Zip-lining at Piiholo Ranch

  For zip-lining Daryl sat this one out and I went with my sisters Nellie, Alex, and DeAnna, my niece Ashlyn, and the happy couple Adam and Angie.  Zip-lining was actually more nerve racking than para-sailing.  Probably the worst part is that you climbed up some rickety, wet suspensions bridges at a pretty steep incline up to the towers where you zip-lined from.  Once you were going it was fantastic though.  It took us two hours to go down four zip lines.  We were up in the high country of Maui, and we went over a gulch several times.  As you might imagine the views were beautiful.

Adam and Angie hamming it up for the camera.

This was the longest zip-line that we did.

I am on the left in the blue.  On the right is nice lady named Tiffany from Texas who was in our group.  We are both in the braking position.

Para-sailing

 One of the activities that we enjoyed the most while in Maui was para-sailing.  It is remarkably peaceful when you get up there.  Daryl and I went together and they had us at 1200 feet high.  The view is just beautiful of course.  You feel like you are just floating around, and it is so quiet.  It was lots of fun, and the water looks so blue beneath you.  We also barely got wet.

My sister DeAnna, my niece Ashlyn, and my other sister Alex.

When you come back in you get dipped in the ocean a little bit.

Daryl and I taking off.

The Sugar Cane Train

   We rode the little steam engine train that originally transported sugar cane to the sugar factory. All the non-golfers rode it while the golfers were at a course that we passed by twice on the train actually.  You can see how Avery made the rounds on the train. She liked the train ride, but was scared when the engine released its steam. 

Water fun and shopping in Lahaina

  This was Avery's year for the water.  In times previous Avery has not enjoyed the water, but this trip to Maui she loved the water.  She and Addison had fun splashing in this little kiddie pool that they could run around in.  They also got in one of the big pools with help from parents and many aunts and uncles.  Addison lives in Phoenix and goes in DeAnna's pool all the time, so she is already great in the water.  Avery was really good and let us put her under the water and tried kicking with our help. I think swim lessons are in the near future.  We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua so we could stay close to where the wedding was happening. The hotel was nice with four pools and two hot tubs, and the beach it was attached to was awesome for boogie boarding.  The only problem is that on that side of the island it tends to be cooler and windier, so actually it was warmer to play in the oceans than in the swimming pools.  If we went to Maui again we would probably stay some place in Wailea where it tends to be warmer and less windy.  Otherwise it was great , and we were able to take the hotel shuttle to the wedding.

  The last half of the pictures are from when we went and visited Lahaina. We did some shopping and stopped at the Banyan Tree Park.  The Banyan tree in the park was planted in 1873 and is huge.  You can see us posing for pictures on one of its many limbs.

Avery enjoying the water.

Lulled by the tropical warmth, Harper spent a great deal of time sleeping pool side.

Addison in her cute little tutu swimsuit.

This is from lunch at Kimo's in Lahaina.  I like how angry Harper looks.  I don't think  it has anything to do with Grandpa holding her . . .

We remembered to get a picture of us!

Me and my sisters and our girls under the limbs of the Banyan tree.  

Avery walking along one of the giant Banyan tree limbs with help from Daryl.

Adam and Angie's Maui Wedding

 Last Friday, July 22nd, my bother Adam got married to his beautiful fiancee Angie.  The wedding took place on the beach at Kapalua Bay on the island of Maui.  They got married early in the morning at eight o'clock, which actually is eleven o'clock Pacific time.  Adam and Angie have been engaged for just over a year now, and we greatly encouraged them to explore the "get married in Hawaii" option they were considering.  Now after a year in the making and planning we all made it to and from Maui just fine.  It was just amazing to be in Hawaii with pretty much all of my siblings.  We arrived on the Saturday before the wedding, and left the day after the wedding.  That left us a week to experience Maui.  We did  a lot of things that I will post about separately. For now enjoy these few photos from Adam and Angie's wedding ceremony which was a nice blend of Hawaiian and modern traditions. 

Avery gets a couple tosses in from Adam before the ceremony started.

