Mt. Rainier with Julz

Our camping trip with Auntie Julz was so amazing!  This year we camped at one of her family's favorite spots:  right outside of Mt. Rainier Park, just over Chinook Pass.

There was a lot of snow at the top of the pass...this is Lake Tipsoo...Julie said it's usually filled with wildflowers in July.

The kids loved seeing snow in July--they weren't too keen to pick it up, though...

Crazy kid pose...

The first big day there, the mountain was socked in by clouds, so we decided to explore a cave that Julie knew about in the lower ground.  It was a 1 1/2 mile hike that took us to an amazing cave formed by a river.  The kids are getting used to hiking--one of their favorite ways to hike is to run ahead of us, hide, and pop out to surprise us.  We tried this tactic quite often!

The cave!  It was pitch black for maybe 1/4 mile--and the kids got to use flashlights and headlamps.  Gracie was a bit apprehensive, Joshy wasn't phased.

Gracie was spoiled to have "special time" with Auntie--nails painted in the tent, hair braided and straightened two mornings...she even reported that Auntie told her that God knew how many HAIRS were on our HEADS!

The next THREE days were clear enough to show off Mt. Rainier, and you couldn't keep us away from the park!  Day 1 of park exploration took us to Paradise!  We stopped along the way at Box Canyon Falls and the kids did a little 1 mile hike to the bridge and back.

The mountain got more beautiful the closer we got!

Reflection Lake

This is the beginning of our hike at Paradise...we went a couple miles up the Skyline Trail to see Myrtle Falls.  The kids did great!

Couldn't help zooming for this shot...  :)

Here it is:  Myrtle Falls!

And back down for...

...ICE CREAM!!!  This was the motivator on our big hikes--on the way back down the trail the kids would start chanting, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!"

Icing on the cake:  Mama Bear and her two cubs spotted off the road on our way back down the mountain.

And close to Paradise, Narada falls kept us from rushing back to the trailer for naps...

Just a little .5 mile hike...

Day TWO of park exploration took us to Sunrise--on the NE side of the mountain.  A great turnout near the top gave spectacular views.

Joshy is making sure we're on the right trail.  :)  We started out down a 1.5 mile trail to see a glacial lake, but once we got there, the Daddy talked us into doing the loop trail, only adding another mile on... :)

Julie kept the kids busy by having them take pictures of all the wildflowers they found.  She is so smart!

Auntie takes a turn "hiking" with Josh...

Across/down two snowfields!  Neither kids would walk on them, so Jeff and Julie and I became pack mules.  Jeff and Grace fell down together a couple of times.

The Indian Paintbrush will always be my all-time favorite mountain flower.

Love this family pic!

Not to be forgotten were the late nights of playing games in the tent after the kids were down for the night, throwing numerous rocks into the creek right by Julz' trailer, Gracie's 18 mosquito bites, and Joshy getting a "movie night" every evening in the trailer before bed.  :)  Oh, and Jeff squeezing into the trailer's shower, his head said to be poking out of the ceiling vent.  

Thank you for such a fun camping week, Julz!  We loved the park (why has Jeff never been there as a Washington native??) and loved getting to see a place where your family had so much fun together.  We love our summer trips with you!