Broc - Ketsy - Rune - Hendershott

Olympic Peninsula

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:10:00 +0000

One final excursion with the Kerrs before they move to Chicago (tear). They hadn't been to the Hoh Rainforest yet, so we went to see what it is all about.

Then to La Push where the earlier stormy weather had made the beach a rollicking mess similar to our visit last year (apparently not the norm, though).

Then up to the Northwestern most point in the contiguous US: Neah Bay. Needless to say, it was gorgeous.

And a gratuitous shot of our Goose with some geese.

Halloween & a 5 yr old

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

[too thick] Shaggy, [too tall] Velma, [too articulate] Scooby

Squak Mountain in the Fall

Other Halloween Costume- Super Chicken aka El Pollo Loco

Celebrating turning five by actually getting to put coins in the game

Finally turning Five after months of anticipation.

[Note chunk of hair missing from the top of Rune's head- self-cut]

[Note Rune on the counter- he always ends up here]

Vancouver, BC

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Headed to Vancouver for the weekend with the Kings.

It rained cats and dogs but we still had to do geo-caches in Stanley Park.

The sun broke through while we were at Granville Island
We ventured to North Vancouver and Cleveland Dam.

It's not to say these guys aren't super heroes, but I will admit appearances can be deceiving.

The Kings were stellar traveling companions. Glad we were able to make the trip.

Salt Lake City

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:32:00 +0000

We got to spend the weekend in Salt Lake for Caleb's wedding to Becca. Earlier in the week, though, we visited the EMP for Rune to play the drums-he has been obsessed.

Then off to Utah for an early morning and long day of fun and family. Here are the newlyweds.
My mom ran into a woman my family knew in Japan 30 years ago. You should have heard the joyous exclamations in Japanese when they saw each other.

Rune was excited for Uncle Caleb, but mostly glad he got to see everyone.

We took the scenic route from Salt Lake to the reception in Mapleton.

By Saturday my family had already scattered, so we hooked up with a bunch of Broc's family and went for a hike. Grandpa Don was quite the trooper!

Made it to Lake Blanche, where the weather was a tad chilly.
But it was gorgeous!
Here are some of the guys finding a geo-cache after tromping up a hill through the snow.

Later we stopped by the Great Salt Lake to check it out, as I had only ever seen it from the air. Pretty cool.

We enjoyed so much being able to be there for Caleb & Becca's big day and were thrilled we got to spend time with family, especially Eric & Hillary\Hilarrie\Hillarie. We owe you a warm bed and a tank of gas!

Sister!

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:23:00 +0000

I am so happy Amy and kids got to come visit us last week. The weather was perfect for their visit (the same cannot be said this week) and so we got to do some fun things.

Hiking to Denny Creek was one of the highlights.

Here we are at the falls.
And the kids could not resist the siren song of the slippery rock.
Cora had a run in with the trail. Look at that face!
Other than hiking, Rune and Calan loved the water taxi to downtown for some Ivar's and a visit to Pike's Place
Always love the flowers!
We splurged one night and got a pizza from Talarico's. Little did we know...
Cute boys, but Grandpa might be concerned that Rune is a bad influence on Calan- what with the mohawks and what not...

One final outing to Seattle Center.
Daring boy down by the fountain!

Loved having my little sister come visit. I am sad we don't live closer, but I am so glad we got to play for a while. And I will see her at Caleb's wedding next week. I am so excited for the wedding of the [family's] decade.

Hendershotts Hit Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:51:00 +0000

We were so thrilled to have Poppie, Grammie, Brig and Brelyn come to visit. Our trip to the San Juans with them was memorable!

The view from Mt Consitution on Orcas Island

Rune adores this woman.

These two make me laugh. This is not the first time they have been found mirroring each other.

Rune doing his best version of the flubber face.

Brelyn and Brig enjoyed trying all the *new* foods in Seattle. Pho was a gastro-adventure in and of itself.

Here is Rune enjoying the same. This kid knows how to eat.

We loved having them here. Rune was giddy the entire time. Come again soon, family!

City of Roses and Mt. St. Helens

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:28:00 +0000

We finally got down to Portland and visited the Orrs.

