Over the Mountains

     This past weekend, we made a quick jaunt over the mountains to watch my little brother run in a big track meet.   Mike took off Friday so we could make more of a trip of it and take our time getting over there.  Here are some highlights from Friday and Saturday.

Hiking 

     We stopped about forty five minutes into our drive to hike up to some waterfalls.  The trail is three miles round trip and fairly easy.  It was a perfect morning for it and we all started out enthusiastic with the kids running ahead.  We let Mason walk for about ten minutes and then Mike packed him in the baby carrier.  Kiwi went strong for about 3/4 a mile and then started asking when we were going to stop and telling us how hungry she was (we had packed lunch to eat at the top).  Little Man wanted to run the entire way.  He was always asking somebody to go ahead with him.  This wasn't always possible since Mason needed to be carried and Kiwi needed some serious one on one motivation at times to keep her going, but I ran with him a couple of times and Kiwi got her second wind on the way back down and we all three ran together a ways.  Little Man sometimes amazes me with the amount of energy he has.  

     Even with the whining, Kiwi really did a great job.  We did this same hike last year and she almost completed it, but needed to be carried a little ways.  This year she did the whole thing by herself.   We kept telling her how much stronger she has become and she really has.  And the whining was significantly less than last year, so we are making progress.  We were proud of our sweet girl and she was pretty proud of herself too.

     Mason was a trooper.  He was thrilled when we let him walk, but also rode happily on Daddy's back.  His only meltdown was when we were eating lunch.  The older kids had lunchables as a treat, but Mason doesn't like lunch meat, so we had packed him his own food.  That would have been fine except for the lunchables came with cookies.  He took one look at Kiwi's cookies and lost it.  He went straight to the heart broken, full out lip quivering wail while other hikes looked curiously at us.  Eventually, we convinced Kiwi and Little Man to each give him half a cookie and than all was right in his world again.

       The outdoors, being active, and spending time with my family are about my three favorite things so I loved the morning and look forward to many more family hikes (we have a goal of doing five this summer).  

Swimming

     As soon as we got checked into the hotel, it was down to the pool.  It was the absolute coldest indoor swimming pool I have ever been in, but it didn't seem to bother Kiwi or Little Man at all.  Little Man happily jumped, cannonballed, and belly flopped into the water over and over.  Kiwi played on the steps for a while and then I went in with her while she jumped to me.  I was shivering the whole time I was in there, but I think they could have went all day long.  Mike and Mason never made it all the way in.  They stayed on the stairs where Mason would take a step in, say "brrr," laugh, step out and repeat the process.

      Their hot tub was about the temperature of a warm swimming pool so eventually we just all went in there and the kids swam around.  

Toys R Us and Children's Museum at Mall

      After swimming, we had some time to kill before meeting my family for dinner so we headed to the mall across the street from our hotel.  We hit up Toys R Us first and just let the kids walk around and look at everything.  We didn't bring Mason's stroller on this trip and he was heaven wandering around the aisles looking at all the toys and climbing into all the cars and jeeps.  If he could pick a favorite part of the vacation, I think Toys R Us might be it.

      We also ended up finding this children's museum in the mall that is only open one Friday a month from 6-8 and we happened to be there at that time.  It was completely free and ran by volunteers.  It is designed to teach children road safety and is in honor of a little boy who was killed on his bicycle.  

      It had scooters for the kids to ride around on and they had to stop at red lights and obey all traffic signs.  There was also a jail, doctor's office, fire station, and other buildings set up around the town.  It was really neat and I wish we would have had more time to stay there.  

Kiwi in "jail." 

Mason driving a bus.

Little Man on he scooters.  

Dinner with family

We went to Red Robin with my mom, my brother Mike, my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle who had all come over for the meet also.  My dad and Marcus ate at the Olive Garden with the rest of the team.  Even though my children were exhausted and we were eating close to their normal bedtime, they did such a good job.  The adult to child ratio at the table probably helped.  There were plenty of people to hold and entertain children.  Mike and I were able to enjoy our meal and visit with everyone else, so it was a really enjoyable dinner.  

Kiwi was pretending to be a baby, so my grandma picked her up and rocked her like one.  

The meet

       Saturday was the meet and Marcus was running in the mile.  This race brings in top Washington and Idaho runners.  Marcus won the race with a 4:09 and set the new meet record.   It was a lot of fun to watch.  

Yes, I know. Yet another picture of my youngest brother on top of a podium.  I just can't help myself.  Being that he is twelve years younger than me, he is my first "baby" and I am so proud of him.  Watching him run makes me so nervous I don't know how I'm going to handle it when it's my own kids.  He has worked so, so hard and I am so happy that things are going so well for him this season.  He currently has the third fastest high school mile time in the nation and the fastest 800 time in the nation.  The NATION!  That is crazy. 

Although Mike, Little Man and I could have stayed and watched races all afternoon, the little ones were ready to go, so we headed out after being there a couple of hours.  The kids were awesome on the drive home.  At home, screen time is limited, but on a road trip that all goes out the window.  Little Man and Kiwi watched movies, played with their Leapstar Tag pin, played on the I-pad and basically slipped into technology induced comas that were only broken by occassional requests for fruit snacks or crackers. Mason slept, played, and pushed buttons on one of the DVD players and Mike and I were able to talk in the front.  It was fabulous.

We ended our little trip with a stop at some outlet malls and a twenty piece nuggets for the kids to split, which they were thrilled about.  

Yesterday we were talking about some of our favorite family memories and Kiwi said, "My favorite family memory is that time we went to Pasco together." As if it were years ago, instead of just days.   Even though I'm sure it was her favorite because it was the most recent, it still makes my mommy heart so happy that my children are getting to the ages (at least the older two are) where they will actually remember some of these things that we do together.