Day 2, we had to scrap our lake hikes due to the trails being 90% covered with snow.  I quickly found two low elevation hikes.  We hiked into Box Canyon to a couple of unnamed falls and then a little ways down the Wonderland Trail.  The Wonderland Trail circumnavigates Mount Rainier for an 89 mile hike.  Maybe someday.  On the way back Job, Lona and I decided to walk to the Box Canyon Wayside Point while Isaac and John walked back to the car and then drove the .3 miles to the Wayside Point.  It was going to be our next stop anyway.  The hike to the falls wasn't very far and we only saw one other group.  The falls were beautiful and the looked like something out of a fairy tale movie.  For the next hike, we had decided to hike the Grove of the Patriarchs and also to Silver Falls.  Since they weren't that far apart, we combined them into one hike and start at the Ohanapecosh Campground. It felt a little strange carrying big packs when for a little 1/2 mile hike but we had walked abut three to get to the 1/2 mile hike. It was so easy to see why it was called Grove of the Patriarchs when the trees were huge!  I loved the textures and lines of this hike, it was just begging to be photographed. 

Day 1:  The plan, hike to Comet falls near the Nisqually entrance and then drive to Paradise and hike the Skyline Trail.  The motto:  Not everything goes according to plan.  This was certainly true for this whole vacation.  It wasn't bad, it just didn't go according to plan.
We arrived at the Comet Falls trail head and started up.  It was beautiful with some alpine flowers in bloom, the water rushing over the rocks and the trail was free of snow.  Just after crossing Falls Creek at 2.3 miles, we walked up a small hill and that is where the trail ended.  It was closed due to avalanche damage.  Bummer.  I had all sorts of visions of getting close to the water.  However that was not meant to be.  We ended up hiking only 4 1/2 miles instead of the 5 - 6 mile hike. It was still beautiful and still worth it.  We returned to the car and drove up to Paradise.
We were going to do the Skyline trail and decided that with 90% snow covered, it wasn't feasible for us.  We should have sunglasses and then the mountain was covered by clouds so we started to return to the parking lot, but then thought Alta Vista might be a good alternative.  The trail looked to be snow free so we headed up that way.  Once on top of the view point, and laying down for a quick nap, we started to explore and eventually found ourselves once again on the Skyline Trail.  "Let's go just a little farther, just up to that rise, lets see if we can go there."  I kept asking.  I really wanted to feel like I was hiking.  Which was hard to feel when people were wandering all over in flip flops and flats.  We ended up with a great view just as Mount Rainier started to peak out from the clouds.  I snapped a few family photos, and then we split up.  Job and I returned to the visitor center.  He was just done.  John took Lona and Isaac up another 1/2 mile or so to another view point. I so wanted to go on but sometimes Mommy duty takes over.  I was able to spend some one on one with Job.
Sometimes we laugh at Job when he tells us another one of his genius ideas.  He just goes on and on and on about them.  This time his genius idea is a bike, similar to a recumbent bike.  He talked about the steering mechanism, how the seat works, and where everything is located.

Snowball fight

Falls Creek, not Comet Falls

Alta Vista Hike

This is something I thought I'd see in a movie but not here.

We have lived here now for over 12 years and we haven't made it to Mt Rainier until now.  I guess I didn't realize how close we actually are to the mountain.  For the last two years, John has been talking about backpacking in Mount Rainier National Park but you have to apply for a back country permit and we seem to him and haw about the timing and don't turn in our paper work.  This year was the same until we decided to rent a cabin near the park and just do some hikes instead.  It worked out perfectly this way.  John set the parameters such as money amount and dates and I got to work figuring out how it would work.  We found a cabin just outside of Packwood and sent in our reservation request and money.  Then the week before going, I perused our Hiking Mount Rainier guide book by Falcon press.  We had two options, One long hike each day for three days or two shorter hikes a day for three days.  We choose option two.  This way we could see more of the park in the same amount of time and break up our hikes with rests.  Another thing we were able to do was visit John's Dad.  We drove down to John's Dad's house and had lunch with them.  John fooled around on his computer trying to get it updated so that he could use the iPod we gave him.  No go unfortunately. Then we headed to Packwood via Highway 7 to Elbe and then onto Morton where we hooked onto Highway 12.  I really love the scenic routes verses taking the interstate.  It is just a more interesting drive, albeit slower route but that's part of the charm.  We passed a lake and decided to pull over and play around.  Note, next time bring our own towels.  I didn't really think about being around water, I only thought of hiking but you never know when you'll come across a wonderful little lake to play in.  We also travel with a soccer ball and Frisbee.  They're great activities when stopping for lunch.  The kids can burn off a little extra energy.
The cabin was fully stocked with dishes and it made mealtimes easy.  We had french toast, sausage egg muffins and breakfast burritos on our hiking days.  We ate sandwiches for lunch and all sorts of snacks.  Job ate two bags of baby carrots in two days.  By day three he was done with carrots for a while.  We had chili in the crock pot, grilled chicken salad, and frozen pizza for dinner. We only ate out once and that was a saloon/restaurant place.  They were nice and turned the Sounder's game on for us.  I think we were the only once interested in it.  I had really wanted to eat at the "Best Handcrafted Hamburger Place" but we were too late by 20 minutes.  Maybe another time.  I want to go again to Mount Rainier, it just too close to not go.

We've used Groupon before and it seems like a pretty good deal.  When the opportunity came up for a hedge maze I thought cool, lets go.  I purchased the deal which was great $10 for up to 5 people.  I thought maybe John could go with us but that never worked out.  So on a weekday, after making reservations I packed up the kids and we headed to Skagit County.  I guess I expected hedges so large and the maze to be acres and acres.  You know, movie like, which it wasn't quite like that.  At first I was worried that we would get lost in there and wanted the kids to stick together but there was no way that we could actually get lost or not find our way out.  I thought it would take us an hour but in reality it probably would have only taken about 20 minutes.  We took almost an hour thought.  The kids decided to play hide and scare in it and I'm not sure how many times they went up to the lookout.  It was a diverting afternoon.  The little fruit store though smelled so good with all their berries and jams and ice cream.  After the maze the kids ate ice cream and I bought something for the garden.  Isaac drove home and I relaxed, as much as I could.