remembering, and sharing the memories with our boy.  I got to tell him about my sister getting motion sickness every time and the old style pictures we took.  Kevin got to tell him about going on the spinning ride and throwing up on the girls below him!  The old "Shoe" was still there so we had to get a family picture in front of it!!

Lagoon has really grown up.  It was so fun to walk around and see how much was exactly the same too.  The Terror Ride and Dracula's Castle hadn't changed a bit.  The Tidal Wave and Swings were exactly the same and just as much fun.  However, there are quite a few new big rides.  Lagoon is a very family friendly park.  They aren't focused on having the tallest or fastest coasters, just amazingly fun ones that almost everyone can ride.  On the two newest big rides, they even had booster seats so someone 48 inches could ride!  We had never seen that before. 

Wicked: Great coaster!!  It blasts you out and straight up and then straight back down to continue with great twists and turns!  Jadeyn was pretty uncertain about going on it, but with a little encouragement, he faces his fears!  I'll never forget watching him on that coaster: eyes squeezed shut and hands squeezing both of ours as we blasted off and then straight up and down, but when he realized the scary part was over: he hollered as loud as he could and loved it!!  Then, as the train pulled into the station, his fluffy blonde curls were all over the place.  The wind had blown them up as they framed his pink cheeks!!  I really wish I had a picture of that face!!

Cannibal: Jadeyn put his foot down on going on this one, and in the end, we were really glad that he didn't go.  It was one intense coaster, and it would have been too much for him!  The car pulls into a dark area and you suddenly get the feeling that you are moving in the dark.  You finally realize that you are going up!  The car is lifted in an elevator to the top of the hill and when the doors open, you are on top of the world and ready to plunge more than straight down!  Exhilarating!  But the rest of the coaster is just as unique too.  There is one section of corkscrew turns but it is stretched out, so you don't really fly so fast through it you don't know what happened; you almost feel like you are hovering during the turn!

Wild Mouse: Kevin's all time least favorite ride and as a result, it has become one of Jadeyn's favorite so he can tease his dad!  We went on it way too many times!

Spider: a new twist on the Wild Mouse and it was way cool.  Once the car starts going, it becomes free spinning, meaning that when you reach a turn, your momentum could turn the car all the way around and the people sitting in the back could be going forward now and you are going backward!  It gave you the sensation of being in a toilet bowl as the water goes down and swirling all around!   It was a great ride.

One of the greatest things about this trip happened completely unplanned.  Nathan is at BYU and had a week off.  He was trying to figure out how to get to Wyoming, and we just happened to be 40 minutes away from Provo.  So, he caught a trail to Farmington and we picked him up and he was able to join us for yet another great amusement park trip!  Lucky guy!!  It was awesome to have him with us and Jadeyn was so excited to have him there too!  Great for me because I didn't have to force Kevin to go on the spinning rides with me.  Kevin actually went on quite a few spinning ones like the old Tilt a'Whirl!! Love that ride!!!!!  But Nathan and I went on the new Samuri which spun us every which way possible! 

We spent a few of the hottest hours at Lagoon-a-Beach to cool off.  We couldn't believe how crowded it was!  We splashed around a bit and then headed back to the park.

Ready for the best dinner ever: ice cream!!  We got double scoop and these guys didn't mess around with the size of the scoop!  Wow!

What a wonderful trip and great memories created.

After Lagoon, we stayed in Lyman to help Kevin's parents pack and get ready to move.  We took down everything in the attic and crawl space and got to go through the incredible old treasures up there.  That was the part I enjoyed the most!  Also, helping Kevin's mom package up all her precious crystal and breakable stuff.  They've got a daunting task ahead of them with packing everything up.  Hopefully they figure out where they are moving to before they have to leave!

WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARK TRIP

WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARK TRIP July 16 - July 30, 2015

3802 miles, 52 hours driving, 14 days, 7 states, 5 National Parks

Thursday July 16, 2015

As soon as Kevin got home from work, we set off for our trip! Wahoo! Road trip! Tonight we are only going as far as Lyman, WY. Kevin's parents are in Utah or Colorado so we won't be able to see them, but it will be nice to have a bed. The drive was nice. We talked, sang and also listened to some audio books to pass the time. Jadeyn really got interested in the Malcolm Gladwell book that I brought: Blink. He wanted us to keep listening because 'this is really interesting guys!' We rolled in around 11:30pm and got to chat with Jessica for a bit before hitting the hay.

Friday July 17th 2015
Up and at 'em at 6am. We headed to Evanston to have breakfast with Grandma Pete! She turned 90 this year and is an amazing woman. She welcomed us in with fresh baked poppy seed muffins and milk. We got to spend about an hour this morning catching up and telling stories. Nice morning. And we're back on the road again.
10 minutes outside of Evanston: "Well, this certainly isn't the rain forest yet!" Then a few minutes later "Hey guys, it's starting to get more Forest like. I saw some trees!" I think he is really anxious to get to Washington.

