Silver Falls at Mt. Rainier

Saturday was a busy day. Mia is getting several new teeth in at the same time and is struggling to be her happy self through it all. I don't blame her! Those baby teeth are stinking sharp! So we are doing what we can to keep her mind busy and get out and explore while enjoying the last bit of summer. What a gorgeous day it was- 70 and sunny and I just could never gush about it enough. Probably because I had looked it up the day before and it was supposed to be much colder and they're even expecting some snow in less than a week! Crazy. So I knew that this might be our last opportunity to go (sans snow shoes) this year. The drive was out of this world beautiful & captivating and was half the time it took to get to Lake Wenachee so I'm sure this will be a more frequent stop for us.

We got out of the car and I'm like, hey Brad, check out that pretty white butterfly! Then it comes and lands on my arm, then my hand, then Brad's ankle, before flying right at Mia's face, only turning upwards at the very last second. It was a perfect start!

We tried to stop along the way to let her check out stuff. Like the hardened sap on this tree, right at her height. Oh, and on the way she learned to say, Tree!

Mia was looking down laughing at me because I had the camera on timer and I was booking it like crazy jumping over fallen trees and trying not to break my leg-literally- as I rushed to get there in time! hahaha I made it, though not gracefully judging by Mia's reaction!

Mt. Rainier is known for it's amazing display of wildflowers. We were told we had missed them, but I was still able to find a couple here and there to enjoy. Just a tease to remind me to come back earlier next year!

The clarity of the water cannot be emphasized enough. It was like glass. 

To give perspective on the ravine

These two make my heart so happy

Another running for the camera moment. This bridge was darling and looking down you could see all the fish

Mia's interested expression when we were first seeing the water

She wouldn't take her eyes off the water for nuthin'!

A passer-by helped us get this shot. 

Sigh. It's hard to explain to a 16 month old that we cannot pick up every.single.rock. Good thing our hikes aren't at all about getting the whole way!

Thinking, hey, if she won't let me pick up the rocks, I guess I'll save them for later- in my mouth!!!!!! Oh man. It wasn't just a rock....def a handful of dirt in there...

Finding a caterpillar. I tried to keep him safe but I'll be looking out for karma this week because she got him :/ 

We were happy 99% of the way. But, keepin it real, the last 10 minutes were tears. 

We stopped at the most gorgeous viewpoint on the way back. Pictures always make the background look farther. Trust me, the mountain was HUGE.

See? We're nice. Playing with rocks.

I love love love this girl and her smiles!

This is our daughter 100%. Barefoot, wind in her hair (she adores the wind), playing in the rocks and covered in dirt. 

We have started to have her hair up every day since it's so long it gets in her eyes. So I twisted it to be a ringlet in the front (oh yeah, Elvis style all the way) but even that got too long. So, pony it is :)

All in all, the day was a huge success. Absolutely worth the hour 15 min drive! We are already looking forward to our next visit!