Warren's Birthday Weekend Extravaganza!

Warren got to enjoy an entire weekend of celebrating before his big day on Monday. We took the ferry to Poulsbo on Saturday to meet up with sister Susan, who's birthday is the day before Warren's. Arianna, Tim, Mom Hopkins and Roberta were there, too!

We all met on their boat, ate appetizers and laughed at cards while they opened presents. Then, we walked to a local restaurant for dinner. It poured rain while we ate. Is it really August?

On Sunday, we went up to Lake Cavanaugh to see our friends, Rob and Wendy.

Their dog, Bubba, is a cute ragamuffin of fur, who played and played and played with his BFF, a black lab. Very cute!

We decided to play a card game called Speed (or Nertz, as Tim & Arianna call it). I FINALLY met someone who gets as frustrated with the game as I do!! Rob!! It was hilarious. Rob BBQ'd chicken and ribs and peaches - Yum! Wendy made a zucchini salad and deviled eggs with shrimp that were excellent.

I had wrapped and "hidden" Warren's presents - in plain sight - about a week before his birthday. He finally found them on Monday morning.

I found the perfect card! It even includes a free iTune.

Even though he had to go to work on his birthday, he got his favorite breakfast:

Then, I met him for lunch at a cafe near his school for a huge lunch!

When he got home, I took him to see "The Other Guys", which was amusing. We came home for his birthday cupcake...make a wish and blow out the candle...

Just because our birthdays have become history doesn't mean we're done celebrating! We are going to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. We will each pick something special to do to post-celebrate. Should be fun!!

Thursday's Feast

We have eaten our fair share of excellent vittles this summer!

Last Thursday, I had business down South. Warren took the day off and went with me. On the way home, we asked Arianna to meet us in Tacoma for dinner. Tim was working and Mom had rehearsal, so they could not join us at the Lobster Shop on Tacoma's waterfront. The weather was glorious and the food delectable!

We started with Lobsterscargot - a specialty of the restaurant. It is bites of lobster in mushroom caps cooked in an escargot dish, covered in melted cheese and served with bread. To die for...

Next came our main dishes. Both Arianna and Warren got "Oscars" - She on a sirloin and he on halibut. In case you are unfamiliar with an "oscar", it is a mixture of (dungeness) crab meat and Bernaise sauce on top of the main piece of meat. Rich, to say the least. I opted for a ginormous piece of halibut with Manila clams on the side! We were stuffed to our very gills.

But...we just HAD to have dessert, right? So, we delicately scarfed down one Chocolate Mousse and a Banana-Chocolate delight that tasted like a banana split for grown-ups.

Thank you to Diane and John, our dear friends, who bought me a bouquet of flowers. They are beautiful and cheerful!

Sunday in the Parks

Sunday came - another gorgeous day after our trip to B.C. But, we'd had to come home due to a prior commitment. Boo! What to do on a beautiful day that doesn't include driving south on I-5? Or massive crowds at watering holes?

Well, it turns out that we can drive a short distance north on I-5 and find watery places with very few human beings crowded around!!!! It is called Camano Island. We were shocked, amazed and delighted with our finds.

First, there was a short stop at Upsalanti Point - small but pretty.

Next, there was the vista from a hill. This is Warren's first attempt at making a movie. You don't hear me laughing at him, do you? Tee hee.

Then, we stopped at WA state's newest State Park: Cama Beach. We could have sworn we'd been there before, but, no! It is absolutely wonderful! It is a historic 1930s fishing resort with refurbished cabins that can be rented year-round. Cute, cute, cute.

There are even a couple of bungalows with their own bathrooms and room for 8.

The satellite Center for Wooden Boats is there, too. 

You can rent wooden boats, although we'd not come with that idea in mind. 

Next time!

Warren pondered the idea for awhile, though.

A walk in the water was just what the doctor ordered!

No kidding, it was such a surprise!

I sat and people watched for awhile, completely impressed that it was SO hot that people were actually swimming in that frigid water.

There were others that had more of a reasonable reaction to the situation.

After Cama Beach State Park, we drove down to Camano Island State Park. 

Again, no big crowds. It was shockingly empty. And totally great!!!

We were able to meet up with Arianna and Tim on their way home from visiting his parents in Everson. We enjoyed a dinner of appetizers!

Yummy yummy yummy in our tummy tummy tummies!

The biggest surprise of the day had to be the vast numbers of homes up for sale on the island. Everywhere we looked, we saw signs announcing  another 'exclusive' property - and that was just around the edge. 

We have no idea how many are for sale in the interior. 

Now would be a great time to win the lottery and invest in view property!

Travel to a foreign land...

Yesterday was glorious, so we decided to grab our passports and head for a foreign country. The wait times at the border were not too bad, although on the way up there - at about 10:00 - we talked to a guy who had waited for 3 (THREE) hours coming south. Ridiculous!

B.C. must have stood for Bridal Celebrations, because we saw 6 wedding locations, 5 brides in sparkly dresses and 2 ceremonies. In the last ceremony, the pastor started out by saying "Welcome to all family, friends and passers-by." Isn't that just the most wonderful way to start a marriage? We saw all of these weddings in Stanley Park as we rode around our on Hop-On, Hop-Off bus tour.

We ate well, took lots of photos and enjoyed a most beautiful trip to the land of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Here are some pictures from our wonderful adventure:

We ate at the Lions Pub, because we knew McColley would approve of our choice!

Dreaming of a going on a cruise wasn't too difficult either!

Warren even met a big drip!

I tried to take a movie of the steam clock, but am still learning how to work my new camera. My movie consisted of one second of the clock and then the legs of several tourists. LOL  This is Warren laughing at my feeble attempt to capture live action. I don't know if the video will show or not, but he thought it was pretty funny!

El Gauch-OH!

Alex's 26th birthday was August 11th.

Warren thought he would have enjoyed a big steak dinner! 

So, we went to El Gaucho's in his honor.

The atmosphere is very 50's supper club...
dark and cozy,
a real live pianist providing the musical background,
wait staff in toreador-style uniforms.
Very chic.

We ordered Caesar Salad prepared table side. 

Yum! 

Then, our next door neighbors had a flaming sword meal.

Very flamboyant!

Next, we had our steak carved table side. 

Deee-licious!

Unfortunately, we had no room for Bananas Foster.
Maybe next time!

BBQ, Good Friends, & Beautiful Arianna's Birthday Day

Sadly, our old BarB went kaput, so Warren had to go get a new one. He found a bargain! We used it to grill steaks for our friends Liz & Steve and Vickie & Bob. Fun, Food and Filosophy...Or is it Phun, Phood and Philosophy...were in the cards last night. Many thinks to think and thoughts to ponder while eating a Delicious Dinner.

On August 4th, our darling baby daughter turned 24 and her hubby had to work that afternoon. Mom & Grandma to the rescue!! I took my freshly painted toes on a short ferry ride to Bremerton.

We met up at their condo - officially the Bremerton Gryffindor residence - and planned our next move.

Dinner on the deck of Anthony's! It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect.

Arianna even got to blow out a candle before the wind did it for her.

The wildlife went crazy with excitement over her historic day!

It was a wonderful day and we are so very proud of our nearly-quarter-of-a-century year old child.