Bauer' Happy Holiday letter!

Dear friends, We hope you have had a wonderful and successful 2013, and wish you another for 2014. As usual, we have had a typically crazy fun Bauer year, especially so in our new house...though it is becoming less a novelty after a full year! We worked hard through the year on our yard and are almost done...Spring 2014 will see the last of the plants in. Terraces are done, plants are mostly in, grass is growing, we think. It is truly a fun project and beautiful place to be. Sitting at the waterfront each summer evening with a glass of wine has become a habit we can't seem to break! In addition to the yard, we were able to kayak 3-4 times a week for close to 6 months (Mark almost daily), which put us in great shape for some of our travels this year. We now have 4 sit-in kayaks, 1 visiting double sit-in, and two sit-upons which the grand and other kids love...oh...and we have a stand up paddle board also - which I seem to stay upright on as long as I don't actually try to stand up. It is disgusting how the younger crowd manages it with no effort at all!

We are really having fun sharing our house. Three parties so far this Christmas wasn't even hard work, and several small garden parties this summer with croquet, badminton, pickle ball, ladder golf, Baggo, and toad (don't ask), etc. The most fun was an event we hosted for the symphony where their string quartet played on our deck/porch and we set up long Italian style tables in the yard for a catered Italian feast. The music wafted over Eld inlet and neighbors came out on their nearby bulkheads to listen. It could be heard the 3/4 mile across the inlet as the yard creates kind of a natural amphitheatre; we have heard many people enjoyed it from a distance. We will be doing this again! Very surreal to be living here...we do love it and love to share so COME VISIT!!

Liesl and Nate

Liesl and Nate - Liesl and Nate underwent a big change this year. The commute from DuPont to Seattle for Nate became nearly 2+ hours each way on a regular basis as a result of Ft Lewis military base enlargement. They decided to make the commute a bit easier and move to Puyallup where Nate could drive 5 minutes to hop the commuter 40 minute train to Seattle...it shortens Nate's trip by at least an hour each way and he can work (or sleep) on the train. Liesl has maintained her 2 days a week in her office here, and has joined the board for her practice. Both Cooper (4) and Grace ( 2 1/2) are in daycare/preschool those two days and thriving. Liesl Is able to drop them off and Nate picks them up. Their house is lovely and nearly twice as big as their old one, which was getting small with two busy kids and two big dogs. The family

Coop's glee at his first ride in our motor boat

Climbing Fool

Nothing Like July 4th in Gearhart

Playing in our yard

Jake and Kim

Jake and Kim - We spent a lovely spring break in Peoria with Kim, Jake, Kale and Mason this year. We got to celebrate Kim's, Mason's and my birthday at Mariner's spring training. Trips to the batting cages, running the bases on the real field and seeing the players up close made for quite the trip for all. In other activities this year, Jake trained for and ran numerous races and triathlons, finishing with an ironman triathlon at Lake Tahoe near the end of September. It looked really cold!!! (and it was) He did a great job! We were really proud of him and watched the streaming live finish and other parts of the race to catch glimpses of him with Kim on the sidelines! Technology is amazing. This may be the last big race he does for a while as he and Kim are due with a little girl in January! Eight gkids (always a lucky number for us!) Their lives will be a bit more difficult with three. They will now be zone defense rather than man to man! Mason (6) and Kale (4) are both in Montessori school and leave us speechless with their activities and observations.

The Family

Kale

Mason

You are Ironman!

That's a big baseball! Spring Training for juniors

Batting cages for Mason's birthday! Two happy healthy gorgeous people!

Ian and Candace

Ian and Candace - Their lives underwent a big change this year as Ian left the Attorney General's office this fall and joined a firm in Seattle. The firm handles large "worthy" plaintiff lawsuits. As a result, though, Candace is leaving our firm as of the end of the year; it is hard to see her go as my "easy" retirement goes with her and I will miss our chats at work. She is losing a big part of her identity and the move will be hard in some ways; she may be back to law once the kids are older, or direct her legal and many other talents in other directions. Ian and Candace are also moving north to avoid the Ft Lewis horror and make the commute better for Ian. Surprise, surprise, they bought a house about 3 blocks from Liesl and Nate in Puyallup and the kids will all go to the same grade school! Aidan (almost 7), Donovan (5 ½), and Aiyana (almost 3) are all full of energy and smile and leave us wondering how we ever managed three also!

