Memorial Day Weekend Part 1

For this Memorial Day Weekend we wanted to do something fun. Looking at the forecast we saw it was going to be upper 70's lower 80's. So why not go camping?!?! So we packed up our things and headed out to Central Washington at a little place called THE GORGE. For those of you that are not familiar with the State of Washington, here's a quick run down. Western Washington is filled with Green-Lush Rain forests, Snow Peaked Mountains and plenty of water. As for the rest of Washington, it is basically the desert. The Gorge is placed in the exact middle of the state (~2.5 hours from Seattle). It is the low land area located in the canyons over looking the Columbia River. The Gorge is also a famous outdoor music venue that is the favorite spot for many famous artists such as Dave Matthews Band.

Me, Chrissy, Kristin, Andy and Art had meet up with Antoni, Arthur, Leslie, Lauren & Matt to do some FREE camping (free is the key word there). We found a spot between giant rock formations over looking a giant valley that lead to the river. This area brought a huge amount of respect for what the early settler when through when they traveled our great states. It even seemed as though the original wagon trails were still there, documenting our history. It was a beautiful sight to see, but an even better place to camp.

So even though the forecast was for upper 70's, it turns out that was for Seattle and not the desert. It got up to the low-mid 90's. That is HOT! Therefore we needed to cool off by taking a dip into the Columbia River. You might think that since it was so hot outside, the water would be fairly warm too. NOT! In actuality it was more like mid 40's. Therefore we more or less sat on the rocks with our feet in the water. I decided that I was getting to hot so I just jump in. After the initial 10 second shock, it actually was pretty nice. It felt slightly euphoric to be swimming in such a remote area (although it might have just been the cold water making me feel funny). Chrissy made a couple of attempts to get in but lasted no more than 5 seconds. Andy decided to just jump in randomly. He then fell back into the water as he scrambled to escape the freezing depths.

On the top of the Canyon Ridge was a gaggle of Wind Turbines. The amount of turbines was quite impressive. Green Energy is such a wonderful thing!

Saturday night was filled with fun stories around the campfire. Sunday morning came like a train wreck when we all awoke to being boiled alive in our tents. Who knew that tents made perfect incubators? After clean up, we headed back to the bridge crossing the Columbia River. There was a little boat launch/beach area that seemed to be hosting Spring Break 2009. It was packed full of teen/20 year olds all there to soak up the sun and play in the ice cold water. There was a giant fountain spewing icicles on everyone's burning bodies, as well as a cliff jump for adrenaline junkies. It turns out that Me and Matt are the latter of the two.

We made our way to the top of the cliff as others were heckled into jumping (or not jumping) by their fellow friends. Matt stepped up, took a look over the edge, took a couple steps and launched himself over the edge. If you'll notice in the pictures below, he likes to do the running man as he falls. So I step up, look down and say to myself "It's not that far down... Just don't think about it". So I jump. My body feels like I gain 300 pounds as Gravity accelerates me to the depths below. I have time to think to myself "Wow, this is A LOT taller than I thought it was. Wait.... I'm still falling..." I have enough time to ponder the meaning of life before I have to tuck and hit the water below. What an adrenaline rush! I'm so amped I don't even notice how cold the water was. After careful consideration we estimated the cliff jump to be around 5-6 stories. Crazy.

MATT





Ben

Be on the lookout for Part 2

Cinco De Mayo!

I finally got around to posting pictures from Cinco De Mayo; which means May 5th, in case you were wondering ;) This was an extension of Family Dinner that we decided to turn into a fun filled fiesta. We had most of the regulars from Family Dinner attending, as well as some new additions. This included our newly met neighbors Chirag and Niki, as well as a random group of people that Chrissy found out about from her friend at IBM(it seems everyone is connected through IBM somehow).

In order to make this a true celebration of Mexican Independence, we would need a couple things.

1. A Pinata

2. Sombreros

3. Margaritas

4. Burritos

The food was a HUGE success (as was the rest of the party). Chrissy makes a mean Mexican dish, as well as seasoned and served the chicken to perfection. Compliments to the chef! After the food was demolished (literally) we moved up to the roof top for the traditional breaking of the Pinata. All we had to use was a metal bat, but decided not to use it since it would only take one hit. Therefore we used our mighty fists. Everyone was spun around 10 times and got one good swing at it.

