Crabbing - A fun experience

We had fun crabbing with a group of friends over the weekend at Bainbridge Island here in Washington State.   We have never tried crabbing before and the kids were so excited especially my eldest daughter, because she love to eat crabs.

So, from Seattle we took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island and from there it took us 10 minutes to reach Suquamish Tribal Port.   The day before the crabbing day, we bought crab trap, and other stuff necessary for the crabbing and of course our 1 day pass license.   You need to get a license for crabbing or fishing, and you can get those online or as for us we got it from Dicks sporting goods.  The day that we did crabbing was the last day of crabbing in WA.

Everyone was so excited to start and the kids was ecstatic to see the first catch.   We had our coolers, and chairs set up in the flatform.   The weather was gorgeous during that time and it was perfect to sit around and wait while enjoying the sunshine!  After just a few minutes, someone had their first catched, pictures was taken and everyone has to take a look.  The pressure was on with the rest of the guys, to have their first catch.   By the way, each person is allowed to catch 5 crabs and that includes the kids.  After hours and hours of waiting, we grew tired and the kids gets restless, so we let them play down at the lake side while the women chit chat.

Around 3:00 o'clock and the guys still have 5 crabs on their cooler, we decided to pack up a little bit and call it a day.   I think since it was the last day of crabbing, the number of crabs got saturated or the crabs just get smarter not to get enticed with those smelly fish and chicken because they know that it is a trap!

At the end of the day, my husband caught 7 crabs,  we were a little (just a little) dissapointed because we were hoping to catch a lot.  Greedy me :-) But I was thinking of sharing it with friends who were not able to make it.   Crabs are so expensive and I am sure a lot of people will appreciate it if I could share some of our catch.

We catched the 5:30 ferry to Seattle and ate a little snack at the ferry then everyone headed home respectively.   I boiled our crabs that night and cooked it the next day, because I was so tired.   Some of our friends have them for dinner that night.  It was so good and the best thing is the experienced of doing it.  We plan to do it again next year, but we will combine it with other activities or do it somewhere nearby.   Going to Bainbridge Island just to do crabbing is not worth it because you have to spend money on the ferry ride and gas.

All in all, it was a good experienced for grown up and kids alike!

Cool Park this Summer

Greenlake Park is one of the coolest park here in Seattle.  The place has big playground for the kids to enjoy,  it is situated beside the lake where the kids and grown ups could  take a splash in the water to cool off, a big area of luscious green grass to just spread your blanket and enjoy a bountiful of picnic basket or play freebies with friends.   Surrounding the lake is a jogging, walking or running path or you can ride your bike or roller blades or skate board.

Last weekend, we went out late in the afternoon since I worked the previous night, so I have to get some zzzz during the day.   The weather was on the 80's and we don't want it to go on waste, we want to do just like everyone else does, go outside  and enjoy the sunshine, so we head out to Greenlake park.    The kids got to play,  me and my husband takes turn  doing our laps around the lake.

The place was packed with people though, but I still love the whole scene!  When I was doing brisk walking (because I don't felt like jogging), it was so relaxed because a lot of people are walking and chatting all the way.  My husband shared the same feeling when he was jogging around.

The downside in this place is parking, the parking lot is so small, but side parking are available and small other parking lots are scattered around the lake.

This was an old shot taken last month when the place was still cold and the ducks where still have a place to enjoy the lake.

Skagit Tulips Festival

Almost every year we go to Skagit Tulips Festival here in Washington State.   This event is considered a tourist destination here in the Northwest.   You could see acres and acres of different types of Tulips, Daffodils and other type of flowers, but of course majority of which is Tulips.  To know more about their schedule you can visit their website at Skagit Tulips Festival.  Another famous thing they have is their Garage Sale, this is a miles and miles of garage sale in Skagit Valley.  I have not been to one, but I heard that it was pretty awesome.

Last weekend, we decided to visit them back, usually we visited Tulip Town, but this time we considered another place which is Roozengaarde garden.  It was beautiful as usual and they have a garden layout rather than just one big fields of Tulips.   Unfortunately, my husband forgot his camera, that is why we were not able to get some pictures.  But I guess on the other hand it was a good thing because for the first time we were able to enjoy the surroundings, the hotdogs, coffee and of course the flowers without making a fuss of taking pictures here and there.

Classic Cars and America History

My husband has been asking me for a while to go to LeMay Museum in Tacoma where it houses hundreds of classic cars from early 1900.   The oldest we found so far is 1903!  It was old but it was a beauty and will not be disappointed when you see it.

Here are some of the pictures he took, I have to choose only a few because he took tons of pictures, when I say tons, he took pictures of all the cars I guess aside from the accessories of each cars that fascinate him.

Their collections is very impressive, I felt like I was transported in time !  One thing I love about this classic cars, is how the manufacturers give so much attention to details.   The restoration quality is very impressive too.  I was trying to imagine how it feels to be driving one of these !  Just my wishful thinking :-) What can I do, I can't help it, they are beautiful!

