2004年8月/ August 2004
義兄の結婚式 in ラスベガス
Ed's Wedding
2004年8月7日


 

静香:ラスベガスで催されたクリスのお兄さんの結婚式に出席してきました。せっかくラスベガスに行ったのだからギャンブルでもしようかとワクワクしていたのですが、朝陽がいたので結局何の賭け事もせずに終わってしまいました。残念。
Chris:  In August the last Cayce of our generation was married in Las Vegas. Interestingly enough, they were married next to the hotel Shizuka and I stayed in when we were married in Vegas. The ceremony was at the Flamingo, in the wedding chapel outside. Yep, outside in the afternoon in August in a black tuxedo in Vegas. It was exactly as hot as that sounds...
 
The happy couple.
From left to right: Julianne (Val's sister), Aunt Pam, Shizuka, The Child, Cousin Bobbie, Kathryn (the new Cayce), Grandmother Kat, Aunt Gail, Margaret (Val's mother), and Val.

Bobbie actually conducted the service. In fact, three of the women in this picture were married by Bobbie, I believe (Val, Gail, Kathryn), which is pretty cool. If only she were a Shinto priest, she could have done our wedding as well.
 

引越し
New Home
2004年8月10日


 

静香:やっとシアトルへの引越しが完了しました。左の写真は私達の住む学生寮です。私達の部屋は1階です。
Chris: After the wedding we went up to Salt Lake, took all of our stuff out of storage, and trucked it all up to our new home in Seattle (seen on the left - we are the bottom floor of that building). It took some time to unpack everything as Saya was not very understanding about our time needs (that was very PC) - but in the end we got everything sorted out, and even designed our interior so Saya can crawl safely around without getting in too much trouble.
 
This is our complex - we are the bottom apartment on the right. The neighborhood is nice, since it is family student housing every single apartment has a well educated young couple with small children, which makes for a pretty nice atmosphere. Snooty and liberal, nut nice.
The view from our apartment porch. That's a big soccer field in front of us, and directly across from that is the driving range. To the left is an "Urban renewal wetland project", which is college language for planned marsh. It's neat - there is a little gravel path, and we can stroll around the shores of Lake Washington, about 5 minutes walk from our house, and look across the lake at East Seattle, where Microsoft lurks behind the trees somewhere, menacing the rest of the town.
Inside our apartment. Note the crawling child. Note also that she is making a bee line for the one dangerous item in the room she can reach (the glass picture frame). It's like they have dangerous object sensing radar or something.
 

ウィドビーアイランド
Whidbey Island
2004年8月28日


 

静香:クリスのいとこのテイラーがシアトルに来ていたのでシアトル近郊にあるウィドビーアイランドという所に行ってきました。
Chris: This is Fort Casey, on Whidbey island, which looks out over the mouth of the Puget Sound, where it spills out into the San Juan Strait, and thence into the Pacific. They built a big naval artillery battery here to protect the sound back in WWI, and then shortly after realized it was a waste of time and money, and made it into a very pretty park.
 
We strolled along the (beautiful) shore, and looked at all the driftwood and rocks. I found a bunch of seaweed that Japanese people call konbu, which they use to make soup base. I nibbled at a bit of it, but it failed to satisfy. The three of us looking across the sound at the Olympic peninsula on the other side.
Cousin Taylor, our sometime roommate joined us for the trip, and took lots of great pictures. Check them out (and others) at www.taylordavidson.com. She liked *this* beach.
(Fort Casey)

 

ガスワークスパーク＋アルカイビーチ
Gasworks Park & Alki Beach
2004年8月29日


 

静香:前日に続きシアトルにあるガスワークス公園とアルカイビーチに5人で行ってきました。とてもいい天気に見舞われ気持ちよく観光が出来ました。
Chris: One of the cooler municipal parks I have ever seen, Gasworks park is a reclaimed refinery in the middle of the city with an amazing view over Lake Union and Seattle beyond. A great place to lie in the sun, look at all the boats and watch the seaplanes zoom in and out of downtown on their way to the San Juan islands.
 
The girls enjoying the view up on the hill at Gasworks park. She did *not* like this beach.
(Alki Beach)

We think it is the sand. She was having fun until I took off her socks and put her feet in the sand. She pretty well freaked out, and stressed out even when we tried to wipe the sand off her feet. So much for that sandbox I was thinking of building her...
More trouble with sand. By the way, that water is *crazy* cold. Those kids in the water behind me are certifiably insane.

 

ノースカスケード国立公園
North Cascades National Park
2004年8月31日


 

静香:日帰りでカナダとの境近くにあるノースカスケード国立公園へ行ってきました。平日だったせいか混んでいなかったので短距離のハイキングを楽しんだり、サンドウィッチを持って行ったので湖のほとりでピクニックを楽しみました。
Chris: About 2 1/2 hours from Seattle, near the border of Canada. Mountains, rivers, lakes, miles and miles of trails into some really wild wilderness. Yes, we will be headed up here again soon.
 
Walking down next to the river. Note the cool new kid-carrying device. I felt like a tool wearing it at first, but then got used to it. Saya, on the other hand, took to it immediately. We have to get some more use out of it before the weather turns bad.
Walking with Obara-san ion the woods. Never try taking a picture of a baby on your own back - it just doesn't work.
See, she likes it back there. And I *do* look like a tool.
Diablo Lake. The water, if you get close, is like this weird brilliant green color from the minerals. Looks like glow in the dark green milk. But we are beginning to understand why everyone in Seattle seems to have a kayak strapped to their car - there are just too many cool places out here to paddle around in a boat. Next summer, if I can get a life-preserver on Saya, we're gonna get one.
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