Boating

For Father's Day, Eric wanted to go boating.  Rather than purchase a boat, we realized it's much more economical to rent one for the day.  

We rented skis and a neighbor let us borrow their inner tube.  Eric made it out of the water first try, jumped over the wakes, and cut in to give a spray.

I was up next, and wanted to go straight to the slalom.  After several tries, I finally got up!  

 Our son made it up eventually as well...

I don't have a picture of our oldest, but I do have a video.  Click here to see her best attempt:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxXyGGLawU

The little one enjoyed playing in the water.  She tried to get up on skis, but her nose kept getting too much water in it.

 Once we got the inner tube ready, the real fun began.  Just look at those faces!

Our son and daughter each brought a friend, and they made the day even better!

The boys claimed the title for wipeout caught on film.  Click here for the footage:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzBhEjHbp1I

Finally, the little one and I got a turn on the tube.  It was fun, but too much bouncing around for us.  We decided to leave that for the other kids.  

Wonderful Father's Day!  Now, he's already wanting to do it again.  I have to keep showing him the benefits of renting instead of owning!

Theatre Camp

Our youngest became interested in theatre after Camp Grandma one summer.  Now, she wants to be an actress.  It's very sweet, but I have to admit it's unexpectedly involved voice lessons and now summer camp.


This week's camp was Introduction to Theatre.  There were 7 children who all got to pick their own characters, names, and story plot while the director pieced it all together into a play.

Our little one was the evil princess, and the antagonist.  In the play, her crown had special powers and was stolen by one of her subjects.  

She did a great job, and it was really cute!

Thirstea?

Our favorite restaurant gave away tea tumblers to the first 25 customers when they opened on Saturday morning.  At a value of $8.99 per tumbler, we couldn't resist.


We agreed to split up and maximize our odds.  The little one came with me to the restaurant on Congaree.  There wasn't a line at this location, so we walked right in.

Our other daughter stood outside for about 20 minutes before they opened at Augusta.

Eric went to the one on Woodruff.  He didn't have much of a line, either.  

Yes, we're tea freaks.  But we ended up with 4 tea tumblers that can now be refilled at $0.99 for as long as we keep the cups.

Just another of our many McAlister's moments....

Bishop

Our purpose for the trip was to see cousin Dan become ordained Bishop of Seattle.  What an honor to be there!  Attending the ordination was one Cardinal, five Archbishops, 25 Bishops, and 75 priests.  The 30 minute long entrance concluded with Father Dan (middle priest in white) being presented to the Archbishop of Seattle.

Next, the Archbishop read the letter from Pope Francis with a decree that Dan become Bishop of Seattle.  As is customary, this letter is then shown to the congregation as proof of the directive.

A minimum of three Bishops must place his hands on Dan's head with a quick prayer.  For Dan all the Bishops, Archbishops, and the Cardinal in attendance did this

His mitre (pointy hat) was presented to him by his sister.

HIs crosier (rod or staff) was presented to him by his nephew.

Dan then had a chance to address the congregation, and he gave a wonderful speech. The closing procession went a bit faster.

Afterwards, family and special guests were invited to a reception and dinner sponsored by the diocese.

One of my favorite aunts!

With a Bishop now in the family, we had another reason to toast the Mueggenborgs!

Our Germany/Oklahoma/Iowa family with Bishop Dan!

German Family

We were so excited to greet our extended family at the airport.  Since it had been several years from our last to Germany, we decided to make a sign so they would recognize us.

Our job was to keep them awake and help them adjust quickly to our time zone.  Since the forecast predicted this would be our best day for sightseeing, we gave them a tour of Seattle. 

We stopped at parks, walked downtown by the fish market, and ate Mexican food.  They are not big fans of queso, anything spicy, or ice in their drinks.  But Ludgar did seem impressed with the fish.  Everytime we passed by fish, we all had to stop while he observed them cut it up.

By evening, we brought them to another relative's home who was a gracious host, delicious cook, and very knowledgable about our ancestry.

The next morning, we picked up Ludgar and his son for more hiking.  This new trail was covered in ferns!  The unique smell of lush green moss, the dense fog of rainforest, and thick vegetation combined to resemble something from the Jurassic period.  I just knew a pterodactyl was going to swoop down any moment and take us up to her nest!

After the hike and a good hamburger, we again headed to the airport to greet family.  My cousin, Julie, and my Aunt Marilyn were surprised to see us!

Back at Kay's house, we had another wonderful dinner followed by authentic peach schapps from Germany, a Mueggenborg tradition!

Paragliding

My oldest daughter and I flew to Seattle for a family event.  I had the window seat, so I snapped a picture of Mt. Rainier as we decended into the city.

We arrived early to explore the area and have some fun.  We immediately dropped off our stuff at the hotel, then headed for the mountains.  We began with an hour-long hike.  It was a great workout, and I could "almost" keep up with her.

A great overlook provided a welcome resting stop for another picture.  You can see Mt. Rainier in the background by the white clouds.



At the top, we enjoyed taking pictures and watching the parachutes.  Next was our turn.  

But first, the liability paperwork.... 

Then...time to suit up!

Once in position to catch the wind, we took off!  Click here to watch the video!

Then click again here to watch a video of what it looked like from my perspective!

And just like that, we were both drifting in the wind, catching thermals, and gliding downward.  

A glance back at the launching pad with my shadow on the mountain.  

Thirty minutes later, we landed safely. It was awesome! Cross another item off our bucket list!  

Still On!

Yep, the competition is still on....
 

With all the rain we've had lately, our son is really busy trying to "out do" our neighbor.  He even cleared out the entire backyard by the fence and gained us about 12 extra feet!  Our yard looks great.

Bat Girl

Our daughter was invited to be the honorary "bat girl" for our professional baseball team.  It was a special Cancer Survivors Day celebration, so they also got special t-shirts for the event.

It was really cool to see them up on the big screen when they announced their names.  

The two got to hang out with the baseball players in the dugouts, and assist whichever team was at bat.

Here she is in action!  She had lots of fun, and even got to keep a baseball afterwards.

Lifeguard

For a summer job, our son decided to become a lifeguard.

This is a fun waterpark with several pools and slides, so it's never boring.  

 He changes locations every 30 minutes, and already has 2 "saves" under his watch already.

As he moved his shift, I would take another picture.  I know he appreciated that.

As he changed shifts, we also followed him to swim in those sections.  Our favorite was the slides.  

We even pretended to need help until we got fussed at.  Our little one also was told not to talk to him.  So, Eric bought her a fidgit spinner to keep her occupied.   She was happy.

Here's our handsome son!  And I got a smile out of him, too!  (I guess because we were leaving.)