On my way back from Idaho, I had some great views out the plane window.
Clouds tucked into mountains
In the "car" on the way to a picnic.
Elsie and Delia at Tony's Market.
Emma cruisin' two-wheel style.
It still made me late... damn thing.
Little man get his vitamin D.
Princess Minerva presents her back.
Fynn is excited about the kitty.
Handful of fur (don't worry, she likes the attention)
Kellie being classy with her personal-sized bottle of Sutter Home.
Georgia gnaws in the background while Townsend begs for attention.
Adyson is painting "Charlie and Marie getting married"
Family fun
I got to see Lonnie, Kris and the nieces quite a bit while I was there, which was nice. I also stayed with Charlie's sister, Emily, in our old house, so I got in plenty of family time.
Next I went to see my good old college friend (and feline foster mother), Casey, and her new little guy, Fynn. On my way there, I encountered what usually pisses me off in Seattle when I'm on my way somewhere, but this time I thought it was neat: the 1st Ave drawbridge!
First, we started out with a hearty American breakfast at a little greasy spoon diner in North Seattle.
Breakfast with a baby!
After breakfast we went for a little outdoor time at a nearby beach (don't ask me which one, but there's a train that runs through it).
This really got me remembering how much I love Seattle.
After the beach adventure we went back to Casey's house so that I could get in a little time with my own babies, the cats. If you have ever met my cats, you know they are the weirdest people in the world. They have adjusted surprisingly well to their life at Casey's house, even with a dog and a baby!
That evening I went out with a couple of my former co-workers for some hilarious girl time.
Keeping my nephew (Kellie's dog), Baxter, warm.
Time for some public shenanigans.
Kristi in bliss: Interesting evenings always start with alcohol in a beach bucket.
Okay, the evening didn't get too wild. We just had dinner and then went back to Kristi's where we spent some time with her family and her daughter and I played piano.
Having access to a piano for the first time in a year was just one of the reasons it was great to stay with Charlie's sister at our old place. Besides that, it was nice to spend some time with her and get to know her girlfriend, Paige. It was also great to sleep in a proper bed in a quiet house and just to have a lot of space to move around. We have adjusted pretty well to our 300-square feet in a gorgeous Parisian neighborhood, but we really do miss that charming old house.
When Emily and Paige were off at work, their children became my entourage.
Posing puppy
A couple days later, I went to see our old friends Suzanne and Travis Allbee and their little girls, Adyson and Miranda. Suzanne and I became friends on the bus commuting from downtown to West Seattle. We used to sit together every day and I would help her keep Adyson entertained during the ride. Later, Charlie and I became regular babysitters for them.
We started the day with breakfast at Luna Park Cafe, which was one of the first places Charlie and I ran into the Allbees around town when Adyson was very little. We used to have breakfast with them often.
Luna Park has an old Batmobile for kids to ride in that makes a lot of noise and just sort of lurches back and forth. Adyson loved it, while Miranda was clearly perturbed by being in a car with Batman.
As soon as it was over she scrambled out as fast as she could.
Hide and seek under the sink
For the next couple of days I helped my friend, Colin, move to a new apartment and shop for furniture and in turn he fed me hamburgers. I would have taken pictures, but my hands were full. Also, we were probably just making heavy-lifting faces the whole time.
My trip was rapidly nearing its end so the last couple of days I spent busily trying to tie up loose ends and shop for the things that cannot be got abroad (or that are just too expensive).
Fortunately for me, my brother-in-law Lonnie is a really nice guy and agreed to drive me to the airport before sunrise. We said goodbye and I was again on my way to saying bonjour to Paris.
I'll leave you with this final picture taken somewhere in the midwest.
Where the mountains end the people begin.
Yay, what a great trip! We had fun, and miss you again already!
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