Summer

So now that you are all caught up from our wedding and honeymoon, its time to catch up on everything else. We had a very busy summer filled with several outdoor volleyball tournaments for Matt, including another very successful JWI, despite Matt being a little under the weather that day.

Highlights of our summer included an activity packed trip to San Diego to celebrate Matt’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. The whole Weaver family was there with their significant others, children and even some in laws! We stayed in an amazing rental house, and surprised the Weaver parents with decorations and matching shirts for everyone. We went to Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, and Soak City, a waterslide park. The Wild Animal Park was very hot, but we agree that it was our favorite attraction. The waterslide park, which Janelle was very much looking forward to, was poorly run and did not live up to expectations unfortunately. But overall the trip was great; there was lots of time in the pool at home and some competitive rounds of Tripoli.

We also spent a weekend in Leavenworth at Janelle’s aunt Carolyn and Uncle John’s cabin. The weekend started out a little rocky with Matt losing his wallet before leaving for the trip, but we decided to press on and still make the best of it and had a quiet, relaxing time hanging out at the cabin and browsing the shops in town. Upon his return to work, Matt found his wallet that he had misplaced in the lab and we were both relieved for that!

The annual summer camping trip with the Parker parents fell on Labor Day weekend this year, which ended up being one of the worst weather weekends of the summer. We headed up to Orcas Island anyway and had a beautiful site in Moran State Park. We braved the elements and tested out the waterproofness of our new tent. It passed with flying colors! We also had new sleeping bags which kept Janelle warm all night which is a tall order, so we were very pleased with this purchase as well. Luckily we brought Matt’s volleyball canopies which saved us from getting soaked. We also were able to fit in some nice hikes/walks in the area and drove up to the top of Mt. Constitution. It was freezing up there, but worth it to see the amazing view. Janelle was especially pleased that we were able to do this, since earlier in the year, we took a trip to Orcas and the road was closed to the top. We tried to hike all the way, but Janelle got a migraine in the middle of the hike and was “defeated by the mountain”. She vowed to be back to see the view and now the mission is complete.

Tony, the new addition our family has continued to slowly warm up to us and will now sleep on the couch with us, but not on our laps! He is a night owl and has unfortunately caused some nights of disrupted sleep with his galloping up and down the hall after toys, chases with Missy, and attempts at opening cupboard doors. He is also a bit of an escape artist and has bolted out the door and through a window to have some adventures outside. Luckily he came back and we were able to get him back in the house, but we aren’t ready for him to be an outdoor cat since he is so scared and skittish still.

Whew, so now friends and family you are caught up on our lives!