Today my Momma and Dad fulfilled one of my long-time dreams: we went to Mt St Helens! I have been fascinated by volcanoes since the beginning of this year, and we have read many many books about volcanoes from the library, as well as watched video footage of different volcanoes exploding. Today seemed as good a day as any to go visit Mt St Helens, and so we did. It made my day!
At the first glimpse of the North slope of the volcano, I was just amazed. We see the South slope almost daily from Vancouver, but I had no idea that SO MUCH of the mountain was missing! As we drove up the 504, I got to see where lava, ash and rubble had washed down the Toutle river.
This is me, proudly standing in front of the volcano, holding a tupperware full of ashes that I got to collect.
We beat the crowds up there - as we were driving back down we saw many many people driving up. We asked a friendly Asian woman to take this picture of us by one of the view points.
Momma also took a picture of Dad and me. I am talking about my ashes.
You can see where the river washed out down below, and all the ashes and destruction throughout the blast zone. You can also see how slowly but surely, plants are starting to grow in this area. We saw lupines, Indian paintbrush, and a lot of other low-growing herbs and flowers growing right out of the ashes. Little chipmonks and ground squirrels had also made burrows and tunnels in the ashes, although it seemed like they were having some trouble with cave-ins...
We stopped at several viewpoints before arriving at the very end of the 504. This one had a particularly sheer drop-off beyond the wall... I'm glad my Dad held onto me so tightly!
You can see the lava dome inside the crater. It's the raised part that is darker black and white, in the right upper middle of the crater. According to the signs, it grows several inches every year, and sometimes puffs steam out of the cracks.
All around the outer edges of the blast zone you could see dead trees that had been blown uphill by the blast back in 1980. You can also see that new trees are beginning to grow. Here, nearer to the volcano, only trees were growing that volunteered, and are protected. Further away, trees had been planted by people, to reestablish the forest/tree farms.
One last view of the mountain before we left. Visiting Mt St Helens really did make my day. I was so excited that I was a chatterbox all the way up to the mountain, and all the way back home. I exclaimed at every lava flow (however old) or dune of ash by the road that I saw. Every time the mountain came back into view when we came around a curve I rejoiced in how much closer we were. When it was time to leave, I waved at the mountain and promised that I would come back some time. Maybe when my little brother is 4?
On the drive home I drew what I had seen, and what I imagined on my eraser-board. I asked my Momma to take pictures of what I drew, and I explained what each one was. In this picture you see the North slope of the volcano, after the side of the mountain had slid down, including the lava dome in the middle, and there is hot lava squirting out of it. There are ashes and large rocks at the bottom.
This is the mountain now, with some old dead trees that are lying on the ground, and some new small ones growing up.
This picture is of a small and a large tree growing out of the ashes, and of me and Dad dancing because we're happy about seeing Mt St Helens together. Momma is not in this picture because she is not dancing because her belly is too big.
This picture is of LITTLE-Dad and BIG-me playing with a toy airplane together. Little Dad is wearing a pilot's helmet with a face mask. Big-me is holding a toy airplane.
Playing 'horsey' with Grandma
As mentioned earlier, Sean really likes to be wrapped like a tortilla, and is then content to watch us while we eat... as long as someone holds him! (I thought it was pretty funny when Momma kept accidentally dropping food on him...)
This pic is actually from a few days before Sean was born. We went to Portland to feed the ducks and geese with Grandma...
...Sean still spends most of the day sleeping or nursing. I can't wait for him to be big enough to play!
Here I am helping Momma wake Sean up. He needed to learn to sleep at night and be awake more during the day.
Sean really doesn't like to be put down. Thankfully he likes his sling so Momma can still do stuff with me.
Sean is slowly learning to spend more time awake during the day. This means that Momma and Dad actually have gotten a few good nights of sleep. The first few nights Sean cried for hours and hours...
Often when Sean is asleep the kitty likes to sleep close by. I think he is being a guard cat. Merlin doesn't seem bothered when Sean cries. Lincoln, our dog, on the other hand, is very confused when Sean cries.
...more snoozing...
Last night Sean only woke up at 3am and at 6am, and then slept until 9am! This meant that Momma and I were able to eat breakfast together and do some crafts. I had the idea to make a memory game, which we will be adding to over time.
I drew snowmen, storm clouds, and airplane eaters. Momma drew some pictures too.
We had fun showing Dad when he got home from the dentist.
Today I helped Sean stay happy during his tummy time.
I gave him hugs, rubbed his back, and also showed him how I can push myself up on my arms and lift my head.
Then when he started getting fussy, Dad turned Sean into a burrito.
It's not always fun to listen to Sean cry, and it's not always easy to share the attention from people that I used to have all to myself, but I like being a big brother, and I love little Sean.
We are a family of 4 now...and I like it!
