Trip to California

While Erin is reading about the last adventures of Harry Potter, I thought I'd catch you up on what we did last week.

It was our first trip back to California after moving to the green state of Washington. And sad to say, we didn't really miss our old home. We, of course, missed all our family. Which one-by-one, we'll get to move up to Washington with us.

Erin's cousin Alex and Grandma came to visit California too, from Albuquerque. It's always fun to spend time with them. Erin's dad brought us all to Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland, and do a whole lot of swimming with goggles.

Disneyland has been taken over by Pirates this year. Tom Sawyer's Island is now the Pirates Lair. With captain Jack sparrow signing autographs at one end and performing a stunt show on the other. You can search for lost treasure, or get captured by a primitive tribe, like us. The submarine ride was open, but with a two plus hour wait in line, we decided to pass on that adventure.

Erin's mom is always a delight, so much of Erin's humor is in her. I missed her a lot too. Jackie wanted us to have a late Breakfast together at a restaurant we don't have in Washington. I suggested BC Cafe for their great pancakes. But Jackie said that they have cockroaches and vetoed the vote in favor of Mimi's Cafe. Three days later, I had my BC Cafe pancakes. (They had an "A" rating on the window)

Maybe one of these days we can leave without mom getting a tear in her eye. Perhaps it'll be the day when she leaves with us.

For many more pictures of our trip visit our Web Album Page

Spa Day at Seacliff

The first week of summer when the kids were all out of school, the Mason gals and I decided to go out for pedicures. After balancing the budget, we all decided to change plans. A picnic at the beach sounded much more reasonable. Joshua used to attend a "Vino Night" where the host kept a journal handy each week for guests to write whatever they wanted. He bought us our own journal for writing out thoughts and feelings. Here is Marisa compsing her entry for the day.

The day was slightly cooler than we had hoped, but nothing a long sleeved shirt couldn't fix. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch of bagel sanwiches that stuck to our teeth, chips, drinks, and cookies for dessert.

Since the original plan was to get pedicures, I found an at-home version at Big Lots. For just $1, each gal got sandals and foot-shaped brushes with pumice on one end. I threw in a set of clippers, scissors, files, and paint and here is the result! Now we need to schedule a day for manicures ...

Zoo Day!

A few weeks ago the Muellers came for a visit. The highlight of their trip (for me anyway) was a day at the zoo where I work. This is a beautiful picture of the entrance with majestic Mount Rainier in the background.








William was in charge of reading the map ... no wonder we got so lost! Ok, we didn't get lost at all since we had such a well informed tour guide. :)
William enjoyed feeding the goats almost as much as I did. Isn't the zoo fun?
This was not from the zoo, but I didn't seem to get any pictures of Mackenzie there. She loved watching all the animals! Here she is with something else she loves ... shoes! Hers, yours, left, right, it matters not to this little one.

The Third Time is the Charm

We were scheduled to leave Seattle at 7:20pm Tuesday night, and we happened to arrive rather early (around 5:30) since traffic was lighter than expected. So, we checked out the shops, then sat and read our books for a while. When our plane arrived, it was having mechanical difficulties, so we had to wait for another plane to arrive, making our new departure time 9:10. Argg. So went back to the shops, played soduko on the computer, took the train to the other gates, walked around there, and returned to find out that now our plane had a failed circuit breaker. Not to worry, there was another plane on the way and we would be leaving at 10:30. Yikes! Surprisingly, all passengers seemed to be in good spirits about the delay. Nobody wants to fly on a plane with angry people! We finally arrived safely with coupons for $25 off our next flight at 1:20am. Good thing we weren't flying out on a connecting flight!

For my Mom

A few blocks from our house is Point Defiance Park where there is an amazing rose garden. Mom asked for a picture of the most perfect rose we could find, so here it is in her favorite color, yellow! And just for fun, here I am next to my favorite color, pink. Last, but certainly not leasr is a beautiful hydrangea. They are in full bloom all over this great state. One of my favorite plants (not pictured) is an amazing blue hydrangea at the zoo.

Family Portraits

In June our family had portraits taken, since everyone was here for my niece Madison's graduation from High School
Only my brother-in-law is missing from this picture because of sickness.
Top Row: Dad, Mom
Middle Row: Debbie with Mackenzie, Walter, Mike, Mary, Pattie, Me, Erin, Joe
Bottom Row: William, Marisa, Austin, Chandler, Madison, Mavric, Richie, Blake, Spencer
Below is a picture of our family from the late 70's. I'm the sailor. Boy, have we grown. Hey, Dad, I have your tie now.
Finally is a picture just of the guys. My dad, brother, and myself.