January

I have wanted to be outside more recently, so I started taking my kids on little adventures whenever we didn't have other obligations. My birthday was early in the month, and I wanted to go to the beach. The beach in our part of the world in January requires boots, heavy coats, and gloves. It was a beautiful day. We went to Point No Point first and walked around a bit, but I decided I needed more, so then we went to Foulweather Bluff.

I always hope to see orcas when I'm near the water. This day we saw seals, birds, and I found a piece of seaglass in the shape of a heart. 

A few days later, I took the kids to Fort Flagler. Sean had been there years before on a scout trip, but it was Matthew and my first time. There were several ammunition storage places we could wander through and some other gun placements. I think that's what they're called. 

There were some paths to the beach, so we went to check stuff out. 

We took one more side trip to a smaller state park and just walked down the dock for a minute.

The boys and I flew to Las Vegas to visit my brother and his family. We had a nice few days in the desert. A change of scenery is a good idea in the winter. 

We found a giant pineapple.

I wanted to see the Hoover Dam this trip since I hadn't been there before. It's pretty impressive. We first stopped at the new highway so we could see the dam in all it's glory. The highway is so, so high up. Yikes! It was very cool to see everything though and walk around.

From the dam, looking at the new road.

After the dam, we went for a hike closeby. It was really beautiful. We did not do the full trail because we started later in the day. There are 6 sections of the trail where we need to use ropes to get down the rocks. We only made it to the 2nd ropes part and turned back. The kids were tired! It was a great day!

Our last day in Vegas, we went to Container Park in the older part of town. It was really fun to run around and show the kids an area they hadn't been before.

We did some more outdoor adventuring when we got home. This time we went to Scenic Beach in Seabeck. I've been trying to provide places where the kids can climb and take some calculated risks to increase their skills and develop some more confidence in themselves. This place was great for that kind of thing!

And there were lots of interesting textures and patterns for me to admire.

A moment of brotherly bonding while quietly observing a squirrel. 

I took the kids to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It's quite the museum! I think the kids liked going inside the planes the best. It was a fun day!

That was our January. I hope yours was a pleasant one also.