Ickyness of the Northwest.

On Monday I went to work. When I came home this 'little' guy was there to greet me. Icky icky banana slug... and you can see that they are HUGE!!!!!!

Last Art Class

This Sunday was Soder's last art class. (he would love to take them all the time, but since the wishing fairy hasn't been around lately, this will have to do it for him for a while.) So this Sunday was Baby and my last 'exploring' weekend. (at least our last one with just us.) We started at the same art store, located below the Petsmart in U-village. We got our coffee and scone (Baby's new favorite thing ever). Since I didn't want to wait around for the stores to open at the mall like I did last weekend, we decided to take a drive. A while back (way back in the summer), Soder and I had taken a drive around and had found this yacht/sailboat club in Ballard. I decided I wanted to see the water today, so we drove around to find that same place. I eventually found it (after about 20 minutes) and decided to take a walk along the water. It was a little drizzly and cold, but it was nice to be out and walking around. I love to look at all the boat and read all the names (like The Dude, Soul Catcher, Arthur, The Raven, and Fishful Thinking) . I don't know what I would name a boat if I had one, but that thought kept me busy for most of the walk. It was a great time to just relax and walk along with my little jabbering baby. Before I knew it, it was time to leave and try to find my way back to Soder.
I know my way around Seattle (and the outskirts) pretty well and can get myself out of pretty much any problem, but Ballard is a whole nother story. I swear that the streets in Ballard move around just enough to get me completely turned around (this did happen when we visited in the summertime as well). What should have taken me only 20 minutes to get back took me almost 35. (Maybe this is the reoccurring theme of my explorations of Seattle, I get lost a lot more than I realize.) I had a great time and was only a couple minutes late picking up Soder.
Even after getting lost, I can't wait to go back and explore when it is all sunny and warm... I hope that day comes one day.

No place to go

On Sunday, Soder has been taking an art class. It happens to be in Seattle and this week, since I was a good girl and finished all my work before Sunday we went along with him. After a long discussion between baby and I, we decided that we would go and hang out at Gas Works Park, one of our favorites. It was so great to get out of the house and actually be in the city. This has been a long, long winter (so far) with many days filled with rainy goodness that has kept us trapped in our house (that and the fact that there isn't very much extra in the bank account to go and wander around aimlessly. I find when I wander I spend, and when there isn't any to spend it is better to stay home.) It was cloudy and thankfully didn't rain on us. We were able to take a few pictures and wander around, through the tons of goose poop and mud. It was a great time. We still had time to kill before we had to pick Soder up, so we took a little drive up Queen Anne Hill. It is seriously such a great area. I loved all the stores and neighborhoods. I was scouting for a park up there (for when we have some visitors this spring), but didn't find it and ended up driving around longer than I had expected because I got a little lost. My partner fell asleep on the way back to where we were picking up Soder so I didn't do any more fun exploring, like get a cup of coffee. So our exciting adventure ended up with Baby asleep in the back, and me reading my magazines in the car while we for class to get out. Regardless, it was a great time to be out from these four walls. I really needed that, and I think the cabin fever has left for at least a few more weeks.

Happy Father's Day, Travis!

Today, we celebrated Travis' first Father's day. My husband is the biggest carnivore ever. He would eat only hamburger patties everyday if they were covered in bacon with cheese (of course we don't eat like that so it is a special treat when we go to a great burger joint. I look the other way when he happily orders the largest burger covered with his true love, Bacon.) We had heard many great things about Red Mill Burger on Phinney Ridge. It was a cramped little restaurant, and in my experience the smaller and more crowded the restaurant the better the food is. This was definitely worth the wait and the crowd. This burger joint was featured on the show Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel and ever since Travis has wanted to try it. It was hard to find, but we were happy we went on the adventure.After lunch, we decided to explore a little more. We headed west knowing that we would eventually hit water. Our exploration ended at Golden Garden Park. It was so beautiful, but a little cold for our little one. We went on a short walk, but didn't stay too long. Hopefully, we will be able to go back when it is a nice summer day. (we have yet to see any of those yet). It was another great day of exploring our new hometown! And a great big Happy Father's Day to all those fathers, new and old.

This week's adventure

This Saturday we headed out for our weekly exploration of the greater Puget Sound area. We started out going to Top Pot Doughnut. They have the best homemade donuts and I have wanted to take Trav there for a long time. It was as great as I remembered. We then headed out to University Village in the U-District for a little shopping. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the mall. We found some cute things at a few baby stores, but Travis got quickly burned out. We ended the day eating lunch at a drive-in called Burgermaster. It was very good and the just greasy food I was looking for. While we didn't really go all over and really see anything too exciting, it was nice to have a little bit of a down weekend.

I heart Saturdays!

Snoqualmie Falls

Moving up to Seattle has been a completely different experience now that Travis is actually off work on the weekends. I can't believe how nice it is to actually go places with him. This weekend's adventure took us to Snoqualmie Falls, which is only like 20 minutes from our house. My parents were trying to talk us into going to Snoqualmie Casino instead, but I was able to explain that seeing a waterfall free is better than spending money in a casino. It was windy and a little cold, but worth the short trip to explore.

FINALLY!

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Last weekend, aka the first weekend of Travis' freedom, we went to Pike's Market. I love Pike's Market. It is my favorite place to people watch. When I lived up here before, I used to go there by myself and just watch the people and drink my Starbucks. There are some very entertaining people that congregate there. Now our visits are more about the different food you can find there. I love to get my chai latte and some wonderful pastry from some bakery or some wonderfully fresh donuts from a vendor located around the corner from the flying fish booth. My husband has discovered a secret love of Piroshki (by secret I mean he never had one until he worked with an Eastern European at Fred Meyer who introduced him to it and now he is in love with them) I am happy that he is always happy to try new things. (so now the total toll of new things he has tried is up to two, Hummas and Piroshki... baby steps, baby steps.)
I am always amazed at how dirty it is there but how there is beauty there. I loved that all the daffodils were in bloom on the roof. They make me think of Travis' Grams who loves daffodils. I wish she could come here and see them. I can't wait until we can go and visit again, but for now it will be put far down on my list because there are so many other places to explore in the area. This is why moving to a new city is going to be so exciting.