Mt. Si

Okay, well it's official, I'm the most behind that I've ever been on our blog. 15 whopping months. Yep, more than a full calendar of empty pages (or posts). Yikes! What can I say, it's been a whirlwind of a year. I know, I always give that same excuse, but I'm pretty sure it really counts this time. Too much to even mention in the few brief moments I have available at present, and some of it too difficult to blog about, but I suppose most of our craziness will make it into the upcoming posts.

Let's see, where was I?? Oh, yes, on to our first family trek up Mt. Si.

In case it hasn't been obvious enough, one thing our family does, is hike!! We hike in the summer, we hike in the fall, we hike in the spring, I try to avoid hiking in the winter if at all possible, we hike on vacation, and most importantly we hike as a family--whether the family likes it or not;)!

Mt. Si is a pretty popular hike. Maybe because of the distance from Seattle (only about 45 minutes), the fact that it's something of a challenge without being too challenging (8 miles round trip, and 3150 feet elevation gain), and a beautiful view at the end. As wta.org puts it, it's "an introduction to the natural wonders of the Cascades."

So we (meaning my adventurous and brave hike-crazy husband) decided to put the family to the test!

Lots of smiles (poor child, she doesn't even know what's coming;).

Here we are (plus one) ready to go.

And now here we are at the top. Thought we'd save you the in between pics when we all were grumpy, tired, and wanted to quit. Haha. Just kidding. I think we were actually too distracted to take any pics during that part.

P & J with their good buddy--fit in some BSA compass work during the hike as well!

Oh, and I can't possibly end this post without mentioning that my amazing and energetic 64-year-old mother made the trek up with us (yes, that's her hiding under the Mohawk). Poor thing twisted her knee on the way back down, but she was quite the trooper.

To many, many, many more hikes in the future (just an inevitable fact of life in the Dueck Family;)!