Crystal Mountain and Elsa's Pool Party

On Sunday we combined two far-away activities: riding the gondola at Crystal Mountain and Theo's coop classmate Elsa's pool party in Enumclaw. Theo very much enjoyed the gondola ride, but someone (me) had to hold his arm/hand/leg/anything the entire time. On the way down, both parents had to hold him; if either one took their hand off for a even a moment, a prolonged "HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP" was immediately announced, for the entire duration of the absence of safety.







Despite arriving 2 hours late for the pool party, we still got to experience the full joy. The water was frigid but the day was hot, so in the end it sort of balanced and the numbness faded soon after getting out. We put the kids in life jackets because the pool was an even 4' deep everywhere. It worked... okay. I don't think anyone was really thrilled although Vivian managed to float around awkwardly in a pool ring:



Theo was happiest clinging to the wall.



After food and cake and ice cream, Theo and Vivian broke in Elsa's new tricycle, mostly by Vivian pulling Theo around on it. I was surprised at how well she managed (which wasn't actually all that well) because when they switched, Theo couldn't budge it at all with Vivian on the back.

Oregon Coast Vacation

Sarah's cousin Alyssa came to visit for a week, and we spent a long weekend at Netarts, Oregon. We broke up the drive by stopping at Mt. St. Helens, which is about halfway:



We rented a house through AirBnb, which had a game room in the basement. Darts, pool, board games, and of course, shuffle board:



We visited the Blue Heron Cheese Company which had gorgeous landscaping, a fun petty farm, but only so-so cheese:



Next we paid a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Terribly crowded and not particularly interesting for the kids, except for the cheese and ice cream samples.





Of course no trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to the beach, and some appropriate waterworks.





On our last day we stopped by the Tillamook Air Museum, where we got to go inside the Mini Guppy:



The museum is inside an absolutely cavernous World War II blimp hangar. Look closely -- you know those three people.



We also went inside the Cape Meares Lighthouse:



Then on our way back to Seattle we stopped in Portland where we rode the arial tram, the street car, and finally ended up at a splash fountain.



That wasn't enough so we rented a Surrey bike, stuck the kids in the front basket, sat the dog between them, and went for a two mile ride along the waterfront.