Post Thanksgiving Hijinks

Sunday we had the unthinkable: sunshine!

So rather than sit around the house, I thought we'd enjoy a walk at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge to get a bit of vitamin D. And we sure did.

We took the short loop to watch the ducks, mostly mallards. At the Nisqually overlook, Ian and Leah took their turns looking through the binoculars.

There were two of the binoculars, but this one sits up a bit higher and has a better view over the low lying brush near the river.

The kids enjoyed trying to spot the ducks and geese from the Twin Barns overlook, and they actually shared pretty decently.

Have a wonderful day everybody!

Marc

Another walk at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge Area

After church this morning we came back home. Since the sun was shining I originally thought about heading to Mt. St. Helens to do some exploring - but it was already almost 1 o'clock which didn't leave a ton of time, so we decided to head to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for the afternoon again.

It was a chilly day, but the sun made it pleasant. We went further out on the boardwalk than last time, and saw a ton of geese.

On our way out, we saw a bald eagle sitting on the top of this tree, however I wasn't able to get my camera up in time before he took off for somewhere else.

Gratuitous shot of the two kids together!!!

Have a good day everyone. Later!

Marc

It's Halloween!

It's almost Halloween, and the kids have been anticipating the sugar rush for some time. While it isn't time for trick-or-treat here yet, there was a party on the Air Force side of Joint Base Lewis-McChord today that we took advantage of. That and the rare sunshine!

So we dressed the kids up, loaded them in the car, made the trek to McChord, and went to have some fun. We did! Ian was a hit as Captain Rex, and Leah was a fairy princess, as you can see.

Since I messed up the loading of photos into Blogger, this one is out of sequence, but what are you gonna do? This was from a walk along a trail not far from the house (walking distance). It was the best of the bunch; my girls...

After the trip to McChord, I took the kids to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for a walk along the boardwalk. We didn't go at a good time for photos, but it was a nice walk through a tidal estuary - and the ducks/geese were out in force. Ian and Leah had a great time running along the elevated boardwalk looking for ducks.

I don't know why I enjoy the shots of Ian and Leah either walking or sitting from behind, but I do.

Have a wonderful day everybody, we sure did.

Tschuss,

Marc

A short trip to Puget Sound

We tried to see "Kung Fu Panda: 2" today, but it was completely sold out. Fortunately there was a Target nearby, so we all walked around a bit before lunch. After lunch we made our way to Puget Sound a little north of Olympia - probably about 5-10 minutes from our new home - for some fresh air and exercise.

The kids had a great time at the water's edge splashing in the water, throwing stones, collecting sea shells, and finding crabs.

The sun made an appearance, so we stayed a bit longer than we originally planned, not that we had hard and fast plans. In fact, this wasn't the beach we were looking for, turns out that one was a private beach. On a random side-note, if you look at the photo above below, just above my head to photo left, you'll catch a glimpse of the Olympic mountains still shrouded in snow.

Both kids had a great time exploring the beach, while I think Catherine and I just treasured having space for the kids to roam away from the hotel room. We have two more (loooooooooonnnnng) weeks in the hotel before we can occupy the house we are renting, so we'll be looking for these opportunities as often as we can.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day today!

Marc