Alki Beach

My mom came to town on Thursday morning.  Unfortunately, both Shawn and I had to work on Thursday and Friday, so we haven't been very exciting for my mom.  Having her here is definitely giving us lots of practice helping Satchel learn that he shouldn't jump on people! 

Our plan for today (Saturday) was to do some things in Seattle that Satchel could also do.  Unforunately, though, we couldn't leave in the morning since we had to take Satchel to the vet at 11:30.  (Poor guy has what I can only imagine is a rather unpleasant infection...I'll leave it at that.)  So while Shawn was at CrossFit, Mom and I chatted and played with Satchel.  At one point, he left us alone in the living room, and after a few minutes, I realized it was very quiet.  Too quiet.  This is what I found:

I'm pretty sure that Satchel was stuck under the futon.  He didn't come out when I sat next to him, and he didn't follow me when I left and called him.  I even got a treat and held it out, and he still didn't come (and I'm pretty sure I heard a whimper at one point).  Fortunately, we've taught Satchel the "ninja" command.  It's basically an "army crawl" on his belly when we say "Ninja!"  When I gave him the command, he ducked his head and crawled on out.  I think the issue before was that his collar was getting caught on the futon frame.

Anyways...after the brief vet visit, we headed out to West Seattle and Alki Beach.  We went to Spud for fish and chips (which is also where we ate on Valentine's Day this year), and we wandered along the beach for awhile.  This was definitely the nicest day we've ever been to Alki...normally it's been drizzly and/or cool when we've been there.  Today was sunny and in the upper 80s, so it was actually pretty crowded.  I only took a few pictures, but here you go!

And finally...for whatever reason, this sign on the road that runs next to Alki Beach always makes me laugh:

Weekend Update

Shawn and I had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday, he broke in his new mountain bike! Yep, Shawn got a new bike on Friday night. He had had his old one for about 15 years, and frankly, he was spending quite a bit of time (and money) trying to fix it and keep it in working condition. Especially since he really does ride his bike to work pretty often (and plans to keep this habit up even after we move 9 miles farther away), he needed a new bike. So even though it cost more than I was hoping to spend right now, I'm reminding myself that it's quite a bit cheaper than buying (and insuring!) a second car. I'm not going to post many pictures from his bike ride on Saturday, but I am jealous that he got to see this view:
On Sunday, we decided to get up a bit earlier than usual to go to an earlier Mass. After church, we headed down to Ballard. Shawn wasn't able to come with us when I took my parents to the Ballard Locks, and he really wanted to see the salmon. Here's a quick science lesson. Salmon are some pretty darn cool fish. Salmon eggs are laid (and therefore hatch) in fresh water. The young salmon spend their first months or so in this fresh water before eventually making their way downstream and into the salt water of the ocean. I learned yesterday that there are 147 different species in the ocean that depend on salmon as their food source! Only about 1 in every 5000 salmon survive to spawn and lay their own eggs! But here's the really cool part...those salmon out there in the ocean know that when it's time to lay their eggs, they need to get back to the fresh water. So not only do they know that it's time to start swimming upstream....they also know that they need go back to the same fresh water in which they were born! How cool is that?!

So here's where the fish ladder concept comes in. It's already pretty difficult for a fish to swim upstream. But when they suddenly have to make their way through man-made structures like a lock, it's darn near impossible. So at the Ballard Locks (and lots of other places), the engineers have designed fish ladders. They are these sections off to the side of the Locks where fish can "easily" jump from one step to the next. Each step is kind of like a fish tank at a slightly higher altitude. At Ballard, there are 21 steps in the fish ladder, and once the fish gets through it, they've gone from the low level of the (salt water) Puget Sound to the higher level of the (fresh water) Lake Union. At the Ballard Locks, one large "step" of the fish ladder has glass walls so that visitors can watch the salmon that are in there. Here are a couple of the fish we saw yesterday, on their way to the fresh water:
At the Ballard Locks, there's also a really pretty garden area. It has lots of local and exotic plants and flowers. We didn't take the time to go through all of it yesterday, but I wanted to show one specific flower to Shawn that my parents and I saw when we were there. I have no clue what it is (I couldn't find a label), but isn't it unique? I've never seen anything like it:
After the Locks and the fish ladder, we stopped by Cupcake Royale again. Seriously, any visit to Ballard is just not complete without a super yummy cupcake. While there, we decide to wander about a block away...and stumbled onto the Ballard Farmers Market! We didn't know it was there, and it's pretty darn cool. Shawn got himself some organic blackberries. It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning/early afternoon!

More Catching Up!

Okay...after I published that last post, I realized that it really wasn't very long at all. At least, not for me. :-) So I thought I'd go ahead and finish writing about my parents' trip.

