Nature Offers Up Spectacular Views

We come across new parks/playgrounds here often. Sometimes they are new as in just built other times they are new to us. This one's called Seahurst Park in Burien. The playground was recently built, it's on the smaller scale but it sits right on the Puget Sound which is awesome!

I prefer to sit on a large piece of driftwood and just look out at the gorgeous views, seriously ... when you're right next to the Puget Sound there are no bad angles. I just love it!!

A week later we visited a different park ... this one's in Issaquah and it's got mountain views, pretty as well. Unfortunately we discovered this park once summer was over. I would love to visit when it warms up again and sit under these shady trees and have a picnic. That would we quite lovely.

I love being a stay at home mom but if one's not careful life can become dull so what I do when Riley's at school is I keep busy. Whether it's by doing chores or planning a day outdoors, I like to change things up. I don't like routine for myself. I like to do different things on different days at different times. I guess it all depends on my mood. I like to keep my days rush free, without haste ... never planning more than a few things to do a day especially if those things are running important errands. Every day I have to find time to do things that I enjoy because those things center me. We all need time to regroup, to use our creative energies, or simply to be able to watch a movie or read without any interruptions.
Once Autumn arrives and it's already beginning to cool off I love to go out for walks. I like feeling the crisp air on my face and of course spotting the first signs of Autumn is always a pleasant sight to see.

I sure love trees. They are imperative for our earth and for us plus they provide beautiful sights and glorious SHADE!

And usually, when it's time for bed I like to put on a Hallmark movie while I blog or read. I initially liked those lights up on the curtain rod but I quickly realized that the brightness was hindering my sleep so I took them down the following day. My room has to be pitch black for me to fall asleep ... unless I watch a real scary movie then I'll leave my closet light on, lol.

and here she is ... always finding her nightly spot right by my feet.

We should look for ways to fill our hearts, minds, and spirit

with goodness, truth, and beauty --- the things that inspire us,

cause us to worship God and bring light to others. 

Day Hike

We intended on hiking at a different area but we hit horrible traffic due to the long labor day weekend that we decided to hike at Tiger Mountain State Forest instead. It just so happened that right at the same moment we hit traffic the entrance to Tiger Mountain was to our left. Talk about changing plans at the last minute.

It was 62 degrees and cloudy. It felt awesome being outdoors. Riley likes to take the lead but he always ends up walking alongside Jacob after a few minutes so he can stay safe.

View of the sky in the middle of our hike. We initially took the Iverson Railroad Trail then hiked the NW Timber Trail.  These trails are heavily used by mountain bikers. Whenever we would see one we would say "bike" out loud and move to the side until they passed us.

I think moss on trees is very cool looking.

We came across this curved decaying tree. I wanted to take a picture of Riley by himself but he said he was scared that a spider would get on him so Jacob stood next to him. That's why Riley has that serious look on his face. Lol.

It doesn't matter if the day is cool/cold, if I've been walking for a while I always get hot and begin to sweat. We didn't come across any really steep hills but there were a few sections where I felt my heart pumping harder. I got hot but I loved that it was fresh and breezy so that totally felt good to me. Oh, and the pine tree scent was so fragrant that it reminded of a Christmas tree farm. You bet we were inhaling this wonderful scent with a smile on our faces. Jacob kept saying how he loved the smell.

We encountered moist areas with small creeks and not to mention an abundance of ferns and shrubs. After about an hour and a half into our hike we decided to stop and have our picnic. We found a log to sit on and ate. When one's hungry it's amazing how delicious a simple sandwich can taste, lol. After we had some sustenance we decided that it would be smart to turn around and head back.

Blurry but still pretty cute ... this little guy trekked along fine but half way through our walk back to the car he got tired. With some encouragement from his dad he walked all the way and didn't have to be carried.

We came across several mountain bikers coming through this part pretty fast. It must be such an adrenaline rush. Whoa!

Jacob said he actually would like to mountain bike here ... I, on the other hand am a bit apprehensive about partaking in such an activity. Maybe I would think differently if we mountain bike on an easier trail, less rugged.
We hiked for just under three hours round trip. That's pretty awesome and with such beautiful scenery the hike really didn't fell long and it definitely wasn't boring. I only decided to head back after lunch because of Riley otherwise we would have hiked a couple more hours.