Tahoe

As we noted in the "Reno" Post, Tiffany and I spent a night in Tahoe. It was a blast. We got away from the kiddo for the first time ever (strange, but good!) and we enjoyed a little time by the water's edge, and with some good peeps.

It was great to see Auntie Wee Wee, Aunt Jen, and Aunt Rach. (in that order from Left to Right ... in case you didn't know). All are doing fabulously. Auntie Wee Wee is working and living in Truckee, dominating the bar scene, and on track to graduate college in 2021. Aunt Jen is still working in Truckee, still hosting fabulous parties (thanks again, the party was AWESOME!) and still dating the handsomest fella at IGT. Aunt Rach is on track to graduate in May, loving her job pulling weeds in the Lassen Forrest, and ready to become part of the botany / biology /nerdy section of the national forest service, and we are all very proud of her.

Ah, Oregon girls do rock, especially with such a pristine background to showcase their talents!

We hadn't seen clear/blue water in what feels like years. Tiff is actually standing in like 2 feet of water. So nice to be at Tahoe.

That's the view from our balcony on our night at the lake. Thanks again mom, this was awesome!


I think that this view of the lake is better than the picture above, others think I've obstructed the view. Whatever.

We had a lovely dinner on the dock sharing in the scenery and atmosphere.

Cocktails were delicious. Company was gorgeous!

Sunset was fabulous.

Boats on the water, kids on the beach. It really was a pretty spectacular night.

Well, that's about it for our trip. It was quite the adventure. Full of fabulous people, wonderful places, and good times had by all. It was great to see everyone and spend time sharing Imogen with you, she loves and misses you all. If there is anyone that I may have left off in these series of posts, please don't take it as a slight, I assure you it was unintentional ... we just didn't have a picture for me to talk about (except for you Large ... you were left off intentionally because of your shameful inabilities with Sedusa!). Thank you all again, and we hope to see you all sooner rather than later!

Love, Jed, Tiffany, and Imogen

Reno

After Port Townsend, we were off to Reno, to see the Reno Aunts, Grandma Lulu, Pops, Grandma BB, Grandpa John, and all our old friends.


Aunt Wee Wee tried to show imogen how to use a bottle, but she became confused when she couldn't figure out how to work a non-beer bottle. Weird.


Grandmas Lulu and BB enjoyed the wonderful (read: Non-Humid) weather while hanging out in the back yard with Iggy.

Pops having a cold drink trying to get back some strength before he re-enters the fray with Imogen.

Aunt Linda came down from Canada, eh! It was great to see her. She's been profiled on this site before (see profiles in courage article). I hadn't seen her in a while, and it was great to catch up. I know it doesn't look like we're catching up, since I've my back to her, but trust me, we caught up. (just ask her about immigration policies, she'll tell you we caught up!)

Grandma BB and Charlie welcomed Imogen into the new pool in the back yard. On a side note, Grandma BB watched Imogen for a whole night while Tiffany and I went to Tahoe for an night away (thanks again Mom, that was awesome!) and Charlie became Imogen's little protector. He whimpered when she cried, he slept beside her crib, and he wouldn't let her out of his sight. It was super cute, and just shows how infatuated everyone is with her.


Grandpa John was also pretty infatuated with little Miss Iggy, as he fed her dinner, and tried to teach her about how the Giants need a good finish in order to secure the wild card birth in the MLB playoffs. Her response "tell Zito to stop hanging curve balls belt high, and then we'll talk about the playoffs." She's pretty smart.

Tiffany also had time to visit with one of her oldest and dearest friends Michelle. This was also a chance for Tiffany to see how big JJ (Michell's son) has gotten.

Tiffany even got to hold JJ and try to compare him to Imogen. JJ is bigger (but he's older too, so it's a wash!).


Well Reno, this is how we found you, and this is how we left you. I couldn't imagine a better tourism poster for Reno than this picture right here. I don't know how I always find these people, but when I find them, they call Reno home. Thanks for being awesome Reno, we look forward to coming home again soon.

Port Townsend

The next step on our tour de force was the Olympic Peninsula's banana belt ... Port Townsend. For those of you that don't know, Port Townsend is a Shangri La for hippies. Awesome Co-op grocery store, fun farmer's market, locally grown and created crafts abound in PT, and it was formerly a big deal in Victorian times, as it was the point on the northernmost edge of the Olympic Peninsula for the timber trade. Currently, it is the home of Papa John and Grandma Selden.
Ah, The Good Ol' Northwest. Delicious!

