What do you do when you have an energetic 12 year old that has a broken arm and can't sit still. Break out a board game, hide the unicycle and rollerblades, and spend a ton of one on one time.
We've done this hike before but Job and Lona were carried. John's ran this trail training for Mount Baker but this day we tackled it as a family with all of us walking. It's a hard slog up hill for about 2 miles. Then it's still up hill to the lakes and the view point but not like the beginning. I'm liking the fact that Isaac has become the Sherpa that we bring. He willingly wears a full pack and carries all of the snacks and most of the water and Gatorade. When we went hiking a couple of weeks ago John got so much grief from the kids about not bringing the dog that we dragged his sorry but into the back of the truck. We needed to stop and get hiking boots for Isaac, not the way to do it and the dog whined the whole time they were in the store. By the time we arrived at the trail head it was almost 11:00! We hiked up to Pine Lake and the viewpoint then headed over to Cedar Lake. On the way down we decided to go over to Rapter Ridge on Hemlock Trail and then back down. I have struggled with walking down hill ever since the marathon 6 years ago and so I ended up backing down the mountain. It doesn't hurt to go up just down. It doesn't hurt to walk backwards just that pressure on the outside and back of my knee in a downward motion just kills it. 
It seems strange to have a child that is 15 yet so normal too. This year has been one of changes for him. He has done very well at the high school and surpassed my expectations. His grades have been stellar. He's gotten involved in athletics, chess, and two different youth groups. One youth group meets at school on Thursday morning and the other at our church Wednesday nights. He continues to ref soccer but has decided that it isn't all that great though it does provide him money. He is planning on taking driver's ed this summer which I dread and look forward to. He has surpassed me in height and almost in weight. If I continue to lose and he continues to gain it maybe within a month. He's had his first date and plans on another with this girl. She seems nice. He has moved his interests from history which he loved to politics and Wired magazine. His birthday was a small family thing this year. I bought him a pizza for lunch and took it to school. When he lifted the lid, I had written on the inside of the box "Happy Birthday". We usually take the kids to a restaurant for a birthday dinner but his choice was Dairy Queen. Dairy Queen over the Olive Garden but that is what he decided. It seems as though time is slipping away with him so quickly. We still have our arguments and yelling matches but we understand each other and love each other. He wants to pick berries this summer for a job and I'm looking into it. Ideally he would work 5 to 10 hours a week, just to get his feet wet. 
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| The motley crew that helped Isaac celebrate |
Its been a long time. Soccer is finally over and the kids had places to be around the same time without John and I having to be part of it. We took advantage of it and went on a date. It was a chatty date. Some dates are activity dates, some dates are veg out dates and other dates are chatty dates. Activity dates are bike rides, hikes, anything that get you to move. Veg-out dates are movies, plays, anything that you are participating in other than your eyes. Chatty dates are going for coffee, dinner, dessert, and walks. It was a chatty date at Boulevard Park. A needed one. I really felt that we hadn't connected for about 10 weeks, the lenght of soccer season. Our schedule was one of soccer for Isaac everyday of the week from 2:30 to 4:30 and I would pick him up from school then. Soccer for Lona Tuesdays and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 6:45, John helping out on Tuesdays. Job had soccer practice on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:30 to 7pm. Ice skating was one Mondays for Job for the first 3 weeks of the season. Awana on Wednesdays from 6:15 to 8:15. Soccer games on Thursdays for John anytime from 7pm to 10pm. Soccer games and Reffing on Saturday. Church on Sunday. It was a long time and now it's done, well mostly done. It felt like a hi-five you're up tag team kind-of schedule. I know that it is our choice to have the kids involved but we have benefitted so much from these activities. We really try to limit them and make sure to schedule their time and our time wisely. I think that is why we have the kids do the same sport. I don't know what we would do if they did something different and had to be all over the county. So our date was a reconnection over a shared cup of coffee. It was relaxing and nice and by sharing it reminds me of our dates in college where we would get one order of curlee fries from Hardees and share them. We were both poor college students and $1 was a big deal to us.
This is a hike that is open early if not all year long. Some of the other hikes are closed until July due to snow but the chuckanut hikes are open. It takes us about 1 hour up and 1 hour down. We always stop at the falls for a snack and a blood sugar check. The kids hike all over the falls. At the top we hike around the lake, watch all the dogs swimming, sad that we don't bring ours. And then we head down again. We brought Ben with us this time and he got out of the car and was planning on running the whole thing. It's been done, we had some guys pass us on the way up and by the time we got to the lake they had gone around 1 1/2 times and across the lake once as well. Back to our kids, Job with his broken arm, Lona and Ben took off running. It switchbacks right away for about 1/2 mile or so. ven good photos. It just doesn't work.
