Random Beauty

Quiet this week ... started back to home school (5th and 7th grade), watching the weather to see what Tropical Storm Isaac will do (and thus plan what we will need to do), heart heavy and prayerful as my sweet sister-friend loves her mother to heaven. Life here is full and blessed as we "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15) So many lessons learned in grief and joy. God is good!

Seattle - Great Fun!

Our last few days were filled with outdoor play, indoor play, dinner out at Iver's and checking out the water and hanging on the back patio enjoying God's beautiful creations ... the great outdoors, the crazy dog, cousins and sisters! It was a great week!

Bikes and scooters and a big hill to ride/coast down.

This is one of the fifteen versions of pine tree on two blocks of my sister's neighborhood.
It was so cool to me because it grows down. Yep!

Dress up fun! These girls have some great imaginations and came up with some really creative plays to go with the dress-up.

I just thought this was an awesome picture. Wind blowing. Water. Beautiful girls.

Baby girl chasing a seagull. The wonder of two year olds!

The BEST salmon dinner ever!

Back yard paradise!

My beautiful, sweet, precious, adored baby sister!

Seattle - Pike's Market

We spent one day at Pike's Market, an amazing marketplace and the site of the very first Starbuck's. :) It was busy and fragrant and colorful, full of food and people and creativity. It was right on the riverfront and the weather was perfect! I might add that we walked down a steep hill to get there and going up said hill on the return, not so much fun, but well-worth it!

Getting a new hair apparatus.

All the big girls got one and we needed only one demonstration for our "resident beauty consultant" (pictured) to have it figured out for future use! :)

Lunch at Beecher's ... handmade cheese ... and homemade onion soup, and homemade grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread. SO DELICIOUS!

And, for entertainment, you could watch the whole cheese making process while you ate.

Flowers!

Isn't that just gorgeous? Doesn't it make you hungry? Me, too!
I'm thinking if we lived here, I would be a regular at this market!

'Nuff said.

I seriously could have eaten my weight in smoked salmon (which this is not a picture of) and the girls loved it, too. Almost shipped a ton home, but alas it wouldn't be so yummy once we got home to it.

Sweet peas.

We did buy our weight in fruit at this place ... cheeries (that were gone almost before we got up the hill), the juiciest peaches, nectarines, raspberries, and a very strange melon that was so yummy! Needless to say, over the next couple days, none of the fruit went to waste! :)

Seattle - Sweet Days

It was a beautiful day to go to the market ... yummy lunch, sunshine, chickens, ice cream and quaint shops ...

Have I mentioned I want chickens some day ... one of these would be fun!
How amazing looking is he?

No, I will NOT share my ice cream!

Chasing chickens. :)

There were ducks, too.
But they were more interested in swimming meeting "the people."

Yes, I took this picture. There were beautiful flowers everywhere!
I thought it was too cool to catch a bee gathering pollen on it.

This little guy might date me, but isn't he adorable?

This is my friend, Sara. Sara and I met via email in 2006. We have been the best of friends ever since. She has an amazing heart and a deep love for the Lord. We have walked through much together and I couldn't miss the opportunity to meet her. She drove two hours to my sister's house just so we could. Isn't she cool? What a blessing to hug her in person and have a cup of tea together at Starbuck's. It was just like we'd been hanging out in person yesterday.
 Love how God connects hearts that way! :)

Seattle - Getting There and The Zoo

We were blessed to be able to spend a week with my sister and her family in Seattle, Washington at the end of June. Thank you, Aunt T, for the spring birthday girls plane tickets. Washington is quite lush and the climate significantly cooler. I even had on a sweater a few days! Our days there were filled with LOTS of cousin time, running around with the dog, playing, a trip to the zoo, lunch at a little market place, a trip to Pike's Peak, lots of good food, lounging on my sister's back porch (which is a wee piece of heaven), and did I mention play? Here's a bit of the story ...

Getting acquainted with the kitty. This one is Shrek.

Getting used to the miniature horse, I mean, dog.
This is an Akita and he is still a puppy ...
a huge puppy! :) And, baby girl LOVED to feed him treats!

M chatting it up with a penguin at the zoo.

Baby girl wanting to get in the action with a wee help from a cousin.

This penguin was so cool!

Riding the carousel with Aunt T.

A sleeping white fox.

Dinner time entertainment. They were amazing!

Group photo in the termite tunnels! :)

Windwalker Challenge Course

I must say that the most fun thing at "Cave of the Winds," for us, was the Windwalker Challenge Course. You are essentially hooked up and off you go on a ropes course of sorts. Oh, and did I mention that a fourth of it is hanging out OVER a cliff? Yep! So, so much fun!

The course ... three stories high and very windy!

The three brave walkers in our household all hooked up and ready to roll!

All three mastering the first story.

The cheerleader chewing her finger ... she was a wee nervous for them!

Such bravery!

This girl is daring!

Uhmmm ... yep this was the part out over the cliff. Go girl!

Second daughter over.

Now here comes Dad!

Bored with watching, she made her own fun!

You didn't think I didn't try it, did you?

Oh this sweet face!

Okay, so I didn't get off the first story and I had cheerleaders VERY close by! :)
But did I mention it was windy?

Ending family photo at the end of a great family trip!
Thank you Lord!