The day started with uncertainty. It’s hard for a bunch of Myer-Brigg “Ps” to figure out what to do. We figured out having pancakes for breakfast with chocolate chips, blueberries, and “normal” for Justin. Sara got a bath and screamed bloody murder when I washed her hair. I wanted to go to the NW Folklife Festival, Wayne wanted to go check out the low tide at Golden Gardens, Justin wanted to swim, Amy wanted to finish laundry, and David wanted to continue sleeping. As the day creeped up to 11am, Amy was doing laundry, I vacuumed and cleaned, and Wayne started his campaign to go to the tides.
Wayne won over inertia. The kids had a fantastic time playing in the eel grass. Sara actually walked all the way out with her Barbie beach shoes. I questioned the volunteer naturalist and learned about red rock crabs, crab molt, moon snails (egg casing made of saliva), saw a chomped up snail shell (courtesy of red rock crab). Despite all this learning, I didn’t really see many critters. Sara was starting to ask to play in the sand. So we began the long toddler walk back to our towels. Sara cried some of the time, but was a trooper. She was very happy to play in the sand. Just as we left, Justin and Skylar struck the tide pool motherlode. The saw a genuine moon snail, a sunflower starfish, anemones, and crabs (red rock and dungeness). Wayne will probably have photos on flickr later. It was 1pm by the time the troops all joined us. I was ready for lunch and nap.
We spent the next 30 min cleaning off sand and feeding everyone. I took a nap, Wayne did stuff, and David/Amy ventured to FM on their own for a chess set and more milk (4 gallons in 4 days!).
I didn’t wake up till 4pm. David and I resurrected the plans for Folklife and went off on our own. We arrived at 5pm DP bought Philippino egg rolls (kinda greasy) and heavenly fried rice balls with coconut honey (heaven on a stick). I also splurged on some fresh squeezed lemonade. I imagined we’d be walking from music venue to music venue. David was interested in the musical instruments. We sampled in depth harps, digerdoos, ouds, pan flutes, mandolins, fiddles, tongue drums, guitars, and Tibetan singing bowls. David would talk to each vendor and ask questions. I eventually sat and waited. The same happened at the Tibetan stand and Gaelic stuff stand. My browsing time was 1/10 of Davids. It was interesting to see my brother discuss the Gaelic goddess of knowledge with a vendor and get a massage with copper wires. He bought a book about Puget Sound fiddle tunes. Exploring life with David is certainly never boring.
We came home to marinated and grilled Copper River Salmon, watermelon, grilled and buttered white corn, and rosemary bread for dinner. The kids were playing outside the gusto on our first completely sunny day. Justin and Wayne played chess. Sara was covered in watermelon juice. We had a nice dinner and a wonderful day. Maybe we’ll wake us uncertain tomorrow! Oops, I certainly have to go to work.
for a afternoon BBQ. A quick trip to Costco turned into the whole family’s morning outing after a Danish Kringle from Larsens for breakfast. We stocked up on even more food (no one is starving this weekend). We got Copper River Salmon that will feed 7 people for 1/3rd the price of the Wooten salmon dinner at Chinook’s. We took a quick trip to our local library w/ DP and the kids. The BBQ was a success. We fed 8 adults, 4 kids, 2 beagles, and a cat (animals actually didn’t get fed). The kids were rambunctious and fun. J&C stayed into the evening to play Ticket to Ride. 