Saturday July 18th 2015

We continued on our trip today and drove and drove.  We traveled 5 states today: Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Whew!  We are so lucky that Jadeyn is such an amazing traveler.  We found a hotel to spend the night (Jadeyn was ecstatic that it had a swimming pool!)  For dinner, we found Mel's Diner, and nice little 50's themed restaurant.  Holy smokes: delicious milk shakes!!

Sunday July 19, 2015 MT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

"Out of the forest at last there stood the mountain, 

wholly unveiled, awful in bulk and majesty..."  

--John Muir

Off to Mt Rainier National Park.  We really didn't know what to expect from this park except that we had heard that quite often people come and never get to see top of the mountain due to the clouds.  We were so hoping for nice weather and we really lucked out.  Clear skies on the horizon.  The first time we saw the massive volcano we were blown away!  Magnificent and rising straight up and capped with glaciers!  This is going to be a beautiful park!

Skyline Trail

Ambitious hike? Yup.  We got up before 6am compliments of Jadeyn and we got to practice our whispering skills in the campground for a whole hour somewhat successfully.  Pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  Delicious. We wanted to get to Paradise area nice and early and were so happy we did.  They say it gets so busy that the parking lot fills up by 10am.  We decided to do the Skyline Trail despite having a park ranger tell us that she didn't think that Jadeyn could do it.  We decided to prove her wrong!  The trail was so magnificent and varied.  We hiked through forest, fern, prairie, wildflower fields, over creeks and streams and climbed and climbed. Switchback after switchback with the reward of a grand view of Mt Rainier at each turn.  Wow! It is such a striking presence in the sky. 

As we climbed higher, the rest of the Pacific Ring of Fire came into view.  Mt Adams was the most prominent, Mt Hood way in the distance, and then the ghostly image of Mt St Helens.  Then the craggy range all in front of them.  Wow.  This year is the lowest recorded amount of precipitation in the park's existence, so the wildflowers had already passed their peak, but they were still lovely and plentiful.  Clustered around any stream in abundance and then they spread throughout the meadows.

Up and up we went stopping for an occasional break for water and pictures.  We were so impressed with our little hiker. He just kept on going and going and hardly complained.  We kept motivated with awesome homemade trail mix and lots of water!  At each trail split, we could have branched off and shortened our hike, but to quote Jadeyn: we were determined!

The halfway point of the hike was of course reaching the mountain.  We reached the glacier and were faced with the challenge of crossing the ice on a narrow 8 inch wide path on precariously slanted snow.  Wow.  Just Kevin and I would have been able to do it just fine, but add trying to hold Jadeyn's hand into the mix and wow:  too scary.  There was one other option: hike back a ways and go around.  It was one tough mile, switch backing all the way up.  But we have to say: we are so glad we weren't able to do the glacier.  The back way put us right at the edge of the massive mountain and it was beautiful!  Lunch up at Pinnacle Peak while Jadeyn constructed a snowman and then back down. 

"Going to the woods is going home."

--John Muir

The way back was shorter than the way up, but it was much steeper.  By the time we were nearing the bottom, our knees ached and we all had hot spots on our toes!  Ouch.  And we were wiped out.  All in all, we went 6 miles.  Down to the Visitor's Center and all we had the energy for was to sit and watch a beautiful film on the National Park.  So sweet, at the end of the film was a quote about how every National Park is different, but each one feels like home.  Jadeyn's voice pops up: That's exactly how I feel.  We got Jadeyn's Junior Ranger Badge and he enjoyed telling the Ranger about his accomplishment of hiking the whole Skyline Trail.  

One thing that was pointed out is how rejuvenating and refreshing the national parks are. There is so little connection to the outside world, that you have to go let go of all your worries and concerns because there is nothing you can really do about them while immersed in the wilderness.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people 

are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; 

that wildness is a necessity."  --John Muir

After the trail, we had about 2 hours before needing to get back for the 6:30 Junior Ranger program. So we went a little deeper into the park to see the old growth forest, the old patriarchs! Before we even got to the actual loop you could tell the truth. The trees were going to be amazing. Rooted trees exposed massive root systems, towering a good 20 feet above our heads, all recovered in mosses and ferns, mushrooms and flowers. Walking through the trees were Redwoods, hemlock,... Scattered all across the forest floor where tiny one and a half inch pine cones. Such massive trees come from the tiniest pine cones! Tearing so high and supported by enormous trunks, so peaceful and humbling.

To get to this area we got to traverse a substantially bridge where only one person was recommended to cross at a time. It was almost more than Jadeyn could handle having to wait in line to cross! He was so anxious to get to his Junior Ranger program! The bridge was so cool! We stopped at every bridge and waterfall on the way back to. All were beautiful but once stood out above the others. Christine Falls dropped in a series of for water falls on one side of the road before disappearing under the bridge. As you leaned over the bridge and look straight down the waterfall talk about vertigo. Another was a crashing River tumbling down a 180 foot deep slot canyon. The water was compressed into a slot about 15 feet across twisting back and forth.

Back at our camp ground, the Junior Ranger program was all about the animals in the National Park so we found out that the Marmots here are Hoary Marmot and they have a silvery white back. We saw quite a few of the cute little fellers. The evening program was on the wild life as well. Tortilla pizzas on the grill for dinner and then it was time to pile up in the tent to read and sleep! Throughout the day, we really only did about 8 miles, but when half of it is really climbing, it wiped out! We were happy to be off our feet.