Two more pictures of Candace and the kids and the kids at the new lot, sans house!

Kayaking fools…hiking? not so much

Mark and I have gotten back into the grind of work in order to afford our travel fetish. After spending all our time on the new house in 2012, we managed to get away a bit more this year. Kayaking at home led us to think we could manage a bit more difficult kayak trips. We started in Santa Barbara in June and kayaked around a number of the Channel Islands off shore. We stayed on a small boat, sleeping on berths in the hold with 10 other people. The boat took us from island to island in the rough sea. There were small craft advisories the whole time, wind, and lots of waves and "haystacks" created by waves hitting the cliffs and coming back to meet incoming waves. Think skiing moguls but in a boat. It was a TON of fun, weaving along the coast and into and out of cool caves (think low ceiling, helmets ... and bats); we never dumped in the rough water. We were very proud of ourselves! When we came home, there was an "adventure" advertised on a website we visit often --"come kayak and hike the south coast of Crete!." Gee, we’re awesome, we can do this! So we signed up for 8 days in October of kayaking the Libyan Sea and hiking cliffs. The trip was on a part of the coast roads don't reach - the only way in is by boat or foot. We stayed in small inns in tiny villages. It was very cultured kayaking. We would take off in the morning for an hour or two, stop at a small taverna for cappuccino and snorkeling, with 300 or so goats, then move another hour or two to find lunch in a similar place, then another hour or so to dinner (think raki) and lodging for the night. Only one day of waves with a following sea that basically let us surf to our next destination. We paddled through caves, into long narrow fjords, partied nightly and, tried to hike. I found that going downhill for 12 miles - the first three straight down, was no longer in my resume - or itinerary? My left leg gave out and would not support me after about a mile. I hobbled on one leg and two hiking polls back to the top and got a ride to a village 2 hours away where I could catch a boat to our inn at the base of the long Samaria Gorge hike. I showed up about an hour earlier than Mark. He was exhausted so it was a very good thing I didn't try to do the remaining 11 1/2 miles down. We were the oldest in our group of 6 (plus 3 guides), the best kayakers, and the worst hikers! We opted out of the other hikes and spent our time in the boats practicing rolls and rescues. I am wondering about our next kayak (no hiking) trip...gotta get these in while we still can! We finished off the trip with some days in Heraklion, Chania (wine glasses) and Athens. Greece has improved greatly in the 40 years since we were last there! They had greenery, more than grilled goat on the menu, and very fun times. Jamas! Wine glasses in Chania sunset

Segway tour in Athens

Calm water

Caving

Loutros

ocean sunset off loutros

matala - where singers/hippies of the sixties lived in the caves, especially Joni Mitchell

singing lessons for me

300 goats, cappuccino and jellyfish bay

matala hippie bus, full of feral cats now

matala caves at night

loutros

dinner and Closing down the restaurant with pavlos for the season, with many many shots of Raki

Travels with Majken and to the east coast

We got to see Mark’s sister, Majken, twice this year, a real treat. On our trip to Peoria with Jake and Kim we carved out a few days in Wickenberg to visit Majken, then she joined us in Peoria for another day or two. She just moved (last month) to a new place a few miles from Peoria so we also got to visit her new home. In August, we met her for five days in NYC and got to tour the city and take in 3 plays with her. We took advantage of "rest chairs" whenever we found them, one being in a hard rock metal shop where she and I rocked out, chair-danced, much to the amusement of the young goth shoppers. Never be afraid to make a fool of yourself! Majken then joined us for a week at our house with some of her family before heading off to La Grande and Pendleton. We had a fun visit and hope to make it an annual thing with her here! During our NYC trip, I took a day trip up north to visit our friend Jack. I found the luxury bus trip great and Jack, at 93, in great spirits! It was fun to catch up with him and his east coast family. See how well Majken and I dance?!

