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It’s Lina Day!

Lina designed her own Jack-o-lantern this year! We picked the pumpkins at a real live pumpkin patch with her cousins, who also took her through the corn maze. Fun!

Another successful camping trip! This time we went East to Sun Lakes State Park. It was hot and dry and gorgeous. We had a wonderful time, and Lina is fast becoming a seasoned camper.

Last Sunday while Lina played with our good friends Art & Ellen (a special treat), Stephanie and I took part in the 2008 Children’s Ride (no children allowed). It’s a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital here in Seattle–to the tune of nearly three quarters of a million bucks, including the associated fundraising and Friday night’s auction. It’s also a gathering of over 1000 motorcycles and 1300+ riders.

If you’ve never been in a tunnel with 1000 hogs, well, you really can’t imagine the sound (and feel) of it. I suppose it was like being near the front at a really (really) loud avant garde rock concert–if there is such a thing.

We didn’t spend much time at the Rock & Ride concert afterward (really, no matter how badly you want to see Marshall Tucker Band, the guy’s 60–a hard 60–so I think you’re better off renting a video–any video–and we didn’t feel like sticking around through a series of once-famous bands for the headliner…wait for it…Foghat). Instead of wasting the beautiful (hot!) day waiting to find out whether “Fool for the City” has improved with time, we headed out on our own ride through some of the less-traveled parts of three counties (we’re definitely going back to Lake Roesiger some time for a picnic with Lina) and ended up clocking 198 miles for the day by the time we wearily rolled in, showered, and I headed back out to pick up our sweet girl.

This past weekend was the first really warm weekend of the year here in the Pacific Northwest and we took advantage of the occasion to take Lina on her first camping trip. Even though she didn’t really know what to expect, Lina was very excited. We packed up the travel wagon and headed for Scenic Beach State Park.

The eponymous Scenic Beach

After setting up the campsite, we headed straight to the beach where we hung out and enjoyed the warm weather. Lina loved splashing around in the water with her bucket, shovel, and cups (sorry, no pics). And we got just enough wind for Lina to enjoy another activity she’d been looking forward to: kite flying. No one watching could have possibly thought it was her first time.

Then it was time to relax on the beach again.

And then back to the campsite for dinner and s’mores.

After a surprisingly comfy night (thanks to Big Agnes [our tent] and our new LuxuryCamp ThermaRests–car camping sure is different from backpacking!), Lina and her Papa made pancakes for breakfast. It was a bit cold, so of course Lily stayed in bed.

After breakfast, Lina wanted to keep cooking, so she made us some pine (er, fir) cone soup.

It didn’t take long to warm up enough for Lily, who kept an ever watchful eye out for squirrels, ravens, or other invaders. It was a great first camping trip for Lina, and for us!