Bainbridge

While out in Seattle Steve and I said on Bainbridge Island two of the nights we were there. It was so cute and quaint. There is a full on town there bigger than Aitkin (where Steve spent a chunk of his childhood). I think Steve said there were 2,200 people living on Bainbridge and 1,200 living in Aitkin - so decent sized town. There was a super quaint downtown area with really fun shops and restaurants.

This was our view during lunch one day:


We had to take a ferry out there, a process which added a good 40-45 minutes of travel time because of the 30 minute actual ferry ride and the waiting to get on and off the ferry. Because I don't live on an island and have to wait around for ferries all the time, I thought it was super fun. Although, I could see how I wouldn't really love it if I actually lived on the island. You could tell who actually lived on Bainbridge. Those people would stay sitting in their cars and would read books or take naps. Steve and I got out every time, even when it was raining. Sometimes it was SO cold and windy. One time we walked around the back of the ferry and the wind literally almost knocked me over. I started laughing so hard. Like so windy I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

Seattle from the ferry:

The ferry from our beach at night:

The super cute place we stayed, Abode on the Sea:

The first morning we were there we had to rush out, but thought we saw a rocky beach. Later that afternoon, there was only about 2 feet of beach, none in spots. [Beach: a surface near the water made up of rocks, and only rocks.] Once we figured out the tide patterns we were able to go on a beach walk that night, using our iPhones as flashlights. The next morning there was actually a significant shoreline, as we had thought from the previous morning, so we went on another walk. There are so many things that get left behind when the tide goes out! Tons of shells:

A big dead jellyfish:

Pieces of a crab, when we were out at night we actually saw little crabs scuttling around:

When the tide was out this very thin strip of rocky land appeared, of course we walked out as far as we possibly could:

We found this interesting little guy. He was not alive and actually was missing his innards, but he was so bright orange and awesome looking:

And I found the biggest shell. Which I brought home:

Places in Seattle

One of the ways that Steve and I like to explore while we are on trips is to not eat at any place we know. If we see a restaurant with a name we recognize we move on and find something else, something unique to where ever we are. We tried so many different places, these were my favs:

The first night we were in Seattle we had no idea what to do. We were so hungry I wanted to start gnawing on my own hand and so, with the handy dandy iPhone, we googled something like "fun places to eat in Seattle" and through a little bit of searching found The Pink Door. It's hard to find, tucked into an alley. The entrance we found I think ended up being the back door that went right past the kitchen, but it was so fun! Seriously, some of the best Italian food I have ever had in my entire life. We sat outside and we were just a few blocks up from the bay so the view was awesome. Right when we were leaving they were starting to play live music. Definitely a recommendation.

Our Bruschetta. So good.


We stayed at the Ramada Inn downtown for two nights and it was definitely nothing special. The only redeeming qualities are that it is within walking distance of Pikes Place and the Space Needle - basically right in between, but a little closer to the Needle - AND it is across the street from Top Pot Donuts. As I am not generally fond of donuts in any shape or form, so we accidentally discovered this place as we were exiting our hotel to go climb Mt. Rainier. It was convenient and they had coffee, which was top priority for me that morning. If all donuts were freshly baked on the spot and tasted like these donuts I would change my opinion about these globs of dough and frosting. They were SO good. So good. Really, what a donut was meant to taste like.

Down along Pikes Place we, of course, stopped at the world's first Starbucks and bought our only souvenir of the trip - new travel mugs that keep coffee extra hot. We also went to some place that makes cheese and had "the world's best mac and cheese" which was incredible. But my other most favorite place was Beth's Cafe. It is the perfect version of a hole in the wall, but it is also the perfect version of the great all American diner. We went there for breakfast on Sunday morning and had to wait for 40 minutes to get a seat. They give you these massive plates of food with an unlimited supply of hash browns and it's a perfect diner experience. They also have really fabulous chocolate cake, which we got to go since we were so full we could barely move. This diner was actually feature on Man Vs. Food once because they are especially famous for their omelets which they make with either 6 or 12 eggs. We didn't get one of those.

Of course, if you get a chance (meaning, if they have a reservation open, we got one of the last two for lunch and dinner was completely booked all weekend), eat a meal on top of the Space Needle. The view is spectacular and the food is really, really good. Really good.




I really liked Seattle. Except for the rain. :)

Play by Play

This is what is happening in my house right now:

The girls disappear into their room for 5 minutes.

Tryn comes out and asks me: "Mom, can you help me put this on?" A Tinkerbell dress and some fairy wings.