On Saturday, Shawn and I had planned on taking my parents downtown. However, we had to make a stop first. We went shopping for our stove! We spent the morning doing that, and then we came home for lunch. The plan for the afternoon was to go to the Seattle Aquarium, followed by the Pike Market. However, the traffic getting into the city was insane! It literally took us over an hour and a half to get to the Aquarium. There were apparently a few issues going on. First of all, it was a gorgeous, sunny summer day in Seattle. Second, it was a Saturday. Third, it was HempFest. Yep...you read that right. HempFest. I never would have guessed that a festival dedicated to all things hemp (aka - marijuana) would've drawn such huge crowds, but it apparently does! The Aquarium itself was also pretty crowded, but we had a good time anyways. My parents really liked it, which was the whole point of going! Unfortunately, because of all the traffic and the crowds, we decided to skip the Pike Market. Instead, we just headed back up north towards home and went out to dinner at Boston's, one of our favorite restaurants.

On Sunday, we decided to head up to the San Juan Islands. Shawn and I have been up here a few times...we've explored San Juan Island (and Friday Harbor), we've gone kayaking near Anacortes, and we went whale watching here last year. The four of us left at 8:45 for the drive to Anacortes. We got there around 10:00 to get in line for the ferry that was scheduled to depart at 11:05. Getting out to Friday Harbor took us just over an hour, since this particular boat didn't stop at any other islands on the way out. Once on the island, we had lunch overlooking the water. Then we basically just drove around, looking at the scenery and stopping at a few historic sites. (This island was occupied by both American and British troops in the 1860s.) We got to the ferry terminal at 4:00, hoping to get on the 5:00 ferry. To his credit, the guy who was directing traffic didn't laugh at us too loudly. When we told him we wanted the 5:00 ferry, he quickly said that they've already "suspended parking" for the 6:55 boat! We should come back at 6:00 and see if we could get on that one. So we got some ice cream and Mom and I each bought a book at a used bookstore. As soon as they opened the parking for the 6:55 sailing, we got in line...and were #24 in the overflow line! They loaded the cars on the 6:55 ferry, and we didn't make it. The good news is that we were number 10 or so in line for the next sailing....at 10:00pm. So we all got dinner and found ways to kill time, and at 10:00, we were finally sailing towards the mainland. By the time we finally got back to Anacortes and then drove back home, it was almost 2:00am.

My poor parents were exhausted after this weekend! The original plan was to head back downtown on Monday and do a few more touristy things (Underground Tour, Space Needle, Pioneer Square, Pike Market). But my parents chose instead to just hang around the apartment and relax. So that's what we did on Monday! This morning we all (minus Shawn) were up at 4:30 Tuesday morning, and we left for the airport at 5:30. The nice thing about this...the traffic to the airport was actually pretty light. :-)

It was really nice to have my parents here! And hopefully the next time they come, they'll get to stay with us in our new house!

Catching Up!

It's been a busy week! My parents got here last Wednesday evening, and they just left this morning. While they were here, we were busy playing tour guide while also taking care of some house stuff. I'll try to do a brief recap of the things that we did with Mom and Dad.

On Thursday, we had our inspection in the afternoon. But before that, I took my parents up to the Boeing Factory. They went through the Future of Flight museum (while I ran a quick errand), and then my mom and I went on the Factory Tour. The factory is the largest building (by volume) in the world, and it's pretty impressive. This is where they make a lot of the Boeing jets, and it was fun to see them in the various stages of assembly. We saw the first ever Boeing 747-8 (which is a 747 converted to a freight plane), and we also saw some of the new 787s.

On Friday, while Shawn was at work, my parents and I drove all over. I took them out to West Seattle and we ate fish n' chips at Alki Beach. Then we drove over to Ballard. We went to the Ballard Locks, and we were able to watch quite a few boats go through them. The main reason I took them there, though, was for the fish ladder. When salmon spawn, they go upstream to the place where they were born. Because the Locks have been built, the salmon can't get back, so a fish ladder has been built. You'll find these in lots of places in this area, but the Locks have one of the ladder sections glassed in. We saw a number of HUGE salmon in the ladder! It was pretty cool. My dad also really liked the gardens here. When we were done at the Locks. Of course, no visit to Ballard is complete without a visit to Cupcake Royale, so we stopped there before heading home. Friday night, we all headed back downtown to watch the Mariners/Yankees game.

Hm. As I'm typing this, I've realized that this is getting to be a huge post, and I still have 3 days of my parents' visit. I think I'll end this one here, and I'll write another one later. :-)

Good Day

Poor Shawn was at work all day today, working really hard. He didn't even take the time to come home for lunch. (He only works a block from home, so he usually comes home on his lunch break.)

