Pumpkin Picking Season Arrives!

October 7, 2011Posted inHalloween, Seattle Living
Picking out a pumpkin at Craven Farm.

Sorry Christmas tree farms, you don’t have a thing on today’s pumpkin patch. Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas and will always select my Christmas tree from a tree farm or a national forest, but it’s kind of a boring experience to go and cut a tree. I agree that just selecting a pumpkin is boring. That’s how I did it as a kid. But today’s pumpkin patch visit is more than selecting a pumpkin. It’s about an entertaining experience that captures a bit of the farm life. Craven Farm in Snohomish, Washington offered us that experience.

How We Spent Labor Day 2011 [Video]

September 5, 2011Posted inFamily, Outdoor Adventures, Parks, Seattle Living
Ethan takes a peek down below on the boat to Jetty Island.

What a great weekend to be out and about in the Seattle area. The weather was just splendid and the kids (and parents) in excellent moods!

On Saturday we headed north to meet up with my coworker Bryan and his family Annie, Lucy, and Luke for a visit to Jetty Island. Jetty Island is a little island located just  a few hundred yards from Everett. The Island is part of the City’s Park System and boat rides are free, though they can fill up pretty quick on the weekend. We took the 10am boat ride. We found a nice spot on the beach that looked towards Whidbey and Camano Islands. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand while the parents conversed…well as much as we could when you have four little ones. After a couple hours we headed back to mainland where we headed back home. It was a great visit to Jetty Island and with Bryan’s family.

“That banana slug has antlers!”: A walk through St. Edward State Park

August 26, 2011Posted inHiking, Outdoor Adventures, Parks, Seattle Living
St. Edward State Park

“That banana slug has antlers!” Our little naturalist has a great view of the natural world and he calls it as he sees it. It’s our job to encourage his curiosity and his sense of wonder and if that means he sees antlers, then they’re…well, we’ll help him out and let him know that they’re actually antennae (or tentacles) and used to watch television. We just can’t lead him astray.

We spent last Sunday morning at St. Edward State Park in Kenmore. It’s a short drive from our house which made it convenient. We’d been traveling all week and didn’t feel like spending a lot of time in the car. The State Park is a former Catholic seminary and became a park in 1977. It’s primarily wooded and offers great hiking and mountain biking.

Heather Lake Hike in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

August 10, 2011Posted inHiking, Outdoor Adventures, Seattle Living1 Comment
Yum Yum Yum
Yum! Yum! Yum!

Did you grab the camera? Shoot, forgot it. Did you bring our iPod for the drive? Nope. Boy those kids are eating a lot on this drive to the trailhead. Do we have extra food? No. Ugh, my pants are too tight. Why didn’t I wear others?!? Hey, did you grab the Northwest Forest Pass before we left?  Uhhhhhhhhh, no. If this is how the drive was going, I couldn’t wait to see how the hike would turn out!

After a quick stop at the ranger station to see if we needed to buy a day pass (we didn’t), we made our way up the road to the Heather Lake Trailhead. We arrived at 10:15am and the lot was almost full. This is definitely a popular hike.