Crater Lake Vacay--DAY ONE/TWO--Spokane to TriCities to Diamond Lake

This was the summer that Grace slept in her own bed maybe four times.  :) Home from camp and off to Crater Lake!  Here we come, Auntie.  Prepare yourself.

Micah decided to read the entire Last Kids on Earth series over the summer, so this is him finishing a chapter before jumping into the pool.  Oh, and on his reading tic-tac-toe puzzle from Mrs. Wunsch, it said "read by the pool." I think he was trying to cross that square out.  :)

There's always time for a swim at Trina's! It was a little breezier than we liked, and worried about driving in the next day... We stayed at Julie's overnight and then took off for Oregon in the morning. It was a long trip, but we switched rigs and ate sandwiches out of the trailer in a parking lot. The big kids loved their time in Auntie Julie's car--she listens to good music!

We set up camp at Diamond Lake, and Micah biked around the campground and concluded that we had THE BEST SPOT in the whole place! It even had an ice cream store 100 yards down the trail from our spot!

Grace was determined to get in the water...and her dad joined her.  He was the one who jumped first, FYI.

The Week Grace Went to Camp

Jeff dropped Grace off at camp on a Sunday, and I stayed home for my last day of isolation. He got himself lost in the woods for a while afterwards...the Find Me app was new at this time and I kept stalking him to see where he was...no more escaping with Find Me!  :)

This Mary Oliver poem talked about a plant that had thrived for over sixty years, and it made me think of Mom's lilacs.  I called her and she and dad told me that G'ma Elsie may have planted them...or the generation before her!  Wow.

Too late, phone notification.

Card games on our new patio table!

Nessa got a trim from the place on Francis...a new one for us.  She was definitely shorter than we liked, but they framed her face well.

Swimming at G'ma and Papa's! Micah tried typing practice...and the boys played Wingspan with me!

We went for a bike ride on Mt. Spokane...parked at the Kit Carson hairpin turn and biked up to Smith Gap.  We continued on our way up to Trail 140 intersection.  Turned out to be 5 miles straight up (according to Ellie and Micah) and we turned around to let Jeff and Josh make it to the top. Micah may have been scarred for life.

The G'ma Joan Garden in full bloom! I love how this turned out!

Cassie was in town--FINALLY!!!--from her three years in Hong Kong.  She's now on to Morocco, after a few weeks in the states.

Pictures of Cassie to last us until our next visit...

Grace had a great time at camp.  Here she is with Maddie and Ella. And the rest!