At camp, Jadeyn had scavenged all sorts of small branches, determined to make a fire.  He even built it all up in a perfect TP.  He also created a critter trap with string and stretched branches weighed down by a few rocks.  He made himself a fishing pole and fished in the forest for piranha.  One last funny thing: his feet really stink and he completely cracked up when I helped him change his socks and I called his toes ten little toxic bombs!

Monday 20th 2015 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

 

Wow, the first portion of our trip is over! We are so glad that we had an extra day at Mount Rainier. We did not expect to have so much that we still wanted to do. We conquered a lot, but still lots of reasons to come back. We packed up camp, had hot chocolate and muffins for breakfast, and said goodbye to the beautiful mountain. The drive out of the park and beyond is still so amazing with the trees and ferns. Not quite as green as normal years since, believe it or not, the Northwest is experiencing a drought. I think Colorado has received all the rain Washington normally gets!

As we approached the Quinault Rainforest, the trees started getting bigger, ferns and blackberries multiplying and then the moss started covering everything! We only have a half a day at this end of the park so we did our best to see as much as we could as fast as we could and still keep our eyes open for Melanie and Mark's family. The ranger station wasn't much help on what not to miss. They told us: just go and explore and  there a waterfall a ways up, but its not marked.  So off we went. The waterfalls we found were beautiful. Every rock face and branch surrounding the Falls was dripping or draped in moss. If was so like another world! 

Along the river, we saw a mighty bald eagle flying over with something pretty big and its talons. He landed across the river. Later, driving under a full canopy, another bald eagle swooped in and followed the road under the trees. We stepped on the gas and followed along with him for a few hundred yards. Wow! Our favorite hikes, Maple Glade Nature Trail, felt just like we should be seeing Ewoks racing through on speeder bikes. Either Ewoks or Sasquatch! The soft earth under our feet muffled every sound.

 

Big Cedar Tree. This hike let us deep deep into the jungle. We were again immersed in so many shades of green and every texture imaginable. We climbed up and up until we finally came up on the massive hulking Cedar wow! It's base was so large, most likely 50 plus feet in diameter. There was a pretty good sized split in the base that got Jadeyn all intrigued. Suddenly, he disappeared into it and reappeared on the other side! We climbed inside too. There was room enough to stand up and walk around. Sections of the inside we're still attached above us, and hung down like stalactites! So cool.

Kalaloch Lodge. We were so lucky to have been able to get a cabin at the lodge since they are booked all summer. We arrived and we're so excited. Our cabin is the closest to the cliff overlooking the ocean. A perfect setting, little gazebo overlook as well. So nice. Jadeyn began practically bouncing off the walls with excitement to get to the ocean! But first dinner. We dined at the lodge against the window overlooking the rocky beach. Kevin had the salmon, Jadeyn had golden fish and chips, & I got to try out ratatouille. We each loved our food. And crab cakes for appetizer at which I actually enjoyed too!

Off to find the cousins. Melanie's family is staying in the camp ground beside the lodge. So great to see them again. They took us to Ruby Beach. Beautiful windswept Northwest beach with huge piles of driftwood to explore, rocks to examine and mighty waves to catch us off guard every few minutes. We rolled up Jadeyn's pant legs in the hopes that he would stay relatively dry. Um, no. At one point I saw him fall in up to his shoulders. Another time I asked him how his hair got wet and he dramatically brought his hands from his feet all the way up to his body and whispered: Whoosh!! My favorite part was reliving my childhood at the Oregon coast when I saw him so excited to rescue every jellyfish he could get his hands on.  Jadeyn, Brendan and Alisha piles of their hands full of them and touch them into the waves hollering and shouting! Save the Jellies!!  Then came to driftwood battles. Jedi vs Sith. Up and down the beach. The weather was overcast and misty and at times it drizzled on us. As we started to head back, the tide had started to recede. Tide pool time! 

So exciting to search from rock to rock trying to discover a bigger sea anemone or brighter starfish.  The sea anemone would lightly tug at your finger when you gently touched their tentacles while the starfish really held their ground when you tried to disturb them. Jadeyn was in heaven and Kevin and I felt like kids again. It was so wonderful to share this experience with him.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 In the middle of the night, Jayden must have still been floating on the ocean waves in his sleep. He shouted out: Help! We jumped up asking if he was okay. He mumbled: I can't keep the tide from coming up any higher! Wonderful night sleep, wonderful to get a shower and to get clean! Jadeyn remembered his treasures collected from last night, a few mussels. He worked his little tail off trying to crack and pry them open. He succeeded and yes, he was disgusted! The second one, we cheated, plopped one in a cup of water, microwaved it for a few seconds and pop it came right open. He was still disgusted.

