How to Navigate this Blog

Sorry folks, but there doesn't seem to be an order in which we can post things other than chronological. So please drop-down all the headings for each month in the Blog Archive below in order to find those items of interest to you. We've tried to label them clearly.

Or you can just scroll down the whole page to see all posts.

8.28.2011

Rainier Again




Second weekend in a row at Mt. Rainier- this time at Sunrise with G&GG. Next weekend Kieran and Amy are in town so maybe we'll get the trifecta. The combination of beautiful mountain and beloved granddaughter left G&GG gesticulating wildly for most of the trip.















Because of the late melt, we hadn't seen too many wildflowers earlier in the year, but they were really out this time.






















We did the Dege peak trip from Sunrise, which is a ridge hike with views in all directions. Mt Baker was out in the distance to the north, and Rainier constantly loomed over us.


















Eden did a good job as she was carried up by her dad and down by her mom, making friends and waving at all of the other hikers.




















This will be the last post of the 'summer of Eden'- school starts for me tomorrow and she'll be back in daycare on Thursday when the grandparents leave. I'll try to keep posting now and then but it was a fun summer and great to get to spend the time with her.

8.26.2011

10 months!

Eden is ten months old today- she had a very nice day with G&GG, and when Courtney got home Eden got a card and presents in the back yard. Her dad celebrated the day by having a bunch of dental work done. Luckily blogging doesn't require him to speak.


8.20.2011

Mt. Rainier




Hi Everybody,

We finally made the Mt. Rainier trip we planned on last weekend- probably better off since we had a good week of sun and a lot more snow had melted. We may go again next weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, but we wanted to make sure we had a trip where we could do the hikes they would disapprove of. So we got to hike across snow, across waterfalls, and up to the edges of cliffs, sorry G&GG.
We tried to do a loop trail to Faraway Rock, starting from the west side of Reflection Lake.


















Then we lost track of the trail pretty quickly on the High Lakes side and had to go back.
We decided we still wanted to see Faraway Rock (I mean how far could it be?) so we hiked to the other side of Reflection Lake along the road. We also discovered what happens when the person who volunteers to take your photo is handed the camera on movie mode.
We soldiered on, up a pretty steep slope until we got to the Rock, which had one of the best views we've ever seen at Rainier.




























Eden already seems excited about the Wonderland Trail, but if she wants Mom or Dad to come with her we will need to get into much better shape.














On our way back to the car, we finally got a picture to show why it is called reflection lake.














We ended up in a very large traffic jam trying to get to Paradise, so we ended up leaving and heading down to Longmire where we had a pretty nice view to go with our sandwiches.















The mountain always gets washed out but here is the close-up.














We did a quick trip along the trail of shadows, and then back we went. Only one more week of vacation before school starts again, I'm suspicious that the frequency of posts will diminish then but I'll do my best.

take care,
John

8.15.2011

the zoo




















We tried the zoo again today and saw some hippos frolicking, some lions lounging, and some giraffes giraffing. In Eden's book the animals still lose handily to the excitement of seeing little kids. The animals are gaining on the fences that contain them in excitement value though, and we're pretty sure she noticed the giraffes.
We tried the petting zoo and Eden did briefly try petting one of the goats before deciding that this wasn't her thing. As you can tell by the pictures, the goat wasn't that thrilled either.

8.12.2011

Where are the golf courses?


We're going back to Mt. Rainier tomorrow, here is a picture of Eden holding her favorite golf ball and studying a large topographical map of the mountain in preparation.

8.08.2011

baby tries to eat watermelon, gets in fight with paparazzi
















Eden looking thoughtful in the backyard and considering eating watermelon.















The cameraman got too close.

8.02.2011

making progress

Eden is getting better and better at moving herself around- she really enjoys 'walking' sideways while steadying herself with her hands, and even is starting to stand and support herself between each stair as she climbs.

7.4.09

Save the Date!

When: Saturday, July 4, 2009
Where: Forster Farm / Nelson, WI 54756

This is the farm John's mom grew up on, and has been his parents' permanent residence since they retired and moved there from the Bronx in the summer of 2007.

Nearest major airport: Minneapolis-St Paul (about 2 hours)
Nearest major city: Eau Claire, WI (about 45 minutes)