Day Trip to Whidbey Island

Today we made appointments to go see a naturopathic doctor on Whidbey Island. We drove about 45 minutes to Mukliteo, then took the short ferry over to Whidbey. We had a few hours before our appointments, so we ate lunch and went for a short hike down to the beach.

Here's where I have to brag on my amazing mom for just a minute. She is 70 now and is freakin' awesome. She handled the not-beginner trail, complete with hills and a stretch of pretty steep stairs, like a 40-year-old (ask me how I know). She rocks. 

Ollie and Mommy ride the purple dinosaur at a Whidbey Island park.

Gorgeous beach-front park. I snagged some driftwood for my mantle from here.
(Don't tell anyone...I don't think you're supposed to take driftwood...?)

Explorer Ollie.

Mom and Merrit waiting for lunch. We had clam chowder at this local diner.

Our hike down to the beach was really a great way to burn off lunch and enjoy
the local woods. The boys were running circles around us, but we all made it
down to the beach together. :)

We spent about a half an hour walking on the beach barefoot, soaking
up some sun, and beachcombing.

Merrit and I. Cheesin'. (How cute is my little man growing up to be?!?)

Both the boys had fun climbing on these huge driftwood trees.

Plums Come to the Door

Today, our neighbor Peter came over with a bag of plums, Asian pears, and Honeycrisp apples from his yard. Amazing. I put the goodies on a platter and it was so pretty, I had to take a picture. My mom wrote this haiku:

Lakehouse Haiku

Ferries carry us

Between green forests, blue lakes

Plums come to the door

The Farm Stand

After school today, Mom and the boys and I walked to the produce stand. It's fall...there are pumpkins and sunflowers and cabbages and onions and and apples and kale and all kinds of seasonal veggies and fruits. Just a few pictures...

A Trip to Tillicum Village at Blake Island

One thing I learned in England was how to be a tourist in your own town. No, it's not corny...and I don't know why people have that perception. Even if you don't live in a tourist destination, it's still cool to get out and do the museums and historical sites and restaurants. Of course, when you have company in town, you really have no excuse except to get out there and show 'em what makes your town special. 

I had been thinking that the boys would enjoy this Argosy Cruise to Blake Island to see how the Tillicum Indians lived ever since we first heard about it back in June when Mike's parents were here and we did the Argosy Locks Cruise. With Mom here, it seemed like the perfect time to do it!

Our second Argosy cruise and our second truly excellent
tour guide. They really do train these guys well.

On board the Good Time II.

Looking back at Seattle from our boat, far out in Elliot Bay in the Puget Sound.
What a gorgeous day!

Ollie using his binoculars! 

Mom and I, sheltered from the wind and enjoying the boat ride together.

After about an hour boat ride to Blake Island, we de-boarded
and were promptly welcomed with steaming mugs of
littleneck clams in hot broth. The boys had fun dropping their
clam shells on the ground.

Inside the lodge, salmon was being cooked in the traditional Tillicum way.

Can you even imagine how good this smelled? Probably not, but it was
amazing. We got in line for our meal and show.

The lodge was full of native art. Here's just one example.

The dinner buffet was delicious...There was smoked salmon, venison stew, green beans, rice, salad, and a delicious apple pie dessert. While we ate, the lights went down low and we watched a great little show--part multi-media, part live acting--about the native people of the Northwest and the Tillicum people in particular. I captured just a little of the show on video...

After the show, we had about a half an hour to explore the island before
we re-boarded Good Time II for the return trip to Pier 54 in Seattle's waterfront
district. 

The boys threw rocks in the water. Mt. Ranier is visible on this clear day
waaaaay off in the distance. A gorgeous day! 

