… despite not everyone being excited about leaving the house for three days, following an agenda specially crafted by Mama for everyone’s amusement and gratification. [Cue the uproarious laughter. The Venn circles do not overlap with Wes’s sense of fun.]
We started with a beautiful drive up to Arlington to see the (ethically-gray) Outback Kangaroo Farm. How amazing to see ‘roos up close, even albinos and joeys! I kissed an alpaca and I liked it. It’s just an oversized petting zoo, but four of us really enjoyed. (Again, Piper loves animal encounters while Wes is so indifferent as to be sulky when made to participate more than 15 minutes. I think this is an opposite that is only created by proximity.)
Once we got all our petting time, we headed off for our evening at a farmhouse out by the Cascade Highway. Serendipitously, we passed the newly-opened Oso memorial that NPR mentioned recently, so a quick u-turn brought us back to a 5 minute look that stretched into more than an hour of feeling the gravitas of the place and appreciating the beautiful expressions of regular lives lost too soon. The girls eventually got out of the car to see it, spending time over the stories and art. Wes never left the minivan.
Somehow (who plans these things?!?!), we ended up near our favorite bakery in Concrete for breakfast the next morning. I hadn’t told the family the day’s adventure yet, but Wes said he was up for anything as long as it wasn’t another animal tour.
We were going whale watching, which can only be described as an animal tour.
Spoiler: we may never be able to go on another whale excursion, because on this one, we got to watch a pod play up close for so long that I think further attempts will be a disappointment. Beside seals, an otter, bald eagles and classic PNW scenery, this trip resulted in one final discovery: we created golf cribbage. Like most games, the winner of cribbage is the first to get to the end, or 121 points. We flipped that, made the goal to get the fewest points, and I immediately dealt and drew a jack– earning 2 points before laying down a single card. It did not bode well for me, but the game was a hit. We drew out a game we love anyway and shortened what could have been a long boat ride, and with enough snacks, we had 5/5 happy people when we disembarked hours later and drove up to our final destination.
I think I can know say and remember “Semiahoo” (oops, nope, it’s Semiahmoo) up in Blaine. My brother’s family likes to go, so I splurged on one night, though I quickly regretted not getting a second, so we could at least enjoy it in the daytime. But on a chilly spring evening, eating good food with a sunset view, and then having smores around their many outside fires was pretty great. I got a decent bikeride in the next morning, with a pair of bald eagles watching me come and go. The family even let me organize a pickleball game before we drove home, acquiescing to the Activities-Coordinator-Who-Must-Be-Humored.
I snuck one more activity in with lunch in picturesque LaConnor, and the kids got to try my hobby of tasting beer and seeing what sort of faces are made. Their expressions are pretty gruesome, so we’ll stick with the before pictures only.
Thanks, family, for playing along with your truly spectacular mother/wife’s spring break plans!
Needopedia 