Hanging Out at Playgrounds

Elizabeth does a LOT of hanging at playgrounds. She hangs off monkey bars like a little monkey. Here are THREE different school playgrounds we went to in one week that she had fun at. 

Playground #1: The school at church. She made her way across these monkey bars like a little monkey. Yes, she's in her pajamas but it was 7:00 at night! We were waiting for Nathan and she'd already had her bath. 

She loves these spider web type toys. 

                                          Playground #2. This is her own school so she's quite good at knowing the ins and outs of the playground. Here she wanted to show me she made it to the tallest bar!

 Playground #3: The other elementary school in town. Nathan misses this place so we went to play on his old playground. She made her way across these bars really well too!

Nathan making his way across the bars. 

Badger Mountain Climb

We made our very first climb up Badger Mountain as a family yesterday! We weren't sure if Elizabeth would be able to do it before now, but she ran up the mountain like a champ! Not one fuss or complaint. I guarantee that a year ago, that wouldn't have been the case! 

This is the prettiest time of the year up on Badger Mountain. There are lots of wildflowers. I don't know their names. The yellow ones, the blue ones, and the little white ones. The grasses are actually a greenish color! That will fade eventually and everything will be yellow and brown. We were happy we made the hike during the prettiest time. 

Making our way up! 

We did take a few breaks. Hiking up a steep mountain isn't easy!

Another break. 

Downtown Richland in the background. 

During the parts where the mountain had deep ravines, Elizabeth got a bit nervous so Nathan held her hand. He was really good about encouraging her along and telling her that she could do it! He had hiked it once before with Jeremy and wanted Elizabeth to do well. 

Looking out over West Richland. 

At the top! The kids were excited to look out and see their school and the area where our house was!We couldn't see our house exactly, but could see our neighborhood. Their school roof was visible though! 

Made it to the top!

They did a lot of running on the way back down. They even saw a little snake!

Waving to Pasco across the river. 

Heading down into South Richland and we could see Kennewick in the distance. 

Jogging down. 

Silly faces. This plaque marks where the water level was during the Missoula Flood! 

Chatting about the different wildlife they saw and the different dog breeds we met on the way up. They especially liked the German Shepard and the Husky. There were a lot of people hiking today!

Almost to the bottom. 

Fancy Clothes

We have some fancy dress events coming up in the next few months at recitals, weddings, and church. Here is a sneak peak of the kids in just some of their fancy outfits! 

Parks at the Lake

Yesterday was another beautiful day! We've been lucky Jeremy has had these beautiful days off. 

We headed down to one of our favorite local parks in our town. 

The kids all played on the toys. 

We watched the ducks swimming around. 

It was hard to take pictures squinting into the sun. 

She wanted her picture taken in the "flowers." AKA weeds. 

Nathan thinks this Willow looks just like the Whomping Willow. 

Its branches really do look twisty! 

Scooting about. 

Elizabeth wanted to take this rock home too. 

Nature Hike

The weather was nearly 80 again yesterday! We decided to go on a nature hike. Too bad none of the trees and plants are green yet. It would have been much prettier. 

Elizabeth brought her camera to take pictures of wildlife and rocks. 

Hello Columbia River!

Jeremy carried all the water bottles and epi-pens. 

Some places had green grass. 

Taking a break. They were hot. 

Look at those red faces! (They had sunscreen on, but they just get red when they get hot). 

Elizabeth has a fondness for collecting rocks. She wanted to take this one home...

No More Training Wheels!

Elizabeth is finally riding with no training wheels! Realistically, she could have been done months ago, but I don't think she got on her bike between November and March! Now that we're outside a lot again, it was just time. It was 76 degrees yesterday! It's supposed to be 80 tomorrow! That would be a record high. We will see. 

The next morning, she was at it again! Lots of practicing!

Spring gardening

The water came on on the 28th!  That's the earliest we've had it come on here. It's usually a week later. Time to start planting and time for the yard to start greening up! 

I planted some pretty blue and white flowers in my flower beds. I planted them around the edges. Now I just have to figure out what to plant in the middle. 

We put out some cute Easter decorations and cheerful yellow flowers!