Day 15: McLane Creek Nature Walk

Today we took Winston to McLane Creek Nature Park for his walk.  We haven't been here since we volunteered at the Stream Team event back in 2011.  It's sad that we don't come here more often because it's a really nice park.  I think mostly we forget that it's there.  We did the 1.1 mile loop, which goes around the entire park & offers views of the pond & McLane Creek.  Most of it is boardwalk now, which is really nice, because the other areas were a bit muddy.  Poor Winston had to have a bath following the walk, which he was not happy about.  But at least he got his walk in! 

McLane creek, which is a salmon spawning creek.  I need to remember to come back in the fall. 

Days 11-14: Walk at Mission Creek Nature Park

We haven't done much walking these past few days.  On Monday we just went for a quick walk around the block, then nothing until today's walk at Mission Creek Nature Park in Olympia, which was recommended by a friend at work.  It's a small park right in the middle of the city with gravel walking paths & some boardwalks.  It is probably very pretty in the summer months, but today it was looking a bit like a creepy forbidden forest with all the gnarled, leaf-less trees.  Still, Winston was happy to be out & about after a couple of days cooped up at home.  The weather was cold, rainy & windy.  Much more like the typical winter day in the Pacific Northwest than what we've been experiencing. I knew it was too good to last.  We stopped at the San Francisco Bakery after the walk for some fresh cheese bagels as our reward.

Monday's walk around the neighborhood.

On the way to Mission Creek

Happy Birthday to Gabby!

Happy 15th birthday to our amazing youngest daughter, Gabby!  What can we say about Gabby?  She is super smart, funny, 'tudy, and a talented dancer & photographer.  She is definitely her own person with her own opinion about things.  We don't see much of this girl because she's always at dance, dance, dance, but when we do, she makes us smile.  Since her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year and she is at dance (of course) until late in the evening, we actually celebrated her birthday last Monday on the Martin Luther King Jr holiday.  We took her up to Kent to one of the dance stores where she got 3 new leotards and dance shoes.  We had lunch afterwards at The Rock Pizza.  We love you, Gabby!

With her favorite person, Corey, at The Rock.

As per her request, I made her a marbled cheesecake in lieu of birthday cake. 

Our budding photographer.  I took this photo of her taking photos of her friends for their dance auditions.

Road Trip to Pine Island, Minnesota

While looking through some old photo albums for pictures of my Dad, I came across these Polaroids from when we took our family vacation in July of 1982.   We drove from Tacoma to Pine Island, Minnesota to see my Dad's home where he grew up.  On the way we stopped to visit his cousin Bum on his farm in North Dakota, saw Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park, the Grand Coulee Dam and lots of other places.  Sorry the photos are a bit out of order, but I'm not really sure what order they are supposed to go in.  These are most of the photos.  Some were too faded to scan. 

My Mom & Dad.  We always got out of the car at the state line & took photos. 

My mom, brother Jerry, me, cousin Bum in the cowboy hat with his daughter in law Jan & son Craig. 

Probably the only picture of me on a horse in existence. 

My Mom

The house where my Dad grew up.  My aunt said that when they lived there they didn't have utilities & the house was not painted. 

My brother, Jerry, and I.  I would have just turned 14 and he was about to turn 16.

With our extended family in Wisconsin. 

My Mom & I at the start of the Mississippi River.

In Prairie Dog Town

At Wall Drug

Crazy Horse Monument in South Dakota

At Grand Coulee Dam

Jerry at Dry Falls State Park in South Dakota

Passing

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of my father, Michael Reppert, who died suddenly on Monday, January 27th in Thailand.  He just marked his 70th birthday.  Dad was born in Pine Island, Minnesota on December 28, 1943.  He served in the Vietnam war, which is where he met & married my mother, Thanh (Monique).  He spent many years in Tacoma, Washington before moving to Thailand in 1991 following my Mom's death in November of 1990.  He is preceded in death by his father, Arthur, his mother, Martha, his sister, Darlene, and his son ,Jerry.  He will be greatly missed.