Avery's 11th Birthday Adventure

For Avery's birthday we decided to go explore the Cascades.  We packed up the van and headed to Winthrop WA.  That area has the longest network of cross-country ski trails in the country with back country huts you can ski to.  In the summer the huts are open to either hiking or driving to them.  We decided to rent a hut and camp for a few days.  The hut we stayed in was really remote and had no electricity or running water. 

It was an adventure just to get there driving on forest service roads that weren't all that well marked.  At one point Scott had to jump out and secure our tuperware to the roof so we could get over the large ditches in the road.  

The cabin we stayed in was called Heifer hut.  We had no idea why until we got there.  It was around 9:30 at night and several cows were at the front door to greet us.  The cabin is on forest service land and farmers can get permits to allow their cattle to free range.  

The first night none of us slept well and the kids were up for the day at 4 am.  It was a really long day!

 We had fun playing many games, but connect four was their favorite.

 

 This was after a long hike up a mountain.

 Enjoying the view

 Grandma and Grandpa Davis got Avery a drone this year.  He has been asking for one for awhile and had a lot of fun learning to operate it.  

  Since the kids were up so early we had plenty of time to drive back to town and explore a little.  Winthrop is a neat town that's set up like an old western town.  There is a great museum there called the Shafer museum that shares the rich history of the methow valley.  

 Even the stools are saddles.

 One of the locals we met suggested we hike Tiffany mountain.  It was a 4.5 mile hike with a 2,000 ft elevation gain.  The hike was amazing because the wildflowers were out.  They had one of those super bloom years where the conditions were just right.  

 Even Venus made it to the top!

 Look at those wildflowers!

 Wild dog!

 

 On the way home we stopped at Diablo Lake.  It is a hydro-electric dam that supplies Seattle with power. 

 

 The kids wouldn't cooperate for a picture so Maia volunteered.

 Avery and Banana 11 years

Yearly Questions:

1.  Favorite color?  blue, yellow, red

2.  Favorite toy?  plastic knife

3.  Game?  Life and death in the forest.  They play this at Wilderness school

4.  Favorite animal?  Crow

5.  Favorite book?  Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus

6.  Favorite thing to do outside?  Wilderness Program

7.  Favorite holiday?  Christmas

8.  When I grow up I want to be a scientist inventor because I want to build robots.

9.  Favorite subject?  Reading

10.  Least favorite?  Writing

11.  If you could buy anything what would you choose?  A giant house with secret compartments and  an inventing area.

12.  What do you like about yourself?  I like to learn.

13.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Using my imagination and playing with my family.

14.  Favorite memory?  Seeing the heifers at heifer hut when we pulled up.

Platteville Fourth of July

Flights were open for a two day stretch to Chicago over the 4th of July so we took advantage of them and headed home to Platteville.  It was a really quick trip, but I'm thankful we were able to go since we hadn't been home in a year.  

We were able to visit my Sunday School teacher Lois.  I've known her for over 30 years and I'm so thankful for our relationship.   

 A quick visit with Dad and Gizmo.  

 Zoe wouldn't let me take a picture of her, but when I went to take one of Papa she photo bombed us.  

We made another stop at Papa's mom's house to visit with Papa's mom and sister.  While there we discovered this crazy wine bottle from 1974 with the wine still in it!

 The Huehne family was able to join us for a 4th of July bbq.

 Glow stick shenanigans, anyone can have fun with a glow stick, just ask Bama!  We watched the fireworks at Legion Field in Platteville.  They had a really great display this year which included four fire-balls.  We initially thought the first fire-ball was an explosion gone wrong.  They were really loud!

 That's either 2 crazy kids goofing around or one hairy-legged lady picking her nose.

Father/Daugher Dance

 Rolling down the hill is always a favorite.  

 She had a blast playing with the cat tails.

Avery and I enjoyed our own date.  We went out to eat, took a hike while eating ice cream, played a board game and then raced each other with Sonic the Hedgehog.  I am still terrible at racing games and still can't figure out how to turn around or not go the wrong way!  Avery loved every minute of it.  We always look forward to date night every year and hope to do this more often. 

San Francisco

Scott had a conference in downtown San Francisco so we decided to take the opportunity to join him and explore the city. 

 When we got there we knew the first stop had to be the Cable cars.  Powel and Mason Streets have the turntable where they turn around and we knew the kids would love to see that.  Our hotel was only 2 blocks from there so we walked, jumped on the cable car and rode it to Fisherman's Wharf for supper.  

 

 We just finished our ice cream from Ghiradelli square and Alia yells, "Hey Mom I am a statue like him, take a picture."  

 Lombard Street.  She was running through the streets yelling, "I love big cities!"

 The sunset from the top of the hill was amazing!

 The hills were pretty extreme even for a Seattleite. Alia's face says it all here!

Visiting Robin Williams in wax

  On day 2 the kids and I walked from our hotel in Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf.  We decided to explore more of the wharf and I let the kids pick what they wanted to do.  Avery had his heart set on visiting Ripley's Believe it or Not.This was Barnum's famous mermaid.  

 "Hey Mom, I found my girlfriend!"

 We also did a mirror maze.  I was not a fan of being lost in a dark room with mirrors but the kids had fun.

 Next stop, eating at Rain Forest Cafe.  They loved this place and didn't want to leave.

 Alia bought the pink sloth named Strawberry here and then carried it all over the city.

 Once Scott joined us we took an Uber to Golden Gate Park and enjoyed playing around.

 Dinner was at an amazing Puerto Rican Restaurant called Parada 22 in Haight Ashbury. 

 No visit to San Francisco is complete without a visit to China Town.  

 The architecture in China Town was really cool.

 After spending 3 days in the city we headed to the airport for 2 days while Scott had more meetings.  

 Visiting the Magic Park

 I think Strawberry felt like the rest of us after an amazing week!

Headed home.  Virgin Airlines has great, comfy chairs!  Avery's favorite part of the trip was everything and Alia said the elevators and hotels.  They had fun going up and down in the glass elevators.