Simpsons in Seattle

We've been one week without Blankie and guess what? Everyone is doing well! Nora hasn't made more than a peep about missing Blankie, and that's music to Momma and Daddy's ears. No crying or whining so far. Cross your fingers that this keeps up.

 I have been intrigued with the idea of bicycle touring for awhile now, but the closest I have come is the STP and RSVP group bike rides which are long (100 miles per day) but highly organized and pampered. But as you probably guess these were also cancelled this summer. Canadian boarder closed? No problem! Edmond and I decided to take matters into our own hands and put a finger on the map and cycle there. We spent 3 days on the road starting with Bellevue to the Fauntleroy ferry, over to Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Port Ludlow, Port Townsend, Poulsbo again, Bainbridge and back to Seattle. It was 170 miles and we only had one “mechanical” as they call it where my rear tire started to fall apart. Luckily it was caught early and there was a friendly bike shop nearby in Poulsbo. The scenery was spectacular with a mix of rustic farms, blackberry bushes, beaches and bridges. Now the bikes took getting used to with the extra weight, but it worked out well. I just wished I had spent a little more

We had another heatwave over the weekend where temps were in the 80-90s! That's super hot for Seattle. Of course that means having to cool off by jumping in some body of water nearby, which is Scott's perfect excuse to go out on the boat. I got to try out my new stand up paddleboard that I bought at the end of last year during Christmas sales while the kids jumped in the lake and splashed around. We grilled some chicken and burgers and then watched the sun set. All in all it was a good day to be out on the water. Me and my girl! Trying out my new SUP! We stayed until the sun started to set behind Husky Stadium Going through the Montlake cut Seattle skyline at sunset The kids checking out all the activity around Gasworks  

Nora turned 6 yesterday! She was super giddy waking up; I wish I recorded it so that I can remember it when she's older. She's still little enough that she was jumping up and down with excitement and super stoked to see her birthday presents all laid out on the table. At 6, Nora is STILL obsessed with blanket. We've told her after her brithday this year, Blanket goes to the attic and can only be taken down once a year on her birthday. She seems okay with it but we'll see what actually happens when he's taking away. I think if Blanket is not there, she'll just find a tshirt as a substitute. She's getting much better at reading, but doesn't seem to like reading too much. I hope we just have to find her the right books and she'll take off like her sister. She does, however, seem to be chomping at the bit to play an instrument so we bought her a ukelele and she was strumming and humming all over the place yesterday. She's also getting really good at

We were so disappointed when we learned that the hotel up at Mt Rainier (which we booked a year ago because  we enjoyed our trip so much ) was closed for the season due to COVID. Luckily, we found a cabin literally right outside the park entrance that had availability so our trip was back on the books, plus it was cheaper too. Score! We woke up bright and early and left the house by 6am on Saturday so that we could beat the crowds in the park. It's about a 2.5 hr drive to the Paradise visitor center and when we finally pulled into the parking lot, we were pleased to see that it was probably about only half full.   We selected a hike that we've done parts of in the past but not the particular loop we did this time around. It starts off on a paved path past Myrtle Falls, but then quickly becomes switchbacks going through snow fields, waterfalls and rocky terrain. All told, we climbed about 1400 feet and hiked for 4.5 miles, but it look us about 6 hours to do what with all the can