A Whole Bunch of Summer Fun

Wow!  It's hard to believe the summer is coming to close (and we're finally getting some summerish weather).  Apologies for lack of posting the past few months, but it's been a doozy of a summer.  

Shortly after Mitch's knee surgery we went up to Canada to visit our friends the Mitchell's for the 4th of July (Yes, we know what you're thinking, "Canada for Independence Day?" ironic right?)  It should be noted that by this point my little brother Kody was now living in our spare room (and would continue to do so until he left for school in late August).  We had a most enjoyable time picking strawberries, going to China Town, Stanley Park Beach in Vancouver, Vancouver Aquarium and hanging out playing ridiculously fun games and eating spectacular food with the Mitchells.  It was quite the weekend, topped off by watching fireworks in Bellingham, WA.

In the strawberry patch!

 Silliness at Stanley Beach

 In other July happenings, Mitch got older.  To celebrate the event we attempted to fly kites and had a picnic at Golden Gardens Beach.  After a lack of wind at the beach we went to kite hill, which ironically had even less windy kite weather, but the beautiful sunshine was great!  We then had some delicious sushi at Blue C and spent the evening playing games and eating a massive fruit tart with Richard and Jessica Christensen.

 num, num, nummm

Then there was August, which for me was a whirlwind of nannying, hanging with Kody, and "Into the Woods" at the Kitsap Forest Theater in Bremerton.  The whole experience with "Into the Woods" was pretty incredible.  We had lovely weather for the outdoor theater, great audiences, a brilliantly written show, and you couldn't ask to work with more wonderful people.  I enjoyed everything (but the traveling back and forth) so much.  It was pretty bitter-sweet when the show ended.  It was a dream come true to play this role in this show and it'll definitely go down in history as one of my favorite shows/roles to play of all time.  Kody and I enjoyed thrift shopping, running around Greenlake, playing on the beach and visiting Woodland Park zoo with the boys I nanny.  Pretty neat-o to have him around for the summer.

Me getting my 'Baker's Wife' on.

 We also had a plethora of visitors in August.  Mom, Dad, Natalie and Jordan drove up to visit for 5 days and saw the show and a variety of other Seattle landmarks: including Pike Place Market, Discovery Park and a UW canoeing trip. Being with family is always a joy, but it was pretty squishy with 7 people in our rather small apartment.  When the fam went back home, they took Kody back for school and the apartment felt empty...for a whole day. Then my cousins Rachel and Brian came to visit for a few days.  We had a blast going to the Columbia Tower, Woodland Park Zoo, the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, UW and Alki Beach.  They are such fun cousins and it was supa fun showing them around Seattle. 

Bocci Ball at Discovery Park

Seattle Skyline from Alki Beach

 Well, that brings us to September, which has already been eventful.  Mitch has been studying his face off for his Physics qualifying exam next week.  For Labor Day we had a fabulous BBQ with some friends from church. Then we picked blackberries at UW (which grow wildly all over the Northwest) and Mitch made a sensational blackberry cobbler.  Yesterday we went to our first Seattle Sounders FC soccer game (they played REAL Salt Lake).  It was an exciting experience, since the fans here are die-hard and committed.  REAL won the game 2-1, but the Sounders put up a good fight and since there's still a little piece of Utah living inside us, we weren't too disappointed to see REAL win.

Scrumptious Blackberry Cobbler - just add ice cream for instant nirvana

Sounders Game at the enormous Century Link Stadium

 

 

 

In other news.  Since moving to Seattle I've taken up a new hobby (or as Mitch would call it, obsession).  I've become an avid thrift shopper. Even Mitch had to agree I'm getting good at it when I found some brand new jeans that fit perfectly, an awesome Gap jacket and a nice dressy sweater for him all for only $10.50.  This week I start teaching some children's theater classes, which I'm thrilled about and next month I start rehearsing for Pinocchio.  We're about to hit our 1 year mark in Seattle and we have to admit, life is pretty grand here.  We look forward to another fun-filled year (or two, or three, or four) here.