Picnic Park

Today really felt like the first of summer!

The kids' last day of school was on Friday. Up until that point, the weather here has been phenomenal. I think we even broke a record for 30 consecutive days without rain, a highly unusal event for Seattle! Anyway, the gray skies rolled in again on Friday and carried over the weekend. Today was the first day back to the sunshine!

This morning the kids and I went to a free kids' movie deal, then when we got home I decided the day had just begun, and we needed more adventure. We packed a picnic lunch and drove over to Picnic Park -- a park on the beach between Edmonds and Mukilteo. We used to go there a lot when we lived closer.

There is a huge overpass that you must cross to get to the park itself. It goes over a train track, which is highly frequented by the racing railway. We have several times been on the bridge when a train thunders past. It causes a huge wind, rattling the bridge, not to mention the constant blare of the horn. The residents who live close to the tracks must love the constant noise disturbing their gorgeous view of the Sound! I guess it's the price you pay....

Anyway, this overpass has an incredibly steep incline to climb over, which is challenging enough for me to manage on a good day. Today I had the double stroller with both girls, a big diaper bag, a lunch bag loaded with food and drink, and a picnic blanket. Ethan is generally a run-ahead type of personality, so he is little to no help in these situations. Thank goodness for Heidi! She carried the blanket (which is a denim one, and quite heavy), then also served as extra muscle in pushing that darn stroller up the hill! I know for a fact I wouldn't have been able to handle it on my own! Some of the sections were so steep I was afraid of everything rolling backwards over me. Then once we reached the top, we had to brave the just as steep decline on the other side. Images of a runaway stroller kept plaguing me, as I fought to keep hold of this rolling object, weighing much more than myself. We toughed it out, though, and made it! Now my muscles are aching, with the leftover remembrance of our adventure, but it was worth it!

I would have loved to get more pictures of the kids playing on the beach, not just the blanket, but after the overpass I just couldn't muster the strength to get the stroller over the sand and rocks as well, so the girls and I hung out in the grass.







Ethan and Heidi got to go down to the beach and explore some, though. The tide was very low, so there was a lot to explore. There were leftover "ponds," which Ethan could not resist. Here he is showing off his perfect specimen of a skipping stone. Heidi spent her time looking for shells and examining the wild-life teaming on the rocks.






Overall it was a fun trip, and definitely made it feel like today was the first real day of summer!