Photos from Dave's Kayaking Trip. Taken this month

In April my brother Bob, his wife Sue, son Charlie and his wife Jill came to visit us for a few days before they left on a cruise for Alaska.  We had a great time.  We ate, did a lot of sight seeing.  Zach was in town so we were able to have breakfast with him and also see his new office in Pioneer Square.  He and Martha and Augie were getting ready to move here in June.  One day we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island just to poke around a bit.  We found a drug store that was having a sale on coats.  So, didn't Bob, Sue, Charlie and Jill all buy one.  I realize that you had to be there, but it was all pretty funny.  They also got to use them while on their cruise.  This drug store carries a bit of everything so finding coats wasn't all that odd!

Here's some new pics at last.  I haven't posted in a long time, as blogger changed and I didn't know how to change with it.  I may have even posted these photos before.  Anyway, here is a sample of the pictures I took while at Disneyland with the Holts.

Easter Sunday

We had a very nice Easter Sunday with church and family here for dinner. Ham and all that goes with it, was delightful. Kaylene's dad "hid" a whole bunch of eggs for Kaylene to "hunt" for and she did a great job. She had to hurry a bit as the crows in the neighborhood were busy checking out the eggs as well! She triumphed and got them all.

Panama Hotel

These are photos outside the hotel and of the tea room. More info below.

Our trip to the Panama Hotel

I know that several of you have read the book entitled "The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet." A wonderful book that was written with much historical background. It has to do with the Japenese internment in 1941. As serious as that was and as serious as that sounds, it is a wonderful story. It is a novel, based on history. The story takes place in Seattle's International District and a lot of it around the Panama Hotel. We discovered that the hotel is still there. It is over 100 years old and you can actually stay there. It is kept in very nice condition. Next door is a tea and coffee shop. We stopped in and have a pot of tea and a goodie. Was fun and we felt like we were sitting in a piece of history. I guess we were. This picture is of the stairway to the main floor of the hotel, no elevators. =)

Kaylene's vist

As most of you know, Kaylene's baby sister, Madilene, was in the hospital for about 12 days. She is home and doing very well and we are very happy about that! Here are some photos of the time Kaylene spent with us while her parents were at the hospital. We did lots of important things like search for rocks, twigs and pine cones and of course playing with stickers. We were tired when she went home, but felt honored to have had her with us and we certainly enjoyed having her with us.

Dartmouth Winter Carnival Hanover, New Hampshire

In early February Dave went to Dartmouth's annual winter carnival with our son in law, Zach and Zach's dad, Bill. Zach is a Dartmouth graduate and attends the carnival every few years. It is quite an event, many things going on and lots of things for children to do. They enjoyed the ice sculptures (cupcake), hockey, and of course visiting several restaurants. Dave was completely taken by the library. If we lived anywhere nearby, he'd be over there all the time. One of the sillier, things from our aged point of view, was the polar bear swim. College students don their bathing suits and jump into a VERY COLD pond of water. They have an EMT nearby and they put ropes around their waists to pull them back in case of a problem of some kind. Ah youth!

Dad's trip to Dartmouth

Madilene Marie

I haven't posted in a long time, but that is not to say a lot hasn't happened recently. The most important thing is the birth of our 3rd grandchild. Dave and his wife Jolene gave birth to this little girl on February 4th. She weighed 9 lbs 4 ozs. and is beautiful. Things got pretty hectic about two weeks into her little life when she contracted a virus called RSV. She has been in the hospital for about 10 days and is now beginning to recover. With a virus, there isn't much you can do but let it take its course. It's been a hard time, but we are grateful for the progress she has and is making. She will probably be home very soon.

As soon as things settle down a bit, I'll post on the other things we've been up to.

When Augie saw Tigger at "Pooh's House" he ran right up to him and gave him a high five and a hug. Such excitement.

A couple of days later we drove to Santa Barbara. We had lunch with friends and then took a walk around Paseo Neuvo shopping center. Later in the afternoon we met up with some more friends at the Butterfly Refuge. All those black looking hanging things in the photo are actually butterflies. Amazing. The kids loved running around and being together. The bottom photo is Augie and his friend Charlie.

Back to my trip to Pasadena. Augie got a haircut and was very good and sat very still. Afterward he got to ride on the bee. This appears to be quite a big deal.

We also went to visit Walt and the Mouse. Augie refers to this place as Pooh's house. Apparently, Pooh allows Mickey to live here as well. We rode lots of rides such as Dumbo and It's a Small World. This is the first time in a very long time that I have been aboard a Small World boat, as we got stuck in there many years ago. We were stuck between two countries and the dolls were merrily singing in the their own languages and it was sort of head banging. This year the ride was still in it's Christmas mode and most of the dolls were singing in English and it was pretty nice. Lots of color, etc.

Earlier this month I traveled to Pasadena to visit Martha and family. I was greeted by Pooh placed on my pillow and this neat little sign. The bottom photo is Zach and Augie, watching, I'm sure, Thomas the Train. More of this busy trip in times to come.

A couple of Christmas photos.....

Kaylene got some help from her mom, "getting the goodies" out of her sock. I love the "Dorothy" shoes and so does she.

Paul was very excited about his Christmas gift. Zach always does a great job!