Out And About With a Boy Near Seattle

Buddy, our cuddly kitty, wanted us to stay home today. He'd like some couch time, some extra snacks, and a massage behind the ears. He's a good cat, but those aren't good activities for a boy on summer break.

Here's what we did this week:

The Seattle area has some great biking trails. When we have a longer day, I want to pedal the Burke-Gillman Trail along the West side of Lake Washington. We only had an afternoon, so we biked from Marymoor Park up the Slough Trail. There was a Subway right at the park for a snack when we were done. I had a Italian BMT salad.

Biking was popular this week, so we went out to Tolt MacDonald Park in Carnation the next day. Nick's friend, Cole, and his mom, Susan, met us there. She didn't have a bike, so Nick, Mike, and Cole biked. Mike said that they biked under the bridge at the Tolt River, met with the Snoqualmie River Trail and went North through Carnation. That trail goes all the way up to Duvall, another ride for a longer day. That ride would deserve a picnic. Susan and I took a brisk walk along the same trail. She's in better condition than I am, so I got a workout trying to keep up.

Yesterday, it was raining in the morning, so Nick and Adrian debated the merits of jumping at Sky High or going swimming at the Bellevue Aquatics Center. Sky High won so I signed them up for an hour of trampoline time. I took an hour too. The teenagers there aren't too pleased to see the old lady blocking their leaps, but I love it. I can still jump, but I keep it simple. I don't do any tricks.

We have a long list of things to do that include mentally mapping our bike routes and how they fit together. We plan to go to the Woodland Park Zoo tomorrow and the Aquarium next week. There are biology lessons for us. We have season passes to Wild Waves. Wave pools and looping rides are all about physics if you look at them. I'll ask Nick the question, "Why don't you fall out when the ride goes upside down?" We will hike, finding geocaches, swim at as many of the lakes as we can. We'll look for rocks at the river. We might even go see if Nick has grown tall enough yet to drive his own go-cart. Every boys wants to learn good driving skills. This summer, I'd like to go up in a float plane. I also want to go to Friday Harbor for whale watching too.

It's going to be a very educational summer in the Pacific Northwest!

Thank you for listening, jb