My good friend Charlie, whom I met at Rocky Mountain College in 1993, lives in Seattle and we had a day to spend with him.  He grew up on Bainbridge Island and knows the entire Seattle area really well.  He planned a whole day of fun activities for the kids.

First, we all drove to the docks and took the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island.  We walked to a bakery Charlie has been going to his whole life and had cookies and tea.

Heading out on the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Josie made an instant friend in Charlie.

The bakery had a huge plate glass window looking out over a courtyard.  We were lucky enough to snag a booth right next to the window.  Down in the courtyard, we saw a couple guys with dogs, sitting on a nice little picnic bench with cinnamon rolls.  A lady they knew dropped by and while they were turned towards her visiting, one of the dogs hopped up and licked all the frosting off the first guy’s cinnamon roll.  We watched in horror — what were we supposed to do?  We could bang on the glass and make a big scene; one of us could run outside and hope to make it to the courtyard in time; do nothing?  While we were trying to decide what to do, the guy picked up his roll and pulled a piece off.  We had a moment of relief when it looked like he was going to feed it to his dog (“Oh, it was a dog treat all along! Phew!”) but then he popped it into his own mouth.  After that, we figured he was better off not knowing.

Too many choices at the local bakery.

Downtown Bainbridge has a lot of artist-type shops and galleries.  We had a good time wandering around.

Downtown Bainbridge Island

After the ferry ride back to downtown Seattle, we ate lunch at thai place Charlie used to frequent when he worked downtown.  Then we drove over to Queen Anne to see Adam’s old house.  The entire neighborhood has remained unchanged since at least 1993.

Catching a nap on the ferry ride back to Seattle.

Seattle skyline

The afternoon’s activities were to visit a novelty shop in Wallingford (fun gag gifts for the kids) and get some special ice cream at a famous little shop called Molly Moo’s over by the Ballard Locks.

The “boys” showing off their newly purchased toys from Archie McPhee’s (novelty shop) in Wallingford.

Ice cream at Molly Moo’s.

Right now the salmon are running, so we went to the locks and got to watch them struggling upriver to spawn.  They spend most of their lives in the sea, so the transition from salt water to fresh water is really hard on them.  In Ballard, they have “resting” areas built into the run so the fish have a chance to acclimate to the change.

At the Ballard Locks.

Watching the salmon make their run from salt water to fresh water at the locks.

The salmon ladder.

Isabella burning off some energy down the hill.

Back to Charlie’s for dinner — he grilled steaks and we had salad made from produce from his share in the community garden.  Isabella got out her bow to show off and Charlie set up a target in his backyard.  Kids played games on Xbox, then fireowrks in the street.

Back at Charlie’s house for dinner – the kids got some Xbox time – it has been more than a month for them and they were suffering withdrawals.

Josie showing some of her favorite YouTube videos to Charlie.

Smoke bombs out in front of Charlie’s house.

Charlie giving us a brief preview of a huge Fireworks show he has planned for his family this 4th.