Welcome Lauren!!!

On July 15th, 2010 at 12:52pm we were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Lauren Elisabeth entered the world at 9 lbs 2.5 oz and 20.5 in. With reddish-blonde hair and all her cute little fingers and toes she's everything we've been waiting for.

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I'll just use the photo above for my excuse. Somehow I think we'll be forgiven. Thank you all for your wishes and understanding. We really do appreciate it.

In last night's post I told you that my wife and I went for a nice afternoon walk down at Capitol Lake. It's trail that goes around the lake is a popular spot for people who either like to walk or walk their dogs. (NOTE: we knew right away this was not a dog!) We were about half way around the lake when I stopped dead in my tracks and told my wife "Honey....LOOK." Yep, there is a local woman that happens to (legally) own a somewhat tame Bobcat. I wish I had backed off and taken a shot of her, the Bobcat and her two dogs. The dogs weren't even on leashes. Evidently they've grown up around the cat and are completely comfortable around it. They acted like it was no big deal. There were other dogs that came by that the cat appeared to eye very closely licking it's chops. The owner kept a pretty tight grip on the leash, but I was surprised how long of a leash she used. It was probably fifteen feet long which seems like a lot of lead for an animal that could do the damage this one could. We stopped and talked to the lady for a while. A group of teenagers stopped and took a ton of cell phone pics. A couple of them actually did get to pet it, but she wouldn't let any small kids close. Definitely a beautiful animal, but it sure caught us off guard.

This evening seemed like a good night for pizza, so we headed over to Brewery City Pizza and filled our bellies. Well, my belly is not quite as full as Krise's but you get the idea. After dinner we decided it was too nice out to just go home so we drove to Capitol Lake to take a nice relaxing stroll and watch the sunset. Tomorrow I'm going to show you what else we saw there. It's going to surprise you.

For more weekend reflections click the link below.

One of the interesting buildings at The Evergreen State College here in Olympia. Recently my wife and I took an afternoon stroll around it's campus. Though not something I'd call beautiful, this wall with it's repeating shapes and shadows definitely caught my eye.

Which translated means, all my ducklings. Hi everyone. No we haven't fallen off the face of the earth, and no we don't have a new baby yet either. Krise's due date is still July 13th so that calculates to about 23 days to go. We're getting pretty excited, and she's feeling pretty ready. Also, Happy Father's Day to all the dads. I hope you all had a wonderful day. After opening a couple of very nice gifts we went out for breakfast. Evidently a few thousand others had the same idea but that's okay. I wasn't going to let a little wait bum me out. After breakfast we went to a local park to take a walk. No, I'm not trying to wear my wife out, in fact she's happy walking as long as it's at an easy pace. While we were walking around the lake there were lots of ducks. As you can see in this shot, our oldest daughter talked a few of them into a cell phone photo-op.

Again, Happy Father's Day. I'll do my best to post when I can as well as helping the wife prepare the nest.

As promised, here is another shot from The Bridge of Glass in downtown Tacoma. Take a gander waaaaay down at the far end. See those two light blue objects? The one on the left was yesterday's post.

A beautiful sculpture made even more interesting with the sunlight shining through it. Actually there are two of them and they are call The Crystal Towers. They are the center pieces of The Chihuly Bridge of Glass at The Glass Museum in Tacoma.

You'll have to forgive me for being slightly behind on my posting lately. Not only are we getting closer to "baby day", but as you may have seen in the previous post we have had company. My cousin Robert, his wife Karola & their daughter Marion spent two wonderful days with us. They are gone now, continuing down the Pacific coast before they eventually head back home to Schwandorf, Bayern. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute we spent with them and miss them very much. I guess that's all the more reason to go visit them one day. Here's wishing them safe travels.

What a wonderful day we had today. My cousin Robert, his wife Karola & their daughter Marion are here visiting from Bavaria. I had never met Robert or his family before today. After going out for a large breakfast we set out to show them around. We took them shopping at several local places where they picked up some souvenirs, then to the Tacoma waterfront. Earlier in the day it was cold and rainy, but by the afternoon it was sunny and beautiful out. We headed downtown to The Glass Museum. They really enjoyed seeing all the colorful glass on display. Tomorrow is their last day here, then they head south through Oregon and into California. Let's hope the weather stays nice for at least one more day.

Spotted on a walk recently we thought this Weekend Reflection looked like a painting.

For more Weekend Reflections click the link below.

For this Skywatch Friday I thought I'd share a photo that has a wide enough view to remind you of some of the places I've shown you on here. The lake is Capitol Lake. Recently I showed you another angle looking right back where this shot was taken near the Legislative Building. In the distance to the left you see the 4th Avenue Bridge. I took this shot from underneath it. See that building in the distance to the right? I told you the story of that right here.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. If you'd like to see more Skywatch Friday photos click the link below.

