My parents made the trek west after the reunion since they were already about halfway here. We loved having them for the week and enjoyed all sorts of fun summer activities with them. I love it whenever my parents come to visit and to watch my kids with their grandparents and watching them have fun together.
Monday was our recover from the reunion day. We relaxed and I went shopping by myself during nap time for food for the week. In the evening we had some sprinkler fun. Both girls absolutely love the sprinkler and playing in water. Paige loves to run through the sprinkler and Baylor loves to touch the water and drink as much as she can. I love the picture on the left of them drinking. It makes me laugh and is just so cute!
Poppy became Baylor's go to for reading her stories every day. I loved watching them interact and see their relationship grow.
Tuesday we went and hiked to Franklin Falls. It was such a beautiful day for a hike and I love hiking here in the Pacific Northwest. It is so green and there is so much undergrowth and such awe-inspiring nature that does my soul good. I carried Baylor most of the way but she did like to climb some of the stairs with Paige.
Once we got to the there it was nice to sit and take a break while we listened to the falls and the girls threw some rocks in to the water. We hiked back and we found a good picnic spot along the river before heading home.
We enjoyed some dinner and had family home evening and then enjoyed some vanilla ice cream with some freshly picked blackberries to end a terrific day.
Wednesday we went to Dash Point State Park to enjoy some beach time. I love living so close to the Puget Sound! I love beach combing and listening to the waves and finding all sorts of ocean life. It was bit cooler but with jackets and the fact the hardly anyone else was there it made it perfect.
Baylor liked digging in the sand for a bit but then started getting fussy and tired. So I sat with her under the sunbrella and ate some snacks while Paige, Grandma, and Poppy worked on a sand castle. It was fun to watch them create and work together. Once they were done, Baylor had fallen asleep so they went beach exploring and shell hunting. I loved having Baylor sleep on my chest for awhile since it never happens anymore. It was so nice to relax and enjoy this quiet moment while listening to the waves.
Then after dinner we went to Dale and Margaret's house to borrow their kayaks. It was a beautiful evening for some fun kayaking on the lake. It was Baylor's first time and she loved riding in the kayaks to the lake but once on the water she had a life jacket on that was too big and she did not like that. Baylor did like playing in the water and watching the ducks. Paige tried some solo kayaking but it was a bit too windy so it was hard for her to control her kayak which scared her a bit. So after that she just enjoyed some rides with an adult.
Picking sand out of her toes
Mermaid Paige
Thursday was another day for a beautiful hike. We went to Maple Valley to go on the gnome hike. You have to hike out a bit to get to the gnome loop but once you get there it is magical. It is a loop filled with all sorts of different gnomes that people have placed over the years.We got our own gnome to place a few weeks ago and Paige was excited to find the perfect place for him.
I had to carry Baylor most of the way but once we got to the gnome loop she was all sorts of excited to walk and point out every gnome she could find.
Go Hawks!
The bottom right picture is where Paige placed her gnome. She thought this was the perfect place because there is a gnome peaking out of the little mushroom house like he was opening the door for our gnome. Paige said they could be friends and wanted to make sure we placed our gnome by another one so he wouldn't be lonely.
Then we went to Black Diamond and had our picnic outside the museum. It happened to be opened which I didn't plan on but it ended out to be a great little thing added to our day. We liked walking around and seeing everything in the museum.
The train was open too so we got to explore the inside and someone from the museum showed Paige how to blow the horn and the whistle on the train and she got to do it a few times. We then ended our day adventure with a stop at the bakery for some donuts and they were delicious like always.
Friday was our zoo day! I have been wanting to go since the new aquarium opened last year so once Nate got home we headed out. It was one of the best times I have ever been to a zoo. The weather was perfect and I loved the new aquarium and as always loved watching the sharks swim around. We happened to be at the right place at the right time for lots of feedings. We saw the elephants get fed which was awesome. It was crazy to see how good the elephant was at picking up these small pieces of fruit with its trunk. Then we saw the sea lion get fed and do tricks and watch the sea otters fight over their food.
The new aquarium was awesome! All sorts of fish and sea creatures to look at. The octopus was moving around like crazy which was cool to watch. We got to touch some star fish and open sea anemone. The hammer head sharks and the big sting ray were so cool to watch and I loved the curved glass so they could be swimming above your head.
Paige got to feed some birds and pet a sting ray for the first time. It took some convincing but she was brave and was so happy that she did.
Baylor got to feed some goats for the first time. She did it once successfully and then after that she would go up to the goat like she was going to feed it and then the last second she would drop the piece of food. Paige would quickly pick it up before a goat snatched it and would feed them. Paige is a pro at it and loves it.
I loved watching the girls on the slide. It was sweet to watch Paige hold hands with Baylor as they went up the stairs to the top. Baylor would go first and she would slowly go down and have the biggest grin with the cutest static hair. Then Paige would follow close behind with Baylor waiting at the bottom for her sister. It was the sweetest thing to watch and made my mama heart burst.
I just love these two cute girls of mine and seeing the bond they have with each other!
It was such a great zoo day and we all loved every minute of it and can't wait to go back again one day!
Saturday was Kid Fest for Covington so Nate had to work for the day. We went over just in time to enjoy a great magic show and then Paige got to go on the fire truck and went down the inflatable slides/obstacle course a few time.
We then got a train ride and met some princesses. We walked around to see some of the vendors before heading home for some lunch.
Sunday we went to church and had lunch together before my parents took off. It was such a great visit and I loved all the fun things we did and the memories made. I am so grateful that my parents are willing to come out and see us and I love watching my kids interact and form bonds with their grandparents.
Thanks for the visit Mom and Dad!
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