What we've been up to
Things we've done since we moved to Kennewick - the fun capital of the lower-upper-middle Columbia basin.
Click on a pic to see it bigger.
December 2004: We went to see the lighted boat parade on the Columbia River. Local boat owners decorated their motor boats and yachts with Christmas lights and went up the river to Richland and back. It was craptacular. Oh, the boats also honked their horns.
December 2004: We went to watch the big Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Richland where they light a live tree in front of city hall. The tree must have grown from last year, because it seemed that there weren't enough lights to cover it. There was some semi-organized Christmas carol singing and a brass quintet playing songs and about 100 people who had nothing better to do on a Friday evening, but they were having fun. It made the 11:00 news. (Good grief, is this what small-town life is going to be like??)
Feb 2005: We took a tour of LIGO, the gravity wave detector that is just north of Richland near the nuclear plant. The facility is pretty neat, but the tour was long and real boring for the kids.
April 2005: We went camping at Palouse Falls, a pleasant, but small, campground about an hour from here. The 200' waterfall was impressive, and there are lots of little trails and paths around to enjoy. Watch out for rattlesnakes!
Palousse Falls
May 2005: We visited the Puyllaup Palmers for a weekend, including a side trip to Victoria, BC. Very lovely little city, very tourist oriented.
June 2005: The local fire department had an open house that we went to. Calvin and Felix got to sit in the fire truck, and we took a tour of the firestation. There were more firemen than visitors, so we got a private tour.
July 2005: We went camping in the Cascades with the Puyllaup Palmers. Tons of mosquitoes. Calvin still refers to it as "the bug place".
July 2005: Connie and the boys went to the Darigold Cheese Factory. The ice cream was good. They also went to the dinosaur park in Granger, WA. I don't know where that is.
August 2005: We went to Park City, UT for a week. We also visited family in Hooper and attended the wedding of one of Connie's brothers in Salt Lake.
Calvin and his cousin Elizabeth.
September 2005: We went to Seattle - actually Puyallup - to visit friends and for Rick to attend a meeting in Seattle.
October 2005: Rick went to the ASU vs WSU football game in Pullman, WA with friends. ASU won. Barely.
November 2005: Connie had a baby.
Quincy and his brothers
December 2005: We passed on the Lighted Farm Implement Parade. (Think I'm kidding? Here's a quote from their web site: "Sunnyside Lighted Farm Implement Parade is the premiere northwest lighted parade since 1989. There will be more than 50 farm implements, vehicles and floats covered with decorative lights. This event was featured on A & E ultimate holiday town USA in 2003." What was the premier parade in 1988, I wonder?) Last year's lighted boat parade was enough to tide us over for a while anyway.
April 2006: Connie and the boys spent a week in Utah for spring break. Rick had to stay home and work.
May 2006: We took a trip to Seattle - again. Rick attended a conference while the family took in the signts and fun stuff, including the aquarium, the zoo, and a boat ride through the Sound. We also took in a Seattle Mariners game (vs the Devil Rays - woohoo).
June 2006: We went camping with some friends at a nice little campground in northern Oregon called Bear Lake or Bull Lake, or something like that - some-kind-of-big-animal-you-wouldn't-want-to-run-into Lake.
fun in the camper
June 2006: Rick took the boys to a Dust Devils baseball game. We left early.
July 2006: We went to Winter Park, CO for a week to see some friends from St. Louis - the St. Louis Browns. Really. We also stopped off at the Natural History Museum in Vernal, UT and we stayed at Connie's Folks' house in Hooper, UT. Overall, a pretty fun trip.July 2006: We went to the Richland art festival. We've been to worse, but we've been to better. Mostly local (pacific northwest) artists. Connie and the boys went to see some boat races the same weekend. It's the big weekend of the year for the Try-Cities.
August 2006: Connie and the boys went to the Children's Museum in Pasco. More of a creative-play place than a museum, but it killed an afternoon.
August 2006: Connie took the boys to the Benton-Franklin County fair. The rides and food were too expensive, but they got to smell the farm animals for free.
October 2006: We went camping at Windust campground on the Snake River about 30 miles northeast of Pasco. I don't know if that's Win-dust or Wind-ust. Whatever it is, it isn't a great campgound. It mostly serves as a launching point for hunters and boaters - people who don't care that the only thing separating two campsites is 20 feet of lawn. But it was the end of the season, so the place was only half full. And the toilets were locked.
October 2006: Connie and the boys took a hike up Badger Mountain. Well, part of the way up. Nice views. Felix was excited to go. Then on the way there, Felix asked, "What's a hike?"
The view from half way up Badger Mountain
December 2006: The family went to Utah to spend Christmas at the Davis'.
