We are having a...

Girl! Apparently we are good at girls. So just incase you were wondering, we have a girl coming December 17th, but probably later because I dont go into labor. Anyone who sends me early delivery vibes will recieve chocolate desserts made by me. Here is a picture from today, and now I can see the Ginny/Violet resemblance. We will post our trip to Utah soon.

Goat Rocks Fiasco

It started with a bargain. Bri came up with it: Ben finishes reading the Twilight series (he was bogged down in book two) and Bri goes backpacking with Ben in the Goat Rocks. Deal. In case you're wondering why the Goat Rocks, it's where the vampires go hunting in book one. It was also on my list of places to check out. In case you're wondering what the Goat Rocks are, they're a high volcanic ridge just south of White Pass in south central Washington. The next major development came a few weeks later when we found out Bri was pregnant. But the deal had been made. That brings us to last Friday, when we set out from Conrad Meadows into the heart of the wilderness. Here's Bri with the highest point of the Goat rocks in the background. That was our destination.

So Conrad Meadows is apparently the largest sub alpine meadow in Washington. Take that for what it's worth. The first section is actually range land for cattle. After a few miles you get into the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Bri was stoked.It was a hot day. It was 102 when we passed through Yakima. Luckily the altitude, time of day, and shade were on our side. The mosquitoes were not on our side. Despite applying bug spray Ben ended up with 76 bites, mostly on the back of his upper arms, where he missed with the bug spray. Bri escaped with only a handfull. After a long hike with plenty of elevation gain we came to this nice cliff where we camped the night. What a view! Did we mention this was Bri's first backpacking trip ever? Another first for Bri was drinking water straight from a glacier (ok, ok, its technically a permanent snow field). Here's Ben refilling our water supply. Around our campsite we stumbled upon an entire herd of what Ben believes were mule deer. There were about ten that we saw, including big males and babies. They checked us out for a minute then ran off. We were the only people out there. Speaking of animals, Bri proved to be like a mountain goat, only much more attractive. Here she is tackling some snow. That women is four months pregnant!
Let's be honest. This trip was hard on Bri. Her bag was only about 15 pounds, but Ben ended up carrying it about a third of the way, including almost all the uphill parts. Here's what that looked like as we arrived at Surprise Lake on Saturday morning.
Our grand total in mileage was about 15 or 16 miles. It was a great time. Next time we'll do something a little shorter when Bri is a little less pregnant, though.

Violet shows walking skill, still lacks interest

Good headline huh? Yeah, so she started walking on Sunday. I even managed to get seven steps out of her today. The only thing is that she doesn't do it on her own. I have to stand her up and say, "Violet come here," or "Walk Vi!" I know I shouldn't rush her. You just wait, she will walk on her own this weekend while Ben and I are away, and we will miss it. Yes, Ben is trying to kill his pregnant wife by taking her up a mountain overnight. Okay, Okay, no the real story is I told him I would hike the Goat Rocks with him if he finished the Twilight series. He did. So think of me on Friday and Saturday, I'll need some good vibes. I'm sure I'll be fine, unless I meet any VAMPIRES!!! We will post photos when we're back.

Meanwhile heres a Vi Video.

Independence (from hunger) Day

Happy 4th of July! Bri went all out to make this 96 cupcake American flag. Just Bri being Bri. Ginny helped by placing all the candy on the red cupcakes (except the hearts). We went to Ben's Brother's house in unincorporated King County for some barbecue and explosives. Yeah, we had mortars. Here's a sampling of some of the ten cousins present (a relatively small number for a Wilson get together).

We partook of steak; potato, pasta, and jello salad; corn on the cob; etc. followed up by some mean desserts, including Grammy's apple strudel straight from the "old country," but shaped in an American flag. America was honored.

After things got dark we busted out the fireworks. It was a little strange to hear parents encouraging their kids to play with fire ("Come on, fire is cool!"). We had sparklers, fountains, strobes, and some of the big guns. It was a lot of fun.