It always kills me when my kids say they hate reading.  I love to read and did a lot of reading through out my child hood. It gave me worlds to explore. So the other day I found Lona, who professes to hate reading, on the couch reading and reading and reading.  My heart melted. There is a whole other world to discover, book and book after book.  Twice now I've come into the house after a run and she hasn't even noticed because she's been engrossed in a book.

Wow, the stars aligned again and all the kids were gone but at different places so John and I had the night to ourselves.  I can see this happening more and more as they get older.  It's almost surreal because we are looking forward to it but in the same way we aren't.  It's just weird to think of having more and more weekends like this.  We quickly ran through all the things we could do and a date at Boulevard Park followed up with a movie at home and a run the next morning won out.  How could we not go to Boulevard Park on a beautiful June evening.  A walk, the sun, and a coffee is just so perfect.  Talking about kids, life, us, future dreams makes me reminisce the times before kids or when we just had one little baby and we would have the same kind of dates.  I guess we've come full circle.

I'm ready for summer play.  However the weather isn't ready at all.  It was supposed to be in the high 60s.  Instead this is what we got.  It rained hard for a good hour.  Lona was worried about having to playing soccer in the rain. I have no idea what Job was thinking.  He ran out in bare feet and then he stood under the grain gutters that were so full of water that they just overflowed.  He started crying about a brain freeze.  It must have been frozen because I had to tell him get out of the water and grab a towel.  Lona put on her rain boots and rain coat. Yes there are shorts under that rain coat, just very short shorts.  Then there was Isaac.  He had no interest in going out there.  He took a quick look through the window and was satisfied to hang out in the house.

What to do.  We've hiked so many of the trails around Chuckanut but the Mount Baker area isn't ready for hiking yet.  We pulled out one of our absolutely favorite books:  "Hiking Whatcom County" and started leafing through it.  It's dirty, dog-earred, and written in.  We were given this book by some friends when we first moved into the area and still use it today.  We've hiked about 40 - 50% of the trails.  Still more to do.  Last weekend we tried Pyramid Lake.  It's actually off of Highway 20 and believe it or not it's in Whatcom County.  It is far far far down Highway 20 to Lake Diablo and the dam.  Right away we could tell that it was a different area, the smell was different, hotter almost and dry, like hiking in Montana.  Most of the trails around here smell moist with lots of ferns everywhere.  There weren't any ferns until further up towards the lake if you can call it a lake. Finding mustaches to wear is always a must as well as identifying plants like huckleberries. I have been wearing a brace around my left knee.  It seems like I've had tendinitis for a couple of years.  I've been to physical therapy but they kept trying to fix my knee.  I told him that it feels like it's in the tendon behind my knee and not my knee cap.  My doctor suggested the brace and I can hike pain free.  So excited about that. I've just kept going because I didn't want to be left behind.
The hike was nice but the drive was beautiful.  I want to explore this area more. We stopped at the Gorge to take photos but couldn't get Job to venture out onto the bridge. Isaac spent a little time behind the wheel and now he knows what it feels like to drive into the sun.  He's getting better.  It works well to have John take him out driving, I can just feel the tension radiating off his body as soon as he slips into the driver seat.  I think he drove all of 40 minutes maybe less.

I just love this sign.  Not what you see everyday

The light was beautiful.  I need another evening like this one.

Having fun in the back seat while Isaac drives us home.

Where do your feet take you?

Since Lona has been done with school, John has taken her to do things Friday mornings.  This time I went too.  We started at Memorial Park by the elementary school and biked to Whatcom Falls park then over to Blodel Donovan and back to Memorial Park.  At Whatcom Falls Park we watched the fish guys catch trout and load a truck up for a fishing derby in Sumas.  I wasn't the photographer this time - it was all John with his phone.  That's kind of nice.  I'm actually part of the activity.  I have to say that I'm loving our Friday outings now that Lona is done with school.  It's been nice to have just one kid and do something fun. I'll enjoy having both boys at home too, but its a way for me and John to spend some one on one time with Lona.  We're at that point where friends have a larger roll and influence.  I'm trying to keep that to a minimum. 

It's always interesting when we go visit Grandpa Parks.  You never know what part of the house is in middle of construction, what new project he has embarked on, what new idea has entered his mind.  We decided to brave the bridge being out and head to Grandpa Parks' house memorial weekend.  We woke up early and were on the road by 7:30, preparing for up to 1 hour extra drive time due to the Skagit River bridge being out.  It took us all of 5 - 10 extra minutes both ways.  Not a problem at all.  When we arrived we noticed the the trailer on the lower portion was gone.  It had been there for years.  When I first came to visit there were apple trees growing over the road and the petals were falling on the car as we made our way up the drive.  Those apple trees have been gone for around 15 years.  There have been some changes made to the place since the property has been incorporated into the city limits.  There have been officials that came in and made a list of what needs to be done.  I'm sure that it's for the good.  I wish I had photos of the property throughout the years.  The kids seem to look at the property as a great big treasure hunt and this time Isaac came away with a chain saw motor that he's working on for his small engines class.  I'm not sure if Grandpa Parks sees it as a good thing that the kids go "treasure" hunting on his property.  On the way home we were discussing Grandpa Parks' age.  He's 81 or 82 years old, but you'd never know it.

a view of the house from the back

The front of the house

the lower garage

the upper garage.