Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon we had a rare showing of some sun so we took advantage of it to go for a little walk at Kopachuck State Park with Diana.  Such a pretty location for a Sunday stroll.

This wasn't Stevie fishing, but I thought it was so idyllic.

Hunting for interesting rocks (not many shells on these beaches!)

Museum of Glass

With Steve's mom, Diana, visiting us we wanted to show her a little of the area where we live, and unfortunately the weather has not been cooperating.  So instead of seeing the natural beauty, we opted to take her into Tacoma to visit the Museum of Glass.  I think most people have heard of Chihuly and his glass sculptures.  Well, did you know that he is from Tacoma?  Consequently, there is whole museum of glass, including a live demonstration area, here in Tacoma.  There were some fabulous works of art in the museum and we enjoyed a nice afternoon touring the place and having lunch.

The live demonstration of glass blowing - a little less animated than what we used to see in Japan!

 I think, though, that the best part of the museum was outside it, in a free venue, which is a bridge across the road.  On this public bridge is a whole wall of Chihuly pieces on display.  They were pretty awesome.

Some of the pieces

These are big pieces, like 2-3 feet each.

One of Chihuly's pieces with the Union Station in the background.  This one reminded me of pieces of sea glass.

The ceiling over part of the bridge.

Just a goofy shot.

Dash Point

Stevie headed out this morning for an early morning flight to Dallas.  He has to sit for his Oral Board Exam on Monday, the final step to making him board certified in OB/GYN.  It's a huge deal and he's been studying hard to prepare.  He'll sit for it on Monday, fingers crossed!

We also put Grammie on a plane today after almost 3 weeks with us.  She was scheduled to leave on the 3rd with Grandpa, but she became ill while she was here and was put on a no-fly status by the doctor.  With another week to recouperate, she was ready to move on today and fly to my sister's house in Nashville.

On our way home from the airport, I decided to try a new park for a walk with Mick.  It was a beautiful crisp winter day and I thought it would be a great day for a walk.  I am very lucky in that my dog and my kids like to walk with me.  We found a state park called Dash Point which was on the water across the bay from Tacoma.  It was a nice walk, but the paths were a little slick because of ice!

Playing on the drift wood.

Yes, London really is wearing shorts!  Crazy kid, it's 37 degrees!

Mick in border collie mode - he was staring down another dog.

And tonight to end a beautiful day was an absolutely spectacular sunset.  It was one of those that just kept getting better and better.

I thought it was at its peak when I took this shot.

Then 5 minutes later it added red/pink.

It ended with a red line at the horizon, but I had stopped taking pictures by that point!

Random

Here are a few random other photos I took while Grammie and Grandpa were here that didn't fit in anywhere else.  We had a really nice visit with them and despite Grammie getting ill for a chunk of the time, we still were able to have fun.  Come back soon Grammie and Grandpa!

Sunsets...

Flying London's new planes on a beautiful day (it wasn't really as warm as it looks!)

Downtown Gig Harbor's Christmas tree reflecting in the water.

Sledding

The only thing London really, really wanted to do this Christmas break was play in the snow.  I promised him that some time over the course of the two weeks they had off we would go find snow.  We were going to go when my dad was here, but he felt sick that day, as was my mom.  So Saturday was the rescheduled time to find snow.  Stevie was reluctant to drive a long way for snow but I used my powers of female persuasion (wink, wink) and he relented.  In the end he had a fantastic time and we found that snow is only a little over an hour from our house!

From all reports that I'd heard, there was serious snow in the mountains and so we headed that direction.  Since we haven't been around cold weather much in the past 3 years, we were kind of ill-equipped for the snow.  Emmy had a good coat and boots, and I had snow (rain) pants, but the other three were a mix-match combo of cold weather clothes.  Unfortunately, this was our doing-in since as I remember from growing up, once your feet and hands are cold, you're done.

Anyways, we headed toward an area east of Seattle called Snoqualmie.  I had read online about a place to go tubing, but the tickets were all sold out.  Besides, we really just wanted a hill covered in snow to try out the kids' new sleds.  So I had also read about a State Park called Kyak that had snow play areas and that was our destination of the day.

Just shortly after we connected onto I-90 the landscape started to change, as did the weather.  In a matter of minutes we went from rain and woods like we are used to seeing to snow and giant mountains!  Overhead signs warned us of up coming treacherous road conditions and the shoulder of the road was designated for putting chains on tires (nope, we didn't have 'em).  Hmmm, this was beginning to sound serious.

He's plowing the wrong side of the road!

We pushed on in awe of the beautiful landscape.  We had no idea that a mere hour from our home was like landing in Colorado.  As we climbed the temperature dropped and the snow set in - how exciting! 

What's more shocking?  That the temp is 27 degrees or that Stevie is going 45 on the highway???

That's ice!

Fortunately, just when things were beginning to get worse, our exit came and we found the park - as did half of Seattle.  The ice-covered two lane road where we were supposed to park got a little crazy for driving, but in the end we got a parking spot and headed off into the wild white yonder.

As I mentioned earlier, we all were poorly equipped for such temperatures and snow.  London made the fatal mistake of jumping into a huge snow drift to see how deep it was.  Little did he know that getting snow in your rain boots makes for some frozen tootsies so after only a few minutes of sledding Stevie had to take him back to the car to thaw.  Emmy and Cannon and I stayed longer and then headed back when Emmy said her legs were stinging.  We were able to sled longer right by the car once everyone warmed up and put on dry socks (thankfully, I had remembered to bring a change of clothes for the kids).

Emmy's in purple, London's in orange

We are definitely not in Okinawa any more!

Even Stevie was sledding!

Look - we found Rudolph enjoying the snow too!

This was a great time and we are eager to go back and try again.  And after spending some time with target.com this week, we should be much better equipped next time we go!

Grammie's cake

Last year at New Year's my mom and dad had some friends over to their house for dessert and she made a knock-out cake that received rave reviews.  This five layer peppermint cheesecake decadence was her finest creation ever.  So this year she decided to make it a tradition and make it again for us.  It took her two days and lots of dirty dishes.

Mick helped keep the floor clean from the bits whizzing out of the bowl.

But the effort was worth it - the cake was delicious! (And gone in two days!)

New Year's Day

What better way to welcome in the new year than taking a beautiful hike on a beautiful winter day?  The weather was clear and sunny so we all headed over to Penrose Park on the peninsula for some fresh air and exercise.

Mick and Steve

Look closely, Rainier's in the background.

Trying to see who is taller (Cannon beats her by several inches now!)