Saturday, July 30, 2016

A Summer in Seattle


Well, like Mark Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Seattle."  He was not far off.  But despite the first couple of breezy and grey weeks, we did seek out the sunshine.
We all were so proud of Benji and Marina who did their big Bar/Bat Mitzvot in Costa Rica this March, and then did a "mini-me" B'nei Mitzvah for family and relatives in Seattle (and both of our brother's came in for the event, too!)  Benji spoke about qualities of a leader and Marina gave her drash about telling the truth-both kids spoke with maturity, humor and intelligence.  Way to go kids!

Highlights of our stay:

  • Playing  full-contact basketball in the Samena pool.
  • Hiking at Poo-Poo Point, Bandera Mountain, Hurricane Hill and Snow Lake.
  • Laughing at the dinner table with Uncle Jonathan and Uncle Joel
  • Completing a 300 piece puzzle of Florence Italy into the wee hours of the night.
  • Camping at Scenic beach park with a hot raspberry pie delivered right to our campsite.
  • Delicious food and great company with the familiar, relaxed feel of hanging out with old friends.
  • Eating foods we've missed: Indian, Chinese and Thai, tofu and Washington apples!
  • Visiting with adorable Rascal ;)
Back for one more school year in Costa Rica.  We'll miss you!

Photos galore...keep on scrolling!
Just Be-cuz

Call to the Torah.   Bar/Bat Mitzvah squared.






Beautiful Phantom Lake!

Pre-fart leapfrog
Post-fart leapfrog

Twin Falls

Marina and cousin Phoenix

My bro visits!


Snow Lake with Sylvia...too cold to swim this time!





Man, I really like your hat!

Franklin Falls and Levine cousins





Puzzling times with Dave




Camping can be scary with this crew haunting the woods.



We had hot blueberry pie delivered to our campsite. Talk about "Glamping."  So nice, we did it twice!











Visiting with Rascal at Marymoor Park


Skipping stones at Scenic Beach


Not much of a view at Hurricane Hill in the Olympics...
Just some seriously big mountain goats appearing like ghosts out of the fog! 


Hiking to Stump House at Guillemont Cove











Mmmm.  But not as good as Martha's duck l'orange.