Tryn disappears back into her room for another 5 minutes. The girls emerge, Tryn in her dress, wings, with princess slippers, and wearing a crown and necklace. Berlin runs into the living room ahead of her and moves some toys out of the way.

"Here is the ball," Berlin announces to Tryn and sweeps her arm towards the floor.

"Oh, what a lovely ball!" Tryn tells Berlin. "Can you dance with me?"

"No, I have to drive to the ball," and Berlin gets on her bike and pedals away.

Mumbling, Tryn acts out the scene where Cinderella walks into the ballroom. (Apparently, Tinkerbell can also fill in as Cinderella.) Berlin drives back up.

"Okay, we need to dance," Berlin tells Tryn.

"Okay, Prince," they hold hands and start swaying around the living room. Berlin is humming a song.

Suddenly, Tryn gets dramatic and starts running in circles around the living room.

"Oh, oh, oh, I am changing, I am changing!" and she falls to the ground.

Berlin approaches.

"I am sorry I took so long," Trynica tells Berlin, "I was having such a wonderful time."

Tryn turns to me, "Mom? Can you help me get this dress off?" This is the first time I have interacted in this scene.

After I help take the dress off the girls run to their room...

...and disappear for another 5 minutes. Can't wait to find out what happens when they come back out. :)

Hiking Mt. Rainier

Steve and I went hiking on Mt. Rainier when we were out in Washington. It was the most beautiful hike I have ever been on in my entire life.

It was cold, it rained on us part of the time, and the entire time we were on the mountain the top of it was covered in clouds. The best view we had of the mountain the entire time we were in WA was while we were driving out to the hike. We passed a few spots in the road where we had a perfect view of the whole mountain, but we didn't take a picture because we thought we would just take some when we actually got there. Unfortunately, by the time we got up to Paradise lodge the whole top of the mountain was covered in clouds and it pretty much stayed that way for the remainder of our time in Seattle. There were two other times that we saw partial views of the mountain, once from the Space Needle and once when we were on the Bainbridge Ferry at 6:50am, but both of those times weren't super clear views.

Regardless, it was the most beautiful mountain hike - ever.








I am a total sucker for wildflowers. They are so romantic. I think one of the most beautiful things in the world are fields of wildflowers, and this mountain had wildflowers everywhere. It was perfect. And there were waterfalls everywhere, one of my other most favorite things. And it was SO green, even though there was snow on top of green grass in spots.

It was amazing.

Berli Love

While Steve and I were gone in Seattle the girls spent the weekend with their Aunt Kristy and their Grandma up in Brainerd. I know the girls had a fabulous time, they told me so themselves. Berlin, however, apparently doesn't like to be away from me.

Grandma told me that Berlin kept wetting her pull-up, even though she was being very purposeful about asking Berlin if she needed to go potty. When she asked Berlin why she kept going potty in her pull-up Berlin said, "Because I want my mommy to come home."

Even though the kid have been home for a couple of days now, Berlin is still pretty emotional about the fact that we were gone. Last night she kept asking me, "Up! Up! Up!" I was trying to get dinner ready and then bake a pie, so I finally said to Berlin, "Berli, why do you keep wanting mommy to pick you up?" and she told me, "Because I like you." Well...okay then :)

This morning she came and snuggled in bed with me and put her face right next to mine and put her little arm around my neck. Then when I was kissing her goodbye she wrapped her arms around my neck as tight as she could and told me, "I don't want you to go to work," in a sad little voice.

Break my heart.

I feel very loved this week.

A Sight from Seattle

Steve and I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Seattle. I think Seattle and the upper-Northwest-corner-of-Washington area is one of the most beautiful places I have been to in the United States. I have so many pictures...

However, as I am trying to weed through the 685 pictures we took over our four day weekend, I came across these and I just can't wait to show you. Steve and I like to explore, and we found something that I still can't believe that I saw. This:

Yes, if you are thinking that this looks like a wall of gum, you are completely right.

In a little alley way right next to the entrance to Pike's Place Market there is this wall of gum. Actually, two walls. It's all over the walls on both sides of the alley/little street. Since I don't really chew gum all that much and definitely didn't have any with me, I pretended that I was sticking a piece of gum on the wall.

Then I freaked out because I almost touched it. EW!!

I guess it started back in the 1990's, people would stick their gum to the wall while waiting in line for ticket sales or to get into a nearby theater. And it just grew and grew. So random. People have even written their names, in gum, on the wall. I though it was kind of stinky - and not in a fresh minty sort of way.

Modern Family