Ape Cave-Mt. St. Helen's

My cousins Jack and Gavin are visiting from Chicago.  We (Mom, Dad, Tha tha, Uncle Colin, Jack, Gavin and myself) decided to go to Mt. St. Helen's.

 The forest on the south side of the mountain was dense, but ash and cool lava could be seen through the green.  Here is the entrance to Ape Cave.  Do you see the stairs going down?

The cave was not lit, so we had to bring our own lights.  We had head lamps and flashlights.

 As a group, we decided to do the easy leg of the cave.  It was 3/4 mi until we reached the end.

 

 The cave got bigger and smaller, the path got smoother and rougher.  Sometimes it was difficult to walk.

The cave also got cooler the farther we went.

This is Uncle Colin taking a picture of a natural lava formation.  It is named "The Meat Ball".

We were glad to finally find the entrance and go back up to the hot forest.

 When we resurfaced, there was a park ranger to answer our questions.  We all drank some water.

After a rest, we headed to the north side of Mt. St. Helen's.

Water Land Parade

Mom tells me that this parade was not done for years and was brought back to life by her friend Toni.  This is the first year that Des Moines has taken it over.  We decided to go since it has been a favorite activity of mine.

 We sat at The Scotch and the Vine.  My parents think parades are more fun with alcohol.  I prefer cotton candy.  Grandma Judy sat on the other side of the flags with me.

 Finally the parade started!

We had a Navy Band.  They were really good.

We saw retired pirates-after long lives of doing no good, settling down at Wesley Homes.

This was grandma's first Water Land Parade.  She looked like she was having fun.

There were several drill teams.  I liked their whistles!

The airport "Toe" truck!

Local High Schools' band and floats.  Oh there were lots of beauty queens, and Washington State elected officials.

Look!  It's Santa!  I always wondered what he did in the summer.

I meat a Seafiar Pirate! (not retired)  He gave me a coin.

Here is the Seafair Pirates' ship-Moby Duck.  

On the walk home, we got mauled by a bronze bear.  We are ok!  I had fun.

Having fun with Max

I had a good time with cousin Max.  The last two days we did local things, like running through the sprinkler....My cousins cannot do this since Texas is having a drought, but here they can!

 We hit each other with pool noodles in our underpants....

And we went to the Tag Zone on Saturday night with our dads.  

It was hot, but we had a really good time.

I look forward to Max coming back next summer.

Ocean Shores-Big Ocean!

 Yesterday, I did this in the Pacific Ocean!

I ran around with cousin Max. First we ran away from the water, and then we started running in it!  But before we did that , Max & I did this:

 Miniature Golf with everyone!  Including cousin Drew.

Unfortunately, before the 18th hole, my blood sugar level tanked and I threw my club!  Mom got me some cookies and I was better.

After golf, we went to the big beach, direct onto the Pacific Ocean.

It was so much fun!!!!!

Later, we went back to the first beach and tried building sand castles.

This was the view toward the ocean while walking back to our cabin at Collin's Inn

Our cabin!  We ended the day enjoying the wi-fi on our ipads.

Ocean Shores Day 1

 I went to Ocean Shores with my mom, grandparents, Aunt Kelly an cousins Max & Drew.  After lunch we went to find a play ground.  It was sunny but really windy.  We were told that Duck Lake had a park.  We found it, and I ranked it one of the lamest parks ever.  There was a swing set

and a slide.  That was IT!

It entertained Max and myself for about 5 minutes.  We went to the dock.

The wind made everything cold.  After this, we did find another park with a better play structure by the community center.  Later we went out onto the beach which was on Grays Harbor.  We could see the Pacific Ocean.

                            

Max and I had fun running around on the sand.

I have a love / hate relationship with the beach, but I loved it today!

Jedi Camp

I went to my first theater camp with the Hi Liners in Burien from June 30-July 3rd.  I chose Jedi Camp because my friend Andy was taking it too, plus I was interested in stage fighting.  Mom wanted me to try something new.  I had a rally good time.  This is the final performance. I am center stage (with the little guys) right behind and right of the center kid in black.  I am wearing a blue shirt and grey shorts.  This performance is over 9 minutes.