101 in summer, a few more

A few more from our 101 in summer.

Bowling! (and some very blurry phone pictures)

Fun to have Uncle Stuart here!

The boys worked hard at soccer camp.

Pike Place market and downtown Seattle

"Riding" a train

101 in Summer update, according to my phone

One by one we are checking off our 101 in summer.

We've built forts.

We've wandered through botanical gardens. And sat on just about every bench along the paths.

When we came to the suspension bridge, the boys tried their hardest to scare me by jumping and rocking it.

We visited Mukilteo Lighthouse.

Each of the kids painted a canvas. I get to hang these in my room with the ones the boys did a few years ago. :)

Perry kept going for the two paintbrush approach.

I took my older boys to an Aquasox baseball game.

The boys joined the group of kids who got to walk onto the field to sing "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch. Guess who led the line of kids out? My Kacin of course. That boy manages the front or first everywhere he goes. :)

Some things we've done weren't on our list, but they may have to replace things, like the day at Wild Waves we never squeezed in. Jumping on the trampoline with soap is a good replacement.

 I feel so blessed that we've had so many great adventures together this summer!

With about two weeks left of summer, we have 34 more things to do. Whoo. Can we do it??

don't give up

Eric and I had the chance to hike Mt. Pilchuck together.

We were on a time restraint so our babysitter could get to another activity. So we had to book it up that mountain.

It was our first time hiking it. I knew there was a lookout tower at the top. But I wasn't expecting the fact that you had to clamber over boulders to get to this lookout on the tip top of the mountain.



Those people in that picture make it look so comfortable and easy.

It wasn't.

Not for me.

You see, I have this deep fear of heights. Like I shake climbing onto the third rung of a ladder. I sometimes get dizzy on narrow long escalators or stairs.

And I have a really active imagination that thinks about earthquakes and rock slides, and scenes of mountains and rock giants coming alive and having boulder wars, like in the Hobbit.

I froze at the top. I have never been that frightened in my life.

I slowly made my way over the boulders and to the base of the ladder.

I looked up at the ladder I was supposed to climb. I felt dizzy. My hands were shaking. Unstable hands didn't make me feel better about the climb either. I didn't feel in control. I didn't know if I trusted myself or that ladder.

There were people at the top enjoying the view and chatting and I wanted to scream at them. How could they be so relaxed? Didn't they know that they could fall to their death at any second??

Eric was up at the top and when he saw me hesitating he tried to give me some encouragement and vouch for the safety and strength of the ladder.

I had a choice. To climb or not to climb. To keep going and face my fear or to give up and succumb to my weakness.

I am not a quitter.

I finished that horrendous climb. And then clung to the center of the lookout, trying to enjoy the beautiful view whenever the fog cleared out a bit.

I look like I was probably smiling, but really I was anxious and mustering up all of my mental powers to keep cool all while desperately wishing that Eric would stop walking around the edge taking selfies and let us get down from this blasted lookout.

But I did it. I faced my fears. I did something hard for me. And I don't regret it one bit.


There are a lot of uncomfortable and hard things to do in life. But I can't give up.

I won't give up.



Lately I feel like I am clambering over one big boulder after another trying to navigate my way to a good place with Perry. We've gone through some tough stuff with him and big decisions. Sometimes I am weighed down by his needs and a feeling of not being in control. I keep going because I have hope that we will figure it out and get to that good place. It takes time. It's a little scary and a lot hard. Someday we will get there to the tip top of the mountain and together will enjoy the views from the lookout.



Face those fears. Don't give up.