Zoë's First Backpacking Trip

Zoë and I typically go on a girls only trip together before the start of school.  With Covid a hotel was out of the question so we decided to tackle her first backpacking trip!

My pack ended up being about 40 pounds with our new 4 person backpacking tent in it and we had enough snacks to last several days for enticing Z to keep going just in case.  ;)  I didn't weigh it, but I think Z's backpack was about 10 pounds.

I chose Dewey Lake up near Chinook Pass because it was a well traveled trail, short enough so that it was do-able but lengthy enough to feel like an accomplishment.  We left on the trail from the Naches Peak Loop Trailhead and traveled clockwise halfway around the loop on the Pacific Crest Trail until the trail peeled off of the loop towards the lake.

We got to the trailhead by about 9:15 and were hiking by 9:30.  The trail quickly went uphill out of the parking lot and I thought Zoë was a goner already.  We got to go over a cool bridge over highway 410 which pepped her up for a bit, but then the windy slightly uphill trail on the sun-exposed side of the hill was a bit tough, too.  The elevation gain wasn't terrible, but the sun made it uncomfortable.  She loved dipping her buff (great for hiking AND mask as we met people on the trail!) in a small creek we came across at one point and also discovered the caramels in her hip pocket by a mile in that I had stashed there before we got started.

  

At 1.7 miles along the trail we were at the highest point and got a great view of Dewey Lake glittering below us.  We were thankful to be able to descend into the trees again, though I was already dreading going back up the hill in the morning!  Zoë was a champ with the weight on her back and never once complained that it was too heavy.

By the time we got to the lake it ended up being a 3 hour trip in total.  The lake has many campsites along its shores and we found a great one with a view of the lake and only a minute's walk from a creek that was great for rinsing items and filling our water bottle.            

I was very worried about hanging our bear bag properly, so we put up our tent (glad to have it to protect ourselves from obnoxious flies and mosquitoes later in the evening while we played cards and read), ate lunch, and then walked around to try to find a good branch to hang our bag.  After a few attempts (and one almost completely stuck bag in a tree) we got it perfectly situated nice and high.             

          

  

Zoë was THRILLED that I packed her swimsuit for her and we headed down to the lake to check it out.  It was warm and sandy and we only left finally because we needed to reapply sunscreen.  There was another family eventually down at the beach with us who said at the opposite end of the lake there was a gorgeous white sand beach and the white sand went at least 25 feet into the water.  I couldn't convince Z to walk the 3/4 of a mile over there, but it would be worth checking out when we go back.

After swimming, we had a snack, read some of the Boxcar Children book we brought with us, headed down to the creek and caught frogs (one hopped RIGHT into Zoë's swimsuit sleeve and clear up to her elbow!).  They were big and she was an expert frog catcher.  Thank goodness for nature preschool. 

At dinner time we ate chicken alfredo pasta from a bag and Zoë enthusiastically gave it thumbs up!  "This is DELICIOUS!"  I tried to explain to her how freeze dried food ALWAYS tastes amazing after backpacking but I don't think she understood why.  After dinner we went on a short walk exploring more of the PCT that had continued on after we peeled off of it that morning.  We found another unnamed lake and some more fun trails.  Zoë started to express that she was a little bit nervous about bears, which was funny because she hadn't even mentioned them once all day, so we went back to the campsite, ate lots of treats (butterscotch pudding and Nutella pretzel cups) and then decided to retire at about 7pm to the tent with our cups of hot chocolate to play cards.

After we cleaned out our mugs and hung up the bear bag one last time for the night we settled in to read more of our book and finally fell asleep around 8:30.  PERFECT!  

In the morning, we woke up at 7, packed up camp, had a glorious breakfast of freeze dried oats, berries, and milk and more hot chocolate and coffee.  Then we left camp at 8:08 and started the 1.2 mile trek UPHILL.  I was dreading it and it was not an easy to hike.  We had the early morning air in our favor, though, and very little direct sunlight.  Zoë was a champ and we made it up in about 40 minutes!  I'm not sure where she got her energy from.  At the top we took a good 15 minute break where we talked to a (probably) 80 year old man about his hiking adventures.  He was very kind and even gave Zoë a pack of M&Ms which thrilled her!        

