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| Jack and Henry setting up their tent |
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| Sunset over the Puget Sound |
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Camping at Fort Flagler
In mid-September, we took a ferry across the Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula to camp at Fort Flagler State Park. The Fort, which is still standing, was built in the late 1890s/early 1900s to protect the Puget Sound from naval attacks. The boys had a lot of fun playing in the abandoned bunkers and passageways. The campground overlooks the water and we were able to watch the sunset.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Switzerland !
In August, we all took our first big international journey ... to Switzerland for eight days. We flew into Geneva, and from there took the wonderful Swiss trains all around the country - to Zermatt (where the Matterhorn is), Lugano (a smallish city very close to the Italian Border), Wengen (deep in the Alps where we stayed for three days), Gruyeres (very French), and then back to Geneva to fly home.
We took four hikes through some of the most amazing scenery we'd seen. We also got to (try to) speak three different languages - French, Italian, and German. We ate some quintessential Swiss foods and drinks (cheese of course, in particular fondue; also lots of Swiss Chocolate, and also Rivella, the "Coke of Switzerland"). Over the course of our week we took 20 trains, 6 cable cars, and 2 taxis, plus one bus when we needed to take a detour because part of our train line was under construction.
We all voted on our favorite activities at the end of the trip. The top few were:
1. Hiking. The best two were the two through the mountains near Wengen: Mannlichen-to-Kleine Scheidegg where we walked along a ridge for about two hours before ending at the foot of the Eiger and taking the train back; and First-to-Bort where we took three cable cars and hiked for about four miles through a valley to get to a cable car station to get back home.
2. The Gruyeres Castle - a classic medieval town with one street leading up to a castle on a hill. Very unlike anything in the U.S.
3. Ziplining in Zermatt. We all strapped on harnesses and helmets and then sped along about fifty feet in the air, all in the shadow of the Matterhorn.
4. Waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen Valley. The valley is surrounded by sheer rock walls about 1500 feet tall. There are 72 waterfalls, including one we walked along, which you took an elevator through a rock to ten different viewing platforms.
5. Chocolate Factory Tour in Broc. While a bit more crowded and touristy than the rest of the trip, we were able to see Swiss chocolate being made, taste lots of free samples, and then buy some in the gift shop.
Everyone's favorite dinner was the very authentic Italian restaurant in Lugano, the town on the border with Italy. Nearly everyone's favorite breakfast was some chocolate croissants we got at the train station in Geneva. The hotel in Zermatt was everyone's #1 or #2 choice; the hotel in Wengen was a close second for most.
To see the top pictures from our trip: click here. (Flickr has changed their interface - you can see captions on the bottom left of your screen under the picture, and you can just press the right arrow key to scroll through the pictures).
We took four hikes through some of the most amazing scenery we'd seen. We also got to (try to) speak three different languages - French, Italian, and German. We ate some quintessential Swiss foods and drinks (cheese of course, in particular fondue; also lots of Swiss Chocolate, and also Rivella, the "Coke of Switzerland"). Over the course of our week we took 20 trains, 6 cable cars, and 2 taxis, plus one bus when we needed to take a detour because part of our train line was under construction.
We all voted on our favorite activities at the end of the trip. The top few were:
1. Hiking. The best two were the two through the mountains near Wengen: Mannlichen-to-Kleine Scheidegg where we walked along a ridge for about two hours before ending at the foot of the Eiger and taking the train back; and First-to-Bort where we took three cable cars and hiked for about four miles through a valley to get to a cable car station to get back home.
2. The Gruyeres Castle - a classic medieval town with one street leading up to a castle on a hill. Very unlike anything in the U.S.
3. Ziplining in Zermatt. We all strapped on harnesses and helmets and then sped along about fifty feet in the air, all in the shadow of the Matterhorn.
4. Waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen Valley. The valley is surrounded by sheer rock walls about 1500 feet tall. There are 72 waterfalls, including one we walked along, which you took an elevator through a rock to ten different viewing platforms.
5. Chocolate Factory Tour in Broc. While a bit more crowded and touristy than the rest of the trip, we were able to see Swiss chocolate being made, taste lots of free samples, and then buy some in the gift shop.
