Needopedia

If one gets a day of celebration per decade of life (and one should), then this birthday checked all the boxes.

Again, I have to thank my mom for giving birth to me, and I appreciate her timing. November is a little cold, but always having the day off after your birthday? Worth celebrating!

Day 1: Drove, in separate cars for apparently no good reason, to Bainbridge Island Saturday midday. Dwayne and I hilariously took separate ferries to get to the island, but he met me and the kids at Grand Forest for a few mile frolic through the woods. At some point, Wes and Piper picked up and dragged 15′ branches behind them. This is what happens when you don’t buy them a dog….

Then I wanted to check out what the BI Labyrinth was. Loveliness, that’s what! Wes was pleased to find that it was not another 2 mile walk, but a fun twisting rock path with Mama blah-blah-blahing about the symbolism of each ring. Bainbridge is embarrassed if you can go more than a few feet without an epic view and the short walk around did not disappoint. I was also thrilled with the prayer well that chimed on precisely the 9th rotation.

We found the rental house, take out dinner, and the soaking bath in that order, and accidently stumbled across network TV–serendipitously airing the Biden and Harris victory speech. That gave me enough energy for our Sunday itinerary.

Day 2: The reason I wanted to visit Bainbridge–Bloedel Reserve! Dwayne had already bought tickets, so we just had to show up at our time slot and be vague when the kids asked us how long the walk was going to be. (Spoiler: 2+ miles.) It certainly helped that not only was it not raining, but it was that perfect golden autumn sun highlighting the formal gardens, natural ponds, and rolling pastures. Now I need to see this place in all seasons….and in non2020, when we can also tour the mansion. [Please ignore the kids sacrificing each on the stones. We’re just being, ahem, historical.]

From Bloedel, we jumped off the island to Kingston, home to not only the iconic PNW shot (ferry, Mt. Rainier, Seattle skyline across Puget Sound), but also a creperie, which my kids think is the best excuse ever for eating a month’s worth of Nutella in one sitting. It reminded us of preCovid travel.

I was also excited to explore the Japanese-American Exclusion Memorial. Not only did I teach this part of American history back-in-the-day, but Kyla was shocked to learn about internment camps in her history research last year. The final part of the memorial is still under construction, but it already left an impact on me.

We had enough daylight left for Dwayne and I to walk down the beach back at the rental while the kids quickly invalidated the fresh air and exercise of the day with video games.

Day 3: Kids logged in to school and Dwayne and I went exploring! Found ourselves at Blackbird Bakery before walking into the BI Art Museum. It was exactly this time last year that Dwayne and I found ourselves enjoying being adults in the Portland Art Museum. I love spending time with Dwayne this way!

We got back in time to deliver the kids lunch before continued our day at the Eleven winery, before exploring by car as many nooks and crannies of the island as we could stumble upon. I even found myself a pirate!

Day 4: Technically my birthday. Officially 46, I’m no longer the younger woman. Got the kids started on their day before Dwayne and I drove over to Poulsbo, explored some of the shops, walked the boardwalk and “Skittles” neighborhood and then took off in search of the famous Butcher & Baker bakery in Port Gamble that we were assured would have the best birthday cakes…if they were open on November Tuesdays. Ah, well, I finally got to see the <cough, cough> downtown of the historical port that I had also assumed was just the 12 houses one passed between real towns. Turns out there are a solid 6 stores in addition to those dozen homes. One hosts the world’s 2nd largest shell collection upstairs, and they all sell completely unnecessary items, plus a sandwich. I was a little charmed in spite of the non-cake thing.

One more trip to the southernmost nooks and crannies of Bainbridge we hadn’t seen the day before, another stop at Blackbird Bakery to get a chocolatey-chocolate cocoa truffle cake, and we returned to our children and the wrapping up of the four-day birthday extravaganza adventure.