A teenager in the house!

Wow! Madison has always seemed older to me. Maybe it's because she's becoming a little more mature every year or maybe it's because she's the oldest and I expect more from her regarding help with the younger ones and other things around the house. On any note, she is officially a teenager!

I still remember being in labor with her all day at home and our yellow lab, Molly, was laying at my side on the couch the whole time. It's like she knew I was not feeling well that day and she was taking care of me. We arrived at the hospital after 10 in the evening and after enduring the pain and Madison's stubbornness (she just didn't want to come out), we finally found out at 5:50 a.m. that we had a baby girl!

The only thing Madison wanted for her birthday this year was to go to the Jennie Finch Softball Camp and so that's what we did for her. In fact, we booked it as soon as registration went live late February/early March. This was back when we thought we'd only have to drive two hours for the camp. Little did we know that we'd be moving to the state of Washington and that we would end up having to fly her there.

That is one big smile!

All I can say that it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we didn't cancel it! It was a packed fill weekend, but Madison and I were able to spend it together and use it as a little bit of bonding time. And she was able to meet a softball player that deserves a lot of respect for her abilities and how she carries herself outside the sport in everyday life.

Story time with Jennie!

Jennie had some great words for the girls that passed through this camp. Lots of great advice for on and off the field. This was one of my favorite parts of the camp and I hope Madison was able to take some key points away from listening to Jennie.

The morning of her birthday the younger three and I had plans to put a candy/pop birthday cake together for her. It worked out well since she likes to sleep in and we had plenty of time to complete it. No making fun of the bow - bows are not my strong suit :(

Not perfect, but it's the content.

Mason & Summer made cards for Madison :)

Madison's birthday dinner choice was Buffalo Wild Wings. All of our kids seem to be addicted to that place lately. Because it was her birthday, they gave her a choice of a free dessert or a bottle of their BBQ sauce. She chose. . . . . the BBQ sauce!

We did a rush job of making the cake so nothing fancy, but still delicious. Madison's choice was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yummy!

We love you so much Madison and are excited to watch you keep growing more into who you'll become every day. No matter what, you will always be our little girl in our hearts!

Pike Place Market & the Seattle Mariners

Last Saturday was a full day of events for the Clark family! We are trying to enjoy everything around us while the weather is so nice during the summer months here.

Softball Tryouts

While looking into softball programs the last few weeks (which has been very time consuming & frustrating at times), we found out that not too many girls Madison's age play in town league ball, but the majority play on select teams that you need to try out for. Sean took Madison to her first tryout last Saturday morning. It was great for her to see what a tryout is like and see what she'll need to work on for future. Sean said she did well with pitching and fielding, but will need to work on hitting and sliding (no shock with that assessment). 

Madison showing off her branded # on her arms :)

A lot of teams are only looking for one or two spots to be filled so we'll need to work on those things if she really wants to stand out. And we'll need to find the right select team for us as a family. I've talked to a few coaches and some fly all over for tournaments and some girls (or maybe the parents of the girls) are big on getting the teams to "exposure tournaments." That is so not for us. Madison just wants to play softball to have fun, but be competitive at the same time. And I believe we found a league that will work for her to play in the fall to build on her skills and then she can try out later in the year when teams are looking for players again. 

Pike Place Market & Surroundings

Once Madison and Sean arrived home from the tryout, everyone had lunch and we headed to Pike Place Market. It was a beautiful day to be out! 

Standing in front of the original Starbucks. 

No matter how much I love me some Starbucks, it was not worth my time to stand in line to go into the original Starbucks in Pike Place Market. The line was down the street to the left quite a ways. I have a hard time waiting 10-15 minutes :)

After roaming the market for awhile, we decided to hit Pike Brewing Company so we could have an early dinner and Sean could get a taste of another breweries beer! While waiting the younger three and I roamed in the mall area and found Sasquatch!!!

Hmm, not so scared, I guess :)

Sean enjoying his beer & Madison enjoying her homemade root beer!

With our stomachs filled and ready to hit the Mariners game, who could resist taking a block detour to see the gum wall?! Something so gross just had to be seen! I mean, who thinks of this stuff and why do we find it so intriguing?

One wall that wasn't quite covered in gum.

Full gum coverage! Gross!

Mason partaking in the fun & Noah is getting ready to.

Sean being his usual self :)

Seattle Mariners Game

Enough fun with the gum wall already. Time to hit the game!

Mason always has to do a muscle type pose.

The Mariners had been on a winning streak and just killed the White Sox the previous two nights before we watched them play. Unfortunately they lost by one in extra innings while we were there :( It was fun to watch though. 