We checked out of our lodge after enjoying a hot chocolate and looking over the ocean and headed to Ruby beach for a ranger nature walk through the tide pools. We were so glad we went to learn about all the details of the tide pool creatures. Some of the coolest parts we learned were about the little hole in the top of the starfish where they suck in the water to siphon through their bodies and out through their tentacles. Sea snails that are carnivorous, brown barnacles, mussels, etc. We studied the layers of the tide pools and where each creature is able to live and survive during low tide. One of the coolest things was too lean in close to the barnacles and other creatures and listen. Jadeyn described it as a Yumming noise. It was the sound like rice krispies. The ocean is so full of amazing creatures and life.

On the way to our campsite in Mora, we got to drive through the notorious Forks, Washington. You know, the one famous from the Twilight books. So funny! There was even a Twilight gift shop, and after we passed through the town towards La Push, there were signs saying: Treaty Line, No vampires beyond this point! Oh my!

Off to hole in the rocks. Melanie's family was already there so when we arrived at Rialto beach,we headed to Hole in the Rock. There is something so beautiful about the beaches of the Northwest. So rugged, tree bones scattered and piled up, and amazing smooth rocks. I loved the rocks! It was so hard to go 20 steps without picking up one. All three of us couldn't resist their beauty. 

We walked about one and a half miles before we found the family and got to explore the tide pools. Sweet! Sea anemones and barnacles a-plenty! The sea stacks(giant rocks) we're so picturesque. The coolest part was the tiny hermit crab pools, small rockfish, and sea anemones dwarfing the other creatures and pink algae and sea weed growing! Jadeyn cracked up when he was determined to feed a hermit crab to sea anemone. He wanted to see what would happen. He held the little crab up above it and watching it as the "suckers shot out there harpoons and tasered the crab and then sucked him in!" He held onto the shell and the anemone had a nice meal of a nice little naked crab! We didn't get nearly as much time as he wanted with a tide pools. Funny, I got a blister on the bottom of each foot from my Keens from walking in so much wet sand, ouch. I found the most comforting thing was to find a nice sized jellyfish and rest my foot on the top of him. Perfect, cool and comforting!

We set up camp at Mora campground just across from Melanie's site. The campground is in the middle of a forest wonderland. Ancient trees, moss, ferns. Wow again. Tent up, lunch eaten and off again. This time to check out the Hoh rain forest area. It is about an hour away and yes, was just as amazing as we expected! When we first got there, Jadeyn got his Junior Ranger badge. An awesome Ranger sat down with him and talked with him for a good 15 minutes going page by page and discussing it and letting Jadeyn explain to him everything he learned. It was impressive.

Hall of Mosses Hike. We felt like we were walking through a forest of moss covered Ents. Giants loomed above us covered with long shaggy moss. We totally expected them to just start walking! Everything was covered.  One of our favorite parts was the nurse logs. Ancient trees that had fallen long ago decayed and provided a soft nutritious bed for new seedlings to take root and enough sunshine for them to thrive. As a result, a perfect straight row of more giant trees grew, taking advantage of the ancient tree! The Maple trees that grow here had every horizontal branch covered with moss, but the moss couldn't attach to the young vertical ones yet. But they're perfect light green leaves practically glowed in the sunlight. And the creek flowing through? Oh my. It was absolutely perfectly crystal clear. All the sentiment and particles filtered out through the mosses.  Through the vines and greenery floating so picturesquely on the surface, we could see very every rock and pebble and minute fish darting around. It was mesmerizing. Along the road back we saw the world's largest spruce tree. We pulled up to see a massive splintered trunk and debris everywhere, and a park ranger there with his lights flashing. From everything we saw, it looked like the giant had just fallen. It had happened December 9th 2014, just a few short months ago. It's kind of strange to realize that things that have withstood the ages can actually come down in our lifetime. Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, and this massive spruce tree. Back at camp we build a fire, had hotdogs and s'mores. Awesome time talking around the campfire about our favorite trips and places we have been. Off to bed.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

 Not so smooth of a night last night. For some reason we tossed and turned a bit. By about 5:30 a.m. the crows started and then at 6 they quieted but the songbirds started their trills, and chipmunks began to chew us out! Pancakes and bacon for breakfast and then Jadeyn disappeared into the forest with Brendan. They build up two bases and two outpost fully stocked with weapons of sticks, moss and pine cones. So the plan today is to head to La Push to beach #2. We had heard some good tidepool reports and today at 11 a.m. is another pretty low tide. This beach is in the middle of the Indian Reservation. We started on the trail, expecting the beach to be pretty close. Instead, it was about a mile but it went through another lovely must cover too, giant tree, fern filled forest that we have come to love. 

As we climbed down to the beach, we discovered it to be a perfect North West Beach, sea stacks, moderate driftwood and wide open dark sandy beach. We hit low tide perfectly. One of the massive sea stacks was literally covered with mussels all so tightly snuggle together interspersed with the gooseneck creatures. We ventured out farther on the rocks and began to discover the starfish. So many starfish! Sea Anemones everywhere as well. Luckily, I had thought ahead and simply changed Jadeyn into swim bottoms, because there was no stopping him from getting wet! He was on cloud nine again! One of our favorite discoveries showed up as perfectly round marble sized jellies rolling back down the beach with each wave. Examining them closely, they were perfect spheres with ridges running across them like hot air balloons or cantelope. Suspended inside there were two small dark hairs, guts maybe? We collected them and Jadeyn had the brilliant plan to feed them to the sea anemones. Drop one in the center, all the little tentacle start to grab it and contracted in on it and yummy, he just had a nice meal. It was cool to drop a little jellies in the water and watch them float. The little ridges became opaque and they floated perfectly in the tide pool.

