Mount Saint Helens

Marlene and I took the kids to Mount Saint Helen's today. None of us had been before and Kelton was convinced it would be oh so boring. He was intrigued enough to not fuss about going but he made sure we knew he thought it would be boring.

Honestly, it was anything but and he would be the first to tell you that. Tonight he said "You know, I thought it would be boring but it was really awesome!"

The drive was long but nice. The kids kept themselves entertained with DS (the boys) and Leapster (Kaylen) games as well as chatting each others ears off. And ours. Boy oh boy can those three talk! We arrived at the first stop which was a really cool learning center with before and after photos, a film of the actual eruption and various artifacts. It was rather interesting to revisit that time in history. Living in Washington State at that time, I experienced it first hand as a 16 year old but seeing it through the eyes of a 45 year old parent was completely new. And seeing it through the eyes of young children, learning about it for the first time, was intense.

We continued up the mountain for a while and ended up at an area with a trail that allowed up to climb on the edge of a very steep cliff (and with no fencing, I might add!). It was amazing. Completely and absolutely amazing.

Here are a few pictures of our day.