Easysticks - by the Cain Sosnoff family

The grown ups visited Federated Forest State Park without the children

Gorgeously mossy

Teeming with fungi

Enormous bird footprints!

We agreed that the White River is our favorite

Four beach walks in four days! Central Meadow (not pictured), Titlow, Owen Beach and Ruston

First day of 5th and 8th grades!

Smile = excited, Fists = nervous, Who wouldn’t relate?

Hazel’s call time is actually quite a bit earlier than Landry’s but he agreed to come outside for pictures and sillies 🙂

Off she went! Junior high schooler!

Next it was this guy’s turn

New school. Time for a new routine for getting there…

Involving the bus! Here it comes!

Here is a smattering of pictures from this summer that were not otherwise published

We attended a Mariners game

Landry swam with a pal

And braved a morning of dental work

Exuberance in the car

Same sans slug

Boardwalk stroll at Nisqually

Chatting in the sun while we wait for Hazel to finish up a day at sailing camp

We attended a friend’s musical

Biking and kicking

Playing video games with Oliver!

Eighth grade locker practice

Early fall soccer smiles

Hiking…

Landry spotted a gorgeous barred owl!!!!

Strawberry lemonade popsicle alongside big ideas

Another session in the dental chair. Props to Lando for his grit!

One week in mid-August included a day trip to Rainier followed by a sailing regatta. Not your typical R&R 🙂

The air smelled smoky but the views were still spectacular

There was a young marmot crawling along the rocks at the edge of this stream

Parents up front, kids off to the side

Regattas are busy!

All of the lugging in addition to the sailing

These two came out to Bainbridge too

And did a lot more than just watch sailing

Hazel’s triumphant return to the docks after a terrific set of races

Hazel and I joined a big group of extended family in Denver (thanks to David for this pic)

And thanks to Vida for this one

Rainbow Road

Hazel and Vida in the shade of a tree in Boulder

In front of the Denver Art Museum

An exhibit within — Good times through and through

We headed to the zoo while Katie and Hazel were out of town

Landry tried the slide – did it get smaller?

Both polar bears were out enjoying the pool

Saying hello to the hoomans

We chased giant bubbles at the Foss Waterway Seaport while we waited for a Port of Tacoma tour

By boat!

Hazel participated in a high wind sailing clinic in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon!

First step: Unload the trailer and prepare the boats

Next: Rig the sails

Go for a sail! Get tossed all around in the wind! Capsize once or twice or thrice

Meet with a coach, learn some tips, talk about strategy, and have a snack

Try again

Learn more

Go back out

Like this

Again, again, again

On and on and on

Four days later? So much learning!

So many smiles!

In a reeeeeeaaally beautiful spot…

We set out on Monday for beautiful Mount Rainier

Oh how we love these views!

Lookin’ like a cool dude all the while

You wouldn’t believe how many pictures I took of my family’s backs

Thankfully somebody took some pictures of our faces!

Photo credit to Hazey for this pic and the one above

Near Frozen Lake we saw not one but TWO marmots at close range!

Looking right at us!

Alpine wonderland

Frozen Lake… true to its name, even in July, and look at that gorgeous color blue in the ice!

There was still a tiny bit of snow on the trail

Farewell beautiful mountain

We spent some time at the lake in June and July! We swam, hiked and saw friends!

Cat neighbor

There was a lot of sailing, but more on that later…

Team Paddleboard

Landry lost his most prominent shark tooth. Wow!

We were joined by Phoebe!

And her parents!

And Brita!

Who led us on a delightful trip to Waukeela (Thanks Brita!)

Back at the homestead the girls taught themselves to write with their feet

We set out to hike to the top of Mt. Willard

There were snacks

And we made it to the beautiful summit!

Crawford Notch is always a crowd pleaser

The kids wrote, directed, and produced an original theatrical production!

Did I mention there was ice cream? A must!