Camp Like Noodle

Activity: Strolling, practicing trail-walking

Location: Washington State Arboretum, south end

Date: August 13th, 2018

A walk with Cousin Caitie! We walked down to the arboretum, and both kids did great in the backpack even though there was pretty heavy traffic on E Madison. We got there, and hung out in the area with rock stairs and gravel paths. I love the arboretum because it’s generally not very crowded, especially if you avoid the popular areas and weekends.

Cousin Caitie took Leeloo.

And I took Sieh.

Oops! Annoying him with kisses when he wants to be walking!

Leeloo enjoyed poking around, smelling plants, and looking at the scenery. She even got pitch on her foot, and seemed fairly pleased with herself.

Even Sieh had to have burrs, sticks, and leaves brushed out of his tail and pantaloons when we got home.

Look at this sweetie boy!

Sieh really showed off his walking skills today! He’s a very determined trail walker! I can’t believe how lucky I am to have TWO cats who really want to follow a path.

Activity: Short stroll

Location: Plum Tree Park, Seattle, WA

Date: 8/7/18

Went to IKEA this morning with the kids’ Tio Jamie, then got home and took them for a short walk. It was pretty warm, so we stayed in the shade and only hung out for a short while. We were originally going to go to Prentis I Frazier Park, but there were a bunch of kids there, and small, quick, screamy people really freak Sieh out, so we decided to pop over to Plum Tree Park. Leeloo has been there before, but it was a first for him.

Sieh was very brave today! There were many potentially frightening sounds (crossing a busy road, dog barking, power tools, skateboard, laughing child), and he was very calm and collected during all of them.

Leeloo tried to eat two bumblebees! We had to go to another area of the park because she wouldn’t leave them alone!

Activity: Hiking

Location: Cougar Mountain, Issaquah, Washington, USA

Date: July 24th, 2018

This time we got to bring Tio Jamie to Cougar Mountain with us (but we didn’t manage to get a picture of him!)

We explored some different trails this time, and found a creepy tunnel that had been sealed off (and was too scary to take pictures of), as well as a coal cart that had been set up on tracks. Leeloo wanted to use the coal cart as a litterbox, so we weren’t able to get any good pictures of it.

Sieh did some good hiking this time! He was staying on the trail and everything! Frequent stops still had to be made to check out promising grass clumps, though. I can’t wait to get him out on the trail some more!

Activity: Camping

Location: Olympic National Forest, 1.5 hours out of Montesano, ‘Lorien Outskirts”

Date: July 10th-11th, 2018

A camping trip with the kids’ Tio Jamie!

It’s summer, so I set up a mosquito-proof seating area (turns out I was missing the mosquito netting ‘ring’, so it was assembled…creatively). Day one featured lots of overcast, complete with occasional rain, which suited us just fine. We put a tarp over the mosquito netting, and we were good to go!

Leeloo found us a way to the pondy-lake thing through the woods, so we got to explore the marshy area around it. It’s so nice having a second human on hand, because then the kids can both be out at the same time instead of having to take turns.

Lots of tasty berries were ripe and ready for eating!

We saw a red-legged frog! Leeloo almost stepped on it. We also found a desiccated hummingbird corpse, but we didn’t get a picture of that.

We climbed up a big hill and explored the forest up there, too.

LOTS of tree-climbing happened.

Yelling at trees also happened.

Sieh got VERY cranky when it was time to head back from our exploring. He pouted, and yelled, and tried to go every direction but back. His Tio Jamie finally had to pick him up and CARRY him back to camp!

Day two was a total wash due to the deer flies showing up! These evil, wasp/fly hybrid fuckers find you by tracking your CO2 emissions. Basically, you breathe, you get bit. They are SUPER aggressive, and will chase you down. Nasty. Needless to say, we stayed in the tent and the mosquito netting until it was time to go. Well, Jamie braved the bites in order to take the kids for a walk (the deer flies were completely disinterested in them, thankfully), but other than that it was a sit and read kind of day. Jamie, aka the camping MVP, even had to break camp for us, because I couldn’t leave the mosquito netting due to my debilitating phobia of angry insects that are trying to kill me.

This is basically all we did during day two. Definitely a camp site to be visited when it’s grosser out. Nice, summer weather does not improve this location.

Activity: Hiking

Location: Cougar Mountain, Issaquah, Washington

Date: June 25th, 2018

A quick hike with Auntie Amanda and Cousin Maggie! We found a really exciting area that is all large rocks, so we got to do some bouldering!

Leeloo tried to jump up high onto a boulder that I TOLD her she wasn’t going to be able to reach. She of course fell and started rolling downhill, but I was able to stop her with the leash since she was wearing her RuffWear webmaster harness.

She was completely unphased and started climbing again right away.

