In May we had a brief visit from Ivy's parents on their way to the East coast for a book engagement. Makoto wrote about his research on centenarians in Okinawa (which has the highest per capita centenarian population in the world), and it has enjoyed great success. The book is called "The Okinawa Program" and is written for the lay person, including a lot of health information on diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits which may help all of us live longer healthier lives.
Later in the month, we all traveled to Wisconsin to return the ashes of our beloved grandparents to their homeland at Medicine Lake. Grandma and Grandpa Jaecks enjoyed many wonderful years there, and shared it with all of us. It was very special to me to be able to show Ivy and Ren this incredible place, where I have many cherished memories. It was a happy but somewhat bittersweet experience for all of us who had spent time there in years past; it looks very much the same, but the faces are all different, and we don't have much connection to the people who live there now. We did meet Kathy Priebe (Kuhl) and her husband Augie, which was a really nice visit. The sound of Kathy's voice instantly recalled my great-aunt Eleanor, bridging the years for a moment in time. Hello Kathy, and sorry this took so long to post! Hope you can come out our way some time.
June was pretty much just spent working, although Ivy decided to call it quits in her lab at the university after putting in a lot of work over the year. Unfortunately things just didn't work out, so she decided to give a month's notice and leave. July started off with a bang (sorry!) with an Independence Day holiday at Lake Chelan with Mom, Laura and family, Sara and family, and others. We had a wonderful time; watched the fireworks, which impressed all by the quality (Ren really loved these). Ren and Anna played and swam together quite a bit, and Ren made quite a bit of progress, learning how to use a life jacket in the pool and lake, blowing bubbles in the water, etc. They had a great time. We took the kids to the Banjo Creek farm, a petting zoo near Manson, which was fun, but Ren became totally fixated on the sheep droppings after we told him not to step on them. He pretty much had to be carried! I played a little tennis with Mom, although my back was bugging me, and Ivy and I went on a nice date to the Deepwater Restaurant. Dad came up and made breakfast and spent the day. Later in the month, Ivy, Ren and I travelled to the big island of Hawaii for a medical conference. This was delightful, as we all got to hang out at a luxury resort on the beach (Orchid at Mauna Lani) for 4 days. While I was at conferences, Ivy and Ren swam and played. We got a sitter and enjoyed a wonderful dinner by torchlight on the terrace of the hotel restaurant overlooking the palm trees and beach, to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary (we also turned in our wedding bands before the trip and had them melted down and redone). We took a few half-day trips in the afternoon, and enjoyed the incredibly beautiful and varied terrain the island has to offer. The National Park at the City of Refuge (I'll have to look up the Hawaiian name) was impressive, as were the lava flows and crater of Kilauea, the world's most active volcano. Ren liked watching the tapes of lava erupting into the sky, and we saw the steam plume at the ocean from about 4 miles distant. We had a nice 2 mile walk across one of the lava fields to see the petroglyphs also. The last four days of the trip were spent on Waikiki, where we stayed in a luxury suite, thanks to Ivy's friend Joy, who gave us a several class upgrade at the Moana Surfrider. This place is delightful, and we especially enjoyed the hula shows at the Banyan court. One of the dancers came up to Ren and chatted; he thought she was a dancing mermaid, because of her long dress. It was fun visiting with all the friends. It was nice to see LiAnn, and Lynn, Joy, Brad, and Kennedy, Emily, Calvert, and Abigail (we were fortunate to be there for Abi's 2nd birthday party), and Vernon, Sharon, and Maki. Maki is a very nimble and energetic 3-year old, and he and Ren had a great time chasing each other around the living room, going on the slide, and sharing (fighting over) toys. Ren raised a few eyebrows in the room by insisting on wearing one of Kennedy's dresses (which was much too small, so he ended up wearing it around his waist like a tutu!). It was a really fun time, and it's too bad we live so far away!
Ren had a nice time visiting various places which were gearing up for the holidays, such as the Seattle center, with its train exhibits (click here). Though I had to work quite a bit after getting back from Whistler, we were able to drive over to Wenatchee for a couple of days to share the holiday with Mom, Dad, Laura, Steve and the kids, Sara, Paul, Dana, and Anna. Ren loved all the presents, especially the teepee Laura fashioned from scratch for him. He also had a great time again sledding, as there were 9 or 10 inches of snow on the ground over there. We enjoyed talking with Peter and Wendy on Christmas, getting an update from the East. We all decided that next year, we're going someplace warm for the holidays!
-Eric
Eric.