Stealing Summer

Here I sit, on the last day of our vacation, letting out a deep, satisfying sigh.

It is full of gratitude for a safe trip, thankfulness for our healthy able bodies, and blessed with our full, happy bellies.

Our trip away was mind cleansing and wonderful. We didn't take any computers. There was no cell service during much of the vacation. It felt so freeing to disconnect and truly embrace the quietude of our surroundings. In the quiet, my mind comes alive, as does my soul, which yells much louder than anything else in my body. It demanded to do some sifting, like panning for gold, letting the things that don't matter fall through the holes to allow the things that truly matter bared for me to see. What do I want in this life? Am I living it how I think I should, or how I know I should? What are the dreams for my family, and how can we make them happen? There are no guarantees about tomorrow, am I doing my best to honor this life? In the now?

The answer is no. I am not. I spend too much time on the mundane and stuck in past grief, and not enough time living. And living, doesn't mean going all out and doing something crazy, it can mean doing a whole lot of nothing, which can make you feel renewed and empowered that you are the boss of your own time. You are the master of it, and you have final say.

Time is something you will never get back. Moments, years, youth. Each minute counts, and should never be taken for granted. It is a gift. I thought of all this as I lay on my pink and silver lounge floatie on Lake Pearrygin, face to the 82 degree sun, hearing the water gently lap at the sides of the plastic. A hawk was above me eyeing the water, scouting for food as I mind texted him not to poop on me. My hands slowly propelled me to deeper waters as I dipped them in the warm, bath-like water. I could hear Grace giggling as Jeremy picked her up and threw her into the water, and she would scream, "again!"

You could have offered me a new Mercedes, and I wouldn't have gotten out of that lake for it. Having nothing to do, and doing nothing was exactly what I wanted at that moment, and much of the vacation was spent napping, zoning out, lake drifting, and having lots of fun as we all fell more in love with Lavern. She is our ticket to fun in the sun.

Seattle summers are beautiful when they happen, but on this third consecutive year of playing hide and seek, we decided to seek, and steal some summer away from Eastern Washington.

We decided to spend the first chunk on Lake Pearrygin, and explore Winthrop, then head to our beloved town of Leavenworth, then finally home, just in time to go see Florence + The Machine in concert to round out our vacation.

After packing up Lavern, we headed up the North Cascades highway for the first time, and took a very scenic drive.

Snow? On the side of the road?

Nope. Snow is definitely not what I am looking for.

Ice cream? Yup. I could go for ice cream.

It seems like new drives on routes you've never been on before make the road trip go faster. Ask Grace though, and she would argue that point. She did good, and we made pit stops which helped, and soon, we rolled down the window and marveled at the warm air blasting through as we pulled into the campground.



Summer, found.

We spent the first two days on the Lake, doing a whole lot of this:

                         Jeremy, doing a whole lot of nothin', but about to be ambushed by Grace.

I called this "Home Tree." It was in the center of the campground, and all the kids would gather at it and play tag.

                                           
                                             Oh, the dangers of fishing. An unexpected haircut.

                  Caught by yours truly. Jeremy made them into trout omelets in the morning.

"What kind of mosquitoes are these?!?" she asked, "Eastern Washington mosquitoes," I answered.

After that, it was time to get our western on, and visit the town Winthrop.

As we were in town, this blew in. Every night there were crazy electrical storms and sudden torrential downpours, but this big cloud was coming straight for us in the middle of the day.

The sky opened up right in the middle of our putt-putt game, so we headed for higher ground and found an answer to our sweet tooth. Putt Putt burns so many calories, you know, so we had to replenish.

We loved Lake Pearrygin, and will return for sure. We reluctantly left after extending our stay one more night than we planned, but more adventures were calling, so we headed out to the Leavenworth K.O.A.

The K.O.A was cute, clean, and pretty busy. We rolled in in the early evening and played cards and ate, and got ready for the movie by the river that they show on Tuesday nights.

We gathered our chairs and blankets and headed to the grassy knoll by the river, but the guys setting it up kept glancing at the sky, and at the first huge clap of thunder, they were on their walkies and looked at us and shook their heads. No movie. Then the sky turned this ominous peachy pinky purple, and the clouds pushed out the evening blue.

So, we watched a show of a different kind, as the sky growled, and sideways lightning moved in with the dusk.

The next morning, the sky forgave us with loads of sunshine, and 85+ degree temps as we perused Leavenworth and went for a bike ride on Blackbird Island.

                                              
                                                Wine tasting and air conditioning? Yes, please.

      
  Bored stiff as we tasted. I slipped her my candied walnuts that were supposed to go with my Port which made it worth her while.

                            
                                     I bet Grace would be the only kid in school with this lunchbox.

                                               I love Kris Kringl. All Christmas, all the time.

                                Pizza or burger? Pizza or burger? Yep. Order both. : )

We only stayed two nights in Leavenworth, and wish we could have stayed longer. It was so hard to leave the summer behind, but at least we got to steal some away. Smallwoods has always been a favorite stop on the way out. A touch of harvest, before leaving.

           Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, and no they weren't free. : )

We had a good great vacation. So good, I actually feel my chest tighten and a tear prick my eye that it is over. Lavern has brought us together, helped us nurture what is important, and has given us a very rich memory.


I am ready for more.

Don't La Push, Me

This is the second straight day in pajamas.

  My head is pounding. If I could place an ice pack on the inside of my throat, I would.  My nose is Rudolph red, tender, and if I make any sudden movements, drips like a faucet, and hauling my person up the stairs feels like I just ran a five miler.

 Yup-o.

 The no-fair summer crud has hit the Smith household. Let me just tell you how unfun gazing out at the 75+ degree sunshine outside is. No fun at all.


