Girls Day

Daisy and I got to go out together today, just us. Tony had his teeth cleaned at the Vet's office and so we took the opportunity to do something that we can't do with him: be around other dogs! (Our new vet does non-anesthetic dental cleaning. They said Tony was wonderful to work with and he doesn't have stinky breath anymore.)

We met my new friend Emily at Green Lake Park for a walk. The lake is almost 3 miles around. We circled once with Emily, then Daisy decided she wanted to do it again. The sun finally decided to grace us with it's presence and the temp was pushing 65, bringing out all sorts of kids and dogs. The park is a really great place, big and spacious with lots of grass. They also rent paddle boats and sailboats by the hour and have concerts on the lake.

It's pretty rare anymore that Daisy gets to roam "free" on her long leash. When we are with Tony she is not as well behaved, so I have to keep her closer and under more control. I know she really wanted to run off leash, but you know beagles, she might not come back.

From the west side of the lake facing south, you can see downtown.

Looking east you can see the Cascades.

There are many mallard ducks with babies just hatched living at the lake. Daisy's not sure it's safe to be in the water.

We had a fun time. It was nice to hang out with just my girly.

Then we picked up Tony and tonight John and I are going to the Mariner's game with friends! Yay, friends!

Saturday Drive

This weekend we took a drive a bit north to the Skagit Valley to see the tulips. We were too late to see most of them as they had been harvested already, but we did get an idea of how many there are and how beautiful they are when all in bloom.

These are part of a walking garden tour. We didn't go since it was raining and the tulips were mostly gone.

After we realized we weren't going to see much of the tulips, we decided to drive to La Conner and then take the Mukilteo Ferry back to Everett. We stopped to let the dogs out at Pioneer Park just outside of La Conner.

This bridge crosses over the Swinomish Channel.

A grouping of pine cones.

Really bad picture of me, but behind us is part of a mural that was an attempt by La Conner to reclaim the Pioneer Park area from vandalism and graffiti. It seems to have worked, as they now rent the park out for all kinds of events, including weddings.

On the way to the ferry we crossed over Deception Pass. This is a gorgeous area that is apparently a very dangerous passage for boats, only being able to go through at high tide. You can see whirlpools forming and strong currents in the water.

(Looking west into the sound.)

Looking east upstream at low tide.

Looking straight down from the bridge.

It took another good hour from the pass to get to the ferry. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long for the boat, the dogs were getting hungry.

A princess on a ferry.

We got back to town in time to have dinner with John's friend and his wife at La Isla, a Puerto Rican restaurant on Market St in Ballard. It was not something we probably would have tried on our own, but it was very good and we will probably go back when we finish trying all the other amazing restaurants in Seattle.

City Gardening

We have a really great deck area right out our front door that is all ours. We needed some flowers and plants, so we went to Lowe's and Home Depot this weekend to look around. John got a lilac, I got a rose, and we chose some petunias and spreading flowers for some pots.

Let's get to work, Mom.

Ok, they didn't really help much.

Daisy standing guard by the lilac.

One of the petunia boxes.

Inspection

It's hard to get the feel, but as you walk up the front stairs, the deck is to the right. Those are our windows with the rose and petunia boxes underneath. The house faces south.

These are the same roses as we had in our wedding. Seemed fitting for our 10th anniversary year.

Daisy is hard to pose, she's so busy.

Tony's all finished.

Easter in Republic

We were so excited to finally be able to go spend a holiday with family! We drove to up and over to Republic for Easter with John's parents.

Here are some shots of the Cascades as we drove through.

We were amazed by the mountains. It's almost like we forgot they existed! They are so big and imposing, like they should be. After we got through the mountains we came into farm land. I had no idea that apples and pears were grown so far north along the Columbia. There must have been millions of acres of fruit trees just starting to bloom.

For Easter dinner, we had lamb (my first one) and for dessert I made the Brownie Sundae Cheesecake from Junior's cookbook.

Tony snuggling with Grandma while we all watched John play Wii.

John took this panoramic view off the back deck of the house overlooking the lake.

(With his phone!)

We had a great time getting up into the mountains and are looking forward to spending more holidays with family.