Sat @ NW Trek

Melis has had a 'girls day out' pencilled in on the calendar for over a month now. They went up to Trader Joe's in Tacoma, shopped for a while, and had a nice lunch. But it was a nice day, and not wanting it to go to waste, I packed up Abee & our stuff and set out for NW Trek.

The first thing we had to do, of course, was eat a juicy burger. Greasy might be a better word. Nothing short of dripping with lard. Poor Abigail is getting clogged arteries already at 1 year old. But she loved it! And the fries too ;-)

We took the stroller, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She was there to walk. And walk she did. She would hold my hand sometimes, but often shook her head 'NO' when I offered a finger. I suppose you have to work those calories off somehow.
Baldy.
Grandma Koning's favorite animal ;-). I don't think she'd mind me saying she was pretty bummed when they decided not to allow the hunt in Idaho this year for them.
Practicing what they learned in french class.
Shroom & fall colors.
Abee spent a good 5 minutes playing with this piece of moss and a few others near it.

This is as photogenic as the grizz wanted to be today. I never did see his head.

'Daddy, I'm a big girl now - watch me push the stroller. . .if I could just reach it.'
After an hour and a half walking around, making animal sounds, and climbing on benches, she started to get pretty tired. And tired girls don't follow directions very well. She didn't want to be held. She didn't want to ride in the stroller. She wanted to walk down the areas where small children aren't supposed to walk (must take after Mom that way, right?). I couldn't help but crack up when she kept pointing near the 'no' in this sign as I tried to coax her back to the main path. I think she understands that word far better than any 14 month old girl should.
We caught the Golden Eagle on our way out.

And finally. . .she gave in and rode. And slept most of the way home.

In other news, we were quite proud of Abee last night, as we visited Camp Quixote, a homeless camp that is fairly well organized, with a pretty interesting mission. It's not a destination for homeless people to stay at indefinitely, but something to help them for a short time as needed. Regardless of how one feels about homelessness, it's a reality, and we were there to make sure the residents got a warm meal and few extra smiles that night. Even though it was a bit dark, with some interesting faces around, Abee warmed up to the experience after a while. We pray God used her, even at this young age, to bring joy to the hearts of His children.

Speaking of bringing joy, that little girl has taught me a thing or two about my relationship with God. One of those little lessons is about our duty - our opportunity - to bring Joy to God. He doesn't need us. He doesn't need our obedience. He doesn't need us to be thrilled & enthralled with Him. But He wants us to. In the same way that kids bring joy to their parents, we have a great opportunity to bring Joy to our Creator who loves the dickens out of us not because of what we do. He loves us just because we're His kids. And that's all that matters.