Family photo time

Kiddos after the game

What a great day! Took awhile to get out of town with the traffic, but it was definitely well worth it. And we were able to check a couple more things off the things we want to do here. Next up, who knows? But I do believe a few other "must-dos" are a ferry ride to explore, a Seattle Sounders game, a beach right off the ocean visit and who knows what else we may find!

Bridal Veil Falls/Lake Serene

A few weeks ago Sean and I took the kids to the Bridal Veil Falls/Lake Serene trail. We learned a little lesson on this hike, but I'll start where it all began.

Sean and I were having coffee on a Saturday morning and trying to figure out what trail we should go on with the kids that day. He brought this one up and mentioned that the round trip distance for the Bridal Veil Falls was 4.4 miles and for Lake Serene it was 7.2 miles round trip. I told him there was no way we could do Lake Serene with the kids as the furthest they'd been was just over 4 miles and I didn't want to push them so much that they didn't want to do these hikes anymore.

So we headed to the trail head that Saturday afternoon and started our hike around 2:30pm. Kids were in a bit of a mode when we started which didn't help, but we soldiered on.

And on and on and on. . . .

We stopped and were able to see water coming down from the falls on this rock area.

Shortly before getting to this spot, around 1.7 miles in, there was a sign that said "Bridal Veil Falls - 1/2 mile" and it pointed to the right. I mentioned it to Sean thinking it was our turn for the short route that would show us a great view of the falls, but he told me to keep going and that it was nothing. So that's what we did. We kept going. On our way to Lake Serene. I wasn't confident the kids could do it especially with their attitudes about hiking that day.

But we kept going. And I was somewhat nervous as we started having to deal with switchbacks and the steepness of it all in such a short time. According to the trail book we have, you gain about 1300 feet in the last 1.5 miles that it takes to get you up to Lake Serene. And let me tell you, we were all feeling it!

Kids going up a section of stairs on the way
to Lake Serene.

Everyone we would meet that was coming down just kept saying that we were almost there and telling the kids good job. Madison was tired of hearing it since we still weren't there. Summer seemed to pick up pace though. She was a little go getter once we hit half way up and you could tell she was starting to love it.

Loved this photo from my phone! Almost to Lake Serene
at this point.

I do have to say, everyone was right that it was worth it once you get there. It was so beautiful!

Wasn't too happy with some of my pictures for the day, but I think no matter how good I would've gotten one, it just wouldn't do it any justice. You have to see it and you will definitely be mesmerized by the beauty!

Snack time to fill up on all the lost calories from our hike up!
Doesn't Madison look happy? :)

Our curiosity took over and we headed up a short path to something they called Lunch Rock after having our snack. I about had a heart attack up there as it was steep to walk down and then it just dropped off. We took a few pictures and then I was ready to get the heck out of there.

I think Noah is realizing that this is steeper than he thinks.

Love getting the kids in shots like this!

Even though we had the enduring climb to get here, the kids really soaked up this place. Noah even mentioned how it'd be cool if we had a tent so we could camp somewhere after hiking that much.

It was now time to head back down the trail and it had unfortunately started sprinkling. Not a good thing in the first place, but add the factors of having kids with you and the first 1.5 miles of the trail will be steep, rocky and full of switchbacks, it's not the best combination :(

It was very slow going, but we were getting down one step at a time - literally. We should've made a lot better time going down, but it ended up only being 10 minutes shorter than going up. The rain slowed us down as it caused it to be slicker in spots. I stuck with Mason and Sean stuck with Summer. I got the following two shots with my phone as we hit the switchbacks on the way down.

Summer & Sean 

Madison in green poncho & Noah in red poncho

After seeing this, all I could think of was how crazy Sean and I were to have those kids up there! I just kept telling Mason that we completely owed them and I'd buy him whatever he wanted after we got down. That one could have backfired on me, but all he wanted was candy and pop :)

The rain was off and on as we made our way down and the sun was making it's way down, but we made it! And it felt so good to see the parking lot when we arrived. You can barely tell this little guy was tuckered out from our hike. He was quite the trooper! 

Overall, we had a great time. It took A LOT of work on our way up, but the kids had a much better attitude on the way down. I paid for it for the next two days in the form of crazy sore leg muscles, yet the kids weren't sore at all. No fair! I attribute it to the fact that Sean and I ran hills the day before and then did this hike the next day. 

Either way, it's just another trail we were able to check off our list. I have more pictures from the day loaded here if you want to peek at a few more: Lake Serene. And if anyone ever wants visit and go on a hike, we'd be happy to be your guides!