The End of Summer

Playing catch up and going back to August when we lived in temporary corporate housing in Ballard. It was a rough month for me. I didn't want to be in a temporary tiny apartment, but it was what it was. And we survived. And we enjoyed as much as possible living in a hip neighborhood in which we'll never live again. 

Here's our balcony overlooking a very loud construction project next door and the Ballard Market, whose delivery trucks woke me up every morning at 4 am.

Adam started reading Wonder to the kids. A book we just finished, actually, three months later.

We visited the park next to our house, which we were anxious to move back into. Noah kept cool by sticking his head in the drinking fountain.

We reunited with some church friends who are still here and Ben and Noah were friends when they were both 4. How cute are they at 7? Both such sweet boys.

Sienna has been losing teeth like it's going out of style and raking in the cash from an overly generous male tooth fairy.

Ballard ship canals on a gorgeous, sunny day.

Watching the majestic bridges open and close, boats channel into the locks and wait patiently to cross over, and salmon swimming upstream helped remind me why I love Seattle.

The food scene is also a huge reason to love Seattle! Ballard is a dangerous place to live if you're trying to save money. The restaurant options are just too good to be true. Li'l Woody's is a favorite burger joint.

Mighty-O donuts has delicious donuts, cappucino, and hot cocoa. YUM.

 Sienna and I jumped on the La Croix bandwagon. It's a good one to be on! But again.....too expensive. We gave up the habit when cooler weather came. But so refreshing for summer!

 We visited Adam at work and walked around the Amazon Spheres. I was quite blown away by them. I liked them a lot more than I thought I would.

 Amazon has a cute banana stand. You can take as many as you want for free! My kids suddenly became major banana connoisseurs.

 After lunch with Adam, the kids and I walked to Pike Place market, destination: gum wall. They were intrigued, grossed out, and of course had to touch it. So funny.

 We walked through the market, got some juice and some balloon animals. Seattle summers can be pure magic!

 We got a new car. We love it so much. It's amazing to have so much room.

 A couple Sunday evenings were spent at a favorite place: Carkeek Park.

The kids and I went to my Crapo cousins' family reunion. So, so funny. They called it the Crapo rodeo and had lots of events like cow and rooster showing ....

 ... and grease the pig contest, where you lather up a baby with sunscreen and rub it in as fast as you can. Them are some slippery swine. Really fun to see all of them. They bring the joy and laughter!

 I took photographic evidence of finally liking my hair. It's taken many, many, many months to get to this place. Hallelujah and huzzah!

 Sienna tried on a cute dress Grandma Diane made many years ago. Precious.

 The kids and I drove to Wenatchee to spend a couple days with my cousin, Carrie, and her kids.

 So fun to see them and hang out at her in-laws' lake house at Lake Chelan.

 It was a smokey month for much of Washington, but this day was as clear as we were gonna get.

 So fun to catch up on all the topics with Carrie. We could talk for days on end. There's so much more to cover still!

We recreated life together as college roomies, doing our hair together in the same bathroom. Those were good times!

 Adam bought a guitar and learned "Colder Weather" by Zac Brown Band and he and Sienna sang it together. So sweet. I didn't even know he could play the guitar that well! Wow. Been together for 14 years and I'm still learning new things about Adam. He's awesome.

Keep Seattle Weird

Gum wall: weirdest part of Seattle.

Today marks month four in America and month (nearly) two in our home and I can finally say I am feeling normal again. Normal is relative, though. I'm remembering all the ways Seattle is a quirky, unique city and I'm trying to adjust to what "normal" is here. Luxembourg is a gleaming, wealthy, clean, utopian country. Seattle's still got its .... grunge.

I've kept a few notes about some randomness all around me. 

And remember how I said I love eavesdropping again? Here are some snippets of conversations around town; they cracked me up. 

"...and they sold it to Oprah...”
“...and Janine was really happy about it...”
“...blackberry bushes! Bahaha! Just line the whole fence with them.”
“What are you gonna do, sit at home depressed about a shitty boyfriend? Come on universe, give me and my friends a break.”
“I always tell you guys all the reasons I don’t like Din Tai Fung...”

Adam loved that last one... it could have come from his own mouth. 

Seen around town, much of it at the park across the street from my house:

Three people combing their long hair. Obsessively. 
A woman playing a pan flute wearing an orange dress.
One black wig sitting on a grassy knoll for three days.
A man that appeared to be a homeless professor, walking a Lime Bike down the sidewalk at 7:30 am with a tub of Red Vines and a bottle of juice in the basket.
People protesting on the overpass with a giant sign and two Native Americans banging drums.
A pre-teen dressed as Spider Man doing stunts all over the playground, generally making everyone's day and causing a gaggle of young girls to chase him while screaming, "Take off your mask!"
A 30-something woman wearing a shower cap while shopping at Target with blue hair dye underneath.
A woman at the park alternating playing two separate, bulbous bamboo flutes. I told her it was lovely, and I meant it. She just kept saying, "Bamboo. Bamboo."
A man walking down the street, carrying a cardboard sign that said, "God is imaginary. Love unconditionally."
A man shooting up at the park across the street as I watched while vacuuming my third floor bedroom. Should I have called the police? Shrug.

There is a lot of drug use in my neighborhood. The homeless population here was bad last time we lived here, but it's much worse this time.

It's hard to watch. It's hard to know what to do. 

Adam took pizza to that guy in the park. He was passed out into the evening. In the morning, he was gone, but the paper plate and tin foil were there.

It is a little heartbreaking to live here.