Chinatown

After having such a blast at Uwajimaya the other week, we knew we'd have to take my mom and dad there to experience the fun.  And did they shop!  It will be a wonder if they'll be able to get it all in their suitcase, but I know they'll sure try.

After picking out our yummies, we went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  More yum!

And then to top off the oriental shopping trip, we went to the 100 Yen Store (all things $1.50 here).  I LOVE this place for funny, sometimes oddly practical, yunk.

Mom shopping at the 100Yen

Remember these funny packages from my Okinawa posts???

OK, this was just odd.  We think it was a bus that someone converted to look like an armored cat?  Who knows!

Penrose

Steve was post-call on Tuesday and so we took the chance to go for a lovely day on the Key Peninsula.  We first drove out to Penrose Park for an amazing hike with the dog.  This is such a pretty place, especially on a beautiful sunny day, but the pinnacle is when you come out on the beach and see the stunning view of Mt. Rainier.

 

 

 

Since there weren't many people around, we took Mick off the leash and Steve threw stick after stick into the water for him.  He was exhausted!

After our hike we stopped at a really nice nursery and then had an awesome Mexican lunch at a little joint in a no-name town.  Gotta love places like that!

Happy 70th Dad!

Happy birthday to my wonderful father who made it to 70 years today!  And to mark the auspicious occasion, he chose to jump out of a plane!!!

He had decided this a while back so when I knew they were going to be in Washington for his birthday, I found a place for him to make the jump.  Little did my dad know, but my sister decided to jump with him.  It was a surprise right up to the end when my sister surprised him with the news.

All eight of us drove to a remote location south of Olympia on what turned out to be a gorgeous June day for the big event.  My dad and Nicole had to watch an instructional video that clearly outlined all the risks, and then they had to sign their lives away on paper.

Watching the video - Nicole looks very nervous!

After all the legal business was taken care of, they suited up.

These were going to be tandem jumps in which they are securely fastened to an experienced instructor.

One last photo with the grandkids, just in case (ha, ha!)

And they're off!  There were about 10 people shoved in that plane.

 After the plane took off, we had about 10 minutes to wait for the plane to get to altitude (between 10,000-13,000 feet).  We were allowed to go stand in the middle of the landing zone as long as we promised not to move!

Pretty soon we could see a spec of a plane and then some small dots of color.  We knew my dad would have a grey and blue parachute and Nicole would have a pink one.

First came dad...

And then came Nicole.  We joked that she's so light it took her longer to get down!

 

She made it too!

Nicole with her tandem diver.

Dad with his tandem diver.

We finished the celebratory day by a delicious dinner of Copper River Salmon and a fresh strawberry rhubarb crumble.

Maritime Festival

Gig Harbor is such a picturesque little community and what quaint little American town would be complete without its own parade?  The Gig Harbor Maritime Festival takes place the first Saturday of June and so I dragged the family for a little parade action.  We were fortunate enough to know someone (our Realtor) who lives right on the parade route and she invited us to come camp in her front yard for front row spots.

The kids were a little hesitant at first to collect candy, and then I realized that this was probably the first parade they could remember so we clued them in on what they should do.  Emmy quickly got in on the action, but London was more cautious.

It was a beautiful day and lots of great family fun!

Emmy getting bowed to as "Queen" by the cast of the Monty Python play.

One year anniversary

Today marks the anniversary of when we arrived back in the States from Japan - where has the time gone???  It's hard to believe that we really aren't new to the area now and that we've been back a whole year!

Our Sayonara Okinawa picture

One year later.

Tacoma Glass

With the kids at school, I took the opportunity to show my mom, dad and sister a little bit of the cultural side of Tacoma.  We first stopped at the art museum and then drove over to the Tacoma Museum of Glass.  We didn't actually go in the glass museum, just had lunch at their yummy restaurant and then walked over the Glass Bridge.  This outdoor, free museum is a priceless collection of Chihully's blown glass pieces.  They are really pretty fantastic - kind of Dr. Seuss like in their obscurity.

 

On the far side of the bridge is the Union Station, the former train depot for Tacoma.  It's a beautiful building which now houses the US District Court and some pretty impressive scuptures by Chihully.  Like this piece hanging from the dome.

 

 

And these beauties hanging in front of the arched window.

The colors in this flower were beautiful.

Mom, Dad and Nicole on the Glass Bridge.  I think these look like giant pieces of sea glass.  My dad thought they looked like big ice cubes.