In another section, we found dark reddish seaweed or kelp that had strands of only about one fourth of an inch wide. It was moving pretty consistently. Looking closer, we saw there was a small reddish crab in there reaching out his arms and clamping down on supper. Once the tide started filling up the tidepools, the kids began constructing a mighty castle, complete with a moat and barricade wall to defend against the surf. They worked hard and loved it even more when the waves would get close enough to reach the wall and force them to build again! It was a perfect day on a Northwest beach: chilly and misty at times, cloudy and sunny, and just pure fun. Melanie's family headed back while we enjoyed lunch on the drift logs and then had the challenge of getting enough sand off of Jadeyn and our feet to hike back out.

Back at camp we had a nice leisurely afternoon taking walks around the campground several times, sitting and listening to the sounds of the forest and listening to Jadeyn's chatter about sea urchin catapults and giants tempest causing sea anemones that could suck down ships! Melanie's family had headed into town for showers and laundry so Jadeyn was anxiously awaiting the return. We started reading the third Harry Potter book to him and he is totally into it! One funny: He discovered the coolest lizard and was frozen in place to make sure he didn't scare it away waiting for us to come see it. We surrounded it to give Jadeyn the best chance to catch it. He pounced, only to find out it was plastic!! We have no idea how it got in our campground, but it was totally fooled all of us. Jadeyn hid it on a tree in the cousins campground to surprise them too! Campfire tonight and s'mores!

Thursday, July 23, 2015 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

 Bright and early we all packed up camp to set off for the next part of our journey Olympic National Park. The weather is looking pretty poorly at the Hurricane Ridge area, so we thought if we get there early, we would have a better chance of having clear skies. It was about an hour travel to the ridge and as we got closer, the clouds and fog rolled in. We found two camp sites and then went straight up to the ridge. It felt like we were in with the clouds. Huge mountains and fantastic evergreens with white clouds drifting in amongst them. Our first hike we took climbed all the way up, but it was evident what the lack of rain had done! In past years, the mountainside would be overflowing with wild flowers. This year there were fire weed and little white blossoms but not very many. As we hiked higher to the mist, we saw several of the Olympic Marmot which can only be found here in the National Park. All three marmot kinds have been different. These guys had a motley black brown on their backs. There were also sweet blacktail deer everywhere and they were not shy. Right alongside the trail they posed perfectly for photos. Their coats were beautiful and antlers still in velvet. When we arrived at the end of the trail, we were completely enveloped in clouds. There were signs naming each of the peaks supposedly surrounding  us and we laughed as always saw with white!

Back down at the visitor center, we discovered the sign it leading to the Hurricane Hills hike. Oh, that's the one we want! Now, this hike had just as many clouds and obstructed views, but it was beautiful. Hiking up, we went into the clouds. We were met by more deer and Marmots. The scenery breaking through the clouds was really breathtaking. Afterward, we headed down a dirt road to find Obstruction Point. Now this hike can be only described as unique. The trail was skree and the tiny shrubs and bushes on either side of the narrow path were minute and struggling to survive like Alpine education. Then the clouds enveloped us. It seriously felt like we were walking into a foreign world. So strange. We hiked and climbed over a few peaks until we saw a beautiful white mountain goat cross the ridge. And then a large bird which turned out to be a blue grouse camouflaged in the undergrowth. It was a strange feeling hiking through such a wide expanse of clouds.

Back at camp, Jadeyn Alisha and Brendan quickly made a home out of the forest. Our camp was surrounded by giant logs and it became their highway leading them deeper into their home base. It was so impressive. Running along the logs and gathering supplies, they constructed a fort of logs and branches and covered it with bark and twigs! It had escape routes and emergency supplies.

We decided on an evening drive to see if we could spot any animals and headed back to Hurricane Ridge Hill. We arrived just as it was dusk and began climbing up the same trail from morning. This time, the clouds were gone and we could see the beautiful mountains caught in the glare of the setting sun. Lots of fun conversations and laughter. This time we saw different animals. We saw a whole family of ptarmigans.  A mom and six beautiful babies. She kept calling to get them closer and they were going in every direction including down the hill towards us! We saw dark brown snowshoe hare and a few youngsters. They were a beautiful deep brown, the color of rich earth. We heard Marmot whistling, saw a big antlered black tail buck on the ridge. The most humorous part came on the way back when we separated into three groups. Suddenly in the distance ahead of us we heard Melanie start yelling: Mark! Mark! She sounded really scared. We took off down the trail running to see what had happened. Melanie, Kierra and Alisha were coming up towards us with a pretty large seven point buck following them. He wouldn't let them pass! They had hollered at it and yelled and even threw stuff and it just looked at them like he thought it was food. It took a bit of yelling from all of us to get him to finally step off the trail. It was pretty hilarious in a fun way to end a hike! 