Everyone's favorite dinner was the very authentic Italian restaurant in Lugano, the town on the border with Italy. Nearly everyone's favorite breakfast was some chocolate croissants we got at the train station in Geneva. The hotel in Zermatt was everyone's #1 or #2 choice; the hotel in Wengen was a close second for most.
To see the top pictures from our trip: click here. (Flickr has changed their interface - you can see captions on the bottom left of your screen under the picture, and you can just press the right arrow key to scroll through the pictures).
Friday, August 30, 2013
Hike Through Ski Run
In July, we took a hike on the same hill we usually ski down in the winter. It looked very different without snow on the hill, and it was fun to make out the different landmarks we would see as we ski down in the winter. We hiked over the ridge and then to a pair of lakes, before hiking back.
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Blue Jays are Champions !
The Thunderbird Little League crowned its 2013 11-12 Year Old Champions ... the Blue Jays. Jack was one of the top pitchers on the team and also played a lot of CF. Here's the team after getting their trophies.
Henry & Dad Outing to Bremerton
In April, Dad and Henry go on an outing to Bremerton. It's a beautiful 45-minute ferry ride from Seattle, winding through some islands in the Puget Sound, and we go to a "Museum Ship" - a ship that was active in the Vietnam War and is now sitting in dock as a museum. It's not very crowded so Henry gets to explore around the different areas of the ship. Very fun!
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| Henry in the captain's chair |
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| On the ferry ride back home - Seattle skyline in the distance |
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Weekend Trip to Canada
During Spring Break, Dad took Joseph and Henry to Canada for a long weekend (Mary Jo stayed home with Jack who had baseball practices).
We left on Saturday and drove up to Whistler, a skiing mecca about four hours from our house. There's a very nice village there with restaurants and the lifts taking people up the mountain. The Olympics had been held here in 2010 and much of the town is newly constructed for that.
The three of us skied on Sunday, with Joseph getting in lots of runs. It was a little foggy but amazing skiing, with really long runs, no real crowds, and good quality snow.
On Monday we drove south from Whistler and stopped in Squamish for an amazing hike. The Squamish Chief is a large rock overlooking the town, valley, and sound - it was a strenuous two mile hike up (about an hour), including some ladders and chains at the top to get over some really large rocks. The view from the top was amazing - it was a clear day and we could see for miles.
From there we drove down to Horseshoe Bay, where we took an hour-long ferry to Vancouver Island. There we took another hike along an old wooden railroad trestle that has recently been restored. We stayed that night in Victoria, the largest city on the island.
On Tuesday we headed back home, taking another ferry - this one a three hour ferry that winds its way through the beautiful San Juan Islands. It's just starting to be whale season there, but we didn't get to see any from the boat. We landed in Anacortes, Washington and then drove home from there.
We left on Saturday and drove up to Whistler, a skiing mecca about four hours from our house. There's a very nice village there with restaurants and the lifts taking people up the mountain. The Olympics had been held here in 2010 and much of the town is newly constructed for that.
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| Henry in Whistler Village |
The three of us skied on Sunday, with Joseph getting in lots of runs. It was a little foggy but amazing skiing, with really long runs, no real crowds, and good quality snow.
On Monday we drove south from Whistler and stopped in Squamish for an amazing hike. The Squamish Chief is a large rock overlooking the town, valley, and sound - it was a strenuous two mile hike up (about an hour), including some ladders and chains at the top to get over some really large rocks. The view from the top was amazing - it was a clear day and we could see for miles.
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| Views from the top of Squamish Chief |
From there we drove down to Horseshoe Bay, where we took an hour-long ferry to Vancouver Island. There we took another hike along an old wooden railroad trestle that has recently been restored. We stayed that night in Victoria, the largest city on the island.
On Tuesday we headed back home, taking another ferry - this one a three hour ferry that winds its way through the beautiful San Juan Islands. It's just starting to be whale season there, but we didn't get to see any from the boat. We landed in Anacortes, Washington and then drove home from there.
Joseph's High School Track Season
Joseph ran for his high school track team this spring, his first varsity sport he has played in high school. Joseph runs long-distance track, usually competing in the one-mile race. It involves practice nearly every day of the week, many times running 4-6 miles at a time. He's competed in several meets (every Thursday through April and May) and some invitational meets on Saturday. His best time so far is 5 minutes, 5 seconds, which is almost a minute faster than where he was at the start of the season.
