Hiking

We had a great hike at Mt Rainier. At 2.5 hrs, it was a bit of a long drive for a hike, but totally worth it. We drove to Longmire on the southern side of Rainier, took the free shuttle up to Paradise, and hiked up the western side of the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point. The conditions were perfect: mid 70s, clear skies, and just enough snow on the trail to make it a bit challenging and fun.


We took a break at Glacier Vista (about 2/3 the way up) for a snack. Immediately afterward, we started up a long snowy slope to Panorama Point. We turned around at Panorama and descended the way we came up. We would have liked to continue on the trail and descend on the eastern half (completing the loop), but we were warned it still had too much snow. And good thing we heeded the warning. The descent on the snowy areas was fairly difficult with Ryan on my back....


Mt Rainier more than made up for our disappointing hike a few weeks earlier at Mt Washington. First, I had gotten lost and wasted half an hour finding the parking lot. Once I found the right area to park, the only directions offered was on a crummy hand-drawn map (with no distance scale). The map directed us up a gravel path for some unspecified distance and then make a left turn on some unmarked trailhead. We probably hiked to an elevation gain of 1200 ft and turned around. Afterwards, we stopped at a diner in North Bend made famous by the show Twin Peaks. On the show, the main character frequently commented on the diner's "damn fine cup of coffee" and cherry pie. We tried both and they were in fact damn fine.....

Taylor Shellfish Farms (Samish Bay)

During my brother and his girlfriend's recent trip to Seattle, we drove up to Taylor Shellfish Farms. We got 3 dozen small oysters, and 2 freshly steamed crabs, 1 oyster knife, 1 lemon, and 2 mini Tabasco bottles all for around $60. There were charcoal grills available for us to use, but we all prefer our oysters raw.

KW Family Day

We went to the KW Family Day so Brooke could see my work for the first time. There were many activities for the kids including bouncy houses, rock climbing, clowns, caricaturists, face painting, and train rides. But the only thing that Ryan wanted to do was play in the haystack....

Bite of Seattle 2011

We felt like true Seattleites again after going to the Bite of Seattle despite the rain. We managed to eat at about 6 booths and watched a cooking demonstration with the chefs from Rovers and Tavolata.

The photos show a typical Ryan move:
If he likes what you're feeding him, he'll snatch the fork out of your hand.
If he doesn't like it, he'll snatch the fork out of your hand and feed you the offensive food. Clearly, he didn't like the gourmet sausage.

Ryan Update

At his last pediatrician visit (25 months old), Ryan's stats were:
Height: 36.5 inches (85%) - this was the first time the measurement was taken while standing
Weight: 30 lbs 8 oz. (60%)
Head: 51 cm (90%)

Ryan knows his letters....


Ryan is a 2 yr old who thinks he's a 3 yr old....


Playing at Grass Lawn Park, Redmond....