This past Monday, also Labor day, we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island with our friends. Riding a ferry boat was high on their list of things to do and so we made it our mandatory Monday before they drove home plan. I wasn’t sure I was so into riding the ferry again since just a couple weekends ago we rode on a few ferries while Walker’s parents were in town but it turned out to be fun. It’s always nice when someones excitement can rub off on you. I guess that’s what good friends are for.
(I love me some hash browns!)
We had their car with us so we drove down the road and found a breakfast/brunch spot. It turned out the place we chose was a super cute vintage diner. Perfect! We all got something to eat, which was good because I was starting to get hunger pains (I don’t usually wait so long to eat breakfast).
Then we drove right back to the ferry with perfect timing and had a wonderful ending to a very fun weekend.
We started off our day picking raspberries and strawberries at the same place I recently went strawberry picking. So now I can also check raspberries off my must pick list. Woo! They were a little picked over since we arrived later in the afternoon but if you worked for it (getting up and under the bushes) you could still find a lot of larger and super ripe berries. Mmm…
Walker and I had been invited to a party a few miles north but we weren’t really in the mood to bike. Instead we packed a few bags with snacks and games and walked down to the highway overlook. It sounds like a funny place to watch the fireworks but we basically had front row seats. They weren’t super close but there was no one in front of us and we had a full view of the harbor and the surrounding neighborhoods.
After hours of waiting a lot more people showed up and a little while after 10 the fireworks finally got going. It was a good show and afterwards we headed home through the crowds and quickly found our way to bed. We were exhausted. Overall a pretty good first 4th of July in Seattle.
^this one is kind of crazy because you can see the smoke from a fire that started a little while before the fireworks started. yikes!
Walker turned 28 last Wednesday. We didn’t really make any plans (that he knew of) since it was during the week so when he left for work I just said that we’d figure something out when he got home. Then I got to work because I had a lot to do!
I hung a curtain from the entry way into the living room so he couldn’t see that I had set up the tent where his birthday evening would take place. I got all the groceries I needed and baked and did a lot of prep work. I made his birthday surprise book and wrote all the clues and hid things around the house. I set up appetizers and cocktails in the tent and waited for Walker to get home.
^curtain for Walker to see when he walked in the door
^birthday surprise book. I got this “book” from atly because they are sponsoring Alt Summit in San Francisco (and I’m going!) with information about their company but I reused it as a clue book for Walker. It was perfect!
^inside the book. An overall explanation and 6 clues to start. I also had extra clues with some of the initial surprises that comprised round 2 of the clues. Some of them were to go to a certain place (the tent), some were little gifts, some were parts of the meal (beer).
^Walker finding the tent. ha!
^appetizers in the tent.
^clue reading. I had such a hard time not blurting out the answers. It’s possible I enjoyed it even more than he did.
^I hung little stars in the tent, you know since we were “camping”.
^course 1: arugula and spinach salad with beets, walnuts, balsamic soaked strawberries, with a grapefruit vinaigrette. course 2 was pizza with pesto and toppings.
^course 3 or the dessert course. strawberry shortcake, coconut chocolate ice cream, cupcake, homemade vegan peanut butter cup, and a chocolate bar. It might have been overkill but it was all really good! also the entire meal and all desserts were vegan.
^after all the food, games, and watching the sunset we ended in the tent listening to night sounds I captured last time I was home (featuring a whippoorwill, spring peepers-frogs, and various bugs).
