Beauty + Deliciousness

Daniel and Mike's parents are in town and we packed a lot of good things into the agenda yesterday.  Kubota Gardens, located in lovely South Seattle was our first stop of the day.  It was our first time there and I loved it!  Meandering paths, waterfalls and ponds, and best of all it is dog-friendly and free to the public.  

I love leaf skeletons: 

 On the way back north we went to the Panama Hotel in Seattle's International District for iced teas.  At one end of the building is an old Japanese bath house that is still intact, but no longer in use.  Unfortunately, we weren't there on one of the days that the owner does a tour.  It would have been interesting to see.  

 We were only blocks from Mon Hei, so I had to run down to get some yummy buns.  

 Red bean buns, pineapple custard buns, and cream buns.  Oh man!  We thoroughly enjoyed snacking on these while watching the Olympics.  That was after we ate some amazing paninis.  What beautiful and delicious day!  

Monte Cristo and Ice Caves Hikes

This is the forth week in a row that we have gone out hiking, and it's been wonderful.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the Monte Cristo and Ice Caves hikes we did on Thursday.  

Our crew again this week was my dad, brother, sister, and brother-in-law.  We're hoping to add a couple of cousins into the mix one of these weeks.  

 Crossing this river was really cool!  The water was clear, blue, and chilly.  I wanted to drink it.  

My dad anchored his coconut water under some rocks for on the way back.  

 The Monte Cristo trail was more like a gravel road most of the way.  It is more accurately described as a walk.  There was very little hiking involved, but it was beautiful.  The walk ended in the ghost town of Monte Cristo where we ate our lunch.  

 Dad's chilled beverage was right where he left it.  

 The Ice Caves were right along the road to home, so we stopped for the 2 mile round trip hike and it was worth it.  

 Group photo!  

 Hope you are enjoying the season, whatever it may be where you live.

Seattle Summer

Today we had particularly pleasant weather in Seattle.  Daniel and I sat outside at Remedy Teas on Capitol Hill and enjoyed veggie hummus sandwiches and a creamsicle tea smoothy.  Devine.  

After lunch we strolled around Volunteer Park and took in the view from the observatory.

 Seattle, I love you.

 We walked down to the conservatory, but it was closed.  We'll just have to go back sometime.  

 Hope your Saturday was lovely!

Ingalls Pass

I went on this hike with my dad, brother and sister last week.  It was the first time we had all been on a hike together, and it was a beautiful one!  Seeing these goats on the ridge was a highlight:

 Mount Stewart: 

 Looking down into the meadow, which is currently covered in snow:

 There were a lot of baby trees along the way and I wanted to take one home for Daniel to make into a Bonsai, but I didn't.  

Cousins Retreat (part 2)

Here are the last of the pictures I will post from the retreat.  Just looking at them now makes me want to go back!  

 The picture below was taken just as a water balloon that I was holding spontaneously burst all over my lap.  It was quite a shock, but a refreshing one.  

 Our early morning hiking crew:

This is a fun scramble straight up the front mountain seen looking out from the cabin windows.  Then, we hike along the ridge until arriving at the logging road, which takes us back down to the main road to the cabin.  We saw what looked like big bear tracks on the ridge...scary!

 My brother makes the most amazing crepes.  It's nice to have a crepe-maker in the family:

 This small frog was found on the back deck:

Looking forward to going back!