The old man gets older

36 years ago…somewhere around 9:06 in the morning…somewhere near Fort Lewis, Washington…a moment that will live in infamy.  That’s right, I blessed this world with my presence.  To celebrate, I did one of my favorite things.  Invited all my friends to the house for a summer barbecue.  We probably had 40 people at the house, the grill was going and the beer was flowing.  It was a great day and made me forget that I keep getting older and the hair keeps getting grayer.  As the afternoon started to wear into the evening, Candice decided we needed some family photos.

Karen, Bill, Amy, Pete, Jacob, Candice, Kate, Roo, Tricia

Happy Father’s Day

We spent the Saturday before Father’s Day continuing a new family tradition (is it really a tradition if you’ve done it twice in 3 years?  We’ll make it one anyway).  Amy took my Father, and Candice brought me and the family down to the park for the Annual Brewers Festival!  An afternoon of sun (some rain), outdoors, family and all sorts of beers to try!  It was a great start to the weekend.

I know he’s not old enough to drink beer, but he kept asking!  He is my son afterall.

Here we all are, hanging out at the picnic table (before we go get another beer!)

Then Sunday morning I was treated to a huge breakfast cooked by my wife and daughter (Kate looooves cooking with mommy), a couple of Father’s Day gifts, and a nice relaxing day of doing nothing.  What more could a Father ask for?

Daddy happy to have two wonderful children

 

One of Daddy’s favorite gifts (Kate’s handprint and Jacob’s footprint in glitter)

Kate gets to see the Princesses

Candice and Grandma Roo took Kate and Jacob down to California to show off Jacob to the family there.  This of course also leads to the inevitable trip to Disneyland, since Candice can’t enter foot into the state of California without going at least once.  Everyone had a great time catching up and visiting for a couple of days.  Kate of course had a fantastic time at Disneyland and got to meet some of the Princesses this time!

Kate having fun with her Uncle Troy and cousin Sierra

 

Uncle Troy losing at Pretty, Pretty Princess

 

Kate and Princess Aurora

Kate and Princess Belle

Kate and Pocahontas

Trekking off into the Mountains

The last time I went hiking into the mountains I was in high school.  One of my friends at work is a mountaineer and goes hiking all the time during the summer months.  We got to talking and decided we’d make a trip out into the Cascades when Candice took Kate and Jacob to California for their Disneyland trip.  The trip started out nice in the morning, but by the afternoon the rain had begun and didn’t let up until we got back home.  We spent a good amount of time trying to find our way from Barclay Lake up to Eagle Lake, but the trail was not to be found.  We bushwhacked around a very steep mountain and decided to head back down and make camp.  If you’re ever heading towards Eagle Lake and find a Swiss Army Watch with Windows Server 2003 engraved on the steel let me know.  I made my sacrifices to the Mountain Gods to appease them.

Getting our gear on, and getting ready for the hike.

About 30 minutes into the hike, we crossed this bridge with a cool waterfall behind it.  Would have been a great place for lunch if we hadn’t just got going.

Barclay Lake, was very calm and serene with a few good campsites around the edge.

Rising above the lake was the peak of Baring Mountain.  This is my favorite photo from the trip, with the clouds surrounding the mountain.

After the night of camping under the drumming rain and the tent keeping us dry, the hike back out was not so kind.  Here is a very wet Pete.

Jacob’s First Mariner’s Game

Seattle: 11   Texas: 6

In keeping with our traidition, we took Jacob to his first game right before he turned seven weeks old.  Kate got to go to her first game about the same time.  Bottom of the first inning the foul ball magnet that is a small child attracted a ball that landed about 10 seats away. We did want to make sure to get a photo of Jacob out front of the park at his first game.

However, Jacob spent a lot of the game sleeping/eating/hiding in the sling.