Chinese Massage and Moroccan Food

While the kids were in school today, Mom and I went for a traditional
Chinese foot massage at Joy Spa in Kirkland. What a treat! It's a 60-minute
clothes-on massage, with a hot-water foot soak and 30-minute foot/leg rub.

Ready for a night out on the town, Mom poses in front
of the Space Needle. (This is as close as she'll get to
a rotating platform more than 600 feet off the ground!)

We met up with my two brothers who also live out here in Seattle, Ryan and Rich. We pretty much spent the evening trying to convince Mom that--since all three of her kids live here now--she and John need to move out here. Family, boating, mild climate...what's not to love?

Mom, Ryan, Rich, and I all met up at a spot in Seattle for Moroccan food.

Terrible pictures because the light was so low, but here's a shot of Rich and me.

The waitress brings around a ornamental bowl and a pot
of hot water to wash our hands prior to the meal. 

We sat on low benches and padded mats for the meal.
The tented ceiling, music, and traditional dress
of the waitstaff really made this place unique.
(Wish I could remember the name of it!)

The food was great. I can't even remember what all we ordered, to be honest. But there was cous cous, and apricots, and chicken, and dates, and lemons, and olives. We had some sort of chicken pastry pie topped with powdered sugar. And hot, sweet tea (poured from three feet in the air) after the meal.

As usual, whenever I eat out with my two brothers, we ordered way too much food, but Ryan took the leftovers home for tomorrow's lunch. :)

Kicking Off Mom's Visit with Dinner at Ray's

We mostly just let Mom rest today after her long day of travel yesterday. We had a low-key day, dropping the kids off at school, hanging out at the house, and then heading into Seattle for dinner at Ray's Boathouse, an iconic Seattle restaurant since 1945. 

"Have a great day at school, Ollie!"

Dinner at Ray's was awesome. It's not for nothing that this place has gained an international reputation for seafood and has been featured in the New York Times, Gourmet Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and Food & Wine.

We had window-seats just as the sun was setting. Mom
ordered an amazing salmon dinner and I had mussels.

Even though I try to limit the carbs, I had to have extra
crusty bread to soak up all this delicious broth!

We had an amazing table right by the window to watch the sunset over the
Puget Sound. The Olympic Mountains (where we'll drive next weekend)
are in the far distance. 

The Ray's sign is famous. 

After dinner, we walked down to the little beach where my friend Angie
and I put in our paddleboards for our stand-up paddleboard yoga classes.
The boys scouted around for clam shells and seaweed in the waning light.

Gramma B Arrives Safe and Sound

There were excited faces all around when we picked up Gramma B at Sea-Tac. 

My mom is here! My mom is here! Got tons of fun stuff planned for her two-week visit. Stay tuned...

Back to School

On our short walk to school. A bit misty this morning,
but it gives the boys a chance to wear their new-to-them
raincoats. Gotta love Goodwill!

The boys are off to school today. First day back after a lovely, long summer. Ollie is in all-day preschool and Merrit is in fourth grade. Good news: Merrit's buddy Aidan is in his class again this year. Yay. Ollie's teacher from last year, Ms. Hansen, accepted a promotion and so he's going to have a new teacher, Ms. Molly. Here we go...

Elysian Brews, Fremont Troll, Gas Works Park, Bowling Par-Tay!

What a busy day we had today. It was really fun, though. We headed into Seattle for lunch, hitting up a local brewery/restaurant in a part of Seattle called Tangletown. Mike sampled two different Elysian beers and the BBQ pork sandwich; the boys and I had club soda and shared a black bean burger with fries.

Patio dining. Lovely.

Mike and the boys perusing the menus.

We asked the waiter where exactly we were...turns out we were close the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. Well, you can't be in Fremont without making a visit to the Fremont Troll...especially if you have kids and have never been there before. :)

What's the Fremont Troll? Glad you asked...

From Wikipedia:

The Troll is a mixed media colossal statue, located on N. 36th Street at Troll Avenue N., under the north end of the George Washington Memorial Bridge (also known as the Aurora Bridge). It is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just swiped it from the roadway above. The vehicle has a California license plate. The Trollwas sculpted by four local artists: Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead. He is interactive—visitors are encouraged to clamber on him or try to poke out his one good eye (a hubcap). The Troll is 5.5 m (18 ft) high, weighs 6,000 kg (13,000 lb), and is made of steel rebar, wire, and concrete.

What I thought was sort of cute were these three billygoat sculptures that we had to walk past on our way up the hill to visit the troll.