March 2007: We went to Seattle and watched ASU play baseball against Washington. ASU won 2 of 3 in the series, but lost one of the games that we went to. There were no refunds. Calvin got a free Washington Baseball T-shirt.
April 2007: The Puyallup Palmers came for a visit. We went back to Badger Mountain and made it part way up once again. Someday we'll see the top.
May 2007: Rick, Calvin, and Felix went to the Fathers-and-Sons campout. It was at Teancum Timbers about 10 miles outside of Dayton which is about 7 miles outside of Waitsburg which is about 9 miles out of Prescott which is 36 miles from Burbank. Still don't know where it is? Neither do we.
June 2007: We went camping with the Puyallup Palmers somewhere between here and Seattle. The camping was fun, but on the way home our camper had a blow-out. That wasn't so fun.
July 2007: The whole family packed up the van and drove to Temecula, CA for a Davis family reunion. It was an exceedingly long drive, particularly through LA during rush hour. But we had a great time seeing the Redwoods on the way.
A very big tree
August 2007: Connie and the boys went to Tacoma for a day or so to see the Puyallup Palmers and to do some fun stuff that's not available locally. 'Course, that could be about anything.
August 2007: Connie took the boys to the county fair. Benton County, that is. The floppy-eared rabbit judging is the big event of the year around here. Yeah - it's that slow.
August 2007: Rick went to Arizona to attend the temple with the Hannahs.
Sepember 2007: Rick and the boys woke up unreasonably early on an unseasonably cold day to go to the Prosser balloon rally. Prosser is another smudge on the map about half hour west of here. There were so many balloons we couldn't count them. Well, actually there were like 25 balloons, but it was still pretty cool. October 2007: We all participated in the first annual DSAMC Buddy Walk. The turn out was terrific, and they raised a ton of moolah. A good time was had by all.
October 2007: Rick and the boys went to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins with the DSAMC. It was exceedingly blustery that day - wicked cold and windy.
October 2007: Connie had a baby. Another boy. Big whoop.
He shall be Leon
November 2007: We moved. Still in Kennewick, though.
January 2008: We went bowling at the Atomic Bowl with the DSAMC.
February 2008: We went bowling at the Atomic Bowl, by ourselves this time.
March 2008: Rick went to Seattle for the Society of Toxicology meeting. Bo-ring.
March 2008: Jerry (Connie's Dad) came to town to help us do a little remodeling. We put in a door where there wasn't one before.
April 2008: We took a day trip to Walla Walla to see the Fort Walla Walla Museum and the Whitman Mission. The mission was rather disappointing as there wasn't really anything to see but grass, but it was only five bucks - what did you expect?? The Fort Walla Walla Museum was pretty good, but seemed to lack a theme besides old stuff from Walla Walla, which isn't all that old in the first place. I've typed the word Walla eight- now nine - times in this entry. Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla Walla...
April 2008: Rick, Calvin, and Felix decided to tackle Badger Mountain one more time. We finally made it to the top! Got that monkey off our back.
May 2008: Rick went to Portland for a scientific meeting.
July 2008: We all went to Utah for Connie's family reunion. This included a trip to the Hogle zoo and some camping at a lake.
July 2008: Rick took Calvin to a Dust Devils game, and we actually stayed the whole time. The motivating factor was the post-game fireworks sponsored by the US Army. Hopefully they've got a lot more firepower then they displayed that night, because it was kind of lame.
August 2008: We went camping with friends. We went to the Windust campground again. It was better this time.
August 2008: We went to the Benton County Fair. I got stung on the head by a wasp. We saw some sheep and rabbits and a few cows. Oh - there were pigs, too. Woohoo. I am taking this opportunity to announce my official retirement from county fair going.
August 2008: Calvin was baptized. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend.
October 2008: We all went to the second annual Buddy Walk. There were even more people there than last year!
October 2008: I had a cholecystectomy. It wasn't very fun.
May 2009: Rick and the boys (sans Leon) went to the Father's and Son's outing. It was at Windust campground (that place again?!). We had a good time, though. I think we were the first to leave.
July 2009: Connie and the boys went to Portland for the weekend to go to the Oregon Zoo and watch fireworks. Rick stayed home sick.
August 2009: We drove (yes, drove) to Phoenix to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. On the trip we saw: Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, Montezuma's Castle, Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball, the Desert Botanical Garden, and Glen Canyon Dam.
September 2009: I had a thyroidectomy. Again, not very fun. At least they left me with half of my thyroid.
September 2009: Back to the Prosser Balloon Ralley. Not nearly as cold this time, so the kids had fun. Otherwise it was the same as last time. The balloons even looked familiar.
October 2009: Buddy Walk time again!
