Bainbridge Island

After leaving Birch Bay on Friday, we went south to Seattle and took the ferry over to Bainbridge to stay two nights with the other BFFs, the Muffolettos.

When we lived in Washington, riding on ferries was something we seemed to do all the time, but after a year of living away, it was a novelty again and I had to take a million pictures! Here we are waiting at the terminal.

And on the ferry.

We got to Filipe and Joei's house in the early evening and after a yummy dinner, we helped them break in their new firepit with some smores.

Garreth and Filipe are physically incapable of taking a normal picture together. Believe me, I've tried.

Nacho was excited to play with his best friend Al.

We took advantage of their lovely big trees and Garreth built a zipline for the kids in the back yard.

We haven't seen little Nico since he was brand new, so it was so fun to see him walking around like a little man. He is one dang cute kid.

We went to a great park for a picnic.

I know I've said it before, but this guy?

Watch for him in the MLS in 20 years.

Filipe and Garreth took Grace, Liam, and Sam to see "Captain America." Sam saw some ice cream and Garreth said he'd buy him some if Sam would let him pull out his very loose front tooth. The tooth fairy made a visit to the island that night.

Hanging out with the Muffolettos was a perfect way to end our trip. Thanks so much, guys!

We got up bright and early Saturday morning to catch the 7:00 ferry back to Seattle. It was a beautiful clear morning.

We even caught a glimpse of Mt. Rainier.

Seattle. One of my all-time favorite cities ever.

It was a long day. We made it all the way to Boise, where we stayed with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Merrily for the night, then headed home the next morning. It was such a fun vacation, I don't think we would have changed a thing. Except the part where we had to go home.

Washington, part 2

On Tuesday, we headed into Bellingham for lunch at Boomer's Drive-In.

Then we went to Whatcom Falls Park.

And you can't go to B'ham without a trip to Mallard's Ice Cream. (My scoop was half avocado - way better than it sounds, and half ginger - my favorite of all their flavors so far!) So yummy!

That night we had a big BBQ on the beach and invited a bunch of friends. I didn't get many pictures because I was so busy catching up with everybody, but it was fun.

The kids caught 101 tiny crabs.

More swinging at the campsite:

On Wednesday, we had lunch at a favorite place,

and picked out a treat.

Then Garreth and Jeff watched the little kids, Grace, Liam, and some friends went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and I got to shop with friends!

That night was our last night camping, so we made tinfoil dinners and smores at the campsite.

We packed up that night, since the forecast called for heavy rain that night and we didn't want to get up in the morning and have to pack up a wet tent. So we spent another night at the Livingston's and stayed up way later than we have in years (3 am!) talking to Jeff and Susan. In the morning, we picked up Nacho, packed up, and took a few last minute pictures.

Super-Emmett and Spider-Declan.

The whole gang. Man, was it hard to leave these guys. We love them so much.

Here's what it looked like for the whole two days home! Good times.