The rest of summer

After returning from Germany there was still a lot of summer left. During the last few years we had always been able to avoid the extra hot days by being on vacation but this year we definitely experienced some of them. Since the girls have outgrown the wading pool stage and there are no pools by German standards to speak of we tried out various beaches. We went to Greenlake twice - once on each side - and we swam at Mathews Beach by out house. Luckily the heat did not last forever and we got to do other things, too.

Jay and the girls did some back yard camping. As our tent only sleeps three people I sacrificed myself and stayed in the house. But before the actual sleeping we had a campfire with stick bread and roasted marshmallows.

One day we went to the Northwest Trek a wild animal park were most of the animals roam free. I realized the last time we had been there was the day before Marlene started Kindergarten. Then it seemed quite stressful to keep one-year old Amelia contend during the 50 minute tram ride, but this time the girls were both fascinated to see all these animals just a few feet away. There were bison, deer, Roosevelt deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, and capricorn.

Another day we went hiking in eastern Washington along the Natchez river. It was a beautiful late summer day with perfect temperatures. We even got to see a snake on the path that had just recently eaten a mouse or something.

One weekend Jay took the girls to California to visit his family. The girls had fun seeing their cousins and swim in the pool at the grandparent's house. They are lobbying for a pool in our yard; our argument that we could only use it 1 week of the year seems not to convince them.