Well, I'm posting this later than I had planned, but tonight was our oldest daughter's last high school concert of this school year. Each concert so far had really been good and tonight was no exception. My favorite was an old Tower of Power hit performed by the jazz band called "What is Hip?" What do you mean you don't remember it?

Another shot taken at The Seymour Conservatory in Tacoma, this area is dedicated to various exotic orchids.

As we do about once every couple of months or so, we headed up to The Seymour Conservatory in Tacoma. Currently they have a wonderful display called Hilltop Artists in Residence. Glass, locally blown is set amongst the plants and flowers. The artists' works are also for sale. In fact when we went on Sunday there weren't many pieces left that were not marked "SOLD". This is one that really caught our eye though.

Today we were up north in Tacoma seeing my Mom, doing some shopping for baby things and just sort of running around. Driving down the road something caught my eye. I had to turn around and look closer. Thankfully we were able to pull into an alley to get this shot.

What the heck??

As those of you who regularly follow along here know, Capitol Lake is one of our favorite places to go on a nice day. It's a great place to walk the dogs, take in some sun and photograph the goings on. I just couldn't pass up a scene like this.

With all the wonderful and historic things to see at the Capitol Campus here in Olympia one sad spot is the former Capitol Campus Conservatory. Built in the 1930's, what was once the home and birthplace for thousands of flowers is now an empty shell destined to someday be demolished. Why you say? Click here for the story.

Taken on our recent outing to The McLane Creek Nature Trail, I felt lucky that this beautiful Red Winged Blackbird held still long enough for me to take his portrait.

For more Ruby Tuesday shots click the link below.

This afternoon I went for a walk around the State Capitol. I spotted this tree and realized I had seen it many times, even photographed it before but I'd never shared it on here. I'm not sure of the history of this old tree. I looked for some sign or plaque, but there were none. I'm assuming there's something about this old tree that makes it worthy of saving. Check out the series of poles around it. Some have loops at the top with a branch running through them. At least one near the center stretches above the top of the tree and has cables which reach out and support other limbs. Quite the design.

Those of you that have been kind enough to follow along here for a while already realize that downtown Olympia is a colorful diverse place. So here's just one more thing that makes the downtown area fun. This bench, titled "Match Game" is one of I believe 5 benches with various forms of artwork on them. This was the brainchild of The Olympia PBIA or "Public and Business Improvement Area" who, in 2008 invited local artists to submit designs that would artistically enhance existing benches in downtown Olympia to "generate added artistic interest to our streetscape and to engage the Olympia arts community in a project that would highlight beauty and creativity in the downtown core." The photography on this particular bench came from Bridget Irish. You can read a little more about it here.

Another shot taken this past Sunday, (Mother's Day) on our walk around Capitol Lake. How perfect is this? Our youngest daughter and our French Bulldog Otis were ready for a rest at the same time. Why not share a shady spot with your best friend?

Have a great weekend!

Here you go, Mama and most of her nine babies. Does she look proud or what?

Taken this past Sunday (Mother's Day), these little fellas were just two of nine babies with their mama down at Capitol Lake.

For more Watery Wednesday shots click the link below.

Taken at Capitol Lake this past weekend, Mother's Day to be exact.

This, being my third and final post on The Olympia Wooden Boat Fair, is what things looked like late in the afternoon. For a day that had been so nice things really got ugly. Right after I took this shot we headed for the car.

Certainly one of the most colorful vendors at The Olympia Wooden Boat Fair this weekend in downtown Olympia.

Well, here it is Mother's Day weekend and time once again for The Olympia Wooden Boat Fair, an annual event. Wooden boats of all types and sizes, some old some new. Besides the boats tents line the boardwalk, vendors selling their goods. Today a local high school band entertained the crowd with some really good music. I'll show you more from the fair over the next couple of days. Oh, and if you look way at the far end, just over the tents you'll see the jets of water from this fountain hanging in mid air.

PS: Everyone from our house wants to send out a big Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms. We hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Finishing up this series from The McLane Creek Nature Trail is Mr Wood Duck. For a little more info on this colorful and popular creature click here. I believe that link is one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite sources for bird and fowl factoids. Here's looking A-choo Abe!

On Watery Wednesday I thought I'd share with you another shot from The McLane Creek Nature Trail. I wonder if this tree is home to any gnomes?

For more Watery Wednesday scenes click the link below.

