For this week’s Outdoor Adventure with kids, we met my sister and her kids at Speelyai Bay
on Lake Merwin in Washington. 
I grew up going to Lake Merwin with my parents and siblings but this is a new beach as the one we went to growing up is not very nice anymore. And it does not have a dock. Indeed, Speelyai Bay has a dock. This clean, kid-friendly beach 
has everything a family would want for an enjoyable day. By the looks of the few people there, it is also one of the best kept Lake Merwin secrets. Tucked at the bottom of a long driveway off Lewis River Road, the bay has a great view of rolling hills and the water from Merwin Lake is crystal clear.
My youngest son 
Augustin, who is 10, and his cousins Karina, 9, and Markie, 11, were on the hunt for tadpoles or
baby fish or whatever living animal they could find close to the shore. The conversation was lively and excited and every effort was applauded. “Did you get him, Karina?” “I almost caught him, Karina.” “Wow, there a ton of them here.” They found out what they were catching were trout and at the end of the day they divided who got to take them home. My sister’s kids had brought along three empty bottles for each of them to transport their living treasures. They also thought ahead and brought goldfish food.
The older cousins oohed and aahed over Mickael Josef’s new toy, a mini bike. This has been a fun mid summer project for him and his twin brother Wesley. 
Indeed, Wesley also has a new mini bike, but Wesley’s was still in disrepair. He has been working to fix it up. The cousins got them into this mini bike thing. The cousins took the raft out to the 
dock and swam around and just hung 
by the water and the shore. It is really comfortable hanging out with my sister and her kids. Our kids have grown up together, which I really treasure. The literally talk about the next time they will see their cousins the minute they get in the car after saying good-bye from a visit with them.
It was just a great summer easy going day. We ate too many chips and homemade cookies by Betsy and Gretchen cookies, got too much sun and just savored the summer season of a light schedule, except that Micki had to get back for his basketball game.
Speelyai Bay – Off Lewis River Road
