Summer trip to Seattle

Last Wednesday I flew to Seattle to spend a week with my daughter, Heidi, and her family.

We have been having a very nice time, doing a lot of things indoors since it has been so very hot—high 80s and low 90s. One day Marshall and I went to see the movie Inside Out, after which we went to eat at Panera—a favorite of Marshall's and mine.

On Saturday, a picnic on their patio was planned for dinner. Unfortunately I didn't join in because I was feeling under the weather. I had the chills most of the day. Later, a bit after Heidi, Marshall and a friend of Heidi's went down to the shore to watch the local fireworks, I got up and together with Chad, Corinne, and Brian, we sat in a bedroom where we had an excellent view of the local fireworks—in air conditioning. I'm not sure what the deal was with the way I felt, but am blaming it on the heat.

This is Corinne at the water park. She loved it!

Sunday Heidi and I went to Seattle to a glass blowing shop where each of us made a glass object. Heidi has done it many times now, so she felt comfortable helping with many of the steps. I wasn't feeling 100%, so I only blew a bit of my art work and Heidi finished it off for me. She made a blue/white votive and I made a deep purple fluted bowl. Our pieces take several days (inside a kiln) to cool down, so she'll pick her up this weekend and mine is being shipped home.

 

 

Yesterday we drove to Mount Rainier, thinking it would be cooler up there. It was not. Heidi had never seen the creeks with so little water running, and there was less snow on the mountain than she has seen. Rainy Seattle has had no measurable rain since April—very odd. It's normally dry in July and August. There were lots of wildflowers blooming on the mountain, however. It was nice to see them. We saw a deer at the visitor center that had the visitors all shooting pictures.

 

It has been fun being with this part of my family again. Corinne is growing up so much, and to my surprise, Marshall is reading and reading. I guess I missed hearing about that during his school year. This morning we stopped at the library so he could choose a supply of books.