Life on the Left Coast: Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day. My own mom is on board somewhere in the Pamlico Sound / Intercoastal Waterway in North Carolina with her hubby on a little vacation this week. Though I can't spend the day with her, I really enjoyed reading her blog post dedicated to her mom (my grandma): http://diyhomestagingtips.blogspot.com/2012/05/mother-knows-best-i-know-because-she.html

Now that I'm a mom myself, I get to enjoy Mother's Day in a whole new light. Today--after being allowed to sleep in ("Aaaaaahhhh")--I woke to a breakfast of bagel with cream cheese and lox, tea, and fresh-picked flowers from the yard. My two little angels delivered the goods:

Mmmm, my favorite breakfast! Thanks boys!

Isn't this sweet?

After breakfast, we got ready for the day and drove about
20 minutes to the Snowqualmie Falls. Ollie in his peach
shirt beside the peach-colored rhododendrons was too
good to pass up...

The trail to the base of the falls is closed until March
2013, but we enjoyed the view from the upper observation
deck.

Gorgeous! And so close to home. A perfect day trip.

We could be honeymooners....

In the historic downtown of Snowqualmie, we wandered
into a curio and antique toy shop.

After we ate lunch at the Snowqualmie Brewery and Tap
House, I snapped this pic of my two cutie-pies
while we waited for Mike to pay the bill and come outside.

In the afternoon, we stopped by Home Depot, bought a very basic, entry-level gas grill ($99) as well as a portable charcoal hibachi-style grill ($39). The gas grill won't be assembled and ready for pick-up until tomorrow, but with out little hibachi, we were able to grill out tonight. Yay.

Before we got the grill fired up, though, we took our neighbor up on her offer to user her paddle boat any time we liked. At first, I just took Ollie out alone but since he couldn't peddle, we just kept going in circles!!! So, I talked Mike into joining us and the kids both hopped on the back. It was great to finally had the chance to get out on the water a little bit and explore. Lots of people were on the lake today (non-motorized craft only), some people on innertubes and rafts, some in kayaks, one in a canoe, a couple of kids on stand-up paddle boards, one rowboat, and two different floating swim platforms. The water is still COLD but getting warmer. People who were swimming had wet suits on. I totally want to try out the stand-up paddle board. It's supposed to be an awesome workout. And, best of all NO SHARKS in the lake! Ha ha. We are also scouring Craigslist for a good deal on a used canoe. Can't wait to spend our summer on the water!