Fragrance Lake

We made it to Fragrance Lake! Pretty amazing photo taken on my iPhone!

Yesterday, was beautiful! Yes, it started with a layer of snow covering our yard. But, here in the Pacific Northwest when the sun is shining and I can see blue sky, I don't want to waste it inside!

This was probably the only stretch of the hike that was not uphill and muddy. 

We did our morning work, and were struggling through trying to keep people on task. When I decided to take advantage of the beauty where we live! 

I called my friend Christine at 1:30 and asked if she wanted to go for a hike. She didn't even hesitate when she answered, "YES!" 

Another thing to love about homeschoolers, they can take a break whenever they need to. 

Taylor, Ian, Mark Aaron, Aaron, Erik, Sarah, Storm, Ruby, Christine

 We met at 2:30 and headed to the trail head. I told my kiddos to grab their coat, water bottles, and a granola bar. I am not much on detail. Didn't think about all the snow around here, or that it might be cold in the woods, or that we might need extra clothes, or even that it was almost 3 in March and it might get dark soon.

Christine, Me, Libby in the Ergo

 I was focused on one thing: getting out in the sunshine!
We parked, paid the stupid $10 use fee, and started up the trail. The bigger kids left Christine, Ruby, Libby, and I in the dust! I only looked at the hike enough to know it was 2.25 miles to the lake. I completely forgot about the 2.25 miles back! Liberty made it all the way up to the lake without a problem. Well, she had a minor mishap of falling and breaking open the scab on her nose, again. Fortunately there was only a little bit of blood. There was a lot of mud!

Erik said he would have rather stayed home and finished his homework. Who is this guy? 

Christine was worried about the time and ready to head back, so we asked a guy (running up the trail) to tell the kids to head back if he saw them. He did, and they did. But when we met up with them we realized that we were really close to the top. Christine did not want to be so close to the goal and not make it so, we all headed up to the lake together.

My new favorite photo of Aaron, He has a genuine smile!

 I'm so glad we did. Because when we got to the top the sun was shining, the water was crystal clear and calm. It was a perfect opportunity to soak in the glory of God's amazing creation!

Mark Aaron, and Aaron. I felt like I was taking a picture of their dads when they were young. 

 We then had to hurry back to the BRV (Big Red Van) to get the boys to scouts on time.

Liberty and Ruby.
It cracks me up that they currently wear the same size clothes. 

One of the other calamities was that Ruby asked Sarah for a piggy back ride. Sarah probably weighs about 10 pounds more than Ruby and when Ruby jumped on Sarah's back she made Sarah face plant in the muddy snow and Ruby went right over the top and face planted as well. It was sorta comical as it seemed to happen in slow motion. Sarah was embarrassed, and Ruby was slightly dirty and sore but we weren't any worse for the wear.
Upon arriving at the BRV we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the bay. Whew! we made it just before dark. I barely made it in time to get the boys to scouts (which is important since I have the key to the building).
We will definitely be looking to discover more hiking trails in our area! We all needed the fresh air and change of scenery.