kids – Page 8 – The Thing With The Stuff

Cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon

Label EVERYTHING.

Bax, let’s count your money.

Amelia: Bax, let’s count your money, do you want to?

Slow motion bubbles

I love this video of Amelia twirling bubbles in slow motion.

Rivers, salmon, and marshmallows

On our second day of camping at Milo McIver State Park, we visited the Clackamas River Fish Hatchery, did some light hiking, and generally had fun exploring the forest and river bank.

Amelia looks at the baby fish

Here’s the life cycle of salmon at the Clackamas Hatchery

Can you see the little salmon?

Adult salmon that have been trapped for egg collection and fertilization

These littles will be ready to release soon.

The hatchery at Milo McIver releases nearly a million fish a year into the Clackamas River, to help boost the salmon and trout populations in Oregon for sport fishing as well as general population support for imperiled salmon population. There’s a dam at Milo McIver, so I imagine the hatchery was constructed to offset the damage that dams do to the salmon population. It’s totally open to the public, and we had fun looking at the baby, “teen-aged,” and adult salmon.

Then we went down to play on the bank of the Clackamas River a bit before lunchtime. Amelia and Baxter took off their shoes and clambered on the rocks. Neither got into the river after dipping a finger in, though. 🙂 We saw some crawdad shells and spotted an eagles’ nest (but no eagle).

Amelia poses

Tom, Baxter, and Amelia

Baxter rocks

Do you see the eagle’s nest?

Too pretty to be true, right?

River calm and rapid

Wandering on the rocks

While Baxter and Tom took a nap, Amelia and I whittled a bit and then did a little biking and hiking together, which was super-fun. Then the whole family played at the river for a little while longer; we saw a sign that the Second Tallest Yew Tree in the Nation was to be found, but there was no plaque/sign anywhere so we never were sure if we found it.

We couldn’t find the yew. Is this is? Dunno.

A creek runs into the Clackamas

It clearly states there is a big yew around here somewhere.

Amelia whittles

Finally, we went back to camp for a tasty dinner of grilled chicken and baked potatoes (in the crockpot!). Oh, and we spotted a salamander on our way back from a trip to the bathroom. Then it was s’mores/marshmallows and bedtime.

Knitting by the fire

Roasting marshmallows

Salamander!

This morning, it was COLD!!! The kids were bummed that we (unwisely) burned all the firewood on the previous night. But a tasty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes helped us all warm up.

Cold kids and breakfast

The sun peeks through the trees

Anglers (who wish we’d take the loud kids away)

Mist and more mist

Despite the cold (and Tom’s accidentally breaking his new iPhone screen), we had a really great time! Can’t wait to come back to Milo McIver next summer.

My mini-Jim Morrison

Teaching Amelia to knit

Amelia’s working on her first needle-knitting project, a cotton washcloth. She’s been finger-knitting for a while now, avidly of late, and asked me to teach her how to knit with needles. I was only too happy to do so. Look at her serious face!

And the fundraising season begins

Anyone want to sponsor the kids working on Woodstock Park next month? I’ll support your A-Thon if you support ours.

Snippets from Amelia

Baxter, whether you have a Darth Vader costume or not, you can still be pretty awesome.
Sleep is like a time machine that sends you forward in time!
Like when you run for chariot! (She meant “charity.”)
Did you know that Stella has powers? And I have powers too. My powers are kindness and sewing. Oh, and building fairy houses.