Summertime Sum Sum Summertime

Northwest Trek animal park is a very cool adventure for kids and adults that’s about an hour South of us.  It’s an opportunity to see native animals in their own habitats.  It’s like a zoo without the cages and glass and faux rocks and depressing looks on the faces of animals in captivity.  Don’t get me wrong, we take our kids to the zoo too, but it was a refreshing change; the least of which was the landscape.

So you can walk through the forest at your own pace and view cougars, lynx, bobcats, owls, eagles, brown and grizzly bears and wolves.  Take an hour long tram ride and you’ll see bison, buffalo, moose, caribou, black-tailed deer and other herbivores.  Greyson was like himself in a candy store. A key-lime lollipop unnecessarily added to his natural high.

The climax of the day was a view of Mt. Rainier.  We’ve been out here for 2 years and this never gets old.  It still takes my breath away every time I see it.

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I can’t believe we’re over halfway through the summer already!  We’ve got an action packed rest of July and August and before we know it, Labor Day will be here and in Greyson’s mind, everything starts after that. “First Halloween, then Thanksgiving and THEN Christmas, and then my birthday.”

GREY*isms*

• G: I need a new piece of gum
• Me: Why?
• G: Because mine is crooked

Ireland was a fantastic whirlwind.  I met a guy from Delafield on the Guinness tour.  It was a great trip, but even better to be home again. 

A view of Ireland from the Guinness Factory

What’s Ireland without a leprechaun? 

What’s Ireland without a Guinness (or two)?

Johnsons, Goehlers and Sibleys…can’t wait to see all of you in Colorado.  10 days and counting.  Cheers!

I’m Walking on Sunshine

There is not a prettier place in the United States then Seattle right now.  The locals say (INCESSANTLY) that summer doesn’t start until July 5th.  We landed at Sea-Tac airport at 2:45pm on July 5th after a gorgeous and relaxing but far too short weekend in Minocqua with Mike’s family and we were welcomed by sunshine, no humidity and a beautiful view of the mountains.  We heard that it rained over the weekend but on that day, you couldn’t tell.

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Our faces continue to be warmed by the sun.  The mountains, all of them, have been “out” in all their splendor.  With temps in the “no humid 90’s”, we’ve enjoyed hours outside and a wonderful visit with Carrie Roca-Dawson and Payton Blessing who are in town for a wedding this weekend.  They’re attending the rehearsal dinner now so I’m finding some time to blog a bit before life, once again, gets crazy.  Mike will be in the Tri-Cities tomorrow and I’m on a plane to Dublin, Ireland for the week.  We’ll hit Breckenridge, Colorado for a long weekend with college friends and our kids at the end of the month before going back to Toronto for a week in early August for work and then a much-needed week’s vacation back to Wisconsin before school starts.

Here’s Payton, 13 going on 30 (taken this afternoon) with the Seattle skyline behind her.  It was a beautiful day for a visit to Alki beach, where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed.

Payton’s uncle Patrick, a dear friend to us and hundreds of others across the world, needs prayer, good ju-ju, lots of thoughts and just all around love coming to him and his family as he fights for his life after suffering a major heart attack.  Visit the Care pages website that his wife Christy updates when she can: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/Pblessing.  They need all of the support they can get.

Enjoy the latest of our boys.  Greyson continues to blurt out *isms* but I’m failing miserably at remembering to write them down.  He did ask me why I don’t feed Graham from my boobs.  Geez, even my 4 years lays a guilt trip on me for selfishly depriving my youngest of his mother’s milk.

   

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Happy Summer, friends and family.  Lack of blogging means we’re spending every free minute with each other and when the kids are sleeping, so are we.  Love to you all.