I guess on any given Sunday there are other people here to pay homage and
take photos...?

Merrit seems a bit timid.

Ollie climbed right up on the troll but then needed a helping hand getting down!

After a quick stop off for an iced espresso, we plugged "Gas Works Park" into the GPS. Wow, only 0.2 miles away! Cool. We first heard about Gas Works Park when we cruised past it and heard a little about its history on our locks boat cruise with Clyde and Delores. Again from Wikipedia:

Gas Works Park incorporates numerous pieces of an old gas plant. Some stand as ruins, while others have been reconditioned, painted, and incorporated into a children's "play barn" structure, constructed in part from what was the plant's exhauster-compressor building. A Web site affiliated with The Seattle Times newspaper says, "Gas Works Park is easily the strangest park in Seattle, and may rank among the strangest in the world."

Gas Works Park also features an artificial kite-flying hill with an elaborately sculptured sundial built into its summit. The park was for many years the exclusive site of a summer series of "Peace Concerts." These concerts are now shared out among several Seattle parks. The park also has for many years hosted one of Seattle's two major Fourth of July fireworks events; in 2009 it was the sole such event. The park is the traditional end point of the Solstice Cyclists and the start point for Seattle's World Naked Bike Ride.

Well, we walked all OVER that park. It was super cool. There were all sorts of random events going on--some seemed organized and some seemed spontaneous. We saw people flying kites and remote control airplanes. We stumbled upon some sort of Crossfit fitness challenge/contest/festival. We watched while a group of people stood in a circle and performed a free association improv exercise. We watched some teenagers doing parkour (the boys LOVED that). There were kayakers, sailboats, and paddle boarders out on Lake Union. And houseboats. And sea planes. And then, believe it or not, geeks in homemade armor sword fighting! Oh, and a reunion of Texas Longhorns fans in orange T-shirts. Yes, it was surreal! Here are some pics...

By 4:00, we had to head back to the Eastside (across Lake Washington) for our little buddy Brennan's birthday bowling party. Happy fourth birthday, Bren! We had such a great time at your party! 

Oh yeaaaaahhhh, bowling shoes!

The birthday boy with Ollie.

Ollie bowled with the guards up.

Pizza party! 

Mike beat all of us.

But we gave him a (little bit of a) run for his money. :)

Chocolate cupcakes.

Dig in, Merrit!

This little girl, Gia, was another partyguest.
Gabriel, on the right, is the birthday boys' big bro.

Ollie had (at least) one cupcake.

Wasup Yoga in Shilshone Bay

My friend Angie and I have been going to paddle board yoga off and on all summer (the classes fill up quick!). We only have about a month left before it gets too cold to do this anymore, so we are trying to squeeze in a few more sessions.

It's such a cool experience and (you know me!) I wanted to document it if possible. In an act of bravery/stupidity, I double-bagged my iPhone in ziplock bags and brought it out with us. Angie and I took turns taking some pictures. Maybe this will give you an idea of what a unique experience, challenging workout (especially when it's CHOPPY like it was today!), and fun time paddle board yoga is!

We paddle out to some buoys in Shilshone Bay where we tie up. These
are two of the other girls in our eight-person class. 

I love being out on top of the water like this!

It's about a 30-minute paddle out; an hour-long yoga practice,
and a 30-minute paddle back. 

You can see how the gals behind me are all tied up to the
same line as me. All our boards stay parallel because of
the current.

Angie has been doing yoga longer than me; she got skeeeelz!

The drawbridge behind me is open. Hey, that would be a good name for
this yoga pose!

High plank.

Warrior II pose.

After our paddle back, we brought the boards in to shore,
carried them back up to the Surf Ballard shop, and
immediately thought: "Lunch!"

Well, first Angie and I bought a couple of Tshirts--just in case this is our last
time out here for the summer.

Right next to Surf Ballard is this no-name Cuban restaurant that always has
a line down the sidewalk. We got the scoop from the surf dudes this week:
This place is famous. Apparently, it's called Paseo's and it's been named
"Best Sandwich in America" by Esquire magazine, "Seattle's #1 Restaurant" by Urban Spoon, and has been recommended by Food and Wine magazine.

Well, okay, then. Twist our arms. 

The little outdoor semi-covered eating area was crowded so we took our
Cuban pork (cooked over lava rocks) sandwich and black beans with rice
down to the beach.

I have an inner beach bum who could totally live THIS life. For real.

The spot where Angie and I shared our AMAZING sandwich
with a side of beans and rice. Olympic Mountains in the far distance,
across the Puget Sound. Wow....what a day.