The past week or so has been a good one, and I think I'm ready to start keeping track on here again. We've kept rather busy, but not busy in the sense that I feel we're rushing all the time and not really enjoying ourselves. On Tuesday David got to come home from work early and had Wednesday off for the holiday. We decided to take a 30 minute drive to my hometown, North Bend, so I could acquaint David with the places I really loved as a kid. We brought Edie with us in hopes that more involvement and exposure for her would be a good thing. She surprised us with her good behavior (good for her anyways) all day.
There is a fabulous donut shop there called George's Bakery, and while I hear the owner has changed, the pastries are still the same. My favorite as a kid was always the glazed twist donuts. They didn't have any on Wednesday, but we weren't at all disappointed in the cinnamon sugar twist, maple bar (best maple bar EVER), and strawberry preserve filled powdered donut. We took our donuts to my favorite park E.J. Roberts Park. I was pleased to find that it had not changed a bit. Lorelei happily ran around in the grass and dirt. She'd much rather enjoy nature than the man made playground. It made my heart so happy to see her frolicking around, and brought back tons of happy memories. My youngest sister played much the same way, and at the same age there.
After the park we drove around some residential areas, like the apartment I lived in for 6 or so years. The real magical place was the Riverbend neighborhood though. While I don't have many memories there myself, it holds a lot of nostalgia. It's a subdivision type neighborhood, started in the 60's I believe, but it's tucked down in a forested area. There are hydrangeas in most of the yards (one of my very favorite flowers), and how many people can step into their backyard and pick wild blackberries and huckleberries? My paternal grandparents bought their first plot and built their first home there. My dad and his three siblings have so many stories of their childhood adventures in the area. I was sad to see that the home of my dad's childhood best friend was for sale, still bearing their last name on the front of the house. My dad's grandpa lived in the neighborhood too. He died when I was just three, and while I have very few and faint recollections of him, they are all sweet. I can remember eating bitter huckleberries off of the bushes in the backyard, throwing around funky old lawn daisies, his dog named Pepsi, and the smell of his shop. I felt so at ease and full of love being in the area. David loved it as much as I did, and we can't wait to go back for one of the local festivals next month.
Once we left North Bend we headed to Whole Foods in Bellevue to get some Dr. Bronner's Magic soap. The frugal in us went a little bonkers over the prospect of a natural product boasting 18 uses. I plan to try most of the uses at some point.
We indulged that evening in Five Guys for dinner because sometimes I just don't feel like cooking. So we sat on the couch with our lazy, fatty food and watched God Bless America. Not for those who can't tolerate some foul language and lots of shooting, but beyond all that we like the message.We watched a firework show over Lake Washington from the roof of our apartment building. It was another nice perk that comes with David working where we live. Lorelei fell asleep about 3 minutes into the display and slept like a rock all night!
The next morning I found ten dollars on the ground while taking Edie potty. Our week has continued in good spirits. On Saturday night we went to see my mom's biological dad who is in town with his wife. It was his first time meeting David and Lorelei (who without my knowing was named after his favorite aunt, how awesome is that?!). His wife is Korean and before moving to the US ran a restaurant. She cooked us an elaborate dinner with 5 courses, and gave Lorelei a boxed black sesame and bean soy drink that I really enjoyed.
So yeah, things have been purdy good. Other news this week is that my 19 year old sister is now married. I didn't get to be there, nor do I think it was a good idea, but all I can do now is hope for her happiness. This next week will be spent in preparation of my 16 year old sister's visit. It will be some good blogging with teaching her to cook, dressing her up, and doing a college campus tour.
Here's the few pictures I could scrounge up this week. I've been neglecting taking the camera places because it takes awful pictures anyways.
Here are the very few pictures we took/gathered up this week.
After the park we drove around some residential areas, like the apartment I lived in for 6 or so years. The real magical place was the Riverbend neighborhood though. While I don't have many memories there myself, it holds a lot of nostalgia. It's a subdivision type neighborhood, started in the 60's I believe, but it's tucked down in a forested area. There are hydrangeas in most of the yards (one of my very favorite flowers), and how many people can step into their backyard and pick wild blackberries and huckleberries? My paternal grandparents bought their first plot and built their first home there. My dad and his three siblings have so many stories of their childhood adventures in the area. I was sad to see that the home of my dad's childhood best friend was for sale, still bearing their last name on the front of the house. My dad's grandpa lived in the neighborhood too. He died when I was just three, and while I have very few and faint recollections of him, they are all sweet. I can remember eating bitter huckleberries off of the bushes in the backyard, throwing around funky old lawn daisies, his dog named Pepsi, and the smell of his shop. I felt so at ease and full of love being in the area. David loved it as much as I did, and we can't wait to go back for one of the local festivals next month.
Once we left North Bend we headed to Whole Foods in Bellevue to get some Dr. Bronner's Magic soap. The frugal in us went a little bonkers over the prospect of a natural product boasting 18 uses. I plan to try most of the uses at some point.
We indulged that evening in Five Guys for dinner because sometimes I just don't feel like cooking. So we sat on the couch with our lazy, fatty food and watched God Bless America. Not for those who can't tolerate some foul language and lots of shooting, but beyond all that we like the message.We watched a firework show over Lake Washington from the roof of our apartment building. It was another nice perk that comes with David working where we live. Lorelei fell asleep about 3 minutes into the display and slept like a rock all night!
The next morning I found ten dollars on the ground while taking Edie potty. Our week has continued in good spirits. On Saturday night we went to see my mom's biological dad who is in town with his wife. It was his first time meeting David and Lorelei (who without my knowing was named after his favorite aunt, how awesome is that?!). His wife is Korean and before moving to the US ran a restaurant. She cooked us an elaborate dinner with 5 courses, and gave Lorelei a boxed black sesame and bean soy drink that I really enjoyed.
So yeah, things have been purdy good. Other news this week is that my 19 year old sister is now married. I didn't get to be there, nor do I think it was a good idea, but all I can do now is hope for her happiness. This next week will be spent in preparation of my 16 year old sister's visit. It will be some good blogging with teaching her to cook, dressing her up, and doing a college campus tour.
Here's the few pictures I could scrounge up this week. I've been neglecting taking the camera places because it takes awful pictures anyways.
Here are the very few pictures we took/gathered up this week.
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