Stehekin!!

I haven't been out of town since February (other than a few trips to Costco), so I was really excited to spend Labor Day in Stehekin. I think we were all really excited!

It took a little bit for the kids to settle down and relax. They pretended to relax, but it involved a lot of asking if we'd do stuff with them instead of just sit on the cabin porch.

"Are those girls next door our age?"

We spent the first evening playing badminton as a family, arguing over croquet rules, and pretending to relax.

The food might be the best part of the Ranch. We would loiter outside of the mess hall waiting for the bell to ring. The pies for dessert with homemade ice cream were a great way to finish the meal. You might notice that there is an extra blonde head in the picture, that is a girl from the neighboring cabin that Jens became friends with. 

Two years ago we forced the kids to take a death march to Agnus Gorge and eat turkey sandwiches. This year they were a little more enthusiastic, but the sun was in their eyes so you can't tell.

The walk went a lot more smooth this time, with less complaining and some good family conversation about Zelda, cell phones, why Dad can play Call of Duty but the kids can't, and why Mom doesn't like video games. You can see Agnus Peak behind the trees, it was more dramatic in person.

This was supposed to be cheesy heart hands, but DeA made it weird.

2.7 miles in and the crew is still chugging along!

The boys quickly found a path to the water and chilled for a few minutes together. 

They took turns crossing the logs.

DeA made me pose for a picture.

Then the kids made me cross the log, too.

DeA found a spot as far away from us as she could find. I think she was pretending to fish or something, or maybe she was pretending to drown on-line schooling.

Ryker slipped and scraped his leg. Rock was quick to grab a band-aid and help him.

We did about 5.5 miles round-trip. We had fun, even if we were tired. 

The kids overheard Jens' new friend talk about going horseback riding, and they really wanted to try it. They got to wear these cool helmets.

The lessons began with brushing, grooming, and preparing the horses. I'm surprised they didn't have them muck the stalls, too.

They learned how to sit tall in the saddle.

"Whoa, Foss. Easy boy, you don't want to end up in a stew"

It was a long day, the pie really hit the spot.

The boys convinced the girls in the cabin next to us to play croquet with them. Rock tried to spit mad game, Ryker tried to win croquet.

The kids all matched up with ages and had fun playing with each other.

We turned into our bunks early, worn out from the hiking and playing and horseback riding. We were all about out when Rock realized that his Switch was lost. He probably left it on the boat, but we couldn't call or e-mail. He tried to sleep but felt that combination of worry, guilt, and being scared that happens when you realize you messed up. The next morning we ran down to the boat at the landing and found the boat captain. Thankfully they had the Switch and everything was right in Rock's world again. He is a good boy and immediately said a prayer of thanks that it was found. I tried to use it as a gospel lesson, but Ryker kept interrupting to point out how lucky Rock was to have found it. 

We pushed out luck and tried to go on another hike the next day. This one did not go so well. We tried a trail that DeA had done with Aunt Sherry a few years ago, but started at the other end of the loop. We hiked two miles uphill before we realized that we weren't sure where to go. One wanted to continue, others wanted to turn around, and one enjoyed seeing the two groups try to use the same passive aggressive techniques on each other.

"I don't care, we can just turn around"

"Well, I don't care either. Let's just keep going"

"Fine, whatever, I'll turn around"

"You can't turn around, I'm already continuing on"

Jens loves stuffies.

The kids had fun riding with their new friends to the boat the next morning. It included a stop at the bakery and Rainbow Falls and the garden.

We came home to a giant wildfire that caused the whole valley to be smokey.