We are nearing the end of summer and that is so sad!  Summer is always a blur and this year I feel like it especially was so.  There have been moments this summer that Bryan and I look at each other full of happiness and contentedness but a whole lot of exhaustion too.  It’s just a part of the summer swing of things I guess.  And our summer weather days and free time are numbered.

Full exhaustion was indeed experienced after our house guests departure and the culmination of SeaFair.  This is the case every year after SeaFair I believe but especially so this year.  We needed a few days to recover and then midweek we had our 9^th anniversary to celebrate.  We did so after Brooke’s gymnastics, getting a sitter for the first time in awhile, getting relatively dressed up and heading out in Capitol Hill via the scooter.  We opted to try a new to us Middleeastern place called Café Suliman, located in Melrose Market.  It was a cozy little nook of a place but we sat at the bar on the end and I felt very private in a good way.  We could still see the chef cooking in his miniature kitchen.  Everything we had was good and shared including the cauliflower (always a must in Middleeastern restaurants), a hummus with lamb dish and fresh pita, this charred cabbage dish which had a good amount of spice to it and was delicious, and the salmon entrée with labneh and potatoes.  We tried their sparkling take on a negroni and a couple of interesting but delicious wines.  

After dinner we wanted to head to another place for an after-dinner drink and settled on another new-to-us place called Belmont.  This place was what you would want in a cocktail bar; good, extensive cocktail menu, not too pricey of drinks, very comfortable sofas, chairs and various seating arrangements, and a fairly full house for a Wednesday night.  We each got a drink here which was perfection and then called it a night.  I honestly cannot believe it’s been a full nine years.  Bryan as usual delivered nine beautiful roses while I made Bryan a disturbing card of us in old age, AI-generated.

Fast forward just two more days after our anniversary and we are split for the weekend with Bryan going on his annual guy’s trip, this time to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and me with the girls to the Girl Scout Camp River Ranch with Reese’s troop and their families for two nights. Bryan left very early on Friday morning and we didn’t set out on our short 45-minute drive until 8 pm after Reese’s gymnastics practice.  We got to the camp just before it got dark, which was my goal, and I unpacked the car which I packed solo and got our open-air cabin ready for the night.  The girls were so amped up and excited that they proceed to stay up way too late and I somehow ended up with two other girls in our cabin of four beds.  I knew Brooke wouldn’t sleep in her own bed anyways so Brooke and I were comfy cozy in one together.  I slept terribly the first night, go figure.

But Saturday morning came quickly and all of the kids were up early and hungry for breakfast, which I was on duty for, along with one other family but essentially was me.  I had to feed 40 people and I had selected fruit, pancakes and bacon.  Well we went through 3lbs of bacon, two large boxes of pancakes, 2 bunches of bananas and 2 lbs of strawberries and two jugs of juice very quickly, and food wasn’t coming out quick.  The kids devoured breakfast and I was left with PTSD.  I recovered though, somewhat.  We dressed for a short hike with everyone and I was amazed at how beautiful the camp was.  There was a lot of old growth trees and as someone else described it “looks like Fern Gully”.  It was.  The hike was a loop but became an out and back because it got quite thick about .5 mile in and there were a lot of stinging nettles that the kids grew worried of.  On our way back to our camp we found the art shelter where they had all of the supplies and directions to tie-dye your own handkerchiefs.  The girls mainly did this on their own, sealed them up in baggies for us to take home and rinse and wash.  It was a fun 30-minute activity.

Back at camp, our cabin became the activity cabin.  I had brought along Bryan’s trusty speaker and the girls danced hard to Huntrix for a good 90 minutes.  The sibling boys and others were playing with our helicopters, stomp rockets, soccer ball and various other items we brought with.  We had to pause the music to get the girls to eat lunch of sandwiches with all of the fixings.  After lunch we got ready to swim, however, there were no lifeguards on duty so we couldn’t actually swim in their swim area at the lake.  We decided to head to the river right adjacent to our camp and had an interesting time getting down to the river and once there it was rocky and hard on your feet.  Brooke wouldn’t let me let go of her hand, in or out of the water.  I walked around with her and the water felt refreshing but not freezing like I thought it might.  Brooke picked a bunch of blackberries until the group headed back to camp.  Some took a rest time, myself and Brooke included, but others, like Reese, went to archery for a few hours.  The camp was nice and quiet during this time and I enjoyed catching up with some of the adults who had stayed behind.  Upon their return there was wheelbarrow racing and dinner making and other various activities.  We had a great group dinner of all of the taco fixings and then settled around the campfire for s’mores and then sparklers that Georgie’s family brought.  I slept much better the second night and Brooke went to sleep instantly she was so tired.

