Take Me to the River...

What do the Skaug's do on a sweltering hot evening once dad's gotten home from work?

We eat a quick dinner, load up 'the boys,' and head to 'the river' to take advantage of the cool breeze and quiet atmosphere.
As soon as we arrive at the gate,

J hops out to unlock it,

A climbs into the driver's seat

and Had perches herself on my lap for the drive in along side the river bank.

As you can see...A takes her driving VERY SERIOUSLY!

Had goofing off in the mirror.

C.R.A.Z.Y. G.I.R.L!!!

WE'RE HERE!!!

(and yes...those are her Jammies...after all, it was pajama Monday).

A gets really excited to look for different animal tracks and it getting good at identifying them. Here she found some deer tracks...

More deer tracks!!!

I sure do love this man-o-mine.

Isn't he handsome?

He loves trips to the river.

It's his sanctuary for sanity.

After a stressful day at work,

he'll grab his bow, the dogs and head out for some R and R.

My favorite part of this trip was when A discovered this rock and called me over to investigate. "LOOK MOM! God put a cross of this rock just special for us!"

"A, you know what? You're absolutely right!"

Kids are way smarter than people give them credit.

Ole LOVES the water...Hank LOVES that Ole LOVES the water

...keeps the pressure off of him from having to get in it.

It's actually very generous of Hank to let Ole have all of the glory of fetching the sticks out of the water.

Truth be told Hank is too smart to want to fetch a dumb ol' stick anyway.

Had LOVES throwing rocks into the water.

One after another...in they go.

Ole still LOVES the water.

Had STILL loves throwing rocks.

R.O.C.K.S.

AND another one!!!

She really loves the splash they make.

Have I mentioned yet that Had LOVES throwing rocks into the river.

Alright...enough rock throwing...she switched to drawing in the sand.

A giving the water a 'test' prior to sticking her toes in it.

Two minutes later...we couldn't get her out of it!

This is the view to the South toward the majestic Mt. Rainier

...yes, it is directly in the mud flow IF (not when) the mountain ever erupts.

And this is the view to the North.
Now if this isn't proof that there is a God...

...no man could ever create anything this simple, yet incredibly gorgeous!

Bear? Cougar? Or REALLY REALLY BIG DOG

...didn't really matter to me...I was not hoping to meet up with the critter that left this print.

One more throw for Ole...while Hank waits anxiously for his return to the bank.

I sure do love this girls' overly CHEESY grin.

This girl is serious about driving! She got so frustrated with me each I put my hands on the wheel trying to detour us from driving into the river.

"I GOT IT!!!" She kept yelling.

Strong willed?!?

Wonder where she gets that from?

Alright Had...take us home.

Until another day...

Bison Biscuits?

So I'll bet I caught your attention with that post title!?! After all it was the thing we saw most of during a recent trip to a nature reserve about 20 miles from our home.

We woke up this morning to an overcast sky and milder weather than we have had in the past few days and I was feeling adveturous and decided that it was a good day to take advantage of our 'zoo membership.' I gave A the choice...the Zoo or Northwest Trek...and she decided it was feeling like a NW Trek kind of day!

I quick packed lunch threw some clothes on...and we were on the road!

The girls kept themselves VERY ENTERTAINED for the 40 minute drive.

Here they are goofing off and laughing so hard. No one can get Had to laugh like A.

Getting warmer!

TA DA!!! WE ARE HERE!!

These eagles are flightless due to some sort of trauma that they have endured...sad for them...but a great teaching experience for us.

Had kept herself very busy trying to pick up leaves off of the path...I guess if college doesn't pan out, she can always get a job here.

This log had some very significant dates and occurances labeled on it.

For some reason, I was intrigued by this big old log round.

Aren't these barn owls kind of cute?

A BIG OLE grizzly bear enjoying a early afternoon snack.

This bobcat was VERY HARD to find...until we looked up.

I totally get creeped out by cougars...truth be told, they are the one thing that REALLY scare me when Jas is out hunting. They see you long before you see them.

Had couldn't see them...so she started calling, 'kitty-kitty.'

A getting about as hands on with 'Cougar Parts' as you can safely.
Looks so familiar to our kitties at home...but on a MUCH LARGER SCALE...and with MUCH LARGER CLAWS!!

Getting ready to board the tram and let the real adventure begin.

He's practicing his hide and seek skills...see him?

Now you know exactly while I titled this post as I did :-)

Another boy lounging!

L.A.Z.Y.

This was Had upset that I wouldn't hand over the camera for her to play with...go figure!

These two young boys were 'squaring off' with each other..SHOW OFFS!

As we passed this tall girl...she was within arms reach.

Thanks goodness he was on the side with the doors...cause as cute and docile as they look...apparently, they can get pretty feisty at times!

Look at this handsome buck.

A baby big horned sheep. Cute lil thing.

A mountain goat out for a late morning snack. Don't they look cozy? Minus the horns, of course!

This sneaky little varmint was trying to get the bison's left overs.

DANG!!! These things are HUGE!!

Cute little baby bison..and his VERY protective momma...I think when you weigh over 500 lbs the term 'momma' has a whole new meaning!

Just like Junior High...girls on one side...

bulls...I mean boys on the other. It's not until they begin to 'rutt' that they begin to 'mingle.'
HOLY COW!!! Actually it's a big bull elk. A couldn't wait to show her dad this picture.
A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E! Two 4 week old twin fawns.
Look closely...in the tall grass...a male caribou! He was nibbling moss off of a stump.
On the way home...They are so sweet when they are asleep.