4th of July Vacation

Oh boy did we have a great family vacation this July! On July 3rd we drove down to Eugene (our odometer turned over on the way!) and had a great spaghetti dinner prepared by Merrick's Uncle Dennis at Tiger Lily's Great-Grandma Harsch's house.  This was in preparation for the Butte to Butte, Eugene's annual 10k, 5k run or 4.5 mile walk.

The following day, July 4th, the 3 of us woke up early and walked 4.5 mile event with Tiger Lily's cousin Hannah, Merrick's cousins Becky and Heather (their husbands, Sonam and Carl ran the 10k), Heather and Carl's children Evie and Nate and Merrick's uncle Dennis.  The weather was perfect and it was a great opportunity to catch up.  We're looking forward to more family joining next year!

Later that day we went to Merrick's Uncle Marc, Aunt Pat, Shannon and Mike Burgess' wonderful country estate in Junction City for a fantastic BBQ!  We were treated to Mike and Matthew's freshly caught BBQ'd Columbia River sturgeon.  Wow! The kids got to play in the pool, run around in the sunshine and catch frogs. Thanks for the hospitality Burgess'!

After that Hannah and the 3 of us, Merrick's parents and sister Ginny headed to the Oregon coast.  Merrick's parents and Ginny stayed at a hotel in Florence and we stayed in a really nice yurt on the Siltcoos river for the nights of the 4th and 5th. Merrick and Hannah caught the Florence fireworks display that night. We had planned to paddle from our yurt to the ocean (about 3 miles) but as you can see in the photos the portage around the dam was super sketchy and we decided that though we might get down we probably wouldn't get back up!  So, we paddled back upstream to the lake and then opted for a beach hike in the afternoon. The next morning Merrick, Hannah, and Beth did a longer hike along the Siltcoos River, through the dunes and out to the beach. We saw a family of five otters, a giant water beetle, a tree frog, and lots of seals lounging on a sand bank in the surf! The weather couldn't have been nicer. It was our birthday present to Hannah who turned 13 July 9th! Happy Birthday Hannah!

On the 6th we said goodbye to the family and headed back towards Seattle taking the scenic route along the Oregon coast.  We tent camped one night at Cape Lookout state park and had enough time to explore the surrounding area.   Absolutely beautiful!

The Drive to Eugene, July 3rd. 

13 pictures. Click the photo for a slideshow, here to see them all at once.

Tiger Lily chasing ducks at Lake Sacajawea park, Longview WA

Butte to Butte, July 4th.

14 pictures. Click the photo for a slideshow, here to see them all at once.

Burgess BBQ, July 4th

13 pictures. Click the photo below for a slideshow, here to see them all at once.

Florence and the Siltcoos River, Oregon Coast July 4th-6th

Click the photo for a 64 photo slideshow or here for all of them at once.

Cape Lookout, Cape Meares and the trip back to Seattle
July 6th & 7th

Click the photo for a 25 photo slideshow or here to see them all at once.

Granny Janny Visits

Granny Janny Richmond came to visit and helped watch Tiger Lily while Beth stayed overnight in Sequim for work.  The weather was great, and we all had a very fun time!  Papa Richmond and cousin Hannah drove up on Friday and spent the night, and then Granny Papa and Hannah headed home on Saturday.  It was great seeing everyone!  We'll see you in Eugene in another week!

Click the picture for a 35 picture slideshow, or here to see them all at once.

Memorial Day Weekend at the Beach

We spent the Memorial Day weekend "camping" at Manitou Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula.  "Camping" because our campsite was already set up for us, with tent, bedding, camp furniture and covered picnic table!

Given our packed car, I don't know how we could have done it otherwise!  The lodge is less than 4 miles from the beach.

It was Tiger Lily's first visit to the open ocean and she loved it.

Click the picture below for a 48 picture slideshow or click here to see them all at once.

Tiger Lily going crazy in the crazy wind on the ferry to Bainbridge Island

Beth carrying Tiger Lily on Rialto Beach

Seward Park, Day Before Easter

Wow! What an incredibly beautiful day in Seattle!  Clear in all directions and all mountains in snow!  We went to Seward Park on Lake Washington to take some pictures of Tiger Lily in the Easter dress Granny Janny and Papa Richmond got her, and to take her on her first bike ride!

Click the picture for a 30!!! picture slide show (sorry, they're just so cute!) or here to see them all at once.

Tiger Lily's First Bike Ride (Mom at the wheel). Click the picture for a much more reasonable 5 picture slide show.

Wheeeeee!!!!

Dad gives it a whirl...

Trip to Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

The family went to Port Angeles on the north side of the Olympic peninsula two weekends ago.  The weather was overcast and cool, but very little rain fell on us.  We explored a short piece of the Olympic Discovery trail, went for a snowshoe at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park and visited the de-construction of the Elwha dam.  Merrick's friend and co-worker Brian joined us for snowshoeing and visiting the dam.

Click the picture below for a 32 picture slide show here too see them all at once. Highlights below...

A Trip to Colorado

Beth and Tiger Lily left Merrick to some uninterrupted electrical work and took off to Colorado for a week in February. It was TL's first time on a plane and though there was some squirminess there was no screaming and it was generally much better than I had worried it might be. We went to stay at Meema's first and ventured out to the Denver Children's Museum to their Center for the Young Child.  Carpeted slopes, big stuffed animals and LOTS of babies!  We had a great time.We also went to the fabulous pool at the Golden Community Center where Trobe may have gotten a few pictures but the rest of us were too busy getting wet wet wet! 


Click on the first photo below for a slide show of all the photos from the trip.  I'll go through the videos one by one.






Here we are at the Denver Children's Museum.






Meema and Tiger Lily play the Korean chime bowls with mixed results.


Playing the piano with Meema!




We took an overnight trip up to visit my friend Naomi in Fort Collins. Here's Tiger Lily playing the xylophone and Naomi's youngest, Vivian, working on her farm animals.



At the Denver Zoo with Grandpa.  Tiger Lily really liked the monkeys.  Funny little furry people!






At Grandpa's house we played with the new train set, blew at the ceiling fan, and giggled helplessly at Grandpa's silliness!







And lastly we got out in the snow a bit for a swing!



A wonderful trip. We miss you!

Training the Golden Cats!

Here is Tai Chi going through his lessons...




and here is Dido...


and finally we have two clever cats together...