We continued on through the sun-exposed trail again but this time, going downhill, it was easy, and we did the last 1.7 miles without stopping.  She declared this the "BEST TRIP EVER!" which I take as a HUGE win and even said she wished we had stayed two nights.  I was so happy to still have a memory-making trip with my sweet second grader.  We will start planning some super fun backpacking trips for next summer (and now we have a good list of supplies to spend our REI dividend on next year).  

Happy 5th Birthday Oliver Finn!

Oliver Boliver.  Star Wars lover.  Master of body slams, jumping (illegally) on the couch, lip syncing apprentice, clementine scarfer.  We sure love you.  You are STILL the most charming 5 year old I know.










This year you:
-tried hockey, decided it wasn't for you
-tried soccer...LOVED IT, soccer player for life
-finished your first year of preschool and
-finished your second year of preschool in all outdoor Nature Preschool
-learned how to ride your bike without training wheels
-participated in a kids triathlon
-continued to LOVE gymnastics at The Little Gym and Ballet with Miss Kaeli

You graciously gave up your bedroom this year to Isa for her stay with our family for five months and moved in with Zoë (who was ALSO gracious in sharing her room with you!).  You LOVE sleeping in your sister's bedroom.  You almost inevitably end up on top of her or have tangled your limbs somehow around hers during the night.  When Isa went home, we asked if you wanted to go back to your room (or if Z wanted you out of hers!) and you both said, "no, we got used to sleeping together, I don't think I could sleep alone".  So your room is now a playroom of sorts and you've only slept in there the few nights you were super sick in the fast few months. 

You definitely have gone through some epic phases in the past year, mostly involving super impressive tantrums, screaming, and sobbing.  Being four is very hard.  I'm pleased to say that the closer we've crept to you turning five the better you've gotten at sharing your feelings and frustrations, but it's not completely dialed in yet.  I mean, at what age IS it really dialed in?  I'll let you know when I figure it out.  As one would imagine, being stuck at home during this virus business has been hard on everyone.  And being five, it's VERY hard to know why you're feeling sad or upset or angry on a good day.  I bought you a new tube of toothpaste last week, it was promptly shared with Zoë (not your choice) and you completely fell apart.  After ten minutes of intense crying at 8:30am you admitted you were feeling sad because you missed seeing Baba and Dedo.  Broke. My. Heart.  But, you would never have been able to verbalize that three months ago, so I'll call that progress.

Happy Birthday Oliver Finn!

As a family, we did a lot of super cool things this last year.  We went to Sunriver again and had a fabulous trip, you went to Camp BabaDedo with your cousins for the third year in a row, we hosted the best most irreplaceable exchange student, Isa, for a semester and had our hearts broken when she left, and we went to Disneyland in February to celebrate your birthday early.  It was a fabulous trip and I'm SO glad we got to go before the country shut down.  You quickly got used to telling people you were five when they'd notice your birthday button even though you were months away from your actual birthday.  You were SO brave on some scary rides and said yes to almost everything (everything except Guardians of the Galaxy!).  Your bravery translates to nearly any activity or moment.

This past fall you joined a soccer team for 3-5 year olds and you were absolutely spectacular.  You worked hard, you mostly paid attention during the bulk of practices, and you were ALL IN during games.  Your fierce determination to get a goal was impressive and I'm pretty sure we're never going to get you away from soccer now, no matter how much I hate standing in the rain to watch it.

Both due to Covid-19 AND the fact that you have an older sister, you are WAY over-prepared for the academics of kindergarten.  There are MANY standards I am not familiar OR an expert in because I don't teach kindergarten...but I DO know you have a solid handle on your letter names and sounds, about 15 sight words, and counting with 1-1 correspondence AND counting to 100 by 10s.  We are starting to work on reading next.  It's crazy.  We don't push you you just DO it.  I think all the time spent reading with Zoë and watching her master skills has been really inspirational to you.  I'm SO excited to see how you do in Kindergarten.  I fear that you will be a distraction to others, feel WAY too comfortable in the building (last month you got to spend the morning in 1st grade with Zoë's class as a student because I subbed, last minute, in another classroom in the building.  You fit RIGHT IN), and I will be getting a phone call from the principal/teacher within a week.  Do I not ALSO think that you could be an AMAZING social asset to the class, being a helper for other kids and running errands for Ms. Keil since you know where everything is in the building?  Yes.  Only time will tell...

