A Birthday Weekend

The weekend birthday adventure started on Saturday, the 22nd, with a trip on the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. After we checked into our Silverdale waterfront hotel, Arianna and Tim came over to meet us. We then traveled to Poulsbo where the Hopkins family had moored their sailboat for the evening. It was Susan's actual milestone birthday! So, now that you're this old, where are you going next, Susan? Disneyland!

The weather was glorious! Some sailing/work friends joined us - they were lots of fun to talk to. We had appetizers on the boat while Sue opened her presents - both funny & nice - with gusto!

Tim recently became a certified Nuclear Engineer! We are so happy for him. He's worked diligently to achieve this goal. What's in store for the Wells couple? Travel? They are loving the Bremerton area and seem to be off on an adventure at every opportunity.

Roberta helped host the boating soiree. The water was sparkling! Just like Berta!

Warren & Mom Jean observed the goings-on from the cabin. Warren opened a couple of his presents, too, since his birthday was the next day! Can you believe that Jean has had to figure out how to celebrate her childrens' birthday, one after another, for 60 years??? We all walked uptown to a cute restaurant for dinner. After dinner, Ari & Tim dropped us off at our hotel, after we made plans for the next morning.

Thank you Katharine, Brian, McColley, & Brady. Grandpa loves his iPod car FM player/charger. Warren got lots of cool presents, including Logo Making software from Ari & Tim; a golf hat; computer stuff, and raquetball wear from me. He got almost everything he had on his list. I love lists! Family called to wish him Happy Birthday, including the singing of songs. Thank you everyone!

Arianna & Tim joined us for a birthday brunch at our hotel's restaurant. Although not in the picture, the view was stupendous! We had the buffet = Good food galore, quick as a wink!

Warren & I then drove to Seattle to check into our sweet boutique hotel downtown. Sadly, for some reason, my camera deleted all the photos of our Basal Cellars Estate Winery suite and Warren's new Puma shoes. Grrrr. Anyway, our hotel was swell! Then, we headed out for the Underground Tour. Very interesting. Warren had never been. Here's the birthday boy waiting for the tour to start.

This picture is from the sidewalk below the street, as in the days of yore. It was a stunning day in Seattle. The tour lasted a half an hour longer than I'd planned, so we had to book it back uptown to make it to the hotel's wine tasting in the lobby. The Dobbes Family Estates from Dundee, OR were hosting.

We had a nice conversation with a lovely couple from Utah (via Wisconsin), while enjoying a Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Shiraz. Tasty wines. After a brief rest in our room, we went downstairs for dinner. We savored an excellent Italian dinner and, in honor of our room, ordered the Basal Cellars "Forget-Me-Not" wine. Yum. Back to our room, where we slipped on our leopard print terrycloth robes! We were very impressed with our hotel, which had been a Hotwir.e surprise.

On Monday, we had a delicious breakfast in our room and departed early so I could get to a meeting at my school. Later in the afternoon, Warren interviewed for a retire/rehire job and, I'm pleased to announce, got hired! He will be an assistant middle school principal, covering a personal leave. Isn't that great? It all came together quickly and he's really excited to get up really early every morning. Well, maybe not the getting up early part - but, very excited about the job.

Our house is getting painted - starting today. We really like the colors in small chip size - sure hope they look as good in large house size! Seems fitting to start the new school year with a freshly painted house.