Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laura came over to celebrate Father's day and enjoy some cake. The kids got so excited to see them.
We enjoyed a BIG dinner. Thanks Mom and Dad for making such a nice spread!
This picture doesn't like me and won't flip sideways. Anyway, Dad grilled up Bratwurst. YUMMM!!!!
follow anything they did. So all four of us went. Tan immediatly started screaming, so I just hugged her close and talked about the other people screaming and putting their hands in the air. Eventually she settled down but did admit later that it was "scary!". Next we went on the duck ride, which borred the boys to death, but Tan LOVED it. I think Brennan and her said QUACK the entire time. :)
let each kid pick one more thing to do. Dallin chose the gunny sack slide. He went so fast and had a blast. Brennan and Tanith pick another car ride. This time, Tan cracked me up! She had her arms raised in the air, almost the entire time, like she had seen people on the roller coaster do. She was screaming with joy and smiling so big. It was just so cute.
--Super Angie
Today is Rick's 50th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!!!
--Super Angie
Tan with Wendy after Wendy gave her gum. Notice how much nicer Tan is actting? 
had a picnic under a tree and then the kids played their little hearts out. It was so nice to catch up with Wendy. The kids all picked up right where they left off last time we visited and just had a great time. 
an didn't like having the ice on her nose, and instead found some toys. The boys LOVED Awsumb's toys and made themselves quite at home. This was great because it allowed Wendy and I to talk talk talk. It was really nice to be with a good friend and just to chat. :) The kids played outside and ate popsicles and then suddenly, Dallin had a fever and was very latharic. So, we got him some tylenol and packed up to head home. 
RIGHT NEXT DOOR to H&M. Ah....
n the way to ZAO (a Japanese Noodle place) we passed by LUCY. Ah, I love LUCY too and found a great sale on shirts and a pair of pants that would be great for hiking. Yea! :)
d yet, I never grow tired of it. (BTW 
Busy Jenn...got ya a little gift from Ivars! :) ) The kids were SOOOO excited to feed the seagulls, see the ferry and the fire fighting boat. We just had so much fun being together. :)
They brought both cars so we could all fit and off we went in the general direction of Mt. Rainier. We stopped for lunch in Puyallup and then my parents took the kids to Northwest Trek for a fun time with the animals. Rick and I drove down to Ashford )stopping in Elbe for YUMMY blackberry ice cream. In Ashford, we made the traditional stop at the Whiteker mountaineering store. Oh man...we could have spent thousands of dollars in there--new puffys, Scarpa boots, Mammut and Marmot brands, First Ascent, RMI logo shirts. Ah...so much COOL stuff. Its really fun to go to a store like this that caters exclusively to people climbing big moutains. I really wanted to try on some Scarpa Phantom 6000 boots (I have the Phantom Lite) but I refrained. Sad. I did however pick up some birthday gifts for Rick.
Then we drove down to IMG headquaters. This will be Rick's third trip with IMG (Kautz route on Rainier last year and ice climbing in Ouray a few years ago). He already knows his one guide, Jeff and was happy to be re-united. They invited me to stay for the info meeting which was really fun. I have never met any of his past guides or the other climbers, so this was cool.
(Rick listening to the info and gear meeting) Jeff has a great sense of humor and joked about the mountain blowing up, people dropping gear, not taking avalance beacons and hoping its not a mistake...Everyone was in a great mood as he went over all the gear he is taking.
Then it was time for the climbers to get all their gear out, to be sorted and looked at. :Liberty Ridge is an interesting route (and the hardest guided route on the mountain). The route is straight up climbing and because of this, the weight of your pack needs to be kept at extreme minium. Because Jeff knows Rick and has climbed with him before, he allowed Rick to take these boots, instead of the heavier ones. And because I stuck around for this meeting, I was able to load up all his extra gear.
I simply adore Anne. She arrived wearing short shorts and UGG boots--totally stylin hiker chic! LOVED IT! She has three kids (same ages as ours) and is passionate about climbing. She also thinks I'm a "rock jock" which was flattering. I'm glad her and Claudio are going with Rick on this. Looks like a great group!
Rick's stuff before he packed it in his pack.
A big THUMBS UP from Rick--all his gear looks good to go. It was time to say goodbye and be on my way to Issaquah to meet my parents. I got a big hug from Anne and everyone promised to take care of my sweetie. I forgot to tell them all that Rick's 50th birthday is on summit day. I hope he has a great birthday on the mountain.
When my parents were visiting a few weeks ago, my dad and brother Jeff took Brennan on a hike up to Timpanogas Caves. He REALLY loved going in the cave, meeting Ranger Nick, wearing the ranger hat and being with his Pop and Uncle. What a great trooper he was for hiking all that long way.
Today, Brennan started a week of private lessons with Josh Daniels in P.G. I LOVE coming to their pool and love the style Josh has for teaching. Anyway, Brennan did excellent today, finally getting his breathing down and his back float. He also jumped off the diving board for the first time.
YEA!
The night the boys caught their fish (9!!), Rick cooked them up and we all enjoyed. The rainbow trout actually tasted REALLY good, but I was grossed out by the sight of the fish and the smell. YUCK!
