The Many Delights in the Life of Desirée: Rainy days

We've been having beautiful weather this last week which the boys and I enjoyed in the afternoons but then the weekend hit. It was a rainy weekend and Matt was sad because our weekends are our adventure time. I had it in my mind that we would just spend the morning at the pool and come back for naps. Matt really wanted to get out and as it was just a little sprinkle, he suggested we do another hike in Gowlland Tod park. Boy, am I glad he did! It was such a lovely walk down Cascade trail.

It was a lot steeper than the Mckenzie Bight hike but that's what makes the beautiful waterfalls. I wasn't expecting them to be as magnificent as they were. The first one we came to, was just a little one and I was happy. I love waterfalls. And am easily pleased. When we came to the bigger ones, I just looked and took it all in. Heavenly Father sure knows how to make some exquisite things. And I am grateful that I am able to enjoy so many of them.

The rain started coming down more and more so we stopped under the branches of a large cedar for some cover and had a snack. It was then that I realized that Emmett needed to eat. We were close to the beach so I hurried down the trail with the umbrella and found a dryish piece of rock in a secluded spot of beach to feed him. Check that off my list of things I've done - nursing on a rock. After that, I returned to the boys to provide cover from the rain. We really need to get another umbrella one of these days. We look really silly trying to fit four people under one regular size umbrella. :)

Cascade trail leads down to Mckenzie Bight as well, but on the other side than the previous trail we took a few weeks back. This time, we explored the beach on the south of the creek and the tide was really far out. We found oyster shells, mussels, lots of baby crabs and I found the smallest hermit crab I have ever seen! So little. There were also two seals swimming out in the bight when we first got to the beach. It was fun to watch them for awhile and show them to Oakley. We probably spent about 15 minutes down by the water and Oakley was very wet when we headed out. The decision was made to go back on the other trail as it was shorter and more gradual. Done and done. And I think there was some inspiration there because the rain continued to pick up and those steep sections on Cascade trail would have been pretty treacherous.

A little ways up the slope, Oakley asked Matt to carry him on his shoulders and within 5 minutes, he was nodding off and eventually fell asleep up there. It was funny watching him jerk to keep himself up, which makes me sound like a bad mom, but he never fell off. And I was watching as much as I possibly could while hiking up big hills. It was so sweet seeing him snuggled up on his dad's shoulders. I love my boys! We tuckered him out so much that by the time we actually got to the car and put him in his car seat, he didn't wake up, which is a big deal for him. We all loved the walk. There are so many splendidly beautiful places to see.

While the boys napped, Matt and I were productive and tidied up the office so there is a floor again. We also finally organized the dresser and chest of drawers. We did a swap but up until yesterday, each of us still had clothes in the one that the other was supposed to be using so there were clothes in random places all over the house. It felt so good to be productive.

On Friday, we told Oakley that we could go swimming the next day. He was so excited that the first thing he said to me Saturday morning was "Swim?". The deal was made that if he had a nap (you know, because he woke up when we got home and figured that's all the sleep he needed - not true, little man), we'd go swimming when he woke up. After looking at the schedule, we found that there was this one half hour right in the middle of public swim that was adult only. Who does that? Anyways, that meant that to make it worth our while, we needed to go after dinner. He was so so excited to go and talked about it all through dinner and the whole car ride there. What a great rainy day activity.

Today was the rainiest day. No hikes today. We did however go on a nice drive through the forest and down by the ocean. It went for quite awhile though and by the time we started back for home, I was hangry. Ask Matt. Yeesh. The nursing mother really does need her food. :) So, even though it rained most of the weekend, we still had some grand adventures.