Powell's Bookstore was as fabulously gigantic as advertised. Definitely worth the walk.
The Rose Garden was also worth a visit and our timing was good as it stopped pouring right after we arrived.

Rune thinks that roses' best feature is their abundance of Rhino noses. Stockton seems to agree.

I prefer the flower parts, myself.

These are Barbra Streisand Roses. Love that.

After thoroughly enjoying our time with the Orrs, we headed up to Mt. St. Helens. The observatory was very informative and interesting.
The mountain was a bit elusive, but that made it all the more exciting.

A fun way to spend Labor Day weekend despite the crazy weather.

Coming Soon: A Visit from the Hendershotts

Whistler

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:20:00 +0000

We have been going on quite a few excursions lately and I am falling behind on documentation. It's all a bit excessive, I know, but it is such a nice time of year and there is so much to do.

We went to Whistler last weekend to help Rhiannon celebrate her birthday.

Riding the gondola from peak to peak was quite the experience.

Here we are at the top with the birthday girl.

Rune tried out Daddy's bike.
And then tried out jumps on his own bike.
Just to show you that my husband was actually on the trip and let you know exactly what he was doing.

Some footage of Rune riding. He said this was his best trip ever and that was undoubtedly attributable to his time spent on his bike.

Coming Soon: Portland

Camping at Rainier

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:20:00 +0000

The weather was perfect. The company was great. And the setting was gorgeous. Rune had a blast roasting marshmallows...

Chopping firewood...
Hiking from Sunrise at Mt. Rainier....
Enjoying the amazing view...

And the rope swing! Everyone's favorite.

It is times like the conception of this rope swing that I can not help but love that my husband still loves to play. Thanks for making camping (and life) fun, Honey.

Visit to Whidbey

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Broc's grandparents came into town for a bit, so we had to stop by for a visit. We loaded up on blackberries, hydrangeas, and quality time with the Don and Grammie Kaye.

Oregon Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:45:00 +0000

We went down to the Oregon Coast this weekend. It was beautiful and a fun time, despite Rune having a fever the whole time and throwing up in an elevator at one point. You can tell by the angle that Rune was our photog for this one.

Here are Rune and George. I love this picture of them looking for puffins on Haystack Rock.

These two can play for days and not get sick of each other. And they will talk for hours on long road trips. It is hilarious and inevitably about which super-heroes they are and what bad guys they would fight.

One final picture for the grandmas. Rune loves his Legos and his favorite thing to ask is if he can dump them out. I caught him in the act of biting the Legos apart. Here's hoping he is feeling better soon and back to playing with his Legos!

Crowded Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:59:00 +0000

So, the sun starts to shine in Seattle and people come out of the woodwork to clog the streets and attend all manner of fairs, festivals, and concerts. We found ourselves braving the crowds to enjoy greasy food and good music.

Listening to Mudhoney at the West Seattle Street Fair with the Kings.

(note the crowd)

Here we are at the Alki Pirate Landing. I loved the costume Broc threw together for our little scallywag. I am sure you guessed that it was quite the crowd of pirate enthusiasts.
Some friends had tickets for the Decemberists with Andrew Bird at Marymoor and I was lucky enough to get invited. It was a really fun concert and so here is yet another picture with hordes of people as the backdrop.

And then there was Paradise... To escape the crowds while Broc and Rune were playing at Father&Sons, I headed to Mt Rainier with the McKinleys. The trail had its crowded moments, but there was a lot of mountain to go around.

The picture of me and Cameron and this next one is Lisette's photography that I borrowed from her. If you look closely you can see me in the bottom left-hand side.

The wildflowers were out. Paradise is aptly named. Thanks for sharing it with me, L & C!

Back at home

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Broc has been playing on his work softball team and Rune got caught up in the love for the game. When he is not asking to go to the park to play baseball, he is asking me how much longer until he turns five. The kid is a little excited about turning 5.

I have been wanting to go to the Big Four Ice Caves for months now, but the bridge officially reopened this month. Because of all the snow this winter it was still an ice field, rather than ice caves, but it was cool nonetheless.

Here are the boys wishing they had brought their snowboards, or at least the snowskate.
A view on the way.

