I went on a bug and creature hunt with Aliah and Cayah at Mary S. Young Park. We always see a lot there. This time, I had ants crawling all over me (which I love!) and we found a newt, a bunch of huge millipedes, cool looking snails, and a lot more. I brought my book of Pacific Northwest bugs to identify them.
Cayah’s birthday wish was to go up to Mt. Hood and hike to Trillium Lake. So we did! I’d never done anything like that and it was both super fun and tiring. We did a lot of sledding, ate snacks on the trail, and made it back to the car in the dark. What an adventure!
We went to the Really Really Free Market at Gateway Park in Portland and that park was super cool!
My favorite thing was to slide down the hill in a cardboard box. I’m definitely going back there.
Mommy, Aliah, and I went on an epic bug hunting trip to Mary S. Young Park, a huge forested park just a few minutes from our house.
First, we saw flowers! Trillium, to be exact. They are native to the Pacific Northwest and beloved in the Portland area. Don’t pick their flowers!
Then I found my first millipede! It was sooo much bigger than the ones I’d found in our yard.
Aliah found this box for me on the free bench at her apartment building. She knew it had to be for me! And she made the purple handle, too. I put all of my bugs in it to look at up close, then released them.
Looking under logs and inside old stumps were a good place to find bugs.
I found this cool spider with the big abdomen.
We came across a little waterfall.
I called it a water slide and named it Nature Falls. I threw rocks and sticks down it so they could ride it.
We originally planned on crossing this bridge, but found out it was destroyed in last year’s ice storm.
So we continued on. I always had my shovel with me.
And I found a centipede! Another bug much bigger than the ones I’ve found at home.
These are formica ants. We accidentally disturbed their home and they weren’t happy about it.
Then there was this cute little snail…
…and this neat thing that fell out of a tree.
Eventually, we got really close to the Willamette River and the forest turned into sand.
While I was digging, I found a sand wasp! It was very friendly.
And a little bit later, I found this bee. It was friendly, too.
Aliah helped me manage the big rocks as we got closer to the river.
But eventually, I was jumping them on my own.
What a fun, epic day! I found the coolest bugs I’ve ever seen!
I’ve been looking for centipedes at school for weeks, with no luck. Finally, I went to Midhill Park with my friend, Aliah, who knows a lot about finding bugs. We found an old fallen tree and looked there.
First we found this really cool pattern that was made, mostly likely, by some kind of bark beetle.
Then we found this interesting bug, which we first thought might be a wasp. But we Googled it and discovered it’s a Banded Ash Borer.
Then, finally, finally! We found a centipede! I caught it in this jar and brought it home to look at more closely. I’ll return it to the park tomorrow!
The Portland area is having a massive heat wave, reaching temperatures well into the 100s! We invited our friends, Aliah and Cayah, to stay with us because they don’t have air conditioning and their home is very hot.
We had fun cooking food on the grill, eating dinner outside when it cooled off way down to 99 degrees, and hanging out in our luxurious pool.
Their dog, Benny, is a very nice guy. He stayed downstairs or outside, but the cats still didn’t like him being around.
Starbucks gave Mommy a free drink for her birthday, so we tried to walk there, but we didn’t make it. Too hot!
Mommy’s friend, Aliah, recently had surgery, so we brought some dinner to her house in Vancouver, WA.
Aliah loves gardening and she was walking around enough to give us a tour. She took some strawberries from her plant and they were the best strawberries I’ve ever had!
Mommy and I went adventuring with some friends to Beacon Rock in Stevenson, Washington. These 5-year-old legs walked to the top of a big ol’ rock 848 feet into the sky!
The best parts of the hike were when the path made an “overpass” over another path.
Sometimes I needed a milk break.
Mommy’s friend, Aliah, told me about the little islands in the Columbia River.
That’s Oregon over there!
That’s my buddy, Quinton.
After walking for an eternity, we finally made it to the top.
I told Aliah that the monsters on my knees are named Rocco and Taco.
Aliah’s daughter, Cay, is a squirrel whisperer.
I was happy to get back to solid ground after walking back down to the forest.
Mommy and I celebrated. We did it!
Mommy and I ventured out on a super rainy day to meet up with Mommy’s friend, Aliah, and have some tea.
This is Aliah. She was super nice!
The front of the tea shop was in an old train car! Here I am, in the caboose.
I could peek out this window to see the rest of the tea shop.
I wanted to go up to a hidden little seating area at the top of the train. I had to climb a ladder, and Mommy and Aliah helped me.
The tea shop provided chalk to draw with, so I wrote my name on the wall, so everyone would know I was there!
