Olympic National Park

Lon and I skipped school today to get the Jr. Ranger Badge from Olympic National Park.

The garmin had so much trouble finding the right way to go, we ended up not using it.  We got on the ferry in Edmonds. We could not have planned it better. We pulled up to the ticket window, he told us line 1. I thought  we were going to have to wait. Nope. We got right on the ferry! Pretty fun

Going over the Hood Canal Bridge. It looks so different than I remember it. We passed Chimicum and I thought of Bullwinkle. He was from there.

Playing with the animal skulls. Lon got his booklet, and the Ranger told us that he had to do his five parts, watch the movie instead of a Ranger talk, since they did not have those yet. He also had to go up and do a small hike at Hurricane Ridge. That works for us.

Black Bear Skull

The wolf skull. We learned that the wolf is extinct on the Olympic Peninsula.
We watched the 25 minute movie, looked at a few more exhibits, then he did his five required elements in his booklet.

He used this booth to tell me what he learned. They even had puppets

Going up, up, up!!

All the way up to Hurricane Ridge.  It was COLD up there, about 38 degrees. The wind was blowing too. Brrrrr
It was beautiful. Almost no one else there.

Learning more about the animals that live up there

Both Lon and I were very thirsty. We could have bought a bottle of water for almost as much as the refillable container. The container had the Hurricane Ridge Logo on it.  Since we could fill it up there, we did that. Lon had fun doing that.

Time to go out and play in the snow. Okay, Lon played in the snow piles, I just took pictures of it all.

King of the snow pile!

A pretty shot. We were getting really really cold. We did not dress for Hurricane Ridge.

Critters. There are two of them, and I think they are marmots. They were small, brown and fuzzy and this picture is not a good one, but it was the best I could get from so far away.
Lon saw a deer on the way to the park, I saw a deer on the drive down from Hurricane Ridge and then when we were out of the park we saw three deer on the road side.

It was a FUN drive down the ridge. I went slow, and told Lon we were looking for more critters.

This was a different Ranger from when Lon got his booklet.  He told us that we had to do everything in the book since we did not get a ranger talk. Um, no. Lon calmly told him that was not the deal. He said, well if that was what you were told. Thank you.  There was a section called Hiking Bingo, that was one of the ones we gave a pass, there were 9 activities in the book, Lon did 7. (More than required by his age) Hiking Bingo was not going to happen, not at Hurricane Ridge, there was too much snow!  Lon had a great time out there. He saw a lot of things he would like to see more of when we have more time. We only had a little while out there.  We will have to go back, soon.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!!

Today was extra special for us! Our friend, Brandy, was able to get us tickets to go see the Seattle Mariner's play the San Diego Padres! In the terrace level.  SUPER cool seats with SUPER cool people!  Lon was so excited to go, almost as excited as Mommy!

Waiting for his cheese pizza at Pyramid Alehouse before the game.  Easy Parking!

The big glove out front of the stadium

The mural on our way to our seats.

We are really here. I had never been to Safeco before. The last stadium I was in was the Kingdome!
Nice place, Safeco!

Since it was Memorial Day, they had a salute to all the veteran's in the stadium. They lined up on the baseline, with the players before the game. The Coast Guard Honor Guard held the colors and the Air Force Band played the National Anthem. It was very cool.
(this was before the National Anthem started, I did not take a photo during it)

Watching the game. He was getting into it. Lon enjoyed it very much. Ocean gave him a jersey and my friend Linda had given him the cap for his fourth birthday. He has almost out grown it.  But today it fit perfectly

MOOSE!

The Mariner's WON! When we left at the bottom of the 8th inning, they were ahead 9 to nothing.

We stopped by the gift shop.  We did not buy these silver hulk hands
Lon did get a set of smashed pennies, and a pennant.
Good souvenirs of the game

On our way out, another picture under the mural.
The old Kingdome. Pretty cool.

Outside the stadium, Lon with the Moose

Lon and Ocean with the Moose Mural.
It was a great day, even though it rained.
The kids were well behaved and had a blast and so did I. It was really fun and I am so glad we got to go!!

Barbeque with the Yis

We were invited down to the Auntie Michelle and Uncle Chong's for a barbeque today!  Mark was very much looking forward to kimchee !

I made Kayla a Korean outfit for her doll.

She had to go put on her hanbok too!

Grill masters.

The kids at their table!

Our feast! Mark had kimchee! We all had very yummy burgers!

Lon and Brian played well together, Kayla was being a little sister. It was a fun day.

Missing Front Tooth

Lon's right front tooth had been hanging on for a while. Not going anywhere but so loose he could almost turn it all the way around.
Last night, it was OUT!

Out!!

Lots  of spaces in  there, waiting for teeth! Lon was excited about the tooth fairy coming! And she did.

Mount Saint Helens

Today we decided would be a perfect day to go to Mount Saint Helens!  So, we did.  We got up early and hit the road.

Listen, Mom. I want pancakes. Silver dollar pancakes, got it? Good.
We stopped at a place called Norma's Breakfast and Burgers, in Nisqually. It was very yummy.

Being goofy, it is his nature

Going up the mountain

Where we were going

Johnston Ridge.  There was snow! This was very fun!

Ready to tackle that Jr. Ranger badge!

Working hard on his badge. We had to attend a Ranger Talk. That was fun. Ranger Doug made it very interesting. Lon answered a lot of the questions, some of them he got right and the geology grad students did not.  Ranger Doug was very impressed with him.  The grad students not so much.

We watched the movie of the May 18, 1980 eruption. That brought back many memories for me. I remember that very well.  At the end of the movie, they opened up the curtain so you could see the mountain, but it was cloudy. One of the Rangers, ran back and forth in front of the windows with a large photograph of the mountain in sunshine.

This is not Ranger Doug, but he was also very impressed with Lon. He gave him his Jr. Ranger oath.

And a handshake

Good thing I brought quarters for the smashed penny machine.

SNOW. Playing in the snow is so much fun. Lon did not see snow this year. The mountain is still clouded over

Some of the blown down trees are still there, after 33 years

At a scenic overlook going back down from Johnston Ridge

Cold Water Lake Forest Learning Center. There was not much to it. They are remodeling it, lots of rooms were closed and there were not many exhibits

Beautiful

This was the exhibit and it was sort of creepy. They projected a face movie onto a black mannequin's face.  It would have looked much better had it been lined up properly.  She talked about the importance of staying on the trails.

Learning a little bit more about elk.  Jaw bones, skulls, vertebrae, a pelt, and hoof prints.

Lon wanted to play more in the snow, so we stopped at the last/first scenic overlook so he could play in the snow.

Another picture of Mt. St. Helens

Lon's snow creation

Just outside the boundaries of the National Volcanic Monument is another Forest Learning Center. This one is run by Wyherhauser. It was well done.

They had a helicopter to play in. The narrator inside the helicopter told the kids what the instruments were. The collective, what each of the pedals did, and that they were good co pilots.  Lon LOVED it Can you tell?

A discovery center where you could touch and feel rocks, pelts, wood. They had things to look at, bugs, hornets, scat, and footprints.

 Goofy Boys.
We all learned a lot about volcanoes, and Mt. St. Helens. The eruption, the vegetation, the wildlife and how they are learning so much from this event. How the land is recovering so much faster than they thought possible.  It was a very fun day.