 |
| Vacation: Lake Chelan |
We managed to escape the city for a few days at the end of June. Having heard great things about the vacation town of Lake Chelan, we packed up and headed out for our 5th Anniversary. Our friends Joya, Suri, Kaylin and Cara were nice enough to join us!
We played at the park and visited a petting zoo/farm. Liam and Cara met goats, ducks, and piggies, and a very hungry horsie. Liam was afraid of the big animals, especially once the horse tried to eat Liam's pants!
The condo we rented was right on Lake Chelan, with several swimming pools and a sandy beach. Joya and Kaylin watched the kids while Mommy & Daddy went out for a delicious anniversary dinner. (Thanks!) Hard to believe five years went by so fast. (We also can't believe how small our friends Cara, Imants and Alnis were back then!)
After our friends went home, we went on an adventure to Stehekin (pronounced Sta-hee-kin), which is located in North Cascades National Park, right at the top of Lake Chelan. No roads lead there, so everyone who visits takes the Lady of the Lake ferry. Liam loved being on the ferry!
At Stehekin, a little village in the Mountains, we had a magical day. We took Liam on his first hike. It was a steep mountain path with a fantastic view of the mountains and lake. He enjoyed hiking and walked by himself in all but the muddy parts.
We taught Liam to play Poohsticks on the bridge over a fast-moving mountain stream. Pooh Sticks is a British tradition, taken from The House at Pooh Corner,
That was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks, which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to play on the edge of the Forest ... One day Pooh and Piglet and Rabbit and Roo were all playing Poohsticks together. They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit said "Go!" and then they had hurried across to the other side of the bridge, and now they were all leaning over the edge, waiting to see whose stick would come out first.
Needless to say, Liam enjoyed Poohsticks, perhaps because the stream was swift, so the sticks appeared quickly, or perhaps because he was able to understand the simple rules and play on his own. This was essentially the first game Liam played, with rules and a winner. Pretty soon, we can read Liam the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. I've been careful not to spoil them by introducing the Disney era characters, though he recognizes multiple versions of both Pooh and Piglet.
After lunch, we rented bikes and rode a few miles around the northern perimeter of the lake. After a well-deserved ice cream, we biked back and caught the ferry home. We thought we would all struggle with a 4-hour ferry ride back, but the time flew. Liam played with other kids on board. We all had a great time.
We finished our vacation with a walk and an ice cream in downtown Chelan. Liam came across a wood-carved statue of a bear, taller than he was. At first he liked the bear... but then he was scared of the bear. We heard about the scary bear much of the way home.
Home is, in fact a wonderful place, especially in the summer. We came home, sorted out a big mess involving our dogsitter, our car and an accident. More on that to come in a future post.
Our vacation ended with a bang, literally, with the 4th of July. We met our friends at the park in Auburn. Liam and Devin played in bouncy houses and pet the animals at the petting zoo. Liam even mustered enough courage to ride a pony, which in the past he was too scared to do. After dinner in our garden with the neighbors, we all went over to Lake Tapps, which is about 10 minutes from our house. The people there set off their own shows, each one trying to outdo the neighbors. Instead of a scripted 30-minute show, we watched a sky filled with patches of exploding color, for around an hour. With the mountain as a backdrop, and plenty of room for three toddlers to roam, I couldn't help but think it was the best possible place.
Liam was enchanted by the "Big, big booms" so much that he didn't want to leave. Driving home, along the perimeter of Lake Tapps, we continued to hear Booms all the way home. Once we were home, we looked out the window of our bedroom, which overlooks Pacific, Milton, and Fife all the way out to the Port of Tacoma. To the distance in the North, we could make out the shadows of the Olympics. All across this vista, we watched the continual carpet of color exploding. Liam called these "tiny booms" and we watched until we fell asleep.
