Vacations in May
In a weird set of events we ended up going on separate summer-vacations. It started when my pal Karen called and said, "Hey would you like to go to Boston together?" ..."Um sure" I answered to what I thought was a hypothetical question. And then, months later, somewhere in the midst a storm of text messages, Karen informed me she had booked a ticket for Boston and sent me the flight I was to also purchase. Well, that was that! What would transpire is likely the best vacation since my honeymoon.
We saw the BoSox win in extra innings.
We rode the trolley....a LOT (Karen, are you reading this A-L-O-T).
We ate and drank...also a lot. And one night an anonymous stranger picked up our tab. No way!? WAY!
We also had afternoon tea on Boston Harbor, went on a harbor cruise, stopped in a few galleries and went shopping. It was all very, very good. Karen and I had a blast and vowed to travel together again.
Meanwhile, Aaron and his dad went on a trip to Kansas City. You might say, "Kansas City?", (I did) but as it turns out KC has good flights from Seattle and Atlanta...so that's that.
They took in a baseball game.
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Saw a lot of quirky art --- turns out KC has a real arts district!!
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They too, ate a lot and had a fabulous time. Though to my knowledge no one bought them dinner. Aaron also took a swing through Atlanta and saw his family. So May ended up being a good time for all!
I had a stop-over in Minnesota to visit family. I helped mom with a little bit of packing and moving her into her new fabulous digs. Heidi came out and helped us and it was great to see her. That was HUGE. (Thanks Heidi Ho!)
Art
Throughout the summer Aaron has been experimenting with a new medium: Gift Cards. He's been turning plastic gift cards into jewelry and they are practically flying off the shelves! The Art Walks have been a big success this year and I've gotta say ...these are really, really cool!! SHHHH, I sometimes steal them and wear them to work.
Flower Power
The garden is looking great. We cut back on container gardening this year, but everything still looks spectacular.
One of our two blooming dahlias this year. So. So Pretty.
The humble petunia makes a bright and welcoming walkway home. Say what you want, but I love them...even if those were supposed to be double flowers rather than singles!
Ice Cream Social
Which brings us to our annual summer tradition: the Ice Cream Social!! Hard to believe, but it is our Seventh Annual! Word is out. People asked for the day off... planned around it... kids tell their friends where they are headed. The World Famous Toppings Bar did not disappoint.
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A delicious example of what can be done with 50+ toppings:
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Hannah and Adam (practically all grown up!!!)
Just for my mom: Lisa was in town and stopped by for a scoop! Here we are!
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Deano pre-testing the toppings to ensure they met his exacting standards.
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We ended up with over 50 folks coming by and at one point I think there were 15 kids under the age of 6 playing in the front yard! Gotta love summer...and ice cream!
Seattle Brain Cancer Walk
And all summer long we've been working on the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk. Also in it's seventh year.
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Brain Cancer Awareness Day at the ballpark:
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A group of young people - high schoolers and college students, got together to host the first annual Seattle Brain Cancer Walk @ Bellingham (a smaller town about an hour north of Seattle). Aaron, me and a group of others went up for the day. It was a wonderful walk with a really positive vibe to it. I had the privilege to give the keynote speech. (My first keynote!!) I know the speaker is supposed to be the inspiration, but for me there's no match -- it was the young people doing these amazing "make the world a better place" acts that are completely inspiring. No speech keeps up with that! Proof that actions speak louder than words.
Hopefully we'll have our next summer highlights post in a month or two...we might be done with our ice cream sugar high by then!
Next stop: the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk in September.
