For summer of 2025 we’ve done quite a few mini adventures. Going to our favorite lakes and even checking out one new one (Willow lake is amazing!! As long as you go during the week! During the weekend it gets BUUUUUSSSSSSYYYYYY!) I’ll dive in a little more in a separate post about what we like about each spot we go to and why… For now… Onto the KAOS!
For this adventure we started by packing up the car for camping and heading to Seattle! Now, I drive a Highlander, (3 rows of seats means everyone can go in one car!) and we packed it FULL. I mean so full our girls in the third row had things between them AND we were afraid to open the hatch…. We even had a ton of things on the top (Tent (it’s giant), three inflatable paddle boards, and chairs) all wrapped up in a tarp because of potential (and happened) rainy weather. No one had leg room this trip… Heading to Seattle meant a 7.5 hour drive… with traffic it became longer. Everyone was ready to get out of the car and yet when we got to the hotel we only unloaded a few things and then packed back into the car and headed for Kura Revolving Sushi Bar.
I wish I’d gotten pictures here! But after such a long drive and 3 whiny kids it wasn’t my first thought. Now Kura is one of those places with the revolving bar and you pick out plates of things you want to try. You pay by the plate, there’s more than just sushi, it’s amazing! And so worth it. They even do little mysterious balls (almost like a pokeball) you can win after eating so many plates. Oh and don’t forget the singing robot that brings you your drinks and wasabi (i’ll admit…. I hated this part). It’s a great place to try if you find yourself in Bellevue, WA. Back at the hotel we unloaded the top of the car and got ready for bed.
Skipping some time (and information you don’t need to know) we left the hotel at about noon the next day. Ready to head to Schwarz Campground in Cottage Grove. The crappy, chaotic part? What should have been a 5.5 hour drive became an 8 hour drive. We did stop a couple of times, but most of that extra time was traffic….. No bueno. But we made it to our campsite. The campground itself is lovely, super clean and nice. We were quite impressed. We rushed to set up our tent before full dark hit and just managed it. We just had to set up a hammock for the kids to be chaotic on. We did walking tacos for dinner. What’s so chaotic about that? We forgot a part to the camp stove and had to use a small hiking stove instead! Glad we brought it. It worked wonders and will be on my list for needed things!
Lots of rain! Luckily our camping spot had a lot of tree coverage, which meant we didn’t get too wet trying to have breakfast. However, after breakfast we did a well known camping side quest (read: EXTREME SARCASM) we went to Wal-Mart. The benefit to this campsite is that we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere but civilization was only about 10 minutes away. So we got all the things I forgot while shopping as well as some extras to make camping more tolerable AND fill the car even more…. Whoops. At least we had eaten a lot of the food to make a little extra room…
After Wal-Mart we set up a couple more hammocks and just chilled. We had decided not to paddle board because of the morning rain and it just seemed better to play it by ear. Though we did want to check out the nearby lake at some point. This turned into everyone in hammocks just trying to breathe. After a short bit of time we (the adults) decided that we should go for a short hike. This meant dragging whiny kids out of their “I’m bored” hammocks and on the road. The campground is next to a dammed lake and there’s a nearby trail that kind of leads to it. It’s a really pretty walk and pretty easy. Along side parts of it is the best part! Blackberries! Which turned into us picking and eating blackberries for a good chunk of time and ended in one of the kids crying because they tripped while carrying blackberries and lost their blackberries (the travesty!).
Back at camp we roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner. Later we had S’mores (with salted caramel filled marshmallows, regular marshmallows, regular chocolate and caramel filled) and played a campfire game. All and all it was a great and Kaotic! adventure for the year. We found a camp ground we loved and had some much needed decompression time! Nothing like the woods to recenter and find peace even if it’s only for a little while.
Repacking the car to head home was bittersweet. We lost all foot space again and had to pack whiny kiddos back in the car, but reality called and home was where we had to go. Luckily the drive home was pretty quiet and calm.
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