Bainbridge Island

Have I mentioned that I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth? Well, I do. Maybe I'm a little biased, but it's my blog. Saturday was an amazing Seattle day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the mid-70s. We had to take advantage of it, so we went to Bainbridge Island. We caught the ferry in Seattle and off we went.

The girls on the ferry.

Since there were no clouds, we were able to see amazing views:

Mt. Rainier

Downtown Seattle--the Space Needle is on the left.

The Space Needle

I liked how far the sailboats were leaning.

The Olympic Mountains and another ferry.

We ate lunch at the Bainbridge Bakery and then started to drive to a park. Lauren fell asleep, a rarity, so we drove around for half an hour while she napped.

Here are a couple of views from the island:

Seattle

Mt. Baker.
This view always impresses me because Mt. Baker is east of Bellingham. Bellingham is 90 miles north of Seattle and Mt. Baker is about 60 miles east of Bellingham. Assuming these are straight lines and using the Pythagorean Theorem, that's about 108 miles as the crow flies. I have to throw some math in here sometimes. Anyway... You don't see Mt. Baker from Seattle all that often because we have a lot of clouds. And 108 miles is a lot of space for clouds. Moving on...

Once Lauren woke up, we drove to Battle Point Park. They have the most amazing playground I have ever seen:

That's Eric pushing Kaylin in the swing.

Kaylin and Eric on one of the slides.

Those pictures show only part of the playground. Kaylin was in heaven. She played for a really long time and wasn't too happy to leave. Lauren liked it too, but she didn't grasp the enormity of it like Kaylin did. Plus there were so many details. If you're ever on Bainbridge you should definitely check out this park.

Then it was back to the ferry for another fun and beautiful trip home.

I'll say it again--I love Seattle! Out of town friends: We've got room if you want to come stay and play!

Gig Harbor

Eric and I celebrated our 7th anniversary at the end of December. I knew before Lauren was born that I wanted to go somewhere overnight for our anniversary after Lauren's first birthday. I knew I would need a break. And I did. My fabulous parents came down and spent the night with our girls. We were gone for just over 24 hours. It was so nice to not have to do all of the regular feeding, changing, putting to bed, etc. for the girls and just worry about us.

We decided to go to a bed and breakfast in Gig Harbor, which is just under an hour from our house. We were only staying one night, so we didn't want to spend too much time driving. We explored the town, had a nice dinner out, watched a lame movie, and tried to sleep in. It was wonderful.

Here is part of our room:

I loved that you could sit in the chairs by the fire and look out at the harbor. The bed was opposite the glass doors, so you could also lie in bed and look at the harbor. The view that night was cool because everyone had their Christmas lights on.

The harbor from our doors:

This was our first time to Gig Harbor. We were surprised at how much it looked like a small lake. The opening to the harbor is fairly small, and as you can see, the entire harbor isn't very big. The water was very calm. The bed and breakfast had kayaks you could borrow, but since it was late December and freezing cold outside we didn't use them.

The city has a staircase with a nice view of the harbor:

With how busy we have been and having two small kids at home, it was so nice to get away for a day and just spend time together.

Christmas Lights

This weekend we went to Coulon on Lake Washington to see the Clam Lights.

Lauren and Eric with the clams.

Last night we went to the Bellevue Botanical Garden's Garden d'Lights. We were super lucky that it stopped raining before we got there and it didn't rain while we were there.

This one shows the crazy amount of lights they had.

A nice man took our picture. Please ignore my cone head.

Mt. Rainier

A couple of weeks ago we drove around Mt. Rainier on Eric's day off. We were lucky we went when we did, because the pass closed a few days later and won't be open again until spring.

I like the frozen river in this shot.

Kaylin and Eric on the icy road. She tells me she wasn't cold. I don't believe her, it was super cold outside.

We stopped in a little town for lunch on our way home. We asked some people where a good park was and they sent us to a great one. Kaylin had a blast.


Lauren had fun going down the slide with me.

We were home by nap time. It was a fun short day trip.

Port Townsend

In case you haven't heard.... Eric has a new job. He now works some Saturdays, and when he does, he has a day off during the week. On his first weekday off, we headed up to Port Townsend, which is on the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula.

It was really windy.

Point Wilson Lighthouse

Fort Worden--Kaylin refused to pose for a picture.

Chetzemoka Park

Yes, Lauren was there too.

It was a fun day trip and we were home before dinner time.

Fish Hatchery

For September's preschool field trip we went to the fish hatchery in Issaquah. It's the best fish hatchery I've been to. The salmon come from the Puget Sound through Lake Washington and into Issaquah Creek to spawn.

We had a tour guide to take us around the hatchery and teach us about the salmon. Kaylin remembered her and when we went back another day for a visit she saw her and said, "There she is!" and tried to follow her.

The kids by the big spawning salmon statues

Do you see the two salmon? The salmon that make it over this waterfall spawn naturally in the creek. Most of the salmon go through gates at the far side of this waterfall into the fish ladder and are bred by the hatchery.

Lots of fish.

The hatchery also raises trout to be placed in a local pond. They let the kids feed the trout at the end of the tour.

We had so much fun that we went back two weeks later.

Also... Please notice that Kaylin is wearing JEANS. Shocking, I know. I'm not quite sure how I coerced her into wearing them. She immediately changed into a dress when we got home.

Boating on Lake Washington and Lake Union

My parents brought their boat down at the end of August. It wasn't warm enough to get in the water, but we had a great time driving down Lake Washington, through the cut to Lake Union, and then back.

Seahawks' Practice Facility. Lucky guys.

I-90 bridge

Dad and Husky Stadium, notice the shirt
More lucky football players

The Montlake Cut between Lake Washington and Lake Union
The bridge was going up for that sailboat.

We docked the boat at this Ivar's on Lake Union. Yum! I love their fish and chips!

Our view at lunch, you can see the Space Needle in the background.

Eric and Lauren on Lake Union

We love Seattle!

Kaylin modeling my dad's boating glasses--I think they are from Taco Ball forever ago. Do you see the visors over the lenses? Awesome.

We were on the water for hours and had such a fun time. It was a lot of fun to see the cities from the water, eat yummy food, and hang out with my parents.

Seahawks Training Camp

The Seahawks' practice facility is located in Renton, just a few minutes from our house. It's right on Lake Washington, lucky guys. I was able to go to one of the training camp sessions with my niece, Lokelani, and Eric's dad. It was one of the hottest days of the year in Seattle. The practice field doesn't have any shade. Yikes. Thankfully for everyone involved, they called practice after just over an hour. I don't know if we would have lasted for another hour, and we weren't the ones running around on the field.

Me and Loke

Defense in white, offense in blue.
I totally wanted to jump in the lake.

QB Matt Hasselbeck

I'm not sure who this is, but I liked his pose.

Training camp was a lot fun. Even though the Seahawks aren't supposed to be very good this year, that's okay, we still love them.

Vancouver Temple

Yesterday we went up to the new temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Vancouver (Langley), British Columbia. It isn't open yet but the outside is complete. The angel Moroni (the gold guy at the top) was put on on March 10. The open house, which is free and open to anyone, will be April 9-24.

The front of the temple.

Eric and Kaylin on the front steps.

The back.

Side.

Back/side

Church building on the property.

Kaylin LOVES temples and was so excited to see the one in Vancouver. We are going to attend the open house next month and Kaylin is looking forward to going inside. We are so happy for the people (including my parents :-)), who will have a temple closer to them.

P.S. Happy Pi Day! (3.14)