The upside, if you can squeeze an ounce of okay-ness out of being sick is, I got to start a new "sick-in-bed-netflix-series". They are stowed away in my instant queue reserved ONLY for sick days, which means, it may take a millenia to finish one, but at least I have something new to watch each time I'm sick. It sounds weird, but I kinda look forward to that tiny bit of TV hoarding "me time," even if it means paying the price of being down for the count.

I picked "The X-Files," to start watching from episode one, circa 1993. Were shoulder pads and big hair really still trendy then?? The answer is yes, says Scully. I thought it to only be an 80's thing, but nope. As the night turned down the lights outside, I turned up mine inside. I still cannot watch it in the full darkness, even with Daisy cuddled at my side. Toooo Spooky. I guess it still gets under my skin.

Speaking of Spooky, we took Lavern out, and cut our teeth on our first family RV trip. We chose to take it up to Kalaloch, and visit the Forks area, then head to the Quinault rain forest. It turns out, I love RV-ing more than I thought I would. I realllly dig it. There are still things we need to iron out to get our wheels running smooth (holding tanks, grey water, black water, f-a-s-t showers) but we will be doing it with our eyes closed in no time, after we sharpen those canines on more trips.

Last Thursday, we loaded her up, got on the ferry, realized what we forgot, stopped at Big Lots to purchase, and headed down the open road.

Now, Grace has never been a good road traveler. It's just not her thing. Even when she was a baby, she refused to fall asleep in her car seat, and still refuses. It was a lot of "we'll be there, soon", and "If you ask that one more time...., " but, all in all, she did OK.

The rain started around Aberdeen, little dots on the windshield at first, then a heavy mist, then a straight up downpour. I knew the weather forecast didn't look promising, but this kind of rain made my heart droop a little.


Once at the campsite, we pulled Lavern on in, and dove into her, dodging raindrops, but excited to be in Kalaloch. We hadn't been there before, and couldn't wait to go explore, but the driving rain kept us in for the night.

So what does one do?? Break out some Uno cards, that's what.

The next day, the rain slowed to a manageable drizzle as we piled into the truck, and headed to Forks. As we got closer we kept hearing this hissing noise. Unsure, we glanced in the back seat, and found our brown eyed little girl had turned into this hissy little vampire. Told you this trip was Spooky.




We got to Forks, and the little vamper wanted her picture taken by the big sign.

She asked to track down Edward. She wanted to tell him he'd better watch it, there's a new Vampire in town. He must be scared. He looks a little pale.

After picking Bella's nose, we decided to track down Jeremy's aunt and uncle to get the scoop on the town, and found out how to appease our little vampers salacious appetite.

 The answer is with pizza, and we heeded their advice and got some chow.

After we eat, we do some shopping. Grace picks out a sling shot instead of a t-shirt for her Forks memorabilia.  I settle on a T-shirt that says "Sleepless in Forks" and has a little crescent moon on it. Jeremy just gives me that look when I ask him if he wants to pick anything out. We are about to head out and check out werewolf territory, but first I must track down the boys and tell them to go easy on my little vampire, and it would be best to just leave her be.

They agree, so we take off to La Push.

What?

No Vampires?

Suddenly, our doe eyed girl is back, but with a wicked howl.


We travel down the windy road to First Beach. Grace quips up in back and asks us why they call it "La Push?"

Since I do not know the actual history, I improvise, and weave a tall tale.


"They call it La Push, honey, because it is the only beach in the State of Washington where it is okay to  "La Push" someone. Stay close to us, because strangers might come over to you and "La Push" you down, so be ready. And, they might know we are new to the beach, so we'll be a target."

Her eyes are very big, and Jeremy's eyes are welling up as he tries to stifle his laughter.

"What do I do?" she asks, very concerned. I am keeping a straight face, but just barely.

"You tell them in a loud voice, "Don't La Push, me!!!" and you push them back."

She quietly digests this, then starts to practice, whisper yelling it to herself the rest of the ride.

When we get to the beach, the weather is raging. Sideways drizzle, and a headwind that would plaster mall bangs to the back of your head. I take my camera anyway, hiding it away in my jacket in between shots and Grace takes her sling shot for protection from the La Pushers.

Grace's back is turned, and I get to give her the first La Push. She is caught by surprise, and yelps, but catches herself, and screams "Moo-oom!!

And then the pushing begins. All in fun, of course. We chase each other in the wind and rain, and giggle, and scream, while people give us sideways looks. We have fun, especially Grace.

We leave First Beach knowing that the La Pushing stays there, and head to Rialto Beach to let her sling shot to her hearts content.

On the way back to camp, Grace says she's very grateful she didn't get La Pushed by any strangers. She is very serious about this as we tell her "Yes, we are pretty lucky. Especially since we are first timers."

We roast wienies and make s'mores, and head to bed. Grace gives us the thumbs up.

The next morning, we wake, and head to Ruby Beach before going to Quinault. I Love Ruby Beach. It is my favorite.

We reluctantly leave the beautiful beaches and head to Quinault where the biggest trees leave us awestruck.

The Rain Forest hikes are very pleasant, and we hike, and crash the Quinault Lodge with no invitation, but they don't seem to mind. We finish sprawled out at the local Merc and nosh on ice cream bars, and again, Grace gives me the Thumbs Up.

We hope to have made great memories for Grace's memory bank. I am taking off next Sundays blog post to do some memory hunting, so I'll be back in two weeks.

Okay, my head is woozy and my stomach didn't like dinner at all. The couch is calling my name as is that cherry flavored throat lozenge. Take care, y'all, and remember, say in a forceful voice, " Don't La Push Me!!!"