Sunday morning started much calmer than Saturday.  We had a continental style breakfast and people started to pack up their things.  The girls played a bunch more and finally at about noon our car headed out with the last campers.  We thought about driving to the lake to go swim there, if that was an option, but decided against that and instead I picked up a tall iced coffee and then we headed to the nearest spray park in Snoqualmie for the girls to cool off because it was a very hot day.  This was a great spray park that we more or less stumbled upon.  We played here for a little over an hour and then headed back home to take it very easy the rest of the day and night as we were all tired from the weekend.

Meanwhile Bryan was in Alaska having an eventful but refreshing weekend with the guys.  On the first day they took it pretty easy and made themselves a steak dinner at their luxe Airbnb on a lake.  On Saturday they went river rafting.  While it wasn’t as extreme as maybe Bryan was hoping for they had a good time.  And Sunday they woke up really early to take a tiny float plane to go river fishing for salmon with a guide.  The whole experience sounded like something else but the float plane was super cool, and a bit scary, they caught a whole bunch of coho, and there was a grizzly bear super duper close to their boat while the guide filleted the coho from the boat.  He got back Monday night and I was happy to see him and have him home with us again.

Reese spent the first two weeks of August at an all-outdoor camp in the Arboretum that she enjoyed a lot at first but I think grew tired of by week two.  She had Lottie in the camp with her and she seemed to learn about a lot of different plants and animals while there.  She even had two rainy-ish days with very little rain gear and didn’t complain too much about it.  I enjoyed delivering both girls at school and camp via my bike and found that to be pretty easy.  On the very last day there was a large amount of rain expected and Lottie was gone to New York so I had Reese stay home with me for the day and that was a good decision.  She did some fuse beads, some coloring, watching TV and then we baked banana bread together.  While I’ve been in Spokane this week we have used our Bright Horizon Backup Care for three days of camp for Reese.  While she stayed home with me again on Monday, on Tuesday she went up to a camp called Steve and Kate’s and did a lot of sewing projects.  On Wednesday and Thursday she did one of their field trip camps which essentially take them to at least one place in the morning and one in the afternoon and takes them out to lunch at a restaurant during the day and it is all provided.  The first day they went to Dave and Busters for the arcade and lunch and then went to the Imagine Children’s Museum and a playground up in Everett.  On the second day they went to the Burke Museum on UWs campus and then to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then to The Ridge Activity Center and Play Zone for the afternoon.  She made friends at each of these camps and seemed to really enjoy them. 

Brooke has been to visit her new school in two occasions with me, spending an hour each time, and seems to be pretty excited about it. It will still be a big transition for her but it will be good. She only has four more days at school as they are on break next Thursday and Friday before the Labor Day weekend.

And I’ve had some solo time the past week.  I finally got back to FareStart for Guest Chef Night for the first time since May and enjoyed volunteering for the majority of it and then dining in at the end of the night with four girlfriends who came in to eat.  It was a great dinner and nice to enjoy their company. 

And the past two nights and three days I’ve been in Spokane for work.  My company is still looking for a new lead engineer to take on duties as the office manager and in the meantime various members of the engineering department are coming in to oversee the office.  The big news for me around work will be announced tomorrow.  Since my supervisor, our Engineering Manager, was let go at the very end of July, I have been talked, interviewed, and approved to backfill that role.  I was flat out stunned when I was first presented with this opportunity, mainly it just wasn’t something I thought would even be open for some time, nevertheless me be the person for the job.  I’ve only been at the company not even three years but it’s a job I know I can do, was approved in both interviews I had, and have had many of my peers said unsolicited that they would want me in that role.  My peers were the thing that gave me the most worry, and still worry to an extent since I will now be their direct report.  It’s also been a lot to know and be in the know when everyone else is so lost with everything that has been going on in the office. I’m excited for this step though and officially accepted the offer and the role this morning.  I’m ready to be going back home to my house and family tonight but it has been a productive and restorative trip.  I’ve gotten a lot done in the office, been able to have some sit downs with some of the employees there, have enjoyed the Davenport Hotel once more, and have found some good places to eat while there.  