Most of all, my Oliver, you are my sweet, SWEET five year old boy.  You are my best snuggler, give the best hugs and kisses, think of others when they are sad, take the dog out whenever we ask you to, and love your sister with their fierceness that only you can.  We are so lucky that you are a part of our family and I can't wait to see what you accomplish this next year.  I am going to miss SO MUCH the time you and I have had alone while big sister has been in school but I know you are ready for kindergarten, even though I am not.  We can talk about that in August...I can't emotionally handle it right now.  I love you!

Disneyland Day 5 + Tips

Our final day of vacation didn't take us to the parks, but it DID take us to Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel for breakfast.  Where Plaza Inn let us down with food, Goofy's Kitchen was INCREDIBLE!

They had a huge variety of food (including all of the things you could find at Plaza Inn) and it was all VERY tasty. The pastries were phenomenal and the pizzas, eggs benedict, and soft serve ice cream were so yummy.  It's definitely a walk from the park (and since we were staying ALL the way over on the OTHER side it was especially a long walk) but it was completely worth it.  We met Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Pluto.  Definitely not any new characters we hadn't already seen, but we had a great time (and Oliver got a cupcake and a birthday song!).

We walked back to our hotel (after a quick stop at the World of Disney to pick up souvenirs including Oliver's Jack Jack mug and more charms for Z's charm necklace), were picked up by Bon Voyage Transportation and zipped to the airport where we had so much time before our flight.

We had a phenomenal trip and are especially glad we had the first few days when the parks were so empty to enjoy as many rides and characters without the lines as possible.

Here are a few of my best tips for anybody reading and for my future self if ever planning this trip again (not likely, but you never know!).  It's a combination of things I learned from this trip and our last one two years ago.

1.  Go in January or February DURING THE WEEK.  No weekend days in the parks.
2.  Be sure to check the crowd calendar and events calendar for the parks.  We were there during a dance/cheer convention...I'm pretty sure that contributed to the crowds (plus the holiday weekend).
3.  If you can swing it, stay at the resort.  We really liked Paradise Pier.  It was the cheapest of the three and perfectly magical.  It's definitely the furthest away so be prepared to walk (but again, worth it).
4.  Bring snacks from home.  You can bring any food and drink into the parks you want (save alcohol).  Fruit snacks are great for line bribery and trail mix and fig bars saved us from starvation (when I say US I mean Oliver...).
5.  Share food at restaurants.  We ate so much all day that we didn't need huge meals anyway, but when we actually sat down to eat we always ordered two entrees and shared.  I would say the only time this didn't work great was at The Tropical Hideaway.  It wasn't enough food for us.  But like I said...we didn't starve.
6.  Be sure to take time to sit down and eat lunch at the Lamplight Lounge in DCA.  It was the best meal we sat down for and a great location (Pixar Pier).  We shared the lobster nachos and burger and both were delicious.
7.  Do a character dining experience for sure.  We've done Plaza Inn, Goofy's Kitchen, and the PCH Grill.  Our favorites were the PCH Grill and Goofy's Kitchen.  The only benefit to doing Plaza Inn is that it's in the park.  BUT, the other two had far better food and the characters seemed to interact more with the kids.  We found that doing a character breakfast on a day we weren't going to the park still gave us a spark of Disney Magic for the day!  If you do make a reservation for Plaza Inn, don't make the reservations for too early in the morning.  It's great to get to the parks, do a few hours of rides when the lines are shortest, and then head for breakfast.
8.  Spend your money on treats and snacks.  There are so many good ones.  And share so you can try different things (those churros are HUGE).  Our favorite snacks were the churros, (any and all carts) Carne Asada Fries (Award Wieners, DCA), corn on the cob (Pixar Pier) and Cookie Num Num (Pixar Pier).
9.  Bring pennies to squish!  The kids LOVED looking for the penny squishers and it was a cheap souvenir.  I just loaded up a mini-m&m round container before we left home with quarters and pennies.  The squishers are in most shops in each land, you just have to keep your eyes peeled for them (and there are a ton in Downtown Disney, too).
10.  We had autograph books the first trip and skipped it the second trip.  The kids seemed to like it the first time but we felt MUCH freer without them this time.  Cool, but unncessary.
11. Build in time for the shows.  It sure helps to recharge and they're ALL so spectacular.
12.  We are an early rising family but I can't imagine getting to the park any later in the day.  We were there at rope drop each morning and it's the only way to go to be able to do as much as possible before it gets crowded later in the day.
13.  The maxpass is great...but pricey.  We found that we didn't really need it the first two days (pulled paper fast passes when we wanted them AND the kids were too scared to do many of the fast pass rides anyway) and then the second two days they went SO fast for the entire day that they wouldn't have been much help.  We for sure bought at least one per day so that we could link the photo pass to it.  That was definitely worth $20.