It is cherry season here and so at every opportunity we get some on which to gorge ourselves. Rune has not quite figured out getting the pit out without making a huge mess of himself.

Eric and Kim came to visit. The afternoon they got into town, we hit the Experience Music Project on the busiest day they had ever experienced. Ever. They had to close the doors because they were at capacity. Needless to say, it was ridiculously crowded. However, it is a very cool place and we got to see the famous MJ glove. You can see Kim's sidekick too. Dolly was so much fun to have here. Rune could not leave her alone.
Here are the boys on our way home from Bainbridge Island.One of my favorite things we did was hiking to Franklin Falls. They were lovely and the spray was the perfect way to cool off.
We loved having the Huffakers come visit. It was a little hot for a few days, but otherwise it was a perfect weekend with friends!

Arizona in June

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I was dying to see my little people (nieces, nephews, and the like) and when I mentioned the idea to Rune, he was all about it!

Despite the perfect weather in WA and the less than ideal AZ days, we decided to spend a couple weeks seeing our loved ones.

Rune got reacquainted with Cousin Shaynie.

Loved spending the day in Globe at Calan's house.

Here he is with his summer cut. Love the Cooper Girls.

Could Rune and Lily be any cuter? Swimming with the Chaffees.

Rune's absolute favorite thing of the trip- RC cars in Poppie's backyard.

My absolute favorite thing of the whole trip- Liam is such a chub and a sweetheart. And Vanessa gave me a little haircut.

Good times with The Girls in Scottsdale before Lindsay moved to Oklahoma.

Our last get-away as twenty-somethings!

I was so happy I got to spend time with Cora. It is amazing how much I love my little people!

It was great to be able to see everyone! But as fun as the trip was, nothing was more joyous than our return home. The man I adore with his mini-me:

A few people have asked me what is home to me- Mesa or Seattle. It is definitely wherever Broc is and I don't have to live out of a suitcase. So--- Seattle.

Camping and Special Occasions

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:59:00 +0000

It's been an eventful couple of weeks. Our anniversary was celebrated by adding a declaration of our love to the Gum Wall in Post Alley. I never want to see Bubble Yum again in my life.

The next day we dropped in on GrammieKaye and GrandpaDon for some kite flying and pizza.

The weather here has been unbelievably beautiful, so we are trying to take advantage of every moment. Here we are in an old railroad tunnel we hiked to.

This year we celebrated Broc's birthday by eating meat (sandwiches). Salumi's was amazing!

We spent our Memorial Weekend camping in the North Cascades. The weather was perfect, the scenery amazing and Rune LOVED it.

We hiked to Ross Dam. The dam jokes got old, but the view was worth suffering through them.
This is the view on Diablo Lake Trail. I don't get in hikes without the munchkin much these days, so I was happy Broc encouraged me to sneak this one in while they went fishing.
Broc washing away the smell of campfire in ICE COLD water.

Our efforts to do some geo-caching while camping never worked out, so when we got home we popped into Schmitz Preserve just a mile up the road from home for Rune's first "treasure-hunting" experience. (Chelsi & Trevor introduced us to geo-caches- they are lots of fun)

Found the goods. We will definitely have to do this again.

Uncle Caleb

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:36:00 +0000

We were so happy to have Uncle Caleb visit this week. He got here just before Broc left for his bike race weekend. Here are the boys enjoying Ezell's famous chicken in Volunteer Park.

Rune loved having Uncle Caleb here for two reasons:

1. *ultimate fighting machines* made out of Legos

2. computer games

A hike to Boulder River.

Finally, a small tribute someone left for us down on the Waterfront.

Celebrating 8 years of true love today.

Love you, Babe. Devil eyes and all.

Tulips, Salamanders & Slugs

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:20:00 +0000

I had given up hope for making the Tulip Festival this year, but last minute we decided to make the trip and get a hike out of it as well.

Off of Chuckanut Drive, we hiked to Fragrance Lake. Rune did the whole 4 miles on his own two feet.

And got to catch his first salamander along the way.

Rune was an eagle-eye at spotting these guys before we stepped on them, as they were frequently on the trail.

The lake was quite lovely and worth the walk. All-around great Saturday!

My birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:35:00 +0000

The three of us spent a lovely weekend on Vancouver Island for my birthday. We took the Clipper into Victoria, and promptly headed to Butchart Gardens. I have always wanted to see them and they did not disappoint.

This is the sunken garden. It was my favorite part.

Rhiannon was sweet to host us. Should you ever receive an invitation of any kind from Rhiannon, I highly recommend accepting it. Regardless of the occasion, she knows how to make things beautiful and the food is always fantastic.

These little beauties are my Cupcake Royale indulgence for my birthday.

These are from Broc. What a great birthday.

And what a beautiful time of year. I am completely enamored.

Love this place

bhendershott@gmail.com (Ketsy) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:44:00 +0000

First, a big event for our family- Rune finally saved enough to get a bigger bike. 25cents for emptying the dishwasher is a steady but slow way to earn money. He is thrilled with his Hotrock and shows off like crazy.

Here is a little hike we did on Saturday. Twin Falls. Rune and George have way too much fun.

Obligatory rock throwing.

Obligatory rock leaping.

This shot is not from our hike, rather it is from a park a mile from us that we just discovered this week.

How I love this place.

Spring has arrived

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:58:00 +0000

What joy a little warmth and sunshine bring to the soul.

Low tide at Alki Beach.
The spoils from yardwork.
Headed to Lincoln Park
Jewel at Lincoln Park.
A walk on the beach in flipflop weather is glorious.

A view on our Sunday afternoon drive.
Loved this photo for both the look on his face and the hair.

Now looking forward to the tulips coming up and more 60+ days. Okay, even above 50 will be great.

Peru

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:29:00 +0000

Peruvian rocks make me feel small

Peruvian people make me feel giganticI loved visiting this Indian market

Machu Picchu was even more amazing than I had realized.

To the Amazon... Sun setting on Madre de Dios River

500 year old tree
Centipedes are okay anywhere but in my bed

90 feet up overlooking the rainforest canopy

Relaxing by the pool after a long day in the jungle

I am glad I got to experience Peru with you, Mom and Dad.

Chuckanut Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:26:00 +0000

We made the drive to Bellingham on Saturday. It was a cool town, but it was the drive home that was a must-do-again.Chuckanut Drive goes down the coast from Bellingham.
If you look closely, you can see the train tracks right along the water below. That is the way I want to do it next time.
We went over Deception Pass on our way to drop in on the Cronks. Can you see how windy it is?

Now can you?? It was crazy windy.
Yesterday Broc finally relented and let me cut his hair. We have been spoiled forever having two amazing(-ly free) hairdressers, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It may have been beginner's luck, but it turned out not terrible!

The weather this week has been cold/sunny/windy/rainy/snowy. Random and all over the place (except warm), so I am looking forward to a warmer clime. Check you later.

His and Hers

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:07:00 +0000

This Saturday, I got dibs on the first half of the day, and B & R got to do what they wanted to do the second half. Somewhere off the I90. Not exactly sure where we were. We wanted to snowshoe, but decided to just do the snow without the shoe.
Yes, Rune is getting way too big for that thing, but it is just so convenient- for Rune and me, anyway! Broc says Rune is on his own this summer.
Later that day... Rune's first trip up the lift. Those things seem really sketchy when your 4 yr old is sitting on them 25 feet in the air.

Saturday Shred Sesh

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Rune learned to snowboard on Saturday. I had no idea he would do so well and love it so much.He insisted on jumping every run and wanted to go down the steep hills, but maybe next time on that one.

We will have to go back

noreply@blogger.com (Ketsy) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:02:00 +0000

Vancouver, BC is the place for me. Granville Island Public Market was great. The time we spent there was not sufficient, so we will have to go back.The boys (all of them) enjoying some time at the park.
Our hotel was really nice and the beds made for great fun.

Rune getting launched.
One of the highlights of the trip was definitely the hugs being given on Robson Street. Forget about universal healthcare when you've got free hugs! Here are the cute boys who terrorized the 17th floor.
Broc's hero is Andrew Zimmern (of Bizarre Foods fame) and so of course he was excited to peruse Chinatown's culinary offerings. I must note that he did not try any jelly fish, dried squid, or octopus, so he says we will have to go back.