Current Obsession

Carter's most recent obsession has been volcanoes. He wants to know everything about them, and I often find myself having 20 minute discussions about various eruptions and volcano factoids. We even had the librarian show us a special section with a ton of volcano books - Carter was in heaven and that's all we read for at least four days! The funny part is that he's kind of freaked out by the whole "mountain's going to explode" part of volcanoes but fascinated none the less. So, over Labor Day we decided to make the trek up to Mt. St. Helens. We stopped at the visitor's center, toured a little museum and watched (Carter half watched, half buried his head in our shoulders due to fear!) a video of the 1980 explosion. I was truly something. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best and we couldn't actually see the crater - bummer! But we drove all the way to the top, took a few photos and then drove a ways down and found a great trail to hike. I can imagine the stunning views had the clouds not been socked in. It was a fun day, the kids enjoyed the adventure and Carter was pretty pumped to learn so much up close.

See those clouds behind us? That's the mountain,

and the crater was just about above the cloud line. Perfect.
View from the Visitor's Center.

We found a great (free!) trail, Hummock's Trailhead, and completed a 2.5 mile hike. The loop was perfect for kids, a little up and down, great views, ponds with beaver dams and ducks and just the right distance.

Kennedy got off easy

Here's how the hike looked at the end...Carter got a little tired and was walking very slowly, so Kyle scooped him up and gave him a lift for a few minutes. After that short rest, he was ready to go and we raced the last 1/4 of a mile.

School Days

It's hard to believe that Carter is starting another year of pre school, but it's definitely that time of the year. The days are shorter, the air is cooler and children are heading back to school. Carter had his first day last week and has seemed to enjoy it so far. He wasn't nearly as excited this year, because he was so nervous about all the changes - new classroom, new teacher and new friends. I think he's had fun and seems to come home in a good mood each afternoon. Hopefully we'll have another wonderful year, full of fun and lots of learning!

He's getting so big! August 30th, 2010

Hanging up his backpack and gearing up for the first day

Diving right in

Of course Miss K had to get into the action, as well. She packed a snack and a book into her backpack and was all set to go. I think she was a little disappointed that she wasn't heading off to school, too. Next year will be here soon enough, I'm afraid to say.