 

On the drive back, Jadeyn and Brendan entertained themselves by listening to the songs from Cats! Back at camp, we had a campfire, s'mores, roasted marshmallows for EL Smudges and roasted Starbursts. That was a new experience but they were really tasty.

Friday, July 24, 2015

 We woke up to the trails of song birds, ratatat of woodpeckers and the light drizzle of rain. So for a summer of drought, the rainy days are finally here. There is rain in the forecast for the next few days. So this morning we huddled under the rain shield and had a toasty breakfast and a leisurely morning. Next to Crescent Lake Lodge to check it out and to hike to Miramar Falls. We happened to arrive at the same time as a ranger guided hike there. We jumped at the chance and again we're so happy we did. The Ranger leading the discussion had such a passion for trees and was so pleased to share his excitement with us. John Muir quote "Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home. That wildness is a necessity." We learned more about the great oak, Douglas fir, spruce and the other amazing giants of the forest. The most fascinating to me was the question of does the moss hurt or help the trees. I had assumed that it wasn't good for them, but they have discovered that digging into the most clusters, they found tree roots in them! The trees are sending out roots to take advantage of the extra nutrients and water stored in the moss. The waterfall was incredibly beautiful and so picture perfect. We all hiked through an ancient grove and to Sol Duc Falls. Both trails lined with immense trees, ferns, moss etc. The kids enjoyed themselves running up and down the trails getting it energy out, playing prisoner and capturing one of us at a time, so much fun. We had planned to take a dip in the Sol Duc Hot Springs, but when we took a look at it, it was really crowded and was pretty much a glorified hot pool. We decided to pass.

The last area to explore with Elwah area where we hiked to yet another beautiful waterfall. The rocks surrounding it were coated completely in green life. Well. There was a dam on the river here that they tore up last year to allow the salmon to continue on their journey up the river. It was pretty amazing process and accomplishment.

Finally on our way back to camp. Still drizzling but light enough to get dinner of hot soup and for the kids to play out in there fort.  It is quite the creative process. And they are loving building it. Guess what, the banana slugs finally appeared today with the rain. We came across a few during the day, but they really came out around the campsite tonight. Green, yellow, brown and albino. There was a lot of teasing and challenging and threatening to roast one over the fire, lots of fun. It took quite a bit of effort to get the fire started with all the rain and the air filled with mist, but Kevin finally got it. I think we will get to bed early.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

As a result of the rain and cold, we ended up having a free day today. The rain had tapered off at morning, but was supposed to start up again around 9 a.m. We took advantage of the break and took down camp in relatively dry weather taking a few minutes to investigate Jadeyn's fort and banana slugs. Melanie's family took off to explore one of the Washington islands and we took off towards the North Cascades National Park for the next leg of your trip.

We got to have the adventure of taking a ferry across the water and it was pretty exciting.  We stood out on the deck and got whipped by the wind as the waves crashed underneath us.  Wow.  Once across, we enjoyed the beauty of the island, eating lunch on a sweet little beach and watching guys with stunt kites do tricks.  There were a few absolutely incredible bridges connecting us to the mainland way above the water.  Overhead we saw two huge bald eagles soaring on the wind.   

 Due to leaving one day earlier than expected, our hotel reservations for a bit off. We cancelled one with a very grumpy manager and added and day on to another and then focused on finding a place for tonight. Considering we were headed to civilization we didn't think there would be a problem. Um, a little bit hard. All the major chains were completely booked from Seattle to Burlington. We could have gone into the park to sleep in 90% chance of rain. Instead, we just kept going north until we hit Bellingham and stayed in home2 suites. Brand new place that was totally cool. They even had a saline pool which Jadeyn played in for about an hour and a half to him practice his swimming and we had so much fun. Absolutely hilarious to see him try to swim deep to the bottom of the pool. It just didn't happen! Dinner was chili and Fritos and noodles cooked in our room and we actually got to watch TV. Jadeyn was introduced to the original Batman and Robin complete with Bam! Crash! and Pow! And a bit of Wonder Woman with her baby blues and truth lasso! Then to top off the evening BattleBots! Jadeyn was in heaven.

Sunday, July 26, 2015 NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK

 Nice to sleep in a bit in a nice soft bed. As a result, we made it down to breakfast a bit later than we wanted. Just in time to join an entire boys baseball team. Huge tournament going on. That's why all the hotels were booked! Crazy to fight for our food until they left. We got a nice compliment from a fellow diner who said she was so happy to see a family totally engage with their child and not buried in our phones. She said he was such a well behaved child and was very impressed!

Onto North Cascades National Park. The last park on our list this trip. We really didn't know what to expect for this part. There isn't a lot of information out there about it, so we thought we would simply explore! We picked up a Junior Ranger book for Jadeyn too. Our first hike, Trail of the Cedars, took us through a grove of amazing trees with informational signs about their differences, how big they can grow. etc. It was like walking through green wonderland with an amazing canopy over head. This area has a few dams gathering electricity and it was fascinating to learn about the process and to see them.


