Simpsons in Seattle

Evie and I went on a playdate recently to CHOMP! A sustainable food fair in Redmond. I had no idea what to expect; it was just something fun and free to do. There were lots of little kids there but we still had fun making a zuchinni derby car and other crafts. Afterwards, we keep the food theme going and picked blueberries. It was a fun day out!   

Diablo Lake is a glacier fed lake in the North Cascades National Park that we visited briefly when we stayed at a Treehouse nearby . We finally got a chance to go back a few weeks ago, this time camping right next to it! And this time around, the weather was just right - pretty warm (low 80s) but in the shade it was pleasant. We originally made plans with our friends, Alisa and Alina, but the group expanded to some of their friends too so in all there were 14 of us spread across 3 campsites. We figure got assigned a bum campsite that wasn't level so it made sleeping pretty miserable but we spied a vacant site right on the water and the ranger let us move and that made for much better sleeping. We all had a great time  -there were 6 kiddos between the ages of 5 and 11 and they all got along great! We all went on a nice hike to an overlook that had nice views of the lake, some of the adults also hiked to a nearby river, we splashed around and fished in the lake and had plenty of smor

After we bid the Hanley's a sad farewell, we packed up our stuff and moved back to the Beach Villas but this time to a new rental place, one that was much smaller that would work for us and my parents. After dropping our luggage, we headed to the Waimea Farmer's Market. The highlight, and really the main reason we wanted to go, was to try the 4-for-$10 grilled abalone! We made a beeline for that stand, and my mom liked it so much we ended up going back to get a second order. We learned from the lady at the stand that there's an abalone farm on the island so I filed it away as something to do next time we are in town. After lunch, the kids went to the pool and Scott and I headed into Kona to meet with one of his old college buddies at the Kona Dog Beach. This was a new-to-us beach next to the marina. It was a very locals-type beach with really calm waters. I'm not sure I need to go back again but if you need a place to hang out near the airport, this could be an option.