Angie's dad walking her down the "aisle."

Here's the happy couple with the officiator.

The officiator wasn't happy with their first kiss, so he made them do it again.

This is pretty much what Avery did through the whole wedding ceremony.  Harper was even more rude and just fell asleep.

Here's Adam and Angie with all the nephews and nieces there. Starting from the left: Ashlyn holding Harper, Adam holding Addison, Angie holding Avery, and Angie's sister Melissa's childen Jordan and Delaney. Not present are Phil's boys: Maddux and Aidan.

House Update #4

The big news this week is that our I-beam is now in place and the last vestiges of the old ugly fireplace is gone. Now we don't have a hole in the floor on the main level to worry about. You can see in the pictures where they had to dig up the concrete floor to extend the plumbing that they have begun to repair the radiant tubes and have put in insulation.  We are getting closer to having the concrete patched up.

This is in the kitchen.  The radiant lines are almost completely repaired, and the plumbing rough ins for the sink and dishwasher are in  place.

You can see the brown steel I-beam up in the ceiling almost directly above Daryl.

Here's the I-beam again.  It's really opened up the main floor, and you can  make out where the hole used to be in the floor.

More duct work in the master suite!

Remember the large pile of dirt that turned into a small pile of dirt?  Now there is no dirt!

The powder room in the basement has also been insulated and awaits  it's new layer of concrete.

Work on the deck hasn't begun quite yet, but I thought this would be a good reference picture for before and after.

Chenuis Falls Hike

This past week I dragged my niece Ashlyn out hiking.  We went to Mount Rainier National Forest via the Carbon River entrance.  I had never been to the part of the park, so I thought we would check it out. We hiked out to Chenuis Falls.  It was about eight miles round trip and we did it in about three and a half hours I think.  The first 3.7 miles were really boring because you are basically walking on a forest service road, but the last little bit is really exciting.  You cross over about six log bridges on the Carbon River, and you get to cross by stepping on stones in between the sand bars.  Fortunately neither of us fell in.

Ashlyn on a bridge without a railing.

It's hard to tell, but this is the actually trail that requires you to use the stepping stones to get to the dry part of the river bed.

Some of the bridges had railings on them.

Chenuis Falls

We were able to get a pretty close look at the falls.

Ashlyn and I at the Falls.

Fourth of July

Fourth of July happens to be my dad's birthday, and the day before is my niece Ashlyn's birthday and my brother-in-law, Brad's, birthday.  We were lucky to have my sister Alex and her daughter Addison and our niece Ashlyn come visit for the holiday and my Dad's birthday.

Addison and a fudge pop.

Avery and  a fudge pop.

The birthday Grandpa with two of his granddaughters Addison and Harper.

Avery kept the pigtails in for a couple hours.

Daryl was the best husband ever and vacuumed up the flour I spilled while looking for some sugar to make  some really good homemade ice cream.

Later in the evening we set off some fireworks and Ashlyn got to light some off.  Don't worry Paul we had our fire extinguisher out and ready at the slightest sign of a firework mishap.

Harper and Rachel melt in Phoenix

The last week in June I went to Phoenix with my mom and Harper to visit my sisters.  It was over 110 degrees everyday.  Yucky.  Harper had her first dip in a pool ever, and she loved it.

Both Avery and Addison have worn this swimming suit.  I love it.

Harper with her cousin Addison.  Addison loved Harper to pieces.  She  kept saying baby, baby , baby.

Harper slept on the floor in this special little bed we made up for her.  She didn't mind it one bit.

A Visit from Phil and Heather's family

In June my brother Phil and his wife Heather, and my two adorable nephews Maddux and Aidan came to  visit.  Here are just a few photos.  You can see we roasted marshmallows for S'mores, but Avery was too impatient to roast hers.  She just ate the giant novelty sized marshmallow directly off the stick.

Aidan enjoying S'mores.

Here's the whole family watching the turkeys up at our house in Seattle.

Aidan roasting marshmallows with his mom's help.

Maddux at our obligatory breakfast at Sunbreak Cafe in Auburn.