Allki Beach

Here is where we are today... Took the bus to the water taxi. Some beautiful scenery, but the beach itself? I'll take FL beaches... Much nicer sand and WARM water. That said, it's about 76 and breezy here, so no complaints!

Seattle Beaches, Who Knew?

It was a beautiful summer day in Seattle today, so it was time to check out the local neighborhood beach. The what??? Yes, you read that right, there are beaches in Seattle. We are staying in Ballard, and i have come to really love this neighborhood. It's very family friendly, home of the locks and has the most Southern CA style beach I've yet to see here.

We went over to Golden Gardens and it is a great spot. Totally has the beach vibe... Flat sandy beach, volleyball players, concessions, playground and musicians. It's awesome. You can almost imagine you are in California... Except the water is ice cold and it's only 72 degrees out in August. I was worried the girls would complain about the cold water but they had so much fun playing with rocks and the driftwood, they didn't complain about the water at all. Score!

And take a look at the awesome playground. I have to say, hands down, the Seattle playgrounds blow away the ones in Florida. Every playground here has some sort of climbing structure, many have the old style merry-go-rounds, and they all have monkey bars... None of which I've seen in FL. and the girls love it all. But I will give FL the clear win on beaches. As great as Golden Gardens is, it doesn't come close to the glorious Siesta Key white sand and warm waters of the gulf. But for today, it was just perfect.

Hiking with Auntie Tina

The girls and I drove out to Issaquah yesterday to meet up with Dean's Aunt Tina. She took us east to hike to the bathing rocks at Denny Creek. At the risk of sounding completely repetitive, it was gorgeous! I've come to realize pretty much the whole pacific northwest is gorgeous this time of year. So just sit back and relax. You are going to hear this FL gal oogle over the beauty here in pretty much every post.

The hike was great and Tina was the perfect guide. She pointed out flowers, brought homemade chocolate chip cookies and made a game out of counting the steps. And the bathing rocks were awesome... Big flat rocks to play on and an ice cold creek to dip your toes into. Fantastic!

Discovery Park

Took the girls on a hike in Discovery Park and it was absolutely gorgeous. First we continued our picnic tradition and had fun at a cool little playground. What made it so neat was not the playground itself but the cool tree fort that was up the hill that a little girl showed Natalie.

Then we embarked on a hike down to the beach which was studded with beautiful vistas. The last 3/4 mile had over 200 steps down the steep slope! A challenge for Katherine but she made it. They really wanted to get to the beach so we pushed on.

Now you can imagine what hiking UP 200+ steps is like with a 7 and 4 yr old. We were at over 2 miles at this point and they were tired. So guess who got to alternate carrying kids the last mile? :) it may have been a bit too much for the girls, and they were really tire when we finished, but they said they liked it! Love my little hikers...

Trader Joes

Can I just say that in the first four days of being in Seattle, I've been to Trader Joes twice. Happy Happy!

Hello Seattle!

Summer in Seattle... it's pretty spectacular. My brother always says there is no place more beautiful than a summer day in Seattle. Pete you are so right! We've been here four days now and I'm still amazed at the views that just pop up at you around a bend in the road. It's been in the low 70s and breezy, and not a drop of rain. This, you must celebrate in Seattle since it won't last long. Especially when you know if you were home you'd be sweating it out in 90 degree heat and crazy humidity.

We arrived on Saturday to a beautiful house in Ballard that I found on Craigslist. It's perfect for our stay... Three levels with a playroom for the girls, a great deck and small backyard. Next Tuesday evening there is a neighborhood block party. My kind of neighborhood! We went down to the local piazza place and Delancey did not disappoint. And Joan, look what they serve with their pizza. Dean is now a convert to your salt revolution.

Sunday we woke up to sunshine and headed down to the Sunday Fremont Market. We walked around and enjoyed the street musicians and ate some delicious Indian food...even the girls liked it. Score!! I will make these girls ethnic food lovers if it's the last thing I do, one bite at a time. :)


After a beer for Dean and some Sangria for me, we were ready for our next stop: Volunteer Park. A beautiful park nestled in the hills of Seattle, it's one quirk was the graveyard located adjacent to the kids playground. Didn't bother the kids one bit, but one can't help but reflect on the energy of young life when looking at the visual reminder of lives past. 

We found some renaissance guys in full regalia sword fighting for beer . Or something like that. It was pretty hilarious.

The park was pretty, but nothing spectacular. Fun to let the girls run off some energy and to be surrounded by an urban forest. I will never tire of the beautiful greenery of Seattle.

Goodbye SB

Just a quick shout out to our awesome friends in SB, Amy and Andrew for letting us crash at your place less than two weeks before you move. You guys rock! So great to see you guys and so awesome to see our kids having so much fun together. Miss you already and can't wait to see you in SD next summer!