{Sister Visits}

I'm writing this a month late and while helping my mom learn how to create a blog! Talk about multi-tasking :)

In July my sister Destiny and brother-in-law Kevin came through Seattle for a few days on their way up to Alaska! It was so much fun playing tour guide for both of them. This happened to be the weekend Paul ran Ragnar so we got lots of quality time together.

They flew in late on a Wednesday evening and after a little late night chat, we all went to sleep. Thursday was our relax day. The three of us went for a run around Greenlake. This was the first time that Destiny and I had ever run together and it was a lot of fun. Kevin flew on by us so he missed out on some good girl time. Thursday evening we went to dinner at the Space Needle to celebrate Destiny's 29th birthday (one week early). It was a delicious meal and a beautiful evening to take in the city.

On Friday we picked up destiny's friend Melany who bussed it up to Seattle from Portland. From there our day was pretty epic: Pike Place Market, Kerry Park, Volunteer Park, Fremont Troll, and Gasworks. After dinner, a glass of wine and some R&R was needed!

Here are a few photo highlights!

 Sister's getting ready for dinner at the Needle

 Destiny & Kevin

Destiny & Kevin on the Needle

Kevin enjoying the seafood at the market

Kevin on the Troll

Trying to be cute!

Poor Man's Space Needle at Volunteer Park

 Destiny & Kevin from the Ferry - On our way to Bainbridge Island

Love this beautiful city!

{Camping Season}

Nothing says summer like camping! Paul likes to tell people that I didn’t start to like camping until we were married. Which as I have told him a million times isn’t true! Camping is practically in my blood. Every summer in Alaska consisted of camping and fishing. You can always count on me to be into something that allows me to sit around read, not have any chores to do, and puts me close to water!

When I moved to Seattle, I stopped camping. No one in my friend circle seemed to camp, no one had supplies; it just wasn’t part of the norm. In 2011 Paul and I went out for our first camping trip and it was a blast AND a learning experience. For instance, flashlights or headlamps are very important when it gets dark. Whoops!

This summer we’re trying to pack in as much time in the tent as possible in between house guests!  We’ve gone up to Larrabee State Park twice now, once with friends and once to celebrate our anniversary. In the next month and a half we’re heading to Lake Wenatchee and Deception Pass State Park to finish off camping season.

I love camping because we can sit around and be lazy, read, play games, throw the ball with Charlie, and just relax without feeling like we should be doing something around the house. It is a guilt free mini vacation! I still require that we camp near water, but that is really to oblige the dog!

 

Here are a few snap shots of our beautiful view at Larrabee State Park.

 

Beautiful view

 

Our buddy Charlie having a great time throwing the ball to Charlie

Watching the sun go down

Obligatory Family Photo