Disneyland Day 1
Disneyland Day 2
Disneyland Day 3
Disneyland Day 4

Disneyland Day 4

Welp.  Day 4 at Disneyland was as much of a sh--show as we thought it would be.  It was SO crowded.  We used our extra hour and were in the park by 7:02 am.  We RAN to Peter Pan's flight but the line was already 35 minutes long!  Crazy-town.  So, we rode Dumbo, the Teacups, and then waited with the masses to run to Star Wars Land to get in line for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run ride.  That line ended up being 40 minutes long!  Zoë and I were pilots and Oliver and Chris were gunners and it was a really fun ride!  Z was terrified but she maneuvered the ship like an expert despite her fear.

One of the highlights of the day was Zoë spying Belle on her way through the park.  Zoë walked right up to her, asked if she could walk with her, and held her hand and chatted all the way from the carousel to It's a Small World.  It was absolutely adorable and Zoë was grinning from ear to ear.

Since we made it all the way over to that area of the park so quickly we hit up Toontown, played in the houses, got a picture with Goofy, and Zoë and I rode the Gadget Go Coaster which she claimed was REALLY FUN.  Shocking!

We had a reservation for the Plaza Inn at 10:20 so we hightailed it over there for brunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Chip and Dale, and Minnie.  I'm pretty sure we said it last trip, but the food at Plaza Inn is not really anything to write home about and the best part of that character dining experience is that it's in the park so you don't have to go far.  We wouldn't do it again.  The Mickey Waffles were a hit with Oliver, though, and Zoë loved going into the buffet area by herself to pick up more food.  Oliver's favorite was the grape juice and Zoë's was bacon.  So.  Eh.  It WAS a good day for a character breakfast, though, since the park was so crowded.

After breakfast we wandered over to Frontier/Adventureland and checked out the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  What a great out-of-the crowds attraction!  The kids loved running from spot to spot and going through the spooky caves.  We probably would have never adventured over there if the park weren't so crowded.  We also hit up the Mark Twin Riverboat, a great 20 minutes of sitting down and taking in the park.

The Enchanted Tiki Room followed by a not-so-quick Dole Whip (the stand was turning people away in the line because it was so long...) helped us regain some energy before we headed to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for Zoë AND Oliver's appointments.

Zoë finally FINALLY decided on an Elsa dress (original) and Oliver was SO thrilled to be dressed like a knight.  This is still (since our last experience two years ago) a REALLY magical place and the kids loved getting pampered by Jackie and Carter, their stylists.  Oliver was especially proud of himself as he stopped biting his nails the week before our trip so he could get his nails painted.  And Z was especially thrilled because her dress came with a purse (huge eye roll here as she has a million bags).

After the kids were primped they got to go have a quick photo session and then taken to the front of the line to meet Cinderella, Ariel and Jasmine.

We hit up Mickey and the Magical Map (ANOTHER great show!) before we headed out of the park and to Downtown Disney for dinner.  We waited an hour and a half for a table at Ballast Point Brewing and it was worth it!  We had a yummy burger and pretzel bites and both kids fell fast asleep at the table.  Ha!  Another successful day.  We would have never experienced many of the things we did this day if the parks hadn't been so miserably crowded, so I guess it was a silver lining.

Disneyland Day 1
Disneyland Day 2
Disneyland Day 3
Disneyland Day 5 + Tips