A Saturday with Daddy...

...well, sort of.  :)  A few weeks ago Mr. Wise Guy had to do a few hours worth of work over at Priest Rapids Dam and thought we might enjoy coming along and spending some time at the recreation area near there. So we packed a picnic lunch and made the 1 1/2 hour drive along with him this, almost rainy, Saturday morning. :) We started it off with The Boy getting carsick right before we arrived at our destination. As I bailed over the seat and into the back of the Yukon, casting about for something to catch the excess in, my eyes landed briefly on Mr. Wise Guy's hard hat...but ultimately came to rest upon a nice sturdy apple box we had brought along to use for apple picking on our way home.  It did its job but that was the end of that apple box. :) 

After leaving Mr. Wise Guy at the Dam we made the short jaunt over to the recreation area in the wee village of Desert Aire. The kids watched the boats that were coming and going, while I unpacked bikes and strollers and collected everything we needed, and finally donned my inline skates.

 At last we were on our way down the paved trail that wound around and down along the Columbia River.

 Pleased to have made it to their destination, and anxious to head back the other way to stop at one of the many picnic areas we had passed.

Low flying planes, usually for spraying, are not an uncommon sight.

 Destination discovered!

 Along with a great climbing tree that they each had to take a turn at.

 Playing peek-a-boo between the tree trunks with the remains of her PB&J still in her hand.

 We played on the little beach for a while...

 Threw rocks in the water...

 Collected tiny white shells...

 And then ate our lunch, before finally heading back to the Yukon.

Here's my 6 1/2 month belly, thanks to Kate. :)

 Then we headed over to a fun park across the road.

 My sweet monkeys! :)

 The picnic tables there were all set up like this in different colored, covered canoe structures.

She has spied a pirate ship!

The Pirate spotted her too, and began steering  violently in her direction!

 The kids really enjoyed the not-so-common-any-more merry-go-round. I don't know of any other ones around here.  After much fun was had by all we went to collect Daddy and headed out to the apple orchard to glean 5 boxes of apples from the trees there. Mr. Wise Guy has since picked several more boxes on his way home from work.  He has also invested several hours of his weekends to applesauce making. All I have to do is run it through the canner. Last week he even washed up ALL of the mountain of dishes and applesauce equipment after the fact.  What can I say.  I LOVE MY MAN. He could obviously tell I was in way over my head with the workload.  We still have a large box of apples that I need to run on the dryer and maybe make a little more apple topping with, and a box of plums that needs making into jam. Then maybe I will get a break from RUNNING the treadmill of life.  I could really use a slow walk.  Then again, I would be happy with just bumping the speed down a notch or two so I could catch my breath a minute. I guess I need to clean for company this weekend, and prepare for my Sunday School class, before I start thinking about slowing down.
Note: This post was done over a week ago now. I did get the plum jam made, the apples on the dryer, the house ready for company,  all the food  made, and the S.S. stuff done. We enjoyed our visitors and hope they don't wait too long to come again. :)