On our way from Seattle to Port Townsend on the Ferry. The Washington State Ferries used to have these awesome signs on the recycling bins that said "Recycling. It's a very ferry thing to do." The greatest signs ever. Sadly, on this trip, the signs were no more.

Right after we arrived in PT, we crossed back over the sound, and headed to Whidby Island. On Widbey Island we met up with Jed's best friend from college, J.R., and his wife Megan, and their two cute kids Olive and Ben. Thanks for making it over the island to see us!!

The girls loved playing in the rocks at Whidby. Olive was such a good little helper (as you can see she built a road of rocks from Iggy to the water, quite the habitat).

I hadn't seen JR for a couple of years, and it was just like old times, the two of us trying to do battle with two cute girls. And as always, the girls won!

After we left JR and family (thanks for coming out guys, it was great to see you, and congrats on the new job, and the impending move to the great northwest!) we headed back to Port Townsend.

Downtown P.T.

The Rose Theatre is a local favorite. Its one of my favorites as I have a Tiffany Rose and and Imogen Rose.


The Rose Theatre ... Shows Daily!

For those of you who haven't been to Port Townsend, it's really a pretty fun little town. It's not very close (couple of hours from Seattle) but once you're there, its filled with cool old buildings and vintage painted ads. Very cool.

Dogs a foot. Dogs a foot is a trailer that is only open down on Water Street during the summer. They serve delicious hot dogs (and veggie alternatives) and it is a must see attraction when you visit Port Townsend in the summer.


Imogen got some dogs a foot too. She LOVED IT!

Papa John is a board member at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building. And we were lucky enough to be their during their summer open house event.

The school is right on the water at Port Hadlock.

It is a true wooden boat school, where they hand tool all of the wood used in the boats built. These are some of the tools they use.



What time is it? Family Time! Hanging with the Fam, Bodgekee Style

Papa John and Grandma Selden have done a bang up job in their back yard, filled with flowers, local species of everything, and a great veggie garden (tons of strawberries and blueberries!)

Imogen decided to show off her standing skills for Grandma Selden.

Papa John (aka The 'Stache) enjoyed spending a little time with his newest granddaughter.


Part of the reason he enjoyed hanging with Iggy is because they had a little overgrowth of ground cover, and he put her to work weeding it all out.

Great backyard at Papa John's house. Tons of fun for the little girl. (no, she's not eating that ground cover, she's weeding it!)

Iggy and Grandma Selden had a great time playing all weekend.


Jordan had bigger fish to fry, and more jokes to tell. We got to see Aunt Marsha as well, who looks great!


Wilbur and Sol came over for dinner too, and could care less when Imogen crawled past them towards danger and disaster. Oh well, they were listening to Jordan's jokes (which were awesome, if you get a chance, have him tell you some jokes!)

All in all it was a great trip to Port Townsend, one of our most memorable trips up the Peninsula. Well look forward to visiting Papa John and Grandma Selden again soon!

Seattle

Recently as a family we embarked on quite the adventure. We left the heat and humidity of Washington D.C. and headed first to a Washington of a different sort ... Washington State. There we spent a day and a night in Seattle, where we walked around downtown, saw some old friends, spent the night with Uncle Shannon, Aunt Sunshine and cousin Oskar, and had a really, really nice time all around. The great northwest truly is GREAT!


"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again!"


Once we got to seattle, we had a wonderful afternoon / evening picnic in Sunshine and Shannon's backyard. The Lovejoys came by with their three beautiful daughters, Sophie, Elena, and Flora. And Jack and Katie were lovely as always.

Flora was the star of the night, and she gobbled up salsa by the chipful. You go girl!

Katie with Imogen on lap, and Flora standing guard.

Sophie was quite the good little gymnast on the jungle gym.

Elena was pretty good on the jungle gym too!

It was great to catch up with Jack and Katie, and meet Flora.

Imogen had a good time too. Just in case you were wondering!

This is Bailey. For those of you that don't know Bailey, he has been in the bodger / mckee / stevens family for a long time. Wilbur started his training, and Sunshine, Shannon, and Oskar have rounded out his life with love and more love. Bailey is a great dog. Can you believe he's 16 years old. WOW.

On our way out of Seattle, we stopped at Archie McPhee's. If you don't know what it is, you need to learn about it. PURE AWESOMENESS!

Each of us are distracted by various shiny new objects, both in different directions. that's how much good stuff Archie McPhee's has!

Speaking of good stuff. Check out this corn dog t-shirt. Awesome.

Well Seattle was great, but we then headed to Port Townsend to see Papa John and Grandma Selden. See ya next post in Port Townsend!