Sunflowers & Bunnies

I've been wanting to take Lorelei to this spot for evening pictures since last summer... finally got around to it tonight.  She even found a couple bunnies willing to play "chase" for a while. The flowers, the sun, those curls... I'm obsessed! Wish summer wasn't leaving so soon!

Seattle Trip

Here are the pics from our awesome Seattle trip. Who wants to move???

Jon and Jen were awesome hosts! They helped us check off one of the restaurants we wanted to visit in Seattle, Paseo, to get what was probably the most amazing sandwich I've ever eaten! It might have tasted slightly more delicious because we were on an awesome sailboat on Puget Sound on a perfect Friday evening. 

View of Mt. Rainier.

Captain Jon

Todd getting his complimentary sailing lesson.

Regatta

Creepy troll under the bridge. 

Read Trip to Leavenworth:

This road trip was so beautiful. I couldn't resist these amber waves of grain.

Had to stop for some Rainier cherries! Todd had elk jerky, but it just didn't photograph the same. 

I found it hugely entertaining that the Burlington Northern passed us a few times on the most picturesque mountain railroad tracks, (complete with tunnels!) This happens to be the same train that runs behind our house! 

After "checking in" to our room at the beautiful Tierra Center, (and by checking in, I mean following Sam, the dog to our assigned door and turning the key that sits in the lock) we went into Leavenworth for some internet and food. It was so ridiculously HOT, (I'm talking like, 105) that every restaurant had these fun misters surrounding their beer gardens. Looks cool and refreshing, but unless you're sitting down wind from the limp breeze that blows about every 15 minutes, not so much. 

They were so strong, they literally snapped the rope! 

This was an incredible mountain view of the Super Moon. It was extra bright and shimmery from the wildfire burning about 30 miles away. 

Morning run views.

I was so jealous of the garden Tierra volunteers take care of at the Center. There were also some deer hanging out along the treeline. 

I hung out here more that I really wanted to. These tracks, about a mile from our room, were the closest location I could find where I picked up a cell phone signal. After 2 days of running the path to check my texts, (and make sure Lorelei and my mom were still breathing back in Illinois) I found out at the wedding reception the main lodge had wifi. Luckily, I really enjoyed my runs!   

 Rafting the Wenatchee:

We had most of the day to fill on Saturday before the early evening wedding, so Todd and I were brave and blindly booked a rafting trip a couple months in advance. It was AWESOME! I got a nice morning run in when we woke up, (we were pretty much up at the crack of dawn due to the time change) and then we headed to the river. We have some amazing stories about some of the other people in our raft, like not speaking English,(which is not a big deal until you need to understand what the guide is telling you to do so we don't capsize) not being able to swim, not knowing how to paddle... seriously, this all happened. The Wenatchee is a Class 3 river and was a good ride, but I think our next rafting trip will be a little wilder since neither of us got dumped. That's half the fun, right? Rafting was a great way to burn 4 hours and see some amazing views of the river, mountains, and smoky skies as we were very close to the wildfire when we disembarked. The rafting company also served an awesome BBQ picnic at the end for their sore and starving patrons. 

The Wedding

Lauren and Troy tying the knot. Everything was gorgeous! You can't even tell from the picture that it was 100 degrees. 

Back in Seattle:

Sunday morning, we made our way back to Seattle and stayed at a great hotel in the Queen Anne neighborhood on Lake Union. We followed Jon and Jen's suggestion to take the S.L.U.T (seriously, their rail line is called the South Lake Union Transit... someone got fired!) to Pike Place market so we could go to town on some oysters and seafood. I basically fasted to make the most of the opportunity. I don't even remember the name of the restaurant we ate at, it was a tiny hole in the wall but ironically, we were seated right next to some other wedding guests we met that weekend. Luckily, they were also putting down some serious seafood, so we didn't have to relocate to another restaurant to save face. 

We had big plans to go to dinner at Aqua, which was highly recommended, but by the time we got back to the hotel, slept off our food coma and got ready to eat again, we just didn't have the energy to go back down by the pier, so we found a place with good yelp reviews that was just on the other side of the lake from our hotel. It would have been about a 15 minute walk, but the weather was questionable, so we made the rough 5-minute drive. It did end up raining just as we finished dining al-fresco, so the timing was perfect and the car was a good choice despite the guilt we both felt for being lazy slugs. 

Todd always orders the better meal when we go out to dinner. It generally happens that I'm drooling over his plate and frowning at my own. My dinner was still very good, I just figured the crab portion would be small for $30, and I was super hungry, (not like I ate half a dozen oysters, shrimp, and clam chowder just a few hours earlier) so I went for the scallops. The crab was awesome and I was super sad I didn't order it. I think Todd will just order for me from now on. 

Yummy, but not crab.