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.
This kind of dragon LIKES to jump on the couch.
This kind of dragon does NOT like his picture taken...
...at least not particularly. Unless this dragon's Momma is making funny jokes that make him smile.
This dragon very much DOES like playing cool PC games on his Dad's computer. 
Perched WAY up high on the standing desk, this dragon is most content... and has become quite adept at shooting bad guys!
Momma also took a picture of Dad and me. I am talking about my ashes.
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.
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 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.
...mixing it to just the right consistency...
...my truck got thoroughly coated in mud, too. We hosed it (and me) down afterwards...
...I'm still surprisingly clean, aren't I?
...high five, this was fun, Dad! Hmmmm...
On a much cleaner note, my Momma's friend Kim had fun taking some pictures of her big baby belly down by the river. Here's one of the photos.
You take one of these...
...and one of these...
...and you just start painting!
Hmmm. Such a LARGE, ROUND canvas feels a bit daunting...
...best to fill it with LOTS of paint. Hey. My Baby Brother just kicked my hand!
...that's better.
...making hand prints is always fun!
Haha! Green belly button!
...now it's my turn to get some warrior paint on my manly, muscly chest.
Yup, we both like the results.
Posing for Dad with the camera...
Haha! That was fun!
...can I paint on my baby brother like that when he comes out?
A picture of Dad, taken by Mark.
A picture of Mark, taken by Sophia while we waited for it to get dark enough to light the fireworks.
A picture of Dad and Momma, taken by Sophia while we waited for dark. Dad could hardly wait to light fireworks...
This is Mr. Buns, the pet bunny my Momma caught in our garden. He was eating Momma's flowers, and Momma tried to shoo him away, but instead he came TOWARDS her. Figuring that he is someone's pet, she caught him, and we put him in a box. We hung up "found" signs all over the neighborhood, and called the pet shelter. They told us we could bring him in to be treated for the fleas he had. We did, but took him back home (along with a cage the shelter let us borrow), because the shelter would have euthanized Mr. Buns if the owners weren't found after 3 days. The old owners haven't contacted us, but we've found a nice lady who wants to adopt him. 
This is me down by the Columbia. Dad and I went here on Monday during our "men's night" - we fished, and drew in the sand with my cool cool sword. I love my Dada!
Hmmm, the pool got smaller since last year... but it is still plenty of fun to play in!
(check out my sixpack abs...)
I did my "strong man" pose just for my Momma.
There is one particularly beautiful view that my Momma asked Dad to pull over for so she could take some pictures. She also attempted to take pictures of Dad and me, but we were more interested in making goofy faces.
Hey! No fair! You accidently cut me out of the picture!
Hmmm... we're all making a weird face, but at least we are all IN this pic...
This is my Momma's new screen background on her laptop. It really was very pretty - and Momma even let me take a few pictures.
This is Beacon Rock. If Momma's belly wasn't so big we would have hiked up the many many stairs to the top. Maybe next year we can climb up. We did have a very nice picnic though!
Look at how long those giant basalt pillars are!
I got to fish for a little while from the dock. It was fun, but there were too many mosquitos for us to stay very long.
...checking to see if I caught anything...
Holden and I are the two 4-year-olds my Momma knows who can actually cast 30-50ft out... with good form! (Grampa G, you would be proud of me!)
...checking my tackle...
Ok, looks like it's time to go!
Bye, bye Beacon Rock, we had fun!