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| Joseph (in second place) |
Jack and Henry's Science Fairs
This spring both Jack and Henry did science projects for their school science fairs.
Jack's project was an analysis of web browser speeds. Jack tested four different websites on five different browsers. He timed how long it took for each website (e.g., amazon.com, seashepherd.org) to fully load using Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Maxthon.
He found that Internet Explorer was the fastest loading browser of any of the ones he tested.
Henry's project was on whether soaking seeds before planting them would cause the seeds to grow into plants faster. He tested five different types of seeds - pepper, tomato, cucumber, and green bean. He took some of each type of seed and soaked them for 24 hours, some others he soaked for 2 hours, and some others he didn't soak at all. He found that the seeds that were soaked grew faster and taller than seeds that hadn't been soaked.
Jack's project was an analysis of web browser speeds. Jack tested four different websites on five different browsers. He timed how long it took for each website (e.g., amazon.com, seashepherd.org) to fully load using Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Maxthon.
He found that Internet Explorer was the fastest loading browser of any of the ones he tested.
Henry's project was on whether soaking seeds before planting them would cause the seeds to grow into plants faster. He tested five different types of seeds - pepper, tomato, cucumber, and green bean. He took some of each type of seed and soaked them for 24 hours, some others he soaked for 2 hours, and some others he didn't soak at all. He found that the seeds that were soaked grew faster and taller than seeds that hadn't been soaked.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Trip to Hawaii
During February break, we all went to the Big Island of Hawaii for a week. We stayed in a house in a town called "Captain Cook", on the bay where the explorer of the same name died, after being the first Westerner to "discover" Hawaii in the 1770s. It was a beautiful spot and our week was filled with lots of fun activities.
After the trip, each of the kids rated how fun each of the activities were. Not surprisingly, they each had a different top 3 list.
Joseph's Top 3:
1. Snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach - swimming with lots of different kinds of fish amongst a coral reef
2. Volcanoes National Park - seeing steam still coming out of the crater from recent eruptions, and a hike across a crater that last erupted in the 1950s.
3. Parasailing from Kona Harbor - on 1200 feet of rope, we got 500 feet in the air - almost as tall as the tallest building in Seattle. Great views of the island and ocean
Jack's Top 3:
1. Hike along rocks / sea arches - the entire island is made up of lava and is very black - mostly rocky. The day before we left we hiked along the coast and saw cool rock formations and sea arches (where the rock has eroded away and the surf comes pouring through). We also saw humpback whales in the ocean (we saw them 3 times during the trip; this is on their migratory path for this time of year).
2. Boogie Boarding at Kikua Beach
3. Parasailing from Kona Harbor
Henry's Top 3:
1. Parasailing from Kona Harbor
2. Manini Beach - this was our local beach, a 2 minute walk from our house. A very rocky beach, not really swim-able except for a narrow sandy portion where Henry spent hours washing up in a boogie board. Others also went snorkeling out in the bay from there.
3. Boogie Boarding at Kikua Beach
To see the top 25 photos from our trip, click here
After the trip, each of the kids rated how fun each of the activities were. Not surprisingly, they each had a different top 3 list.
Joseph's Top 3:
1. Snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach - swimming with lots of different kinds of fish amongst a coral reef
2. Volcanoes National Park - seeing steam still coming out of the crater from recent eruptions, and a hike across a crater that last erupted in the 1950s.
3. Parasailing from Kona Harbor - on 1200 feet of rope, we got 500 feet in the air - almost as tall as the tallest building in Seattle. Great views of the island and ocean
Jack's Top 3:
1. Hike along rocks / sea arches - the entire island is made up of lava and is very black - mostly rocky. The day before we left we hiked along the coast and saw cool rock formations and sea arches (where the rock has eroded away and the surf comes pouring through). We also saw humpback whales in the ocean (we saw them 3 times during the trip; this is on their migratory path for this time of year).
2. Boogie Boarding at Kikua Beach
3. Parasailing from Kona Harbor
Henry's Top 3:
1. Parasailing from Kona Harbor
2. Manini Beach - this was our local beach, a 2 minute walk from our house. A very rocky beach, not really swim-able except for a narrow sandy portion where Henry spent hours washing up in a boogie board. Others also went snorkeling out in the bay from there.
3. Boogie Boarding at Kikua Beach
To see the top 25 photos from our trip, click here
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