Yesterday I introduced you to The McLane Creek Nature Trail. Today I had to share this shot with you. This is the second local trail we've walked where there have been trees with these strange twisted roots. If you've been following along for a while you may remember this previous post.

On the weekends, and when the weather permits we like to go exploring right here at home. That's the nice thing about living here. You never run out of great places to go. Last week we drove about fifteen minutes from home and discovered another gem. McLane Creek Nature Trail. As soon as you've parked the car and hit the trail you feel as though you are miles out in the woods. In some areas there are raised wooden paths and in other spots the trails are more natural. You walk past beaver ponds, over skunk cabbage, and through lush green forrest. You hear numerous birds and see turtles sunning themselves. The trails give you options of several different lengths depending on your ability. Most of the time the trail was fairly flat though. I'll share more shots over the next couple of days. If you'd like to read a little more about this wonderful place click here or here.

As most know today marks the beginning of another month and a new CDPB theme day. Also many of you know my wife is pregnant and due mid July. This past March 17th, not only was it St Patrick's Day but our anniversary as well. I thought it fitting to give my wife this statue on our anniversary, and what better choice for this month's theme.

-Krise

As part of my continuing series of photos from "Arts Walk" this past weekend, I thought I'd show you that not all art is from us wacky grown ups. These examples of fine art were proudly on display in the front windows of Old Town Bicycle. Great work kids!

PS: If you're just tuning in look back at the past three days posts.

Over the past few days I've been sharing with you some of what "Arts Walk" is all about. Celebrating art in all it's forms. Now I don't want to bore you to death staying on the same subject for days on end but I did want to share this with you. Meet "Bo", an acrylic on canvas. One more thing that made us go "Wow".

Now before you say anything, remember I'm trying to give you a little variety of what was on display this past weekend at "Arts Walk" in downtown Olympia. Maybe I should have taken the time to get the names of the artists who's work I am showing you but there was just too much to see and so many people. Many of the shops were so crowded we only viewed that art from outside. When my wife and I walked up to this particular business and took a closer look at these figures we just looked at each other. I could tell she was thinking what I was just about to say. I'll let you guess what that was. More tomorrow.

Yep, "Arts Walk", that's what they call it. A two day celebration of art in all it's forms followed up by "The Procession of the Species. I'll do my best to show you a few different forms over the next few days. Tonight, "The Human Easel." Had I backed up a few steps and showed you the entire front of this building you would have seen another girl seated and displaying another painting. Both were doing a pretty good job of not changing their expression, even as I was snapping photos. As you saw in last night's post there were several streets that were closed to cars. All along the streets shops were open past their normal hours displaying various forms of artwork. Believe me, it ranged from the beautiful to the very strange too. Just wait, I'll show you in a day or two.

This sign wasn't the only one of it's kind yesterday and today in downtown Olympia. Last night my wife and I headed downtown, camera in hand, and went to a yearly happening. What was it? I'll tell you tomorrow.

This will be the last in my series of shots from the town of Steilacoom. It seems as though when you are down at the water here it doesn't really matter which way you turn. There's a beautiful view in all directions. This particular one is looking north to The Tacoma Narrows Bridge. (Or bridges to be more precise.)

To view other Sepia Scenes click the link below.

The past couple of days I've shown you a couple of views of the town of Steilacoom, which is about half an hour north of Olympia. While we were there this past Monday I spotted these two characters just takin' it easy. I'm guessing they're paid lookouts for the seagulls. Notice the train tracks running along the water and the young fellow sitting on the rocks relaxing. This is a popular spot to do just that and our contribution to Watery Wednesday.

For more Watery Wednesday shots click the link below.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post my wife, my mother and I visited the town of Steilacoom on Monday. After stopping by an old style ice cream shop we headed down the hill to the ferry dock. There's a nice foot traffic dock that stretches out over the water. That is where I took this shot. There's also a nice paved walking path that runs along the water. The shot I chose today is of The Neil Henley, a ferry that runs between McNeil Island Corrections Center (seen in the distance) and Steilacoom. By the looks of it there were both employees and visitors aboard. There were an equal amount of people waiting to get on the ferry to head back to McNeil.

I would been happier if this shot was a little more clear, but it was grey and overcast.

Today my wife and I picked up my Mom as we do most Mondays. After going out to breakfast and taking care of some running around we took a drive to the nearby town of Steilacoom. It's an older town situated on a hill above Puget Sound. There are some quaint old shops, numerous historic homes, and down at the water a ferry terminal. One of the ferries runs from Steilacoom to McNeil Island Penitentiary. These railroad tracks run along the waterfront and carry both freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains. I'll post more shots from Steilacoom over the next couple of days.

A slightly different view of a downtown Olympia street corner through our dog's eye.