Walkathon

TAKE A HIKE: Upon upping this morning, we found the day to be not so awful weather-wise (despite the dire forecasts from yesterday). In fact, there was a fair expanse of blue sky over our part of Seattle. I suggested that we head to 534-acre Discovery Park and go for a decent-length hike.

I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking, but the overview is we walked about 5 miles (from the south side of the park out and around the horn, where the lighthouse is, along the north beach, and then through the historic district back to the car).
The water of Puget Sound was the smoothest we've EVER seen it today. It was like glass. I couldn't help but chuckle at this sign ...

and the well-worn path leading to the unstable bluff behind it. :)

From a distance, we could see that the lighthouse restoration project appeared to be complete. (For our past several visits, the building has been shrouded with construction equipment and materials.).

We walked, walked and walked some more. After about 2 miles we finally made it to the beach. The kids love exploring the driftwood structures there.

Annabelle found a red balloon on the beach. That made her VERY happy. :)
We crossed paths with this (very dead) crab. ... Er, why does this crab have this weird lobster-like tail? Somebody help us, please! ... Surely there's a name and/or explanation for this.

We made our way to the point where the (short, squatty) lighthouse is. CJ, clearly disappointed with its stature, said, "This isn't like the ones in cartoons." While he was right, I have to say, this lighthouse is charming in its own little way.

On our way back in the general direction of the car and away from the beach, we encountered a neat marshy area. Unfortunately, we didn't see any frogs, turtles, or beavers today. As we trudged up a steep hill CJ proclaimed, "I'm poofed!" And a few minutes later reiterated, saying, "I'm all poofed out." LOL!

I helped prod Annabelle and him along by doling out Cheez-Its four at a time.

We saw some AMAZING trees today. Someone had thoughtfully tied a rope to this one, allowing access to its 'crotch.'

We checked out some of the cool architecture in the old Fort Lawton zone. This is the gymnasium ... And adjacent to the church, we found this quiet grove.

Just before we got to the car, we spotted this black bunny, and a baby black bunny, too.