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We spent three days just south of Olympia with Chris's parents camping at Millersylvania State Park. This was Leila's second time here and this summer was a ton better than last summer! She enjoyed the activities a lot more and was up to trying lots of new things. The biggest adventure we had was going out in Mike and Shawn's new kayak. I really didn't think Leila would give it a chance, but she did and she LOVED it! No sooner would you come in from a trip on the lake before she was asking to go back out again. We all took turns and she was able to spend a lot of time in the kayak. Well no wonder she liked it so much...look at what she did each time!! Actually, she did her fair share of paddling too.
Our turn without the little.
Papa kept her on shore and they worked on a sand castle.
Gramma and Papa's turn.
Aunt Lynn came down one day and spent the night. She also had to take Leila out in the kayak.
When we weren't at the lake, Leila was riding her bike around the camping area. She made friends with the kids three campsites down and they spent a lot of time riding bikes and playing Littlest Pet Shops.
We also built a Cars Land around the fire pit. Leila and I played quite a while that evening with her cars.
We realized when we went sledding way back in January that if we bought a pass for Mt. Rainier park it would save us money as it is valid for 13 months. So we made a point to put a hike on the calendar for the summer. In early August, we finally made that come to fruition. Leila has been to the mountain several times in the winter so it was quite the change to see it without all the snow on the roads and sledders. We headed up to Paradise and picked our hike when we got there. We chose a short hike since it was Leila's first ever. We hiked the Skyline Trail, had lunch and then came back down. Leila LOVED it! She was so nervous in the car going up. We kept telling her that there was nothing to be nervous about, but well, she is my child. On our way home we were already planning our next hike!
Myrtle Falls
Leila's excitement tripled when she realized there was snow to play with!
"Um, really Dad?!?!"
On our way down we ran into the Simon girls and some of their friends. The funny thing was that Sarah invited us to join her the night before without knowing that we had already made plans to hike.
We looked around the inn when we finished hiking. One of Chris's former students works there so we stopped to say hello. While we were resting in the lobby we noticed that a few kids around us were completing Junior Ranger booklets. We asked Leila if she wanted to also and we helped her with her activities.
Taking her first Junior Ranger oath.
We were invited to check out Stewart Heights Pool with some friends the Monday after we got home from Disneyland. I have been wanting to take Leila there for the last couple of years so I was all game for it when Heidi invited us. It was a little overcast when we first arrived, but within the hour the sun broke free and we had a wonderful afternoon in the sunshine!
The lobby in the Disneyland Hotel is great...of course it is, right!?!?! One section has giant teacups, like the ride in Fantasyland, to sit in while you wait for your party. Then there is the tv and kid sized chairs to sit in and watch old Mickey cartoons. This was perfect while I was checking us out and finding out the airport shuttle information.
Leila got to check out the cockpit with one of the pilots. She told him all about her Uncle Jonny being a pilot too!
Rudy was so excited to have us home.
What a fabulous family vacation we had! We truly could not have asked for a better week! I love my little family!!
We all agreed that our last day in the parks ~ SIGH~ would be spent at Disneyland. No question. We hit Fantasyland first before it got too crowded and rode lots of ride with short lines. Yahoo! One of favorites is always Storybook and Leila has officially figured out it isn't scary to sit up front. We have tried for years to tell her that, but she finally does it now without hesitation.
Leila asked to ride the Matterhorn again, so we did that nice and early in the morning.
The fairies in Pixie Hollow change throughout the day and it happened that Rosetta was there instead of Silvermist today, so Leila wanted to meet her too.
Tink remembered her from the day before. Leila is pinkie-promising to help keep Tink's house (a tea kettle) a secret from the Mad Hatter.
Midday the park announced that the Matterhorn climbers were on the mountain. They had reached the top and the park guests were asked to give them a big yodel. Fun!
Another Disneyland first for Leila...the CANOES. We paddled around Pirate's Lair (which is the new name for Tom Sawyer's Island) in the canoe. It was fun and something different than a typical ride experience.
Then we took a raft out to the island and climbed around a bit.
After our hotel swim and dinner, we headed back to Disneyland. Leila took this photo with my cell phone. I love it!
We each built droids at the Star Trader. We made DEC-25 (our Christmas decoration droid), RW13 (our Red Wing droid), ER106 (Chris's classroom number) and Rainbow (Leila's droid).
That night we returned to the hotel about 11, I think, and none of us were excited about having to leave the next morning. We watched classic Mickey cartoons in the lobby for quite some time. It was a quiet, calm end to 5 days of non-stop Disney fun.