Dim Sum, Anyone? ... Skipping Stones and Antiquing

Today we hooked up with my brothers for lunch. I wish I could remember the name of this place we went to in Seattle's Chinatown. I'll have to ask my brothers....but it was FANTASTIC. We had dim sum; it's only the second time I have had dim sum (the first being in Washington, D.C., and I really didn't love it, I have to say). But I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious our meal was! The dumplings were light and fluffy and steaming hot, not at all like I remember them being (sort of dense and gluey and too-filling). 

As usual, my foodie brother Rich ordered. I don't even know what all we got. Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, Peking duck, steamed baby bok choy, and a whole assortment of dumplings...some filled with shrimp, cilantro, other seafood...I don't even know. Everything was so good!

Uncle Ryan pours soy sauce while Ollie looks on.

Rich and Ryan choosing dumplings from the waitress with the rolling cart.

The translucent and piping hot dumplings were delicious!

The Peking duck blew my mind. Never had it before and wasn't sure how to
eat it. Rich and Ryan, who come here regularly, demonstrated...

You take a sticky bun, put some of the duck--with some crispy
skin--into the sweet bun, then add some spring onion and hoisin
sauce. Mmmm.

My lovely mom and I. We are having a great week together!

 After a delicious lunch--marred only by that moment when Ollie knocked over a whole pot of hot tea by spinning the lazy-Susan in the middle of the table waaaay to fast--we piled into the car for a little driving tour of Seattle's nicer neighborhoods. We drove past Curt Cobain's old house and ended up at little park on the western shores of Lake Washington.

The house where Curt Cobain killed himself. Not that I'm a huge Nirvana
fan, but I was still curious to see where he lived. 

Impromptu family portrait. My mom rarely gets to have a picture taken
with all three of her kiddos! It's so strange that we've all "landed" in Seattle.

We watched this dog swimming after a stick, and boats going by. We threw
rocks in the water and enjoyed the sunshine. A nice way to spend an afternoon.

The water is cold, but it's still nice to kick off your shoes
and dip your toes in!

Mom just kicked back and watched all her "boys"
throw rocks in the water. Rich, Ryan, Merrit, and Ollie
all have fun skipping and throwing stones. :)

Ollie found this feather. I love this little guy. He's
such a curious little thing!

After we dropped the "big boys" off at Rich's office, Mom and the "little boys" and I went to this super cool furniture / antique warehouse I wanted to show Mom. I was sort of looking for some side tables or maybe a headboard, but we didn't find anything. Just had fun browsing around...

On the lowest of three levels of antiques. This place is cool...

Homemade Blackberry Muffins

What to do with over three cups of fresh-picked blackberries? Breakfast muffins of course!

Laptop Repairs and Blackberry Picking

As a big sister, I have to say that I'm super proud of both my "little" (read: taller than me but younger than me) brothers. Ryan is an SEO and online advertising whiz and Rich owns his own computer repair business. Super smarties! 

Mom's laptop needed a little TLC (virus upgrades and a little of this and that) and my laptop had been acting buggy and had a broken hinge so we spent the morning with Rich at his company, Progressive Tech. 

Rich, working on Mom's laptop. As a professional blogger, this little gizmo is
her lifeline! Check out her blog here: www.DIYhomestagingtips.com. 

This is the same beach we visited the other night after dinner at Ray's.
I totally HAD to introduce Mom to the Paseo Cuban sandwich, which is easily
twice as good when eaten with your toes in the sand.
I blogged about thissandwich once already! Yeah, it's that good.

After school, Mom and the boys and I went for a walk to
Blueberry Lake (it's unofficial name, I am not sure what
it's actually called). We brought along a yogurt tub
to gather blueberries but ended up collecting blackberries
instead. By the time we got to the blueberry farm,
our tub was full and our fingers were purple, which was
fine because there weren't many blueberries left this late
in the season.

Ollie found a wild apple tree along the way.

Mom and Merrit walking ahead of Ollie and I. Today was an absolutely
gorgeous day for a walk.

We ate so many berries along the way, we could have
easily filled our yogurt tub four times over!