Fun Summer

The only pics we can manage are with the iPhone, so forgive the suspect quality.  Kindergarten around the corner!

Fall 2011- Spring 2012 (part 2)

Quinn turned three in January, and a cupcake was perfect.  He ate one bite of the icing, then wanted to play soccer.

Quinn ran away screaming; not quite able to comprehend pretend yet.

Pike Place Market, with lots to touch.  

This was not such a clever idea.  The stroller is hard to steer anyway, and really challenging with Lucy up front.  Q ran over my foot multiple times.  The excellent crisp image quality is courtesy of the iPhone 4; thanks Apple.  April, 2012, at the Seattle Airport, returning from vacation in Arizona. 

You never know what you'll put on at the Hess house.  

Alpental (30 min from our house) was one the ten snowiest places in North America this year, with 533 inches of snow.  You can sort of see the 20 foot-tall snow banks, over the cars in the background.  Resort skiing was open until July, 2012 in Washington.  Here, daddy is on his way to Prosser, Wa, for his enology lab, and stopped to grab a few runs.

Lucy getting ready for Joanna's wedding; September, 2011.

Thanks Quinn.  Claire has been a Lucy-magnet since the day she was born.

Mike and Jitty, braving the cold to go tubing with Lu and Q.  Q was inside after the first run.  Lucy, not so much.

Lucy will try anything: dresses, costumes, new foods, new books, new everything.  Most impressively, she loves meeting new people.

Gasworks park on Lake Union, Seattle,  for those in the midwest (and beyond).  

Lucy Marie

Lucy doesn't quite know what a lottery is yet. 

Fall 2011- Spring 2012 (Part 1)

Michael and Noelle's wedding

Claire, always smiling.  Embracing the 6th trimester.

Claire's 'Lucy Magnetism' taking effect.

Like the snow daddy.  Mommy said it's great living at 14,000 feet.  Isn't that a lot of feet daddy?

Ian, Lucy, Quinn, after Tubing, Feb 2012.

That pool is bigger than it looks.  Mommy and Claire, ETA 1 week, in background, with aunt Annie.

The Chef-in-training.  Lucy, winter 2011-12.

Q fights sleeping until his midbrain overtakes his cortex, in the middle of talking here.

Lucy, with Joanna's sister-in-law-to-be Megan, during wedding preparation, fall 2011.  

Mommy on Daddy's birthday, at the Six-Seven Restaurant, The Edgewater, Seattle.

After lots of chocolate, Q can do anything.  Right before this picture, I said: "Quinn, make your eyes red".  Really talented isn't he?

Lucy with the assist.  Awaiting Claire's arrival, 2011, after Joanna's wedding.

Kids in the Summer

Taking a walk after dinner at the Four Lakes Winery, Lake Chelan, Wa. 

Matching Sundresses.  

Back of the boat, over clear 50 degree glacial water.

Grandma, you can't wait until my mouth is empty, you have to be proactive.  Reload the spoon as I swallow, ok?

More from the Vineyards of Four Lakes Winery.

Lake Chelan, on Wapato Point shore.

Papa Mike, about to put for birdie.  Using the ball-marker alot, as I was usually chipping right over him.

Go faster daddy.  faster.

Three Generations, with Claire, end of June, 2012.  Claire is about 40 weeks old here.

Wapato Point house, Summer 2012, looking west over Lake Chelan, Wa.

Dinner at Four Lakes Winery, Lake Chelan AVA, Washington.  Visit here:   Four Lakes

Bear on Cougar Mountain (our backyard)

That's right, a few weeks back, just as our kids were peeling corn in the backyard, a 250 lb black bear (above picture taken near Seattle, in 2009) came right into our backyard, 15 feet from Lucy and Quinn.  Didn't seem to mind, just kept going to the forest.  For about a week, we had lots of bedtime discussions about their concerns of bears coming into our house like Santa Claus.  Lucy and Quinn wouldn't go into a room by themselves.

Remember this picture?  We see mountain lions (Bobcats) in our yard almost yearly, though nothing like this cougar.  But we do live on Cougar Mountain, which overlaps the natural habitat of Ursus Americanus (American Black Bear).  30,000 bears in Washington, almost all black, and only one recorded human fatality in 100 years.  I wonder who would win between a Cougar and a Bear.

Lu and Q

Quinn's white stick was a point of contention for about 2 days.  Oh wait, this was his 'sword' which Q used to stab every bush in site.  Keep the image in your mind of a dog with its stick trying to get through two narrow trees, bouncing off of the trees. Just like Q trying to get through our hallway, doors, car seats.

Surprise Birthday Visit with Mike and Jitty to Lake Chelan, Washington

Lake Chelan from the south, in the spring.

Looking over the numerous Vineyards and orchards around Lake Chelan.

Bear Mountain Golf course, which sits hundreds of feet above the glacial Lake Chelan, in the background.  Papa Mike, by the way, was playing even par on most of these stunning holes.

Playing soccer with Q, who plays until he collapses.

Vineyards near Lake Chelan, Wa

Benson Vineyards, Lake Chelan, Wa

Lake Chelan, for those unfamiliar, sits just at the base of the North Cascade Mountains, and the North Cascade National Park, which is about 50 miles south of the British Columbia / Canadian border.

The name Chelan (taken from the native Tsi - Laan, which means deep lake) is well-known to Washingtonians, as it sits on the sunny desert side of the state, a three-hour drive from Seattle.  The drive itself, by the way, is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever driven.

The lake is 50 miles long and about 1 mile wide, and is one of the deepest lakes in the country (1400feet deep) and its shores sit 1000 feet above sea level, which is rare for a lake this size.
The Lake is surrounded by gorgeous rolling hills full of orchards and more recently, vineyards.  The Lake Chelan AVA (American Viticulture Area, in federal government speak) is one of the most recently recognized wine areas in the US.

Here's a recent article in the LA Times:    Lake Chelan, LATimes


Perfect escape from Junuary in Seattle, more of our family in pics on another post.

Below are more from the North Cascades National Park, which is why Walt fell in love with Washington, and later, Seattle.  Known as "America's Alps", you can see the beautiful alpine scenery, with many places reachable by dayhike.

Easy Pass, North Cascades National Park, Wa

Diablo Peak, North Cascades National Park, Wa

North Cascades National Park, Wa

Here is an image of a local boarder in the northern end of the range.  Stunning.

Another picture taken last year in the North Cascades.  I think I'm going a little overboard, eh?