The Luck of the Irish

St. Patty was looking kindly on me this last weekend as my friend Emma, whom I haven't seen for 5 years since last visiting Northern Ireland visited us this last weekend. She was my sweet friend during my year in Northern Ireland 7 years ago and it was absolutely incredible how quickly and easily we picked up again this weekend although she had never met Adam or my kids. I am still astounded my her Irish accent and quick wit and was blessed tremendously by my time with her. I hope so much it isn't too long for us to hop across the ocean her way.

Amazing Weekend

Man - weekends like this really make it tough to ever consider leaving the Northwest.

Anna's nephew, Kiefer, visited for the weekend. We did some Portland favorites on Friday and Monday, but in the middle went up North to visit our aunt and uncle who live on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. The weekend consisted of the following:

Ferry ride at Sunset over to the island

Kiefer riding a scooter/motorcycle around the island

Boat ride and crabbing in Puget Sound - a starfish, octopus, and three crabs were caught

Kayaking in Puget Sound

Sunset beach walk (after crab for dinner of course)

A early ferry ride through the San Juan Islands

A morning on San Juan Island with feeding a local seal by hand

Driving home through Seattle, stopping for Starbucks at Pikes Place

Stopping at a viewpoint for Mount St. Helens ( after seeing Mt. Rainer always in the horizon)

Unreal!

Pretty awesome!

Just the kids