Adventures in the Hoh Rainforest with Lou and Lu
And “Hoh”way we go:
6:45 PM: My friend, Laura, arrives with her child, Lou. We have a big day planned. It will be hours in the car to get to one of the most beautiful destination in our state. We’ve been planning this for months. Ever since our epic Rainier trip, we’ve dreamed of going to the Olympic National Forest and capturing these two friends. There’s a slumber party planned as well. It’s our first one in our new house. We’re buzzing with anticipation and joy. This is going to be the best day!
10:05 PM: The kiddos are set up in the living room, two separate mattresses, stuffies, pillows, and blankets, a glowing planetary orb, Alexa for music, and all the joy buzzing in them because this is the first of many bestie slumber parties to come. Our house is filled with love, laughter, joy, excitement, and anticipation. It’s been so long since we could do these things together, and we soak up every ounce of giggly goodness.
8:30 AM: Lucy and Lou are still fast asleep in their living room nest. They slept all night, restful, comfortably at peace. We gently wake them and serve them a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. All fed and fueled up, we get ready to leave.
9:30 AM: But before we can leave, Laura hands me a book. It’s cover is a magnificent shade of sky blue with contemporary handwritten, black font. The title reads, My Shadow is Pink. It’s by Scott Stuart. I know what this is going to be about. What I did’t realize is how this book would make me feel.
Scott Stuart with his son dress up matching in Elsa dresses.
Side bar: This book sucker punched me in the feelskis. Legit!
I read it aloud in front of a house full of loved ones. As I rounded the halfway point of the story, I looked over at my husband who had big, hot tears rolling down his face. He silently sobbed along with the story. Looking at him made me lose all composure, and I could barely choke back the tears in order to get the words out. Sensing my impending struggle to read, Lucy grabbed the book from my hands and continued the story out loud. As she read the story to the rest of us, she beamed with pride. Laura asked her what she thought of the book, and she said, “It’s pretty great!” I thought it was pretty great too. What a neat book to add to our inclusive library. I glance at it again and keep getting struck by the powerful message contained within, that we are all allowed to express ourselves in ways that make us feel good and that we are all allowed to love and be loved for who we are. I think this book should be in every child’s library, no exceptions.
“Your shadow is YOU, and pink it will be. So stand up with your shadow and yell, “THIS IS ME!” And some they will love you... and some they will not. But those that do love you will love you a lot.”
Continued… Lou’s Shadow is Pink (err…Rainbow)
You see, my daughter’s best friend identifies as non-binary. Yes, at 10-years old, they know exactly who they are and what they want to be without society delineating what that should look like. So even though Louis is genetically male, inside they feel like conformity isn’t something that they prescribe to. Their shadow is RAINBOW! And because Lou is so true to themself, they bring out the very best in my child. My shy child comes completely out of her shell and never feels ashamed to be unabashedly herself whenever she is around her Lou. And their friendship is MAGIC! They love each other unconditionally. There is no crushing happening, they are truly best friends who delight in each other’s company. Their joy is palpable and nothing and nobody exists when they are with each other. (So much so that they wandered off and got lost in the woods not so long ago. Luckily, they had each other to lean on as the mama’s frantically searched for them).
Lucy and Lu have become inseparable since the day they first met on Rainier. They play all sorts of things together from Minecraft over FaceTime, to trolls in the woods, to NERF gun fights and hide-n-seek, to princess fairy dress-up, to tag and football. Nothing stops these two.
But despite all the joy that they bring to each other, there is still a fundamental lack or unwillingness to understand Lou and children like Lou by society. I am often asked the weirdest questions by people:
Do I worry that Lou is biologically a boy and that they may one day have feelings for my daughter, absolutely not. Why would I? They are 8.5 and 10. They are still children for crying out loud. And even if the two Lous decided that they were soulmates, they are currently children loving life and make believe and fairy gardens, and pretending to be trolls under a bridge. There is nothing to worry about. Do I worry about these two having a mixed sex slumber party? NEWP. Why? Because they love and respect each other, sometimes more than even my daughter’s girlfriends do. Do you worry about them using the same bathroom? She shares a bathroom with her brother. And they aren’t going to the bathroom at the same time. There is nothing nefarious in the minds of these two. They just love to spend time together.
