"Flowers and a Bear"

Western Washington has had a challenging spring and summer with inordinate amounts of rain and snow and very few sunny days. The large accumulations of snow and the cool spring and summer days left most hiking trails covered with snow until now. Consequently, our hiking time in these mountains has been limited this year.

Summer has finally arrived with sunny beautiful days. Yesterday Rosie and I decided to spend the day hiking. I asked her where she wanted to go. and she said, "I want to see flowers and a bear!" I checked the hiking trip reports online and concluded the best place for flowers was in one of our favorite places on earth -- the Sunrise area in Mount Rainier National Park. Because of the late summer the flowers are about six weeks behind schedule and are just reaching their peak in many places.

This would prove to be one of the most beautiful days we have ever spent hiking, as the flowers were incredible -- vibrant, multitudinous, and aromatic. As Rosie likes to say, "God is the greatest gardener."







Lupine is one of the most plentiful and beautiful of all the wild flowers in this area. Some fields/meadows are so full of lupine they look purple. Below are a couple of close ups of lupine. The first was taken on a ridge with the Cascade mountains in the background the other has one of the numerous snow patches behind it.











As we approached the end of our hike we spotted a fairly small cinnamon colored Brown Bear grazing on the flowers in a meadow. He showed no interest in us as he got to within about 15 feet of where we were standing.





In the photo above, the bear grazes in the shadow of majestic Mount Rainier.

It was a wonderful day to enjoy some of God's most beautiful creations.

Note our bear friend in the center of the photo below.

Some Joyce-isms

"Joyce, if you put your hand right here you can feel your heart beating."

"I feel it!"

"If you lay down here right on my chest you can hear my heart beating." After a minute, "Do you hear it?"

"I hear your milk swishing."

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"I have to go finish writing my exams Joyce"

"I don't want you to go write your exams"

"I have to though."

"Why?"

"Otherwise my brain will explode!"

"What's a brain?"

So then we looked at pictures of the human brain on the computer and now she just wants to watch youtube videos explaining the workings of the human body. Her favorite is the cardiovascular system.

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On our way to Indianapolis to go to the zoo. Joyce said,

"Mom, can you help me open up my body?"

"I can't do that Joyce."

"But I really want to see what's inside."

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After too much sugar and not enough sleep, we were driving home from an event. The setting sun was shining in Joyce's eyes.

"Sun stop shining! I don't want you to shine! It's NOT your TURN to shine! It's MY TURN to shine."

Honeymoon

We had a great time in Florida! Thanks to Emilie and her amazing passes, we really appreciated them. Our first two days were spent at Universal and Island of Adventure. We had so much fun at these parks, even though we didn't ride a single roller coaster! I think we'd both agree that Harry Potter land was our favorite part of the park.

We spent Wednesday at the wonderful Seaworld. We absolutely loved this park. The tour was amazing and the animals we met made the day.

Caitlyn with the sharks at lunch.


The penguins was probably our favorite animal. The little penguin's name is Oliver (who's actually a girl) and she stole Paul's heart from me. He still talks about how much he loves and misses her. The big brown penguin was by far the softest creature we have ever pet. His name was Foster and its tempting to say that he was infatuated with me except for the fact that he decided to give me a little bite on my leg. Regardless, the penguins were definitely our favorite at this park.


We loved feeding and petting the dolphins. The trainer found out we were on a "V.I.P." tour so she had the dolphin sit up and pose with us. Paul also found a new passion for sting rays. He has become obsessed with the rubbery feel and the way they flow in the water.


Thursday we rented a car and drove over to the Tampa shores. We went to Clearwater Beach and it was beautiful. To my delight and Paul's dismay we didn't find a single shark.




Discovery Cove was by far our favorite day of the honeymoon. The snorkeling was amazing. There were hundreds of tropical fish and sting rays. There were even eels and sharks (they were obviously in separate tanks). We were given the opportunity to do their Seaventure which was basically walking around with a helmet underwater; Paul describes it as the moon/scuba diving. We swam with the lovely Marea the dolphin. What an amazing experience! She learned a new trick, "fetch," and she retrieved a buoy that said, "Congratulations Paul and Caitlyn." They treated us so well.

Thanks again Brad, Rosie, and Emilie for making it happen; you guys are amazing. We love you!

Grace

So great, right?