Bee Sting

Grant stepped on a bee and got stung on one of his toes while walking barefoot to the mailbox, and his whole foot swelled up huge! He was brave and didn't cry, just calmly asked me to take the stinger out. I ended up taking him to the doctor when his entire foot and ankle was still swollen three days later. His toes weren't quite as big anymore, and the ankle swelling was down a little bit by the time we got to the doctor, but it worried me. Prednisone took care of it quickly, and he was back to normal a couple days later, but boy, his foot didn't like that sting. 

End of summer odds and ends

--Smokey morning walk made the sun glow red

--Kari's friends came over and made ice cream in a bag

--We bought this t-shirt for Sam for his birthday. He had seen it on the side of the road and had been dying to get one. He loved it. We only felt a little guilty getting it for him. :) We did have a lady scream out her window while we were buying it, "If you buy a shirt, you'll die of COVID!" Sheesh. People are so weird. The shirt prompted a funny story before we gave it to Sam, though. The governor changed the rules again and reinstated the mask mandate at the end of August, which meant we had to wear masks at church since we were meeting at the school again. That first Sunday when Greg reminded Grant that he needed to bring a mask to church, Grant started crying and said, "She's ruining everything!"

Greg asked, "What do you mean? Who's ruining everything?"

Still crying, Grant exclaimed, "The wicked witch of the northwest!"

At this point, Greg could hardly keep from laughing but tried to console him and remind him it was only for a little while, and the governor couldn't ruin church for us. Too funny! 

--Joel hung out with me after we got him his COVID vaccine and had to go straight to Kosrow Automotive for an oil change. We walked to a bakery down the street, and he enjoyed a cinnamon roll and smoothie while we waited

--I came home from running errands one morning to find the kids playing "hot lava" and walking on the kitchen counters. I shocked them when I joined them in their fun game. And then I made them clean my counters. :) Joel grabbed his phone as soon as he saw me on the counter--had to capture evidence of Mom on the counters.

--We went over to Blake and Lindsay's house to meet their new dog, Sally. She's the perfect dog for Lindsay--sweet, calm, and cuddly. 

--Lots of apples. Kathy Obrist let us come and pick apples, and we got so many! Lots of applesauce and apple crisp in our future. 

--Aubrey started reading my old blog books and found some funny stuff in those pages. Made me thankful I've committed to keeping it up. I forget so many things! Going back and reading and seeing the photos is so fun. 

Discovery Bay

 We spent five days exploring the Olympic National Park with the Wilsons up in Washington. It was a great trip. We hiked Staircase Rapids on our way up, stayed at Discovery Bay using the Wilson's timeshare, and made day trips to Port Angeles, Marymere Falls, Lake Crescent, Hurricane Ridge, and Fort Worden in Port Townsend.

Grant got us into the park free (saved us $30) by still being a 4th grader for a few more days. The park ranger lady was so great. She was thrilled to have a 4th grader coming with his family. She made our day with her enthusiasm. 

We had some of the best ice cream I've ever had after our Staircase hike. Olympic Mountain ice cream is amazing! Every single flavor we tried (and there were many) was delicious. 

Hurricane Ridge did not disappoint--a great hike with amazing views at the top. Kari almost ran right into a deer as she was exploring the peak alone and came running back to tell us about it (got her heart beating fast), and then we realized there were lots of deer roaming around. The clouds moved in while we were up there, but they held off long enough for us to get a 360 degree view. My knees couldn't handle any more downhill after that hike, so I hung out by the lodge in the van and enjoyed the view while the kids and dads did another short hike. 

Back at the timeshare, we played in the game room, ate dinners together, walked along the shore of the bay, swam in the pool (and made whirlpools), the kids jumped off the dock (brrr), and the dads and kids played some tennis.

Good times with good friends!