Ashland Lakes Hike

Labor Day this year included a hike to the Ashland Lakes in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest accessible from the Mountain Loop highway. The trip included Gail's family: the Ostlings up the street; Beverly; as well as Ray (who is visiting from Pensacola); and Amy our neighbor who is friends with Kyna. The hike was a good, challenging, 3+ mile hike one way. The littlest hikers, Rilla & Cian, did pretty well. Good thing we had the baby carrier - both needed assistance - though it just added to the challenge for Mom & Dad! The wet summer we had didn't make this the family friendly trail that all the reviews insisted on. Overall it was a good hike and everyone had a good time even if in the picture below Jack doesn't look so happy while lunching at a pristine alpine lake ("Hey, we still have 3 miles to hike out ahead of us!").

Ashland Lakes Hike 9.1.08

Labor Day 2007

Like past Labor Days we did a lot of work around the house. Amidst picking blackberries and stacking wood, we had the kids doing a host of tasks; after all that’s why it’s called ‘labor day!’ In fact we re-introduced the chore chart, pictured below, so everyone was on board for their weekly tasks. We finished out the day by watching Newsies, which is a great musical, and a good introduction to the real meaning behind Labor Day.