Is 35 closer to 30 or 40? It's birthday season in the Lee family. I had my 35th on April 3rd. Beth celebrates hers next week, then Eleanor, Erin, Frances (also 35- hah!)... it goes on and on. Fran and the girls spoiled me with a great dinner (favorite item = garlic mashed potatoes) followed by egg-free carrot cake and presents!
The next adventure was a long weekend on the Olympic Peninsula at a beach town called Seabrook. I just finished a month on the lung transplant service, so it was great to get on the road. Fran planned our meals, shopped, and packed the whole family in one day, wow! (She found some other words for it!)
We rented the 3BR cottage third from the left below. It was very cozy and Erin was delighted to find the decorative pillows on her bed had jewels on the edges. Doesn't get any better than that.
April on the peninsula is windy and rainy- but we lucked out and our only full day there was mostly dry. Seabrook has lots of walking trails and is perched above a big sandy beach. That break in the rain let us get the camera out and capture what a beautiful spot it was. The pictures below are nice to scroll through uninterrupted, I think!
Fran gave a memorable impromptu lesson on seaweed as we finished up our beach combing for the day. The other big hit at the beach was the Seabrook indoor swimming pool (Erin) and hot tub (Nora). I haven't been swimming with Erin in a couple months, and wow has she improved with her weekly lessons. She can float on her back and 'swim' across the width of the pool by herself. She entertained us (and other pool guests) by doing belly flop after belly flop from the side of the pool. Despite some frustration with an oven that didn't want to heat, we had great food all weekend.
We left Seabrook midday on Sunday and spent the afternoon driving to the southwest corner of Olympic National Park. We explored Lake Quinault in the rain. It's part of one of the three temperate rain forests in the world-- besides olympic peninsula/british columbia I think the others are in northern europe and in japan. Anyway, Quinault got 28 inches of rain in December alone! We hiked a half-mile loop through the old growth forest. We hustled to the lodge to dry off and have a late lunch. Then it was back to Seattle-- I was equal parts lonely and happy on the way home as Fran and the girls snoozed the entire ride.
Grandma Beth came to help us out again this week as Fran had several shifts at the hospital, we're very lucky to have her so close! Nora can finally say grandma ('wah-wah'), but my favorite new word of hers is people ('poo-pah')! It's funny to hear her sing how the 'poo-pah go up down' during wheels on the bus. Erin's on spring break from her preschool next week, so Fran and the girls are headed down for some time in Portland. Then, towards the end of the month Grandma Jan and Grandpa Deanie will be here for a visit.