We figured out that Leeloo can ride on top of the backpack if I hold her leash close. Sieh seemed pretty thrilled to have her so close while he was riding in it.

Later that night, Leeloo and Sieh snuggled up for a bath and a nap in their matching tank tops.

Activity: Camping

Location: Olympic National Forest, 1.5 hours out of Montesano, ‘Lorien Outskirts”

Date: June 18th – 19th, 2018

Feeling a bit lazy, we returned on a last minute camping trip. It’s such a nice location!

I woke up with a Sieh in my hair!

This time things had really heated up! It’s definitely summer now, because we were barely able to move for the baking heat! I’d been excited to try out the selfie stick, but we had to lay low and try not to die of heat. Leeloo even had to have a dip in the stream because she started panting when she wouldn’t quit running around in the sun! After that, she joined Sieh under the cot in the cool spot.

We were able to go for short walks in the mornings, but most of the time was spent in the shade trying not to move.

So, lots of photos of us not really doing anything!

Activity: Hiking

Location: Cougar Mountain, Issaquah, Washington

Date: June 11th, 2018

Leeloo and Sieh’s first hiking expedition, featuring their Auntie Amanda and Cousin Maggie! We wanted to hit up someplace close, so we went to Cougar Mountain. It has lots of very level, crisscrossing trails, so you can just wander for hours.

Leeloo is a hiking champ! It took her about 5 minutes to get the whole trail walking thing sorted, and then she just kept pace with me the whole way! If she got distracted checking something out, Amanda would walk ahead with Maggie and call “where’s the kitty?” and Leeloo would take off running!

Sieh was very happy to be out in nature. He mostly chilled in the backpack, but he loves sniffing the plants and looking at all of the wildlife.

He was so pleased to get to nibble on grass at the edge of a cliff when we stopped at a viewpoint. Leeloo, in typical fashion, tried to fall OFF the cliff.

Leeloo found a big, hollow stump to play in. She wanted to stay and live in the stump, but we really had to start heading out.

Towards the end of the hike, when Leeloo was getting tired, she’d hop up on a log and sit there just chilling, so I’d pick her up to carry her. Just like a little kid who isn’t ready for bedtime, she’d wriggle until I put her down, and trot along for about 10 more feet before finding another log to rest on. This went on a few more times before I made the executive decision that it was backpack time for Leeloo for the rest of the hike. Once she was in there she pretty quickly settled down to enjoy the ride back.

We’ll definitely be returning!

Activity: Camping

Location: Olympic National Forest, 1.5 hours out of Montesano, ‘Lorien Outskirts”

Date: June 1st – 4th, 2018

Leeloo and Sieh’s inaugural camping trip, and my first time at this location! We arrived early enough Sunday evening to get completely set up before it got dark, which rocked! Usually we roll in just in time for the last light to fade, and have to set up with headlamps and lanterns, so this was quite the treat. Got the tent all set up, popped the kids inside and went to sleep.

Still quite a bit of chill in the air, so I woke up and bundled the kids and myself up in warm sweaters, and then woke up a couple hours later to get Leeloo into a puffy coat on top of that. Lovely going to sleep to the sound of frogs and the stream. We even heard an owl! The kids did great their first night of camping, figured the litterbox out right away, and generally kept themselves amused.

The kids hung out in their Happy Habitat while I got our breakfasts ready (their usual Small Batch raw, and my leftover Taco Bell bean and cheese burrito). Then it was adventure time!

We started by walking around the campsite, and checking out the service road and bridge. Aside from some mosquitos, we weren’t bothered by much in the way of insects, so we really took our time poking around. It was so quiet, and both kids did great on their leashes. Leeloo even decided that we should try running!

After some rest and relaxation with a jerky snack for the kids and a book for me, we headed into the woods to explore! It’s so beautiful out here, and this area has practically no undergrowth, so it’s easy to just let them wander while I follow along.

This was my first day of having Sieh on leash, and I was initially a little worried that he’d be too timid to want to do much. Boy was I wrong! He sauntered all over, and even discovered that trees can be scratching posts! He was so confident!

After she got over her bouts of gratitude rolling, Leeloo of course tried to climb every tree ever. Thankfully, she has a really good sense for what I can fit around and under. Sieh needs a little practice in that department.

We headed back to camp and it had cooled off quite a bit, so I bundled the kids up again and started dinner. I got everything all set up, came to get the kids for dinner and found that Leeloo had climbed completely on top of Sieh for a nap! She found her own, personal heater to keep her warm. After dinner, we sat by the fire for a bit, then went to bed.

Day two was full of more exploring! We found a way to get down near the pond, but turned back when we heard an ominous buzzing.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to our beautiful forest and return to the city. We’ll definitely be back!