Discovery Trail

I'm pretty sure I have posted about Ft. Steilacoom Park (aka: the castle park) before, but there is a whole other aspect of this place that we have been overlooking for months; It's called Discovery Trail. There are acres and acres of hiking trail, the biggest dog park I have ever seen, and a huge lake; arom my understanding the grounds were once home to the old Washington State Mental Hospital. Our intention was to take Daddy out for a day at the boys' favorite playground, but once we discovered this little gem even Bubs was happy to "explore the forest" :)

Bubs specifically asked to take this picture. He was so excited about these barns, and talked for hours about the different animals that live in them and the sounds they make.

Adventures are always more fun with daddy! (and daddy is always happy to wear the babe for me :))

Here we learned that a labyrinth is not a maze, there is only one path. Also, we learned that monks often walk a labyrinth as a form of meditatio. Definitely interesting!

The lake. Sadly, like many lakes we have found here in WA, it is has been overtaken by toxic algae and is not safe to play in.

There is a paved walkway that goes around the entire lake. Bubs thinks the trees are "thiiiiiiiis big!"

And lastly, the trailhead. After this I put the camera away and just enjoyed the outdoors with my three boys.
                                                                         

Taste of Tacoma?

Well, We had big plans to go to last week's Taste of Tacoma festival, but when we got there Saturday afternoon the crowd was just insane. Both of my boys have a really hard time in big groups like that, so rather than stay we decided to go down to the pier instead. Best idea ever! Bubs has been near the ocean a few times since we have been in Washington, but he's never actually been in the water. It was FREEZING, but we had a blast splashing in the waves. Jam was super happy to just be out and about, being worn by his daddy, and was all smiles all day. :)



We never miss an opportunity for an impromptu dance party!

It took him a few minutes to conquer his fear, but once he did, Bubs couldn't get enough of the waves!



This one is my favorite. I'm really bummed that this picture got so over-edited, and the original deleted.

Tiptoe Through Tide Pools

This was a really neat event sponsored by Tacoma Metro Parks and the Tacoma Nature Center. There was a handfull of naturalists and workers from the nature center gathered at Titlow Beach to explore the shore, and kick off the lowest tide of the season. It was pretty crowded so we didn't have a ton of opportunities for pictures, but we had a blast! Bubs was a little nervour about getting his hands dirty and didn't feel like touching or holding the different types of starfish and crabs we found, but he was all about looking for them. We made a day of it with Daddy, and I'm pretty everyone was just happy to be out and about despite the rain. Needless to say, we will definitely be attending the next Tiptoe event.