Last week was not the most fun week I’ve had. Nothing bad happened; the weather was beautiful, Reese was sweet and we played at the playground after school for a long time every day, but I was just so over being alone at home. I think it was especially difficult with my parents just leaving and spending Mother’s Day alone (well, besides the company of Reese). Mother’s Day itself was actually pretty chock full starting with an 8:30 am makeup soccer class for Reese and then going straight over to Sarah and Lottie’s for brunch of omelets, berries and donuts, nap time at home and then taking Reese for a 10+ mile bike ride around Lake Union and to Eastlake to play at the park before getting a free dinner at Eastlake Bar and Grill. It was beautifully sunny and wonderful but I just missed spending it with Bryan.
Fast forward though to Friday where I eagerly awaited Bryan’s return from South Carolina, the last we are hoping at least for some time. At least Reese keeps saying that Daddy is staying and not going back. We had lunch at home on our front stoop (landlord was painting our back deck) and then packed up the car, picked up Reese from school who was thrilled to see her Daddy and then hit the road heading West to Iron Springs Resort on the Washington Coast for the weekend with a FareStart crew. What should take 2.5 hours drive time ended up taking over 4 hours so we were ready to unload the car when we finally got there. We also went from sunny and 75 in Seattle to overcast and 55 in Pacific Beach so that was quite the transition.
We met our cabin mates and hosts, Timothy, Heather and 3 year old Emerson along with another couple who were staying at the cabin next to ours and joined us for dinner, also crafted by Timothy and Heather. Reese took about 15 minutes to relax, between the new people and people she hasn’t seen for some time, being in a new place, and a dog being there, but once she did the girls were off and enjoyed each others company quite a bit the whole weekend. For them the big hits were the bouncy ball and bubble guns on the outdoor porch and watching Frozen three times over the weekend plus just lots of running around the cabin. We had a great dinner of grilled lamb, mushroom risotto, beet salad, and asparagus and finished the meal off with a coconut cream cake made by Heather with grilled tropical fruit. The girls stayed up until about 10:30 pm before finally crashing in the beds and we followed them at around midnight. I don’t know how Bryan lasted that late but that is about six hours past the time he normally falls asleep his first night home from Charleston.
Saturday morning started nice and slow which was exactly how we wanted it. And honestly, it never really picked up speed which was also so, so nice. We had several items included with our stay that provided an excellent breakfast spread; fresh bagels from Whidbey Island with a basil chickpea pesto and cream cheese, farro bread for toasting and creamy yogurt, muesli and apricot jam with berries. Our cabin mates were eager to check out the razor clamming operations on the beach (we learned that the two days we were there were the only two public razor clamming days for the public so the crowds were impressive) so they got ready and headed out before we were ready. I also think that Reese was eager to check out Emerson’s toys at free will and so she wasn’t leaving any time soon.
Finally, our group got ready and set out on foot, first to the resort’s store to get a few pieces of candy for Reese and then checked out the loop trail around the resort that led up to the viewpoint. Reese was in her hiking pack and was all about it on this day. We then headed down towards the beach trail and entered the beach where there were still lots of vehicles with clammers on the beach. The beach was massive. It was a good ten minute walk from the beach entrance to the actual water and the beach itself was very firm. We spent some time walking the beach but then all started feeling a little groggy so headed back to the cabin and all piled into our bed for a snack and then a nap watching Moana. And I do mean that we all fell asleep. Our family nap was wonderful.
We woke up just in time for the Eight Bell Winery and oyster happy hour but with us not being too keen on oysters and me not being able to drink we elected to watch the girls and let our hosts enjoy themselves at the happy hour. We played at the cabin and then before long it was our own happy hour with massive charcuterie boards supplied by John Sundstrom from Lark restaurant who was also supplying our dinner. We had pate, herbed cheese, Beecher’s cheese curds with fig compote, some cured meats, caprese skewers, dried figs, and various crackers. Our guests from the night before then came over to join us for dinner and our meal box arrived pretty much ready to go. For dinner we had a five course menu planned out for us and we were shocked at the sizes of each course. Our meal included:
First Course – Butter lettuce, shallot vinaigrette, roasted hazelnut, goat cheese
Second Course – Hamachi crudo, preserved lemon, green olive, wild fennel
Third Course – Wild Chinook salmon, morel mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, grilled asparagus, lovage aioli
Cheese Course – Garroxta, Dinah’s cheese and Bleu d’Auvergne, preserved quince, rosemary crackers
Dessert – Strawberry rhubarb tart, vanilla mascarpone, almond croquant
It was a ton of food and I finished stuff but I don’t even know how everyone else drank all the wine that was provided. More guests stopped by to mingle (the owners of Eight Bells Winery themselves who were all so lovely) and it was certainly the most people I have been in one room with inside without a mask. Reese seemed to quite enjoy herself at this “party” and kind of put on a show. Fortunately our guests decided to head down to the beach bonfire, which we were not up for walking to, so we said our goodnights not too late and got to bed a bit earlier than the night before.
Sunday morning was already our departure day but after a nice stay we were ready to head back home, especially Bryan. We finished up our provisions for breakfast, along with the bacon and eggs and bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates and then packed up our bags. Our crew left around 10 am with one last stop at the store on our way out for candy. Reese promptly fell asleep not even 30 minutes into the drive and took a good nap on the ride home. We made good time this time and were even able to pick up our first CSA box from Hitchcock on our way home and still arrived home by 1 pm. It was sunny and warm and was welcome after the cool air and gloomy skies at the coast. We opted to take a long walk in the afternoon to Volunteer Park and Reese wore herself out at the park. We walked and picked up Thai on our way home and enjoyed outside on our back deck before retreating inside to where I fell asleep at 7 pm! We all took baths before heading to bed and I’m still in denial that this is the beginning of another work week.
Fortunately I have my husband back and my daughter is happy so I’d say we are all currently at peace…
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 