It finally broke which released a wave of delicious delectables followed by a feeding frenzy of candy lovers. The suckers, ring pops, tootsie rolls, mints, sixlets and fun dip packages that had completely covered the roof top floor had all completely vanished within a matter of seconds. Needless to say, we all felt like we were five years old! Pure Awesomeness! All in all, it was a fun time that will be remembered for years to come. Heck, even Niki's doggy got into the celebration! Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment.

The Double A's come to visit!!!

Ben and I had our second visitors ever - My sister, Amy, and her husband, Aaron, came out to see us from May 8-12th. We had 4 full days of beauty, bargains, and a baby bump. Amy is about 7 months pregnant and looking great (really just looks like she has a ball up her shirt:) I am so anxious to meet the new little girl that's inside of her. We even got to hear her heart beat one night! I would put the picture of her up using the heart monitor, but I'm pretty sure she made me promise not to use it on the blog before I even snapped the photo.

Friday we started out strong with a big breakfast and then on to the Seattle Aquarium. We had a lot of fun watching the scuba diver's feed the fish - the whole while Aaron was wishing he could be the diver. We followed it up with a stroll through Pike's Place Market. Since there are so many hills in Seattle and especially by the market, Ben and Aaron had to use this random chair on the side of a building to rest on before continuing the steep walk up the hill. For dinner we got some pizza at a local pie joint called MAD PIZZA. There were some problems with the ice machine, but the hippie man fixed it with a huge knife and the pizza was good, so no complaints
here.


Saturday Aaron whipped us up some homemade french toast with apple cinnamon bread - superb! Ben and I will be trying to imitate that recipe very soon. Then we headed off to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls are gorgeous and 100 feet taller than Niagara Falls.
Aaron gazing into the mist. Those falls created quiet the wind and mist!
The 4 of us by the falls...


We had a lovely picnic by the falls with all the standard fare and Ketchup chips which are pure deliciousness and only available in Canada!
After the falls we headed to Gas Works Park - right across the lake from our apartment. It was a great day so we just soaked up some sun and watched the sail boats pass by. Amy & the baby were hoping to get some fish and chips for dinner so after Gas Works we went to Alki beach. A cute little waterfront area complete with a "cruising strip". Good thing we were in Ben's car so we could look cool. We found some tasty dinner and sat right by the water.

Sunday - Mother's Day we of course had to skype our mother - luckily our webcam had arrived the day before.


Here is a picture of Amy with her Mother's Day gift from me. A bib that's stylish and earth friendly from the Green Festival.








We had a tasty breakfast at the Southlake grill and contemplated stem cell research. Afterwords we went to my favorite market in Fremont. It's more of a flea market but there are always neat things being sold and tasty treats. Aaron got a new hat, Amy some new earrings, and I bought some soap. Plus we saw a little pup there that perhaps could be a future member of our family - a maltise yorkie poo!
We attempted to go on a Wooden boat ride after the market but apparently this is in high demand and you need to sign up hours in advance. So we headed back down to Pike's Place for some veggies to grill and had a feast on the rooftop deck. We had burger's (veggie for me), brats, salad, and veggies.

On the last day, Monday, we had big plans to go to Discovery Park and walk around and explore the beach, but it ended up raining on our parade...so we only saw the park briefly and decided to do lunch and a movie instead.








We had lunch in the International District and met one of Aaron's grade school friends. The restaurant had great ambiance, but the food wasn't the greatest. For the movie we headed to the University District and saw State of Play which we all liked.
To top off the whole weekend we went to Mr.Spot's Chai house in Ballard for some tea, snacks, and cards only to find Lutefisk! A terrible band that drove everyone out of the tea house. I'm not sure what you would call their music....banging drums, playing the guitar like you think you're good but have no clue how to play, while yelling nonsense into the microphone. If this is the new wave, count me out! On the up side, I did beat them all at dutch blitz (my new fav card game). We had a wonderful time playing hosts for the double A's and hope they can come back out soon!

P.S. Be aware if you ever go to Snoqualmie falls that there are only 20 dogs allowed at a time. If you're number 21, you gotta go!

Bye for now!