Our next hike was up to a lake over view and was interesting because it began in lush green moss forest and the higher we climbed, the more it begins resemble a 'regular' drier forest. I did catch a lizard for Jadeyn and got bit and peed on. Eew! At the top, the wind whipped around us, but the lake was that beautiful glacier turquoise blue. Wow, simply amazing. We began talking to a family who had camped from Florida, across country, up to Alaska and now they are on their way back! Wow, what an experience, but can you imagine how many pictures they will have to go through when they get home? They told us all sorts of awesome tidbits and advice on visiting Alaska and made us even more excited to go someday.

Our last hike was another mountain lake, Rainy Lake, but this one was very moderate hike. There signs along the way too. Interesting note, trees growing on slopes with the curve at the base of their trunk is caused by snow creep. As the tree is growing, it is being pushed every winter by heavy snow sliding down the mountain.

Beautiful park and I'm sure there was a lot more to do, and we went through it pretty quickly. But there was one last viewpoint, Washington Pass, outside the part that rivaled a lot of the views we have seen in the past. Panorama of the jagged peaks. It was outstanding.

We were planning on staying the night in Winthrop Washington, and had no idea what to expect. Turns out it is an old western town recreated, complete with boardwalks and store fronts. Our place was nice, really old but you could tell they really took good care of it. So, where to go for dinner in an old western town? The Old Schoolhouse Pub for massive juicy burgers. Finger licking good! While sitting at dinner by the window, we saw a beautiful deer run by followed by twin fawns. It was getting pretty chilly but we couldn't pass up Shari's Sweet Shop. Most of their ice creams were handmade too. Jadeyn had the richest chocolate we have ever tasted. Kevin had butter pecan and I had homemade blackberry. So funny though, at the last hotel Jadeyn had so enjoyed watching BattleBots. Just so happens that tonight with the tournament championship! So he got to see Bite Force finish off Tombstone!

Monday, July 26, 2015 RATHDRUM, IDAHO

 Quite a nice stay at Abbey in. They provided breakfast for us of homemade muffins, bagels and Eggos! We packed up and hit the road again, this time towards Idaho. As we drove yesterday, we really contemplated our options with being one day ahead of schedule. Looking at the map, it was kind of a lightbulb moment. We could go pretty much right by Yellowstone! How can we pass up an opportunity like that and a chance to use our annual pass one more time before it expires on Friday? That's settled it! The drive was a nice pleasant one as we worked our way into Idaho. We arrived in Coeur d'Alene with a little bit of time to explore, we walked down by the lake for a snack and watch the boats and jet skiers and sea planes, then we found a bench and read Harry Potter to  Jayden. At 4:30, we arrived at Brian and Kasi Miller's house. They are our good friends from optometry school days. We were able to hook up with them a few years ago in Florida at Busch Gardens. There are some friendships that are so easy that you can instantly pick up right where you left off. Peyton is now 9 and is quite grown up. Bennett is 3, and a ball of energy. He is quite the hilarious challenge for Kasi. It took just a few minutes for Jadeyn to figure out how he would fit in but after that, he disappeared with the boys. In the basement, the backyard, on the trampoline, and then finally discovering Minecraft! Oh boy. He loved it!
Delicious dinner and conversation catching up on all the optometry classmates and life in general One funny at dinner was saying the prayer right before eating.  Brian and Kasi are such good people and we have so enjoyed our friendship with them. We ended up staying awake until around 11:30 p.m., boys and all. They were pretty excited about that and then to bed.

Tuesday, July 27, 2015  YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK AND TETON NATIONAL PARK

 Up at 5 a.m. We actually could have gotten up earlier because I think we were so anxious to get going on the road. We were on the road by 5:30 a.m. Our destination and goal: make it to Yellowstone National Park early enough to get a campsite. Well, after a few hours of driving, the realization hit us, we were sabotaged by the time change. Oh no! That means it's even an hour later than we had hoped for. Along the way, we kept checking the website and calling Yellowstone to keep track of which campground still had sites. It wasn't looking good. We listened to quite a bit of The River of Doubt and we read quite a bit of Harry Potter.
Yellowstone! By the time we arrived and wound our way slowly behind the traffic until we got cell coverage, all nine campgrounds were full! Dang it. Next plan, Teton National Park. There was still one campground that had availability, clear the southernmost part of the park. Jadeyn was a little upset because he wanted so badly to get a Junior Ranger badge of both parks and now it looks like he can only do it at Teton. But driving through, he did get to be amazed at seeing the mass of steam plumes of the various geysers in hot pots. We will have to plan a specific trip back to spend more time here. The last time he was here he was only 4 months old.
We found a campsite at Gros Ventura campground in an RV site, but it's actually quite lovely! Set up camp and headed into Jackson Hole for dinner. While we were on the waitlist for Merry Piglets Mexican Cantina (how's that for a conglomeration of words!) we went to an art gallery and were blown away by and fell in love with a few artists, so much so, that we even requested a quote on some of the paintings and one sculpture specifically. The sculpture was a freestanding eagle and fish. Expensive but beautiful! Dinner was very tasty, good food and nice not to have to cook it. We got back to camp around 10:00 p.m. and just went straight to bed!

