Papa's Birthday Present........ (by Casey)

Notice the firm grip on the milkshake.

We're off!

One of several snack breaks that went over very well.

Kyla's preferred way of "hiking".



So I have to tell a little side story before I dive into the day......It was my Dad's birthday on Sunday and we wanted to spend some time together. I left it up to him to come up with something and the first idea??? Golf of course. We switched plans a time or two then landed on a round of golf. Being the sceptic that she is, my wonderful wife thought the entire thing was a front and this was just me scamming my way to another 18 holes.

Well, Sunday morning my Dad called and wanted to switch things up a bit and go on a hike. I was actually very excited about the change of plans: 1) Kyla has never been on a hike and I couldn't wait to show her yet another new thing. 2) My Dad loves hikes and his granddaughters, he was very excited. 3) I got to show my wife that I WAS NOT just scamming her for a round of golf.....I was doing what my Dad wanted to do all along. Yeah!!!

On to the trip. It started off with Wally's drive thru in Bonney Lake. Kyla LOVED her lunch (who's not a sucker for french fries and milk shake?).

After lunch, we took off to Lake Mowich in Mt. Rainier National Park. This is one of my Dad's favorite places in the world, he's been there many times including numerous trips with Tyler and I when we were growing up. It had been probably 20 years since I'd been there so I was looking forward to a trip down memory lane.

It wasn't the clearest day, but we had a great time. Kyla had her highs and lows. One minute she'd be going on about how much she loved it, and literally the next sentence would be about how tired she was.

All in all it was a great trip, we made it over 2 miles and Kyla walked herself for about 75% of that.....not bad for a 3 year old. My Dad and I had a great time talking about the past, and an even better time listening to Kyla's commentary about the whole thing.

I have very found memories of doing things like this with my Dad, and I hope to create many of the same found memories with my children.