Last of the Christmas letter - Gearhart, work and dogs

Gearhart has suffered some neglect since we moved in to our peaceful new home; but we still got there almost monthly and at least for two very long weekends. We will head back there for New Year's again to find peace and friends stupid enough to take that midnight beach walk on New Year's Eve. (The champagne keeps us warm) Work still exists. As I said last year, we have to afford our new home and travel fetish. We are so busy at work; it is hard to see how to end my practice with Candace leaving. We have hired another new associate and Lauren is done with maternity leave. But, guess I will keep going for awhile! As the greek say, Today is life and … Finally, after losing Wilson last year, Gunner was totally freaked out, so yeah, you know, we got another dog. Zenya is a 3 year old English Setter (what else) who decided she didn't like to show, so our breeder was kind enough to offer her to us. A true princess who prefers to sleep on the bed, eat special food, and crawl into our laps. What would we do without a neurotic beast? Gunner is again happy to have a friend and we love her sweet, if needy and pushy, personality. We also love when she smiles at us and everyone else. Of course, to others it looks like a real nasty snarl and the moment of terror created must be apologized for repeatedly! Our burglar alarm went off shortly after we got her and the police were called. I rushed to the house fearful they would shoot her! Fortunately, I think, they never came as I called them off!

Here's hoping you all have a warm, wonderful, peaceful 2014. We look forward to seeing those of you who trek west. Love from all of us. Kathie and Mark, Gunner and Zenyatta (Think Kenya)

Heading out on October 17, 2013 to kayak the SW coast of Crete in Greece. Will also be hiking some extensive deep gorges and cherishing the ouzo at the end of the day...perhaps. Wish us luck. Pictures and posts to follow!

Happy Holidays for 2012! This has been an eventful life changing year for us, in many ways. No, we didn't retire. In fact we probably just ensured we signed up for another ten years! Good thing we thoroughly enjoy what we do! After 33 years in one house, with no intent to move, we moved! Through a momentary fluke of online boredom, I saw a gorgeous house that, through sad reasons for its owners, was for sale at a ridiculously low price. Being a short sale, we never expected to get it ... but with fingers (toes and legs, eyes and arms) crossed we put in a bid way below the asking price. We weren't really committed to moving; heck, we knew where the elevator was going for our old age in the other house! Instead of waiting 3-9 months for a response from the bank, as expected, 9 days later, on Mark's 63rd birthday, the bank approved the offer. We closed 4 weeks later on my birthday - March 14. We went from 0.3 acres to almost 2 acres, necessitating a couple of teenage gardeners and a ride-able mower to help out. Mark loves it! (Mark's toy chest is getting bigger) We almost doubled the square footage of our old house too. So much for down-sizing as we AGE. Mainly, the larger square footage has to do with bigger rooms and the fantastic shop. The place is perfect for us, the dogs and grandkids! Room to explore inside and out. And as a bonus, we were fortunate to sell our house within a few days and never had to put it on the market. CLICK ON A PICTURE FOR A LARGER ZOOMED VIEW Lots of pictures and more information about the family below and on older posts for 2012, all posted this month. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, BE SURE TO CLICK EITHER "OLDER POSTS" AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE AFTER YOU ARE DONE READING A PAGE -- OR CLICK ON THE ARCHIVED 2012 POSTS ON THE RIGHT!

old house early 2012 and miscellaneous pictures

With a new house in such a lovely setting, so peaceful and serene, it is hard to go to work or leave town...few vacations are in the works this year or next. Grandkids are more present than before. Ian and Candace live just up the hill and drop by more often. Kathie still has Cooper and Grace on Thursdays. Easter found us having rubber duck races in the stream; Fourth of July was quite an extravaganza over the water with all the rich neighbors trying to outdo each other for fireworks. We just sat back and watched the show over a bonfire. We found time for quite a bit of kayaking; much easier to step out of the door and onto the water when you don't have to pile the kayaks on the car and drive somewhere. We have every assortment of bird you can imagine, plus foxes, raccoons, lots of deer and two dogs exhausted from chasing the chipmunks in the rock walls (or under the hot tub). There are oysters, clams and geoducks for the harvesting and the neighbors seem to catch salmon once in awhile. Haven't tried that yet. Much more fun to watch the sea otters and seals than try to thread a worm onto a hook. Plans for the future include a little fishing dingy and laser sailboat to join the kayaks.

We had one last visit for the family in the old house. Here, the 5 oldest grandchildren, all boys between 2 and 5, have been rampaging around the darkened house - blinding each other with LED headlamps

One last snow in January 2012 at Oldstead Court. Bye bye home!

Sunrise in Winter from Mark's new office

Sunrise in summer from our new home

Wilson dog likes to play with the kids, here he is "doll" being put down for a nap