I, on the other hand, had a nice, social day! In the young adults group we've gotten involved with at church, the other women and I have realized that none of us are working right now. There are six girls who either are currently unemployed, are teachers (or are currently unemployed teachers), or have recently had a baby. So we've decided that we should start doing things together during the day while our husbands are all at work.

Today, four of us started off by meeting in Ballard for cupcakes at Cupcake Royale! I love this place. Today, I had the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and I also had a "babycake" (a mini cupcake) that was vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream frosting. The frosting actually was made with locally grown strawberries...yum! The other three girls had never been to the bakery, so I was glad they all enjoyed it.

Then we headed over to Green Lake, where two more girls met us. It was beautiful and sunny today, and warmer than it's been in at least a week. The six of us walked around the lake, which is about 3 miles. It took longer than I expected since the various moms had to stop on occasion for feedings, diaper changes, putting babies into strollers, taking babies out of strollers...you get the idea. :)

By the time I headed home, my legs were a little tired and my shoulders were sunburned...but I had good conversations with some good, new friends. It was a good day!

Catching Up

Sorry I've been MIA. Our good friends, Jarid and Sarah, came to visit us. They got here last Tuesday night, and they just left yesterday. Since they were on vacation, Shawn and I were kinda on vacation! Except that Shawn and I went to work during the day. :(

Shawn and I rented a car so that Jarid and Sarah wouldn't be stuck at our apartment during the day, and then the four of us hung out in the evenings. There was a lot more going out to eat than usual, but Jarid also cooked for us a few times. I felt a little bad letting him cook (and I didn't cook at all while they were here!), but it's something that he really enjoys doing.

On Saturday, Jarid, Sarah, and I went downtown while Shawn went to the rugby pitch to get ready for his game. The 3 of us stopped by Safeco Field so that I could buy my birthday present! Yes, my birthday was in October. :) But for my birthday, Shawn promised that we'd get a pair of tickets to all 3 games when the Indians are in town to play the Mariners in July. The tickets just went on sale about 10 days ago, and by purchasing them at the stadium, I saved about $27 in Ticketmaster fees! Then the 3 of us went down to the Market for lunch. We decided to stop at the Athenian Inn. It's right in the Market, and it has a gigantic menu. At least one scene from "Sleepless in Seattle" was also filmed here. We sat on the second floor and had great views of Elliott Bay. Unfortunately, the food was pretty bad. As an example, my "BBQ Beef" sandwich was a few slices of packaged roast beef covered in a little BBQ sauce and slapped on a sandwich bun. Blech. But then we went and watched Shawn play rugby and the rest of the day was good. :)

Sunday, we were supposed to go sea kayaking. Unfortunately, the guide called us early that morning to let us know that the weather wasn't going to cooperate. They were expecting lots of wind and a "small craft advisory" in the San Juan Islands. Not exactly ideal for amateurs to go kayaking. So instead we went downtown for lunch, and then we took the Seattle "Underground Tour." I had done it a few years ago, but none of the rest of them had. If you ever find yourself in Seattle, I highly recommend this tour. It's only 90 minutes, but it's pretty interesting, and it's actually pretty funny, too.

We took Jarid and Sarah to the airport last night. It was great to have them here, but I'm kinda looking forward to getting back into our normal working/eating/sleeping habits. And I'll try to get back into blogging more often. :)

Our V-Day Weekend

Shawn and I had a great Valentine's Day weekend. On Friday, Shawn started off by coming home from work with a pot full of tulips for me. They're beautiful! On Saturday, we decided to attempt to avoid Valentine's Day crowds, so instead of going out to dinner, we went out to brunch. On a recommendation from a couple friends, we went to the Coastal Kitchen in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. It wasn't fancy (which we weren't looking for), but it was in a fun neighborhood, and the food was really good!

After brunch, we headed out to West Seattle. This is a part of the city that's on the other side of Eliot Bay from downtown Seattle. The main attraction of this neighborhood is Alki Beach. We got a little coffee and a snack (we split a cupcake and a cookie), and we spent some time walking along the beach. We got there at low tide, so we were able to wander out a little farther than normal, and we spent some time looking into the tide pools. We didn't see much, though, except for some tiny anemones and some empty clam shells. We took this picture of ourselves on the beach, and the other pic is the view of downtown Seattle from Alki Beach. See? It really is sunny in Seattle sometimes!

After our afternoon at the beach, we went to church. Then, after dropping off the car at home, we walked to a pub just down the street. We ate dinner in between rounds of pool. Shawn beat me, 3 games to 2.

Today, Shawn spent most of his day working, actually. He's hoping to take a day off later this week to make up for it. I, on the other hand, had a wonderful afternoon at book club! We were discussing A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, although we didn't actually start discussing the book until we'd been there more than two hours. It was really nice to spend a few hours with a bunch of other ladies and to make some new friends!