Last Night in Washington

Well, our summer in Redmond has ended. Tyler is probably crossing in to Oregon right now, and Calvin and I will be flying back to Provo tomorrow. We have had so much fun, but we're ready to go back to our home in Provo. Rehearsals for The Magic Flute start on Monday, and so does school for Tyler. I have gotten to blog so much this summer because I had the free time. I am worried that I am going to get too busy to update as much. Also, I don't think we'll be doing as many cool things, so I don't know what to blog about. I'll still update with pictures though, as often as I can.

The above picture is from Redmond's last Arts in the Park this summer. One World Taiko came and played for us. We loved it! I have always wanted to be a taiko drummer. I just don't think anyone would want to see a white girl up there. I wouldn't blame them, either. Anyway, it was really great to watch!

My brother Nick came to visit before returning to the University of Portland. Here are the boys playing Wii Sports. All three seem to be pretty into it.

We went to the Pacific Science Center again, and Nick had a go on the high wire bicycle. He did very well and even went around twice!

Here is the Pacific Science Center with the Needle towering above.

We went on one of the Argosy harbor cruises. He we are getting ready to disembark.

Seattle Skyline

Ships on the dry docks. The one on the left is a Coast Guard ship. They are repainting it.

In this shed, they are building a new Washington Ferry.

Well, back to Provo. We're excited to see all our friends! I'll update again soon!

I will go to my happy place and wait for the cheese.

Ever since our first trip up the pacific coast in 1995, we have been a Tillamook-loving family. The headquarters and factory in Tillamook, OR, is always a required attraction if we are ever in Oregon. Sometimes, while staying in Arch Cape, OR, we will venture down the road to Tillamook two or three times during our two-week vacation. We just cannot get enough of their delicious cheese and ice cream.

So, when I found out that Tillamook was taking their love of cheese on the road, of course I got excited. I have been following the Loaf Love Tour for a few months, just waiting for it to be in the same city as me. On August 9th, it came to Redmond. And it just so happened to come to the grocery store right across the street from our apartment! We were very excited.

Setting up the Loaf Love

I am a fan of Tillamook on facebook, so I had been watching the Tour cross the Western United States, bringing tasty cheese to everyone. Fans have been posting pictures as they visit the mini Tillamook buses, and it has looked like a pretty popular event. I thought that we should probably get to the store early in case there was a line.

Well, there was no line. We were the only ones standing on the curb, waiting for the cute little Baby Loaf to drive up. We waved, and Kelly, one of the Loaf Love Ambassadors, greeted us happily. They were very excited to have such devoted fans welcome them to Redmond. We felt a little nerdy, but couldn't deny our excitement to get free cheese, buttons, coupons, and to take a close look at the little bus. Kelly loved Calvin's mini version he got at the factory a few weeks ago. She also loved his surprised face (as most everyone who has seen it does).

Kelly showing Calvin the inside of the bus

Calvin decided he wants to go on the tour, too.

Kelly showing Calvin the engine

So, we got lots of free cheese, tons of buttons, coupons, and lots of love. Man, I love Tillamook. The tour comes to Utah in September. Check the Loaf Love Tour website for details. We're fully planning on going to meet up with them again. Anyone wanna come along?

More Visitors!

At the beginning of August, my dad and Sue cam to visit us. We had a great time!

On the ferry to Bremerton

The hour-long ride lulled Gramps to sleep

Some neat houses on the waterfront in Bremerton

We went up the old-timey elevator to the top of Smith Tower. This is a great view of the Ferry Terminal.

Downtown Seattle with the Space Needle in the background

We did the Underground Tour of Seattle. You tour parts of the original city that was built before they raised the roads and built up higher.

Seattle has such a colorful past filled with corruption and scandal. It was so interesting!

Old sign underground

As they built the streets above, they added skylights to the underground walkways

Underground piping

Gramps and Calvin wacky quacking

Snoqualmie Falls

Two Saturdays ago, we went to Snoqualmie Falls, a neat waterfall about 30 minutes outside of Redmond. The falls were beautiful! We wanted to hike down to the bottom, but the trail is currently closed for construction. Too bad, but still so pretty from the top!

Mom looking peacefully into the winding river.

Trolls, Parks, and the Needle

Calvin and Kayla with the Freemont Troll.

Gasworks Park

There were all these geese eating at Gasworks. It was awesome.

More Gasworks. I want this to be a level on Tony Hawk.

Can't you imagine skateboarding on all of this?

Cool concrete structure at Gasworks.

This is how the Space Needle looked in the morning. We were debating whether to go up or not because we knew the view would be pretty obscured.

After a few hours, it cleared up. What a view!

Calvin at the top.

We made Eggplant Parmesan that night for dinner. Look at the sign we discovered as we sliced the eggplant! What does it mean.......? And, we were having the missionaries over for dinner that night, too. Coincidence? I will let you be the judge of that. Kayla wanted us to keep it and sell it on eBay. Instead, we covered it in batter and lost track of it. We don't even know if it ended up as part of the dish or not.

Ferry Ride!

My mom, Kayla, Calvin, and I went to Bainbridge Island on the Washington State Ferries. We had such a fun time waiting in the line, driving the car on, getting snacks, trying to stand the freezing cold winds on the deck, and looking at all the views of the waterfronts. It was so fun.

Port of Seattle Me on the Car Deck


Calvin on the ferry

Departing from Seattle

It was so windy and cold on the deck!

Eating our sushi lunch that we got from Uwajimaya!

Uh oh. There was a new Daiso that just opened next to Uwajimaya!

Daiso browsing.

Well, that was 2nd day of our week of adventures. More updates to come quickly! I'm gonna get caught up on all the haps!