Category Archives: Kid Travel Photos

Hiking With Kids Annette Lake

AnnetteLake-Llamas

Over the past few weekends, we’ve been trying to get out hiking as much as we can firstly, because we (my husband and I) like to hike and secondly because we need to all be prepared to hike the Machu Picchu Trail in October. My kids usually complain about going hiking because they’re geeky boys who’d prefer to spend their free time in front of a computer or playing video games, but they also usually end up enjoying themselves too. On the drive to the trailhead for the Annette Lake hike, I told them that I’d booked and paid for Machu Picchu and we talked about what the should expect on this adventure. Ironic then that they’d notice that llamas were OK on today’s hike.

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In case you need another reason for why you should go hiking with your kids in Western Washington. Look at that photo: there’s bright sun, clean, fresh air, and the thunder of snow melt in the river below.

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Towards the end of the Annette Lake trail, there’s a large, hallowed-out tree stump which naturally my kids wanted to climb into (despite the steep drop behind it!). Here’s BigB doing his best Gollum impression from inside the stump.

These photos are presented as a part of the Photo Friday series hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.

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Snow Lake Trail Western Washington

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It was mid-June and I thought this trail would be pretty clear of snow but I was wrong. It was a beautiful day, the sun was strong and warm when we passed out from under the tree cover. My kids (rightfully) grumbled at having to hike through snow pretty much all the way up and all the way down. I told them they should pack away this memory safely because with global warming, they might never be able to experience taking their kids hiking in snow.

The Snow Lake trail, at 8 miles round-trip and an elevation gain of 1800 feet, is a pretty challenging hike with children and one which I would only attempt with older kids. That said, since the trailhead is just off the Snoqualmie Summit and there’s ample parking at the Alpental Ski Area it does have it’s good points. We’ll certainly be doing this hike again this summer – although hopefully without the risk of stepping into snow up to our knees the next time.

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Today’s post is part of Photo Friday, hosted by DeliciousBaby.com. Head on over to check out some more travel-themed blog posts.

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Hiking With Kids Near Seattle
Choosing A Kid-Sized Backpack

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Happy Fourth Of July

Downieville ca

My day started with listening to the Declaration of Independence being read aloud on NPR. Listening to the language and tone of the document, I couldn’t help thinking about the difference between the small set of remote colonies that the document represented compared to the behemoth that America is now.

I love the July 4th holiday (well I would, wouldn’t I, I celebrate my birthday the next day). I love the fact that it’s the start of summer in the Pacific Northwest and I love the fact that this is largely a holiday for just getting together with and enjoying the company of friends and family.

For this Photo Friday I wanted to share some places where I’ve enjoyed July 4th. The photo above is of Downieville Mountain in the California Sierras. It was our first camping and hiking trip in the U.S. – the start of a passionate love of the outdoors that I didn’t even know I had!

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It should be no surprise then that with a toddler in tow, a couple of years later we chose to spend our July 4th camping at Crater Lake in Oregon.

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2002 found us in Bandon, Oregon. We didn’t camp, but there were many, many long walks on the beach and hunts for “friends anemones” in the rock-pools with an eager six-year-old and a sturdy toddler who wanted to do everything his older brother was doing and then some.

Seattle Summer

But we’ve spent most of our Fourth Of July holidays at home here, in Seattle, willing the clouds to stay away and the rain to hold off so that we can see the fireworks over the lake. And knowing that the next day, or the day after, the sun will finally come out and then we’ll remember how beautiful it is here in the summer and how lucky we are to be here.

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Summer Family Fun In Seattle

Photo credit (Bandon): litandmore

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Teen Packing

Teen Packing

Teen boy. 14 years old. Three-day school trip. Mom late for work. Bag assumed ready to go for drop-off at 8am. Obviously we need to work on the differences between what “ready” means to me and “ready” means to him!

Enjoy more travel and kid-related photos at DeliciousBaby.

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Lunch At Morans At The Weir

morans-of-the-weir-galway

You’d have to be a very dippy travel writer to have lunch at a great little restaurant and completely forget to take a single photo of the excellent seafood served. Very dippy. So I guess I am. Or maybe it was because when we detoured to stop at Morans At The Weir in Kilcolgan on our way from Galway to Doolin, one of my children was throwing a champion wobbler and I was utterly distracted.

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That glass of wine I’m raising? Imbibed sincerely in order to maintain my sanity. Honestly.

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Thankfully at Morans, there’s ample space for cantankerous children to run around and stretch their legs and generally jiggle out all their disagreeableness so that when you get back in the car you wonder if you’ve actually got a new child in your car.

galway-thatch

So yes, I forgot to take any photo of the food, but it was excellent. In fact, my brother-in-law, Dan, who was with us, exclaimed that the Fish Chowder he had for lunch might possibly be the best chowder he’d ever tasted. Personally, I was more than happy with my open-faced Salmon sandwich.

I’m including this set of photos for today’s Wanderfood Wednesday because if you’re in the area, Morans is well worth the effort to find. And if you, like us, are blessed with good weather during your visit you can sit outside, enjoy the scenery and, for an extra-special treat, marvel at the artistry in the thatch roofs of the cottages as you enjoy your lunch.

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Information on traveling to Ireland with kids.

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[catlist tags=Ireland]

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Scenes From Connemara

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Clifden in the rain.

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Renvyle House Hotel from across the bay.

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The world’s end: facing west on Omey Island.

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Recess Connemara Giant

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When we stopped in Recess on the first day of our trip, we parked right by this sign. Of course we had to check out the actual item.

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In particular, my kids thought this was excellent:

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Personally, I thought this one was better:

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Although, the slab of Connemara marble in which it was placed was really very pretty.

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I’m very sure that even though our stop in Recess was brief, by the time we hit the road again, our kids had no doubts that they were definitely not in Kansas (or even Seattle) any more.

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Photo Friday: European Airspace Opens

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Last Thursday, just a day after European airspace re-opened, we were taking a leisurely walk on the beach at Bettystown (30 minutes north of Dublin airport) when we spotted jet-trails in the sky above us. It was a welcome sign that things were returning to normal and that we’d be getting off the island soon.

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Crowdsourcing In Connemara

connemara-sign

I spotted the sign above in the restroom at the Connemara National Park visitor center in Letterfrack, Ireland. The hand-written sign was obviously placed by the center management. The multiple translations added to the sign in many different hands gives a linguistic record of the nationalities of people who have visited the park since.

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