And sometimes I am asked not-so-weird questions: Do I find it hard to use the they/them pronouns? Yes, I do struggle with it and I am working on it. Lou told me it’s alright if I mess up. I told them that it wasn’t because I love and respect them and need to honor their wishes. One of those wishes is for us grown ups to see past the stereotypes and just let kids be kids..
Okay, get back to the story already: Hi Hoh, Hi Hoh, it’s off to the forest we go…
9:30 AM Roll out! We leave Renton and head towards Forks, WA. It’s a four-hour drive, Google Maps tells us. We hook the kids up with a movie and some snacks while the mamas catch up on life together. We haven’t seen each other in a couple months and there’s a lot to talk about. We make it through our first two hours with nary a peep from the peanut gallery. They are content.
12:30 PM The kiddos start to grumble about being hungry. Where the heck are we? We are in a less than populated area. We wait for anything to pop up on the roadsigns that doesn’t read: Tractor Supply. We get to Elma, WA, a strange little town of less than 3,500 sweet and friendly people. There was a Burger King, a Starbucks, and a little hole in the wall restaurant called The Rusty Tractor. Hey, it wasn’t a Tractor Supply and Laura says it’s good. It was a good. Just a funny little diner in an abandoned bowling alley with really friendly wait staff. We shoved our faces full of goodness and rolled on out again. We had a rainforest to get to!
4:30 PM We arrived at the Olympic National Park - Hoh Rainforest, and this is where we set the babies free. They led the adventure for the remainder of our trip.
About the Hoh National Forest:
The Hoh Rainforest is the largest temperate rainforest in North America. It sits in the northern portion of the Olympic Peninsula on the western side of Washington State. It sits along the Hoh River, a glacial-fed river on its eastern border and the Pacific Ocean on its western border.
The forest is named after the Hoh Indian tribe that has inhabited the area for tens of thousands of years. Like most of Western Washington State, the forest is home to many animal species including spotted owls, Pacific tree frogs, bobcats, black bear, cougars, black-tailed deer, and Roosevelt Elk. There are also thousands of plant and tree species including Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Douglas Firs, and many more.
The park is meticulously kept and the trails are free of debris and hazards, but stay on the paths! There are many sights to behold, the largest Spruce tree, the Hall of Mosses, and plenty of natural ecosystems that kids and adults alike can enjoy.
The two Lous had a blast blowing dandy lions, racing down bare paths, telling each other secrets, and just enjoying being together. They bring out the best in one another and the laughter is abundant whenever they are together. That’s my favorite sound in the entire world, my kids happy. They raced around the forest, danced through the hall of mosses, tried to hug a giant tree, and left happier and closer than ever before. To say that this experience was magical doesn’t even begin to do it justice. It was perfect. The day was perfect.
#twolouadventures
6:30 PM We leave the rainforest and head back towards home. We’ve promised the kids a very special stop. Lucy has never seen the Pacific Ocean from land. She’s seen it from the airplane, on the way to Disneyland, but she had never sank her toes in the sand or felt the waves crash upon her feet. Well, we were already here, so what’s another few hours tacked onto our trip?
8:30 PM We head home. Our souls filled to the brim. I didn’t lead this session. It wasn’t even what I had envisioned, but when plan A fell apart, I gave it up to the kiddos and the universe, and guess what? It was better than I could have ever planned. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
12:30 AM We arrive back to our home, say goodbye to our friends, and make immediate plans for a repeat. What a day!
Look for more #twolouadventures in the future. I just can’t get enough of these loves!
