The photos you see here were taken Saturday, August 12. We were in Lynden to do that which we had come to Lynden to do, after which we went to Aunt Judy's.
After an hour or two or three at Aunt Judy's, David, Theo & Ruby directed me and Uncle Jake, along with their parental units to Lynden's Fishtrap Creek Park.
Lynden's Fishtrap Creek Park holds many a good memory for me. Memories such as the Annual Lynden Fishing Derby, with our Grandpa Porter being a derby instigator, and thus somehow guaranteeing his grandkids got a fishy prize no matter how successful they were at the catching. I remember one year getting a fishing pole and reel with which I fished for many years following.
After Grandpa Porter left this Earthy Coil the good people of Lynden installed a new pedestrian bridge across Fishtrap Creek. Made of wood. With a plaque installed in rock on the south bridge entry dedicating the bridge to the memory of Dr. James Porter. Many, many decades later that wooden bridge no longer crosses Fishtrap Creek, gone, along with the memorial to Grandpa Porter.
So, back to present day, 2017 Fishtrap Creek. That is Theo you see at the top, crossing the creek. Theo and I had been having ourselves a mighty fine time playing on the elaborate, massive playground installation which tantalizes kids and the young at heart near the banks of Fishtrap Creek. Theo and I took a break from the playground to venture to the creek. Theo asked his uncle if he could take his shoes off and go wading. I am an uncle who only rarely says no, so Theo was soon wading in the crystal clear water.
Soon joined by mama Kristin and sister Ruby.
I do not know where David and mama Michele were during this wading episode. Had David been there what happened soon after mama Kristin began wading would have been memorable, due to David's morbid fear of water creatures like crabs.
And lobsters.
Kristin and Ruby were not long in the water when Kristin let out a piercing shriek, followed by a loud announcement that she had almost stepped on a sea monster with giant claws. Due to that aforementioned crystal clearness of the water Theo and I were soon able to see what Kristin had almost stepped on. A creek creature which looked like a mini-lobster, which we could see did have giant claws. Uncle Jake soon informed us that it was a crawdad, an alien species which had invaded Washington waters from muddy southern locations. I do not know if the giant claws were some sort of evolutionary thing caused by exposure to clean water, or those giant claws were the norm for crawdads.
Kristin made a feeble attempt to catch the crawdad, to no avail. The frisky creature soon made its escape downstream.
Like I think I already said, before getting in Fishtrap Creek Theo and I did some playground climbing.
Theo was able to navigate this cable balancing task, while I failed. Note in the background that somewhat tall yellow structure.
Another, somewhat cockeyed look at that somewhat tall yellow tower structure. This tower structure, which for me turned out to be a Tower of Terror, had multiple levels, accessed by a maze of bridges, ladders and contortions not designed for the full sized.
At the final level of the Tower of Terror one comes to the dark entry to a tunnel. This tunnel turns into a twisting, turning slide back to ground level. Again, not designed for the full sized.
I got stuck part way down the slide. Stuck in total darkness. With kids piling up behind me. Eventually I was able to wiggle my way down the chute, with great effort, after what seemed many minutes I began to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
After I extracted myself and returned to being vertical I tasked Theo with posing at the tunnel/slide exit for photo documentation purposes, which is what you see above, with Ruby looking on.
Towns in Washington sure do have some nice parks. Through which clean water flows. With no signs warning not to eat the crawdads...
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