Vacation

Troy and I are finally back into our routine after having been on vacation for ten days. We started planning, oh almost 8 months ago now, a trip to San Diego and then a five night Mexican cruise. Luckily for us, before making our final payment to the cruise line there was a Swine Flu epidemic in Mexico causing Royal Carribean to reduce their price not once but three times!

We had a marvelous time in San Diego. Troy was able to show us his old haunts and enjoy the tourist attractions he didn't have a lot of time to see when he lived down there...mainly because he was working a lot of the time. First stop was for lunch at his favorite Mexican place called Santanas. They have the best carnitas! We went to Point Loma and took in the breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and San Diego. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Coronado Beach, Old Town, Gas Lamp and of course the Midway Aircraft Carrier (I'm a bit obsessed after watching the PBS series "The Carrier"). We had Jack for the day so that Steve & Cole could have some time alone. It was so fun! Jack had a great time crawling and climbing on the carrier. The best part about San Diego is that we were able to get a very good deal on a beach bungalo that was one block away from the ocean. It was so much fun!!

After four days we went to board the cruise ship and met up with five other couples who were joining us. The ship took us to Ensenada, Mexico and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Ensenda I don't need to go back to, but Cabo was so beautiful. The beaches were beautiful and the snorkeling we did was so much fun! We saw lots of neat fish and pelicans swan diving into the water right next to us to eat them. It was a bit starteling!! Oh yeah, and I got stung by a jelly fish. It felt like stinging nettles. We took a boat tour on a Tall Ship that was really neat and beautiful with all of its sails. Troy got sea sick, as he usually does, but not before he had the opportunity to take the wheel. It was very hot in Cabo. Probably close to 90 degrees with 90% humidity. Between the sweat, sunblock & salt water my eyes were done. It felt so good to get back on the air conditioned boat and take a cold shower.

We had a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs. Here are several (it was hard to choose!) of our favorite pictures:


Lovers Beach


Sailing on the Sea of Cortez


Pelican Rock


Los Archos


Keyhole to the Pacific


Troy at the wheel


San Diego Marina - it's the perfect climate for sailing


Troy & Jack in the Midway Carrier brig


Funani the Hippo


Lions


Birds of Paradise - they were everywhere


Troy in front of a very old prickly pear cactus


Tall Ship


The Group


Point Loma

9-30-06

Another year under our belts. Yes indeedy, Troy and I just celebrated our three-year anniversary on Wednesday. He and I actually celebrated a day early because he was in school on the actual day. We went out to dinner and then to our lovely Costco for romance (insert laughter here). I will say, no matter what we were doing it was nice to have the time together. With his new schedule, time together is time well spent.

I hope everyone's week has been a good one. Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Fall Weekend

This weekend was spent doing outside chores before our weather turns this coming week. We are looking at highs in the 50s with rain. How depressing!

Steve & little Jack came over to help Troy move gravel to our garden. We are trying to clean up all of the space that isn't used, by leveling and laying gravel. They put down a couple of layers of newspaper, heavy-duty landscaping plastic, and then crushed gravel. It will keep the weeds and grass down, which will get SO OUT OF CONTROL if we don't do something. It is a lot of added work every spring and fall when we are trying to clean up the yard. It looks so very nice.

After that we went back to Steve & Nicole's house so that the boys could stain their front porch. I watched Jack while they spent four hours staining. It was quite the job, but it was very nice to get it done.

In the meantime, today is a sunny and beautiful day, with a crisp wind. It is my favorite fall weather. Troy and I are takikng a walk to get some fresh air. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

Sgt. Pepper's

I love our Sgt. Pepper's dinner club. We always have great food, great chats and loads of laughs. Here are a few of the members rockin' out to Beatles Rock Band...and of course this song was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band! Troy was quite good at the Bass. Jack loved it so much he wanted to take a turn at playing the drums.

Puyallup Fair

Since when did our country fair become one big infomercial? It seems to have evolved from homespun to imported goods. The craft barn probably only had two booths with honest crafts. The rest was all imported goods. Dissapointing to say the least...at least the animals were cute and interesting. Everything else was not worth seeing. I think we may skip the fair next year.

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Some Other Day

I think our summer days are over folks. We are expecting a Labor Day weekend full of rain and 60 degree weather. Boo Hoo!

The mornings are getting darker and the sun is setting earlier...I am just not ready for it.

Isn't She beautiful?

This past weekend Troy and I, with our friends Jerry & Jessi, went camping at Mt. Rainier National Park. Jerry and Jessi are hiking the second half of the Wonderland Trail...a mere 65 miles. YIKES! They hiked one half last summer and are back to complete it. We picked them up at Paradise where they dropped their car off because hat is where they will be finishing. The campground was just OK. Nothing like Alturas where you actually have space between camp spots. This campground was completely full and I felt like we were on top of each other. I've gotten spoiled camping in Idaho. :)

Here are some pictures of our beautiful Mt. Rainier (who is practically naked of snow).

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!!!

Mt.Rainier


Again from the other side


Jessi coaxing a wild Gray Jay to land in her hand and eat blueberries


Us


Before 65 miles