seattle [the return]

Two years ago I never would have thought the Seattle area would hold such a special place in my heart. But, lo and behold, it does. So many special memories there.

When we decided to return to the Northwest for our family vacation Matt and I couldn’t have been more excited. We were going to see it all and do it all – and soak up the cooler weather.

Well, we pretty much did. See it all and do it all. And the weather was cooler for sure. We rented a car, strapped baby boy into his car seat and really didn’t stop until we returned the car a week later. Some friends of ours were gracious enough to let us crash at their place for a couple of nights; the rest of the nights we spontaneously found hotels. Oh, yes, living on the edge.

One of the things on our ‘to do” list was hiking. We definitely checked that one off the list. [Just a note here: these pics are all SOTC. It was either edit them and never get around to posting them or post them undedited. Streamlining the process here.]

We covered Hurricane Ridge (where Matt first asked me to be his girlfriend), Mt. Rainier and a small hike in the Cascades. We had some gorgeous weather. The pack we used for Baby Boy is a Deuter and we loved it. We bought it second-hand from some friends who had used it for their two boys. It was perfect: big enough to carry everything a diaper bag would carry and lightweight enough to carry easily. Baby Boy had a blast being tall like us. He was constantly cooing in my ear while I carried him…or sleeping. He got that one down pretty well, too.

Two more items on our “to do” list were Vancouver, B.C. and Leavenworth, WA. The day we spent in Vancouver was cool and overcast and a tad drizzly at times. It was perfect. We got some good pics of the city line, ate lunch at an artisan bread shop, walked fisherman’s wharf in Richmond and visited Garry Point park off the Strait of Georgia.

We spent a day and a half in Leavenworth, a small town in the Cascades modeled off a Bavarian village. We ate at the beirgarten twice – we could not pass up a pitcher and a bratt with all the fixings. We window shopped and walked the river front and relaxed in our hotel room. We did a small hike near Icicle Ridge and just really enjoyed the area.

Other items we checked off our list: Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, the ferry, Lake Crescent where Matt proposed to me (post coming soon!), Mars Hill for church, and H&M (of course).

A few new places we found along the way that weren’t on our list: Pizzeria Pucinella, Anacortes and The Store, the Copper Creek Inn, and the Magnolia Village Pub.

And now for all my Instagram faves. I wasn’t sure about bringing my DSLR because my iPhone does pretty well. But I couldn’t leave the big camera at home. So, you get both! Hooray!

Of course, I say this every time – but this trip was the best trip ever. It was so lovely to have a solid week together as a family, for Matt to get to know Baby Boy a little better and for Matt and I to talk and dream and plan.

Here’s to The Return – and many more to come!