STP (Scenic Tour with Puppy)

My friend lives on the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride route.  So, when we went to visit, and it was STP weekend, I went out in the morning and shouted encouragement.

Lots appreciated it.  I don't know if you can tell there's a guy there who has a crash test dummy shirt.  I also started telling folks with tandem bikes, that the stoker wasn't pedaling, or was riding the brakes!  :)

This is Daisy.  She is a Cairns Terrier.  William fell in love with the little baby.

Daisy is sleeping on Karen't lap as she drives.

Our car had a flat.  The line at Les Schwab was so long, that we had to wait an hour and a half.  While hanging out where a puppy could hang out, we found some signs in some bushes.  We took this joke picture, and put it on FB.  I heard back that some folks really thought it in poor taste.  (pun)  I was just being silly, and didn't really try to get money, we just took a picture.  I don't feel a need to apologize, as we pay our taxes and donate to the United Way, and most people can get assistance that need it for legal things, like rent, health care and food.

I do think it's great that they are at least interested in recycling.

We went up to see Mount Saint Helens.

The wildflowers were so pretty.

William in front of the crater.

Beauty shot.

Mt. Adams.

We looked for the bench that Papa Bill and Grandma Sue's names are on. 

We stopped a lot of places, and took a lot of hikes, but never found it.

The mountain was playing peek-a-boo the entire day.  It was a very nice day, though.  I loved hanging out with Karen and relaxing.

The day before, we'd gone to both the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers to gather rocks for William's future date with a geologist.

Putaansuu Reunion

I teased Nancy about this photo.  You can make your own remark.  Shaune and Cindy Putas hosted.  They have a lovely home with large deck, pool, and large yard for all forms of Putaansuu recreation (boule and water balloons).

William LOVED that the Finnish flag and the American flag were flying together.

The game is on!

No real dispute here.

The pitch.

This is the only picture I got with Sandy in it.

Sameli and William.

Taavi and Mariah.

William found a snake.  Sofie is monitoring...

Hee hee hee...

Jeannette, Muriel, William and Taavi.

The whole famn damily.

William had a blast and can't wait to go again.  We didn't get in a game of water balloon volleyball.  That's what next year is for!  :)

Cub Scout Camp

This year's theme was 'Cub Scouts on Safari.'

Every morning was flag ceremony and announcements.

The camp shirts were fun.  

Mickel was wonderful with the boys.  She has 4 of her own, so what are a few cub scouts?  

Here they are building alligator boxes.  They also mad bat houses.

The rope obstacle course was a blast!

William never got to shoot archery by himself.  They kept helping pull back the bows.

This frustrated him a lot.  BTW, that's Arnold's hay they're using!  Side note:  He forgot to save straw bales, so those were actually good hay bales!  Tee hee!

William loved shooting.

He did very well at it, too.

Those safety glasses crack me up.

It's a ways to the targets.

This is his target this day.

Crafts were different every day.  This day, he is making a thunder stick.

And then, there is closing flag ceremony.

This is their pack's flag.  

Side note:  I have to prep the video to put on here.  I must have dropped my camera bag with additional batteries in it.  But when everyone cleared out and left, it was gone!  Someone picked it up and never turned it in.  Grr...  Over a $100 video this is!  :)

Dinner with Friends

One of the great things about being home is we get to see old friends.  They're even shucking oysters for us!

Ryan Van Schyndel (left) used to live in our neighborhood in Japan.  They were AWESOME folks, and we miss them.  Jeromy (right) still lives in Japan, but was home for a short bit.

They started a fire, and the kids had fun running back and forth from the kiddie pool trying to put out the fire.  I loved their big, fenced backyard.  What a great way to relax.

We also met up with the Barkers at the new Bremerton grill.  I thought the deep fried mac and cheese balls were really good.

That mustache kind of freaks me out, but it's really pretty!

Great Wolf Lodge

We didn't have any big vacations planned this year, so we decided to do one night and 2 days at the Great Wolf Lodge.  It is a water park all-inclusive.  William LOVES wave pools.  I always feel nervous, but he loves them.

This is the view from where you enter the 2 biggest slides.  We'd go as a family.  I have to admit, my knees were shaking a little bit when we first went up.

We love Tim's underwater camera.  It has been fun to get pics like these.

There are pools for little ones across the way.  We never went...  Wm was always into the big stuff.

You can see the stairs you have to climb to go to the top.

Tim on watch.

We did the pre-pay plan for dinner.

And they have drinks!  Not included.

Since we'd pre-paid for 4 dinners, I convinced them that Wm should be able to get 2 dinners.  She went for it, and he ate it all!!!

The boys were hungry from all the water play.

William's chicken strips.  Only 2 in a child's bucket.

And small hamburgers.  I'm glad he got both dinners!

We always take pictures of our food here, so why not at home?  Fish n chips.

I had steak.  I'd pre-paid, I was going to get what I paid for!

And they gave William wolf ears.  I think he should be a wolf for Halloween!  (I know he'll want to be whatever the Anthony's are going as!)

We will go here again.  It is very pricey, but when you pay entrance fees into a water park, it actually works out fairly well.  Watch for those cheap times, and you'll be fine!