Carter’s First Talent Show

Family Hike - Twin Falls

On Saturday, April 17th (happy birthday to me!) we went on another fun family hike. The Garcia's and Kovacs went on the hike with us and this time we hiked up to Twin Falls (photo above is of one of the lower falls). It was a beautiful hike! The hike started out following the Snoqualmie River. I think the kids would've been happy staying by the river the whole time and throwing rocks. This picture is of all the kids (except the two babies) near the beginning of the hike. Of course our camera battery died right after the photo below. Luckily Brandon just got a new phone that takes pretty decent pictures so we were able to get a few more shots along the way....

This photo is of all the kids (and Damon) on top of a huge rock. The picture cuts off the bottom half of the rock so it's hard to tell how big it is. At this point in the hike we started walking through an old growth forest. There was moss dripping from branches and there was one tree that was over 700 years old. It was giant! Carter taking a break on another rock.This photo shows us at top of the hike on a bridge that spans the river in between the falls. On one side of the bridge are the upper falls and on the other side of the bridge is the lower falls. It's pretty amazing. You can't see the falls in the picture because with a cell phone camera there isn't much zooming in and out that can be done but the upper falls were just to the left of us (it had just started to rain prettty good which I think is why Max and Carter are not smiling for the picture).
When I planned out these hikes I deliberately chose hikes that were easy for kids because Carter has to walk the whole way. In my "Best Hikes with Kids Western Washington & the Cascades hike book it says this hike is "easy" for kids and is 1 1/2 miles. When I got back in the car I double checked the book because it was definitely not "easy". There were switch backs that were steep and had me sweating! ... not that I'm a pro hiker or anything but if it's easy for kids then you would think an adult should have no problem. It seemd a lot longer than 1 1/2 miles too... It turns out that the 1 1/2 and "easy" category was in reference to the hike up until a certain viewing point on the trail and not all the way up to the falls. Our little group of kiddos hiked 4 1/2 miles and gained about 500 feet of elevation! Way to go kids!!

Max

Our little guy turned one on April 8th and it's been quite a year! To be honest, the first six months were pretty hard and I would often wonder how in the world I would make it. But he has turned out to be the "class clown" of the family. He loves playing peek-a-boo, dancing, pointing at things and saying dat? dat?, wrestling with his brother and dad, and hiding things.

We had a little party at home for him on his birthday and then one at my parents home last Sunday. Here are some photos:

This is a photo of Carter and Max and the super cute car cake my amazing sisters Michelle and Tammy made for Max. Max opening presents at our home. The awesome bubble blower is from his Grandma & Grandpa Green and the puzzles were from the Stephens.Here comes his first taste of cake.

I think I ate too much chocolate...

Two Little Monkeys....

This morning when Max woke up from his nap Carter heard him crying and ran upstairs. I was on the phone with Brandon so I stayed downstairs for a minute longer talking on the phone knowing they would just play for a bit. As I was talking I heard a loud "thump... thump... thump..." sound with hysterical laughter. Again thump... thump... thump... thump.... thump... with ongoing laughter from both boys. I ran upstairs to see what in the world was going on and this is what I found... Carter had climbed into the crib with Max and they were both jumping in his bed! Luckily neither of them bumped their head....

Oh yeah... if you haven't heard yet, Max is officially walking!