Bryans held down the fort wonderfully and I’m so appreciative of his support in all of this.

Back at home, Lon and Trish’s arrival should be this afternoon and we are all excited for that.  They drove up from Phoenix and will be getting to Seattle before I even get back.  They have an Airbnb only two blocks from us that we are hoping will be nice and convenient for all of us.  They’ll get to see the girls in action some and we will just enjoy their company until Tuesday.  

— 
Chelsea

I hurried and tried to get out updates on our first two trips and the bike ride at the beginning of summer and then Bryan’s birthday, party and other things hit and I haven’t gotten around to writing about Bryan’s big 40^th birthday!

Coming off of the STP, our bodies were recovering and Bryan wasn’t wanting to do anything big on his actual birthday so we had ourselves a lowkey birthday dinner, cake and fun with just our family.  Bryan managed to get his birthday Starbucks on a nice long walk to Madrona Park and spent the day working from home.  Reese had her second gymnastics class on the new team so once we got the girls, we headed down to Columbia City to drop off Reese and get the tail end of the happy hour at Jackalope.  We each got a margarita (Bryan two) and I decided to try some of their grilled cheese tacos off of the happy hour menu, which were big and delicious.  We inhaled the delicious chips and salsa, Brooke got a quesadilla she much enjoyed, and Bryan got the seafood enchiladas which he loved.  We somehow were massively stuffed and finished early and intended to go watch Reese in the second half of her class but it was so hot in the gym and we were so uncomfortably full that we decided to just go for a drive to at least have some AC.  Once Reese’s class was over, we headed back home to have a refreshing mint chocolate ice cream cake which we shared off of the plate, the girls doing some serious boxing out for their share.

The remainder of this week were the usual events, more gymnastics classes, the Volunteer Park summer concert with Georgie’s family this time, play at the wading pool and playground beforehand.  Bryan and I each went for our first run and our first leg lifting in ages and neither of us have been sorer.  Saturday was a nice relaxed day mostly at home and we loved it.  We did all walk as a family to the Arboretum playground for Brooke’s buddy, Lucille’s birthday party.  The girls enjoyed riding their bikes there and back and enjoyed the playground and friends for a few hours.  That night we enjoyed dinner outside and used our solo stove for a nice campfire before getting the girls set up with a movie in their bed.

Sunday was Bryan’s birthday party and we had reserved a section for a group of about 40 and a bunch of food at Outsider’s BBQ in Fremont.  The party was from 2-4 pm and we got there just a bit early to set up a few of the things we had brought for the party and coordinate with the venue about the food and drink.  For this Western themed party, we brought a pin the tail on the horse that Reese led the kids through, some face paint, cowboy themed tattoos, and coloring books.  We brought 40 bandanas for people to take and we all came dressed for the party in our cowboy boots, chaps and overalls for Reese, overalls and hat for Brooke, and a pearl snap shirt and belt for Bryan.  We had a slew of pork and brisket sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, kale salad and mac and cheese for all of our guests.  I brought a black forest sheet cake with fresh cherries that we did a cheer to (not sung for) and sliced that up for all of the guests.  The venue worked out really great with live music, a fire pit which was nice until it got very sunny and warm, plenty of beer, and the kids’ area where all of the kids vanished to and we didn’t see them until cake time.  Our family had a great time and were tuckered out at the end of it.  We had a few sandwiches and sides that we took home and made great use of them for about two meals that following week.

Aside from the pearl snap shirts I got Bryan and a STP jersey, my main gift was a boat share for our family.  We signed up for the speed boat only level of boat share with Carefree Boat Share and we are very excited about it.  It took a bit longer than we thought to get us signed up with the contract, to each get our boater’s license taking an online boating course, and then getting over to Fisherman’s terminal for our orientation and boating course with one of the instructors who essentially just made sure we could maneuver the boat well enough and dock.  Being that we were already having to go over there in the middle of the workday, we decided to take it as an opportunity to bike there and back, just over seven miles each way, all on trail.  We got lunch after our instruction, in the marina, before biking back home to finish up the day.  We’ve taken out one boat so far, on a gloriously sunny and warm Sunday afternoon.  We took this as an introduction, sticking mainly to Lake Union, taking a dip to cool off, experiencing the wild waters of the Lake Washington cut, and then getting dinner at Ivar’s on Lake Union before refueling the boat and heading back to the marina.