Wednesday, July 28, 2015. TETON NATIONAL PARK

Brrr! Cold morning, but way warmer than we would have been at Yellowstone. It was 34 degrees. Up and at 'em, chop chop according to Kevin. Quickly got dressed, hot chocolate and we were off. We made it to Jenny Lake ferry by 8:30 a.m. to make our way across the lake for our hike. Beautiful, perfectly smoothly! With magnificent Tetons in the background! Wow.

So our plan is to hike to the Three Forks 4.5 miles up, and if Jadeyn still has energy, to continue as far as we could to Lake Solitude. Beginning the hike, we noticed this yesterday, but today it was even more evident, the park is so incredibly green for the end of July. In fact, the open areas, prairies and some Alpine areas were much more greener than the Washington parks. And the wildflowers, spectacular! In the first 100 yards of the trail, we came across monkshood or Wolfsbane and were so excited. This is what we needed while we were in werewolf territory earlier in the trip. Then we went further and it was everywhere! Huckleberry bushes line both sides of the trail interspersed with blackberry and raspberry bushes. Then the tall chiming bells, cascading daisies, even gentian violet, yellow Columbine, and tiny white and yellow blossoms.

We climbed up the steep path, soaking in the beauty of the place. Now this is what summer time is all about, fresh pine scent, crisp air, tiny birds flitting around, burst of color along the trail and bubbling brooks and waterfalls. We are so happy to Jadeyn is such a happy and willing hiker. He bounced along rocks happy as can be. We told stories and played our favorite game, what is your favorite: camping trip, amusement park ride, food etc. We reach the Three Forks and Jadeyn was all gun ho to continue on. So on and up we went!


It is a pretty strenuous and steep trail. The kind that if you took your eyes off it for too long, you would definitely stumble on the rocks. It seems that every twist in the past and corner we would turn would astound us with yet another breathtaking view the peaks.

As we hiked along, we were going through a canyon of sorts, between the peaks until we were eventually on the other side! We met so many friendly people and it seems everyone had something complementary to say about our little hiker.  Some loved his hat, others praised his energy. One guy in his twenties who is resting even said, "here I was feeling so good about myself and how far I've hiked and then this little guy blazes past me!"  Once we passed the forks area, we didn't see a single person under 18. Just Jadeyn. He started to wear out around six miles in and so we stopped for lunch. He laid back with his boots off and we all got a breather. Then on again. Just one really steep miles to go and we were finally rewarded. Set in a deep bowl amongst  the cliffs was a perfectly pristine alpine lake. We made it! The first thing Jadeyn did to reward himself was to pull office boots and socks and splash his feet into the icy water! Well, such a beautiful setting. Totally worth the hike! We took some really nice pictures of the lake and Jadeyn soaking his feet. By now it was 1:30 p.m. and we knew we had better turn back so we could be sure to get on a boat back across Jenny Lake.


On our way back we sang songs, made vacation plans for next summer and enjoyed going downhill!  On the way up, we had spotted and nice sized moose in the brush by the river and saw another smaller one on the way back. Magnificent creatures. So many tiny pikas, a few more marmots, one yellow and black songbird. His head almost look like it was on fire it was so orange red.

Then, there was a couple on the trail with their cameras aimed into the bushes. They said it was a bear! It took us a bit to find her since she was really moving through the underbrush, but then we saw her two perfectly fuzzy cubs ambling after her. Wow! What a treat. They traveled quite a ways parallel to the path about 30 feet into the brush. Then the mama suddenly turned up to the path. We all backed away, and she kept coming. Kevin shooed Jadeyn up the path and then the mama stepped on to the path! Instead of crossing, she started flooding her way straight toward us! That's when we took off rather quickly, but not before getting one amazing picture of her. It got our hearts racing that's for sure.

Back to the hike. We all did really well until about the last until about mile 12 and then we really started to feel it. We sang and tried to distract ourselves from our sore feet, but the last mile, we'll admit was really really hard and painful! But we made it! As Jadeyn said, there isn't any other choice but to make it down! We had to wait for the ferry and Jadeyn announced to some people waiting with us that he had hiked 14 miles all by himself without even being carried! We are so proud of his determination. Up to the visitor center and Jadeyn got his Junior Ranger badge, bought firewood, back to camp and we limped around as we made dinner. We were just so grateful to be off our feet. Great to have a campfire and s'mores tonight. In a 10 by 10 p.m.

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, July 29, 2015 BACK HOME

 Wow what an epic trip what a fantastic memory we have created. We broke camp and said goodbye to the Tetons and were on the road by 8:15am. Our trip home was pretty uneventful. One highlight midway through Wyoming: we stopped at an ice cream place that Kevin remembers from his high school days. They are famous for the big scoop. We had three very large scoops, and that was our lunch. We made good time and were home by 4:30. Nice to be home. It was evident that Newt really missed us. He was so anxious to see us, meowing, meowing, meowing, and boy was he shedding! I think two weeks was a lot for him to be left alone. Grateful to be home, grateful for the wonderful memories that we made. Can't wait for the next trip!