Day Three in Tacoma

...first a morning walk by myself

Wildflowers were beginning to bloom in the fields along the trails.

The path not taken...this time.

Tosha cut Niki's hair this morning so I got a picture of them each posing after their hair had been brushed for our outing.

 ...and then our trip to Love Lock Bridge at Chambers Creek Regional Park and Golf Course.  This park is located in University Park and was about 30 minutes away with some fun winding roads. Located on the lower part of the Puget Sound, you can see 4 or 5 islands from the park.

The kids all fell asleep on the ride to the park, so Tosha and I headed out to explore while Austen was a good sport and stayed with the kids--who all slept for an hour or so.  There was a train track along the coastline and we talked about how Gary and Grandpa Giberson would love to be here when a train went by.

There were these remnants of some past industry in the area, but now it is a huge park that includes a golf course.

Wildflowers were plentiful here as well.

These was a very unusual plant--it reminded me of something that Dr. Seuss would use in one of his books.

This is how it looks when you glance at it----bushy and green.

When you look at it closer, you see the very interesting details along the main stem of the bush.  Looks Asian to me!

And even more close up---the patterns and detail of the design.

The world is truly stunning with the variety and beauty of nature!!!

A view of the cement walls left behind....

Finally, we discovered the reason for the cement walls around the park.  It was a former sand and gravel pit that had been made into a park.

Still without the kids, we saw this rabbit eating grass....

and the nest.....

and its owner standing guard.  (This is NOT a sea hawk, but an osprey--a quick research on Tosha's phone informed us.)  The nest was huge.

And there was a bridge, so of course, I had to cross it--to get to the other side!  The bridge was originally built to cross over the train tracks and allow people to reach the beach area on the other side.  Beginning in 2013, people began putting "love locks" on the fencing along the bridge.  This is an international thing that lovers do.  I first saw it in Texas in a small town.  I didn't know it was an international phenomena until I looked up the exact name of the park to write this post.  I guess Paris and Prague have very famous places to leave your lock showing your undying love for each other.

This is why the bridge is now referred to as "Love Lock Bridge."

You can see that it is a bit windy.  I like it that way,
because then there is no expectation that your hair look good.

As Tosha and I came down the stairs to the beach, we saw this group of stacked rocks and we started working on one of our own....meaning that Tosha did all of the work.

Our completed and now the tallest one on the beach----

The colors of the rocks.............stunning!

Further down the beach some people had been very ambitious with building and used the driftwood in the area to make this creation.

This beach was littered with wood and I would imagine that it came from both lumbering done nearby and the forests surrounding the Sound and the many islands.

As we were on the beach, Austen texted to say that Niki was awake and what did we want to do.  Although I am sure Tosha and Austen would have been happy to head home with three clean and rested kids, Tosha knows how I like doing little things with the grandkids.  So when I asked about grabbing Niki for a quick trip across the bridge, she told Austen to bring all of the kids to meet us.

Here is Cooper who ran and hugged Tosha when he saw us across the field.

Niki posing by the locks---which he thought were interesting but weird.

View down the beach to the Gig Harbor Bridge---

And after we were across the bridge, we saw the train coming (see in above photo) so Niki and I took off running (that is not a sight you want to see--me running!) so that we could be on the bridge when the train went under ---sorry to dad and Grandpa Giberson--you missed it!)

We got there in plenty of time---

Tosha and Cooper heading down the stairs to the beach....

And rocks and water---that magical combination!

Even Ava was determined to throw a rock in----

The whole family got in the act!!!

The sky was filled with amazing cloud formations---you can see one of the islands across the way.

I had said to Tosha that she needed to come back in six months and see if our stacked rocks were still standing.  I had assumed that people had added stacked rocks over the months. NOPE!  As the tide came in when we were at the beach with the kids our tower stood firm for one or two waves, but then it began to lose rocks and fell along with most of the other ones.  I guess it is a daily ritual at the beach to stack rocks.

 Tosha trying her balancing skills...........

And then challenged Austen to cross on this dead tree over the bay----

so he had to do it....no problem!

One the way back to the car, we had a really odd experience--Have you ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds?"  We had a little taste of that.

We were walking across a large grassy area to the parking lot when some birds began flying near us.  At first there was just one or two but then it grew to a flock of about 8-10 birds who were flying all around us---and then in between us---and dive bombing as if to get as close as possible to us.  We kept walking thinking that it was just random and we were in their way---but they followed us across the field---and the game was on.  Niki and Super Hero Cooper were off to chase them.

A cape looks pretty good when you are chasing something!

Even while they were chasing them, we had a couple who kept diving around us.  So odd!  

They were fast so I didn't get any good pictures of them.  But due to blind luck, this one photo of Niki in the distance happened to include some of the birds.....

as I edited it closer......

Three birds in this photo

and closer............

This lasted about 5 minutes or so.  I have never seen birds do that unless food was involved.

Headed home for Tosha and Austen's DATE night while Grandma was left in charge.

Tosha said I could give them ice cream if they ate dinner!
She liked it!

End of Day Three in Tacoma---next day---BEACH DAY!