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! 

Cousins Retreat (part 1)

There are 17 of us cousins at the cabin this weekend, if I am counting correctly.  Hanging out together is always so much fun!  Delicious meals, snacks-a-plenty, beautiful hikes, games, crafts, star-gazing, afternoon matinees, and oh, so much more.  Here are a few photos to start out.  There are many more to come.

The ever so familiar and comforting view from the cabin front porch:

Our cousin, Danny found this little guy on a morning walk.  He lifted a stone to examine it for fossil remains, and there was the snake!

 I will end this post now as I am smelling pancakes on the grill and my stomach is growling for them.

Lake Serene Adventure

My dad, sister, and I went on this hike a couple of days ago.  It was 2 miles to Bridal Veil Falls, and then a scramble straight up over mossy rocks and stumps on the original trail.  I call it a trail, but there was no differentiation between our path and the rest of the forrest around us.  It was an adventure!

Red, White, and Strawberries

    

Happy 4th of July!  I loved these patriotic strawberries I saw on Pinterest and knew I had to make them for the family 4th of July BBQ.  

I melted 2 bags of Ghirardelli white chocolate chips over a double boiler:  

 Washed and dried my strawberries (I bought two 32 oz containers) before dipping them in the chocolate.  (I had to reheat the chocolate several times during this process.)

Dipped the strawberries in the blue sprinkles and set them on a pan lined with plastic wrap.  Then I popped the pans into the fridge.  Done!