That same weekend was also the Torchlight Parade which we’ve never been to as a family but now that it is moved down to the brand new waterfront and newly opened playground we decided to take the bus to check it out. The girls had a surprising amount of enthusiasm for the parade and enjoyed the new playground. They lived giving those in the parade a high five and dancing along to the music. The night was beautiful and it was difficult to get them to leave the parade before it was over at 10:30. We managed to, shared a large sundae at Shug’s Soda Shoppe in the market and then got home real late!

The week after the party Reese had Kids Club camp with Georgie and Lily and that meant that she had her overnight camp with them over to Camp Burton on Vashon Island from Wednesday through Friday.  She went last year with Georgie and she got homesick, which was a surprise to all of us, I think.  This year that was not the case though.  She was excited to go, packed her bag all by herself the night before, and only called us from camp at night before bed to tell us how much fun they were having.  Of course, on Friday, once their bus got back to Seattle, she called us to say, “I’m back and I’m tired of waiting so come pick me up.”  Which we did.  We wanted to catch up with her about her experience and Brooke was very excited to have her back home, so we all went for a very early dinner at Tutta Bella before Reese’s gymnastics practice.  

Brooke was very excited to have her back but I think she also enjoyed her time with just the two of us.  We had a very quiet night at home one night and on Thursday night we took Brooke to the wading pool and park at Volunteer Park like usual and then set out our blanket for the weekly concert, this week an ABBA cover band and 80s hits band which were both super fun, and actually got to sit on said blanket, eat our food and drink wine.  Brooke did not sit the full time but she proceeded to play and dance and sing with us while still allowing us to sit and enjoy the music.  Crazy!  This was actually a very pleasant night.

And the last week was an eventful one for us all.  I have had a surprising series of events at my work and was called to come into our Spokane office for the day on Tuesday so I woke at 5 am to go to the airport fly to Spokane, meet with people all day and then was supposed to get back home around 7:30 pm but my flight got delayed and I had dinner in Spokane before flying back and getting home just before 10 pm.  It was a long day but went well for me.  I took the girls to the Volunteer Park concert this week, for my favorite week which is Dance Church.  This is a very fun time doing an exercise like outdoor dancing session led by an instructor and just the best when all of the little kids are dancing along and enjoying it too.  Bryan was volunteering at FareStart but we had so many friends in attendance with us.

Friends Mark and Kim from Colorado, and their two kids Addie and Aiden, were in town for a family wedding and while Bryan went to pop in and visit with them on Wednesday afternoon, we got an impromptu and fun visit with them when they came to stay with us for the weekend.  They came over on Friday afternoon, right before I went to go get the girls from their school and the Blue Angels were about to fly.  They had dinner with us of burgers and hot dogs Friday night and Saturday we set out for Seward Park to partake in our usual SeaFair festivities.  We picked up a pizza from Amazon Fresh on the way, found parking fairly easy, and with all four kids riding their bikes and having the wagon to carry all of the other things, we got to the point without much trouble.  We inflated our relaxation station and paddle board and swam, hung out and watched the airshow from about 12:30 – 5:30 pm.  After the show we kept going around Seward Park, on foot (for Kim and I), bike (for the kids), and paddleboard (for Mark and Bryan).  We reconvened at the playground for the next bit and eventually packed up and headed back home for chicken fajitas and quesadillas at our house, another movie in the girl’s room, and sleep.  Sunday morning, I think we were all pooped and the two older girls didn’t wake up until 10 am.  Bryan let me stay home to catch up on laundry, the house, and some paperwork for Brooke’s school while he took the girls and Mark and Kim’s family to the Seattle Center by bus to play at the playground there, get lunch in the Armory, and then they spent a few hours at the Seattle Children’s Museum, which was a hit.  God bless Bryan on this day.  They bussed back and we said our goodbyes right before the Blue Angels performed their last show of the year which we watched from the backyard.

Summer continues to be a never-ending series of both planned and impromptu events and I love it, even when it wears you out.  We of course have more fun and eventful days in the month ahead but I cannot believe it is already August!

— 
Chelsea