8/14-8/21

Wednesday
Wednesday it was back to the ENT doctor for Isaac's long running ear infection in his left ear.  The doctor cleaned his ear out and gave him another prescription for antibiotic drops.  He told us that sometimes these outer ear infections can be difficult to heal because so much debris builds up inside the ear that the medication can't get where it needs to go.  Our fingers are crossed that this time it will work.

Wednesday evening we took the boat out to Lake Stevens again.  When we got there, it was an absolute zoo.  There were boats and jet skis everywhere: launching, retrieving, picking up new passengers, and playing on the lake.  The lake was really rough and we could tell right away it would not be a day for knee boarding.  We launched the boat and found out the engine would not go down.  Dode was able to "hot wire" it and we were in business.  The kids had a lot of fun being pulled around on the tube behind the boat.  Part way through the evening, we noticed a larger boat with smoke coming from the engine.  We motored up and asked if everything was OK.  It turned out that they'd overheated their engine.  After quickly dropping some of us on shore, Dode went back and towed them in to the dock.  I'd wished I'd had my camera with me because it was a cute to see our little boat towing in their larger boat.  Elizabeth was so proud of her dad for being the hero.

Allie Bigger, Anastaya, and Elizabeth on the tube

Yes, Allie has a bloody nose.  We like to rough the visiting kids up a bit before sending them home.

Thursday

"B" marks the spot!

Thursday I took the kids hiking to Boardman Lake.  It's one of my favorite hikes with kids because it's a one mile, 300 foot elevation gain trail.  The trail is really nice and winds through a very pretty forest.  The lake is a great one for kids to play at with rocky/sandy beaches for wading.  We hiked in to the lake in about 30 minutes. 

my crew of hikers

On the trail

Our first stop at the lake was the back country toilet.  It was much worse than most toilets because the solid matter was merely 8-10 inches below the seat.  There were flies everywhere and it was impossible to sit down without them bumping up against you trying to get out.  Sound like fun?  I got to make two trips there.  First with Miriam as soon as we arrived.  Once we were done and walking back to the lake shore (they put the toilet well beyond the minimum distance to water) I found Elizabeth at the backpacks we'd left on the trail.  She was frantic and in tears.  Isaac had sent her to the bathroom with the instructions to "just keep turning left".  She'd gotten lost and had run around in circles for a while.  She could holler to Isaac and hear his voice but not what he was saying and didn't know how to find him.  She found our backpacks in the trail and decided to stay there.  Good choice Elizabeth! 
 
I thought the trip was going to be a bust because the kids were all complaining about the bugs at the lake.  They put on bug spray (I think Isaac used 1/2 a bottle!) but it didn't cause the tiny gnats to leave.  Once we'd been there about 10 minutes (with 10 minutes of moaning and groaning) the winds picked up enough to chase away the bugs and the kids started having a great time.  We spent 2 1/2 hours at the lake, enjoying our picnic lunches, playing with the rocks at the shore, and trying to catch salamanders. 

Isaac trying to convince the girls to cliff jump.

They didn't.

Isaac is a pro at suggesting things for others to try that he isn't willing to do himself.  He'll build a jump on the water slide and try to get someone to go over it, "Come on, it'll be fun!"  But will he do it?  No way!

At least with the cast on his arm, he has an excuse for sitting out on the "fun".

Isaac got his first horse fly bite on the way back down to the car.  He suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!  That fly landed on me, and bit me!"  I told him that yes, in the mountains some of the flies bite.  Bite, not sting.

view from our picnic spot

The Isaac                                                       The thinker

I'd felt like I should be a bit prepared with my "10 essentials" when I was packing in the morning so I stuck an emergency blanket, first aid kit, and flashlight in my backpack.  When Isaac asked what I was doing and I told him, he let me know that he didn't want to be involved in any kind of emergency which would necessitate the use of that flashlight!  The first aid kit came in handy on the way back.  Miriam was rushing down the trail, trying to stay in the front, when she tripped over a rock and sliced her finger open.  Instantly she started screaming at the top of her lungs and running down the trail to find me (running in the opposite direction of where I was!).  I applied a few band aids and she was instantly feeling much better. 

Jacob hadn't wanted to go with us because he feels like he's been to Boardman too many times (he'd rather stay home and sleep).  I negotiated with him that if he stayed home, he'd make dinner for us.  We drove home just a few minutes before dinner time and walked into an empty house.  No Jacob, no dinner, no note of explanation.  Tired and hungry family.  I quickly pulled together a dinner and we were able to eat on time.  Jacob showed up an hour later and it took a lot of patience from Dode and myself to calmly explain why were were frustrated and disappointed in him.  One of these times it's got to have some effect, doesn't it?!

Friday:  Woodland Park Zoo
Friday we met my mom and headed to the Zoo.  Our first stop (after the bathrooms) was the dinosaur exhibit they have right now.

The kids loved having this dinosaur "spit" on them.

I thought the exhibit was over priced ($3/person) and I hated the ending.  We had to zig zag through the gift shop to leave the exhibit.  What parent wants to take their kids through a gift shop saying "no" repeatedly?  Why can't it be enough that you took your kids to the zoo?  But, the zoo seems intent on making me the bad guy.  "No, nothing from the gift shop.", "No, no cotton candy-ice cream-popcorn.", "No, no photo from the booth", "No, you can't make a bracelet in the African village." "No, you can't feed the giraffe/elephant.", "No carousal ride today"  When we emerged from the zoo and played for a few minutes at the playground I got to say no again, "No nothing from the ice cream man."  So instead of remembering a great day at the zoo, they remember all the things they could have done/had if mom had only been nicer.

I'm not very good at taking photos of the animals at the zoo.  Here's the one I took.

I'd rather take photos of the kids!

taking a rest in the African village house

that's Gabriel, my nephew, in the center on the Komodo dragon

There isn't a very big playground next to the zoo but it was nice to sit and rest my feet for a few minutes before tackling the traffic to get home.  It took us an hour and a half to make the one hour drive.