Life with the Conleys

When the weather is rainy and cold from October to June, you really appreciate the sunny days. What better way to appreciate the sun than spending some time outside? Some of our July was spent at the King County Fair, going camping with friends, and swimming in a local river.  Rides at the fair. Josh and I soaking in the summer. We have gone camping with the Toltons every summer for the last three years. It's basically a tradition. These boys have so much fun together! Riding around in the raft. We didn't take very many pictures of our camping trip. But we had a great time!  On a hot day we decided to head to the river. We've been to this spot once before and there were quite a few people. This time, we had the river to ourselves and it was super fun. 

In early July we hiked into Lake Valhalla, which is about 7 miles round trip. There was still a fair amount of snow, which was fun. Who doesn't enjoy a snowball fight in July? The water was crystal clear and we could see trout swimming around, though they didn't have any interest in our fishing lures. The water was also ice cold but that didn't stop Josh from taking a dip in the lake. I could barely even keep my feet in the water for 30 seconds before they starting stinging from the cold. He said the water was warmer where he was, but even if that was true, it couldn't have been that much warmer. Several other people who were at the lake went in as well, so maybe I'm just a wimp. One of the snow crossings. Closer to the lake basin the snow patches got larger and decidedly cleaner. This is some beautiful county. View of the lake after crossing the ridge into the lake basin. Eli chillin' on a log, eating a snack. I'm pretty sure his favorit...

In June we flew to Los Angeles to spend some time with Josh's Grandpa, Papa or Great Papa to Eli. His health had been getting progressively worse and we wanted to be able to spend some time with him before he passed. We saw Papa at his house right after we got into LA and he was not doing well. By that afternoon he was admitted into the hospital. He was in the hospital for the duration of our stay, but by the time we left he seemed like he was doing quite a bit better and would be released soon. As it turns out, he was released from the hospital but passed away later that summer, in August. We are so grateful that we were able to make the trip down to see him one last time. We were in LA for about a week, and though we visited Papa in the hospital almost every day, there was still a lot of time to have some fun. We spent one day at Disneyland, which was extra special because it was Eli's first time. Josh, Eli, and Josh's dad (who Eli calls Papa) went on a fishing trip, an...

Josh and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary by going to Portland for the weekend. We had planned on taking the train down but as we were walking out the door to drive to the train station (literally walking out the door) we received a call saying the train was cancelled. There was a big storm and there were 11 mudslides on the track between our Station and Portland. We were all packed and ready to go, so we just drove down instead. We had a great time exploring the city and ate a lot of good food while we were there. Outside the Pittock Mansion on the hills above Portland. For the last two years we have gone to an Air Show at Paine Field in Everett, WA. It is a historic airshow, so the planes are predominately WWII era. It is a fun air show.  Checking out the airplanes For the 2016-2017 school year, Eli and three friends participated in joy school. The other mom's and I would take turns hosting a little class once a week. The kids loved it and it was a nice in...

We had a few fun outings in April. The first was to the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union. There are several small boats that are open for the public to climb into and many that are owned privately or being restored that you can view only from the dock. We totally lucked out and a woman who is in the process of restoring a rather large (50' maybe?) sailboat invited us onto her boat to see  the restoration while it was in process. It was pretty neat. I love this kid.  In one of the boats.  The next event in April was Easter. We dyed some eggs and went to the egg hunt at the park across the street from our house. Showing off the eggs he liked most.  Post egg hunt, with quite the haul. Also in April, we acquired a small inflatable raft. We went to test out the raft and Eli's new fishing pole on a local lake. The wind was brisk enough that the raft drifted at a rather fast pace, too fast for Josh to both fish and paddle. So while there wer...

Eli and I both have birthdays in March. I turned 30 in 2017 (Yikes!) and Eli turned 4. For my 30th, Josh took me to an incredible restaurant on the pier in Seattle. I don't remember what Josh ordered, but the scallops with butternut squash risotto that I had was divine.  Birthday dessert.  Eli got a fishing pole and backpack for his birthday. He was pretty excited. Telling fish stories about all the fish he would catch with his new pole. Other than two birthdays, Eli and I also went on our first hike of the year. We went to the top of Mt. Peak (or Pinnacle Peak, or Mt. Pete. It has a lot of names for being relatively ordinary). There used to be a lookout on the top, but all that is left is the stone foundation and a view of nothing thanks to all the trees. It wasn't an extraordinary hike, but it was nice to be out.  The good thing about reaching the top is that is when you get snacks. Trail mix is pretty exciting.  Nearly every night af...

We discovered a new Puget Sound beach in 2017 called Owen Beach. We went once in January and then again in March when my parents came into town for a visit. On our first trip, we saw a few whales, which was pretty cool. The second visit was a low tide, so we got to explore the tide pools. Josh and Eli are standing on a slab of clay. You could see the water seeping through the layers of clay, it was pretty cool.   Why is it so hard to get a kid to look at the camera and smile at the same time?  We found this when we went with my parents. We think it is an abalone, but I don't know for sure. Whatever it was, it looked pretty awesome and was huge.  Eli and I with my parents. 

For Christmas 2016 Eli got a bike, so in January 2017 he started learning to ride. The bike he got for Christmas was too big for him and really heavy, not ideal for learning. Our friends had a smaller bike, the same size as the balance bike he had been using, that they let us borrow. For the first few months of the year, when nice weather is hard to come by, we spent most nice days out with Eli riding the bike and me walking behind. He got the hang of it really quickly and after just a few outings he was riding well. Since he was learning how to ride in late January, the weather was an issue and it continued to be an issue all throughout spring. We would try to hit the short windows of opportunity between rain and most of the time it worked out but sometimes we got wet and occasionally we got soaked. They were fun outings though. Earlier in the day there was an inch or two of snow on the ground but by the afternoon it had all melted. It was so fun to play in the snow in the morni...