LeMay Museum is in Tacoma, WA.  Entrance fee is $14 for adult and $8 for children and kids below 4 is free.   Since we are AAA member we were able to get 10% discount.

 

Our Trip to Olympic Peninsula - Lake Quinult Lodge

After hours and hours of driving, we finally arrived at our final destination, Lake Quinult Lodge.   This rustic lodge was built in 1926, with seven types of rooms.   Their rooms are spacious, with lake side view, no TV and no phones.  They have sauna, pool and game room. The back lawn is beautiful, wide space of green grass, with Gazebo and lounge chairs.   Most of all, the sunset is stunning! 

Very peaceful, I could spend the whole day sitting here, just watching the lake, enjoying the sun with a good book in hand.  That's what I call real vacation!

We arrived a few minutes late to catch the stunning color of sunset.  This is the best we got, but I still love it.

We had a light dinner at their Roosevelt  Restaurant, with an overlooking view of the lake, and humming birds flying on the window.   The ambiance of the restaurant is very relaxing, I like it a lot.

After a night of rest, we had breakfast and started exploring the place.   We tried one of their hiking trails, which is only .6 miles.  The trail is kid friendly and has small bridges and falls along the way.   Which is nice, otherwise we could not make it back, with Andi complaining how hard it is to walk farther :-)

We checked out the World Largest Sitka Spruce Tree.  It stand 191 feet tall, 17 feet in diameter and 55 feet, 7 inches in circumference.

We were not able to see the largest Douglas Fir Tree though as the kids were hungry and tired.   We ate lunch and headed back home.   Downside on this place, no other place to eat but the restaurant inside the lodge.

All, in all this place is beautiful!

Our trip to Olympic Peninsula - Forks, Lake Crescent & Hurricane Ridge

The kids could not stop talking about Game Farm in Sequim, where they enjoyed feeding the animals.   From Sequim we had lunch at Port Angeles, and on our way to Forks we stop by for picture taking at Lake Crescent.   I was wondering why it was called Lake Crescent, it does not resemble the crescent shape? Of course I could help myself Googling it, click Lake Crescent for more information from Wikepedia if you are curious as I am.

Here are the two versions of Lake Crescent, black and white and the colored one.   This was just taken on the side of the road on our way to Forks.  I am pretty sure there are some nice places where the kids could play and swim during summer.  That would probably be part of the agenda on the next trip here. 

Here is me standing in front of the sign like an idiot.   But I guess this is a common sight to cars passing by in this highway.  They must have seen thousand of people having their pictures taken here because we are curious what Forks is like.   Stephanie Myers make it sound so interesting or maybe the characters in her book did.   One thing for sure, this place get a little sunshine, when we were driving along the highway the sunshine just come and go!  It was gloomy,foggy and drizzling.   No wonder Stephanie though that it will be a good place for vampires to live.

The people here tried their very best to attract more tourist by putting signs related to Twilight.   We even saw a sign that says "Twilight Firewood for sale"!  That was a bit funny, but people got to do what they got to do to sell firewood.

We thought Hurricane Ridge is open, so why not drive up in the mountain and see the magnificent view?  I thought the drive will never end, we were just going up and up and up.   The deers venturing along the road makes the drive a bit interesting.  And finally we were almost at the top, and for the first time in my life I feared of falling.   I felt this weird sensation at the pit of my stomach, that I want to get out of the car and just walk my way to the top.  I don't have any problem with heights ever, but here I don't even want to look outside my window!   The weirdest thing is that, I could not even see how high we are from the edge of the road, but I could totally feel it.  

Once we parked and settled down at the top I totally relaxed.   The view is amazing !   I was in total awe, it takes my breath away.

Surprisingly, the temperature is not that cold, we are not even wearing a jacket!   And of course when you see snow, you could not help yourself doing snow ball fight.   Here is Andi ready to charge !  

We did not stay too long, because there is nothing else to do.  The visitor center is close and we did not brought the kids sled.   Yes, they have a place where kids could do sledding!  They even have a variety of slopes from small to the biggest one.   It could have been fun!

Next stop, Lake Quinult.

Our Trip to Olympic Peninsula

Spring break is here and we decided to spend a couple of days exploring the Olympic Peninsula.   We left on a Monday morning; board a Ferry from Redmond to Kingston.   Good thing there was no long waiting time in the ferry.   We planned to be there for the 9:40 boarding time.  Boarding the ferry, you have to be there at least 20 minutes before departure.  We paid $27 for 2 adults and 1 youth, children under 5 is free.   You can buy your ticket in advance or check the ferry schedule at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.   Crossing time is approximately 30 minutes. 

From Kingston, we drove to Olympic Game Farm in Sequim.   At the gate we paid  $35 for entrance fee, again children under 5 is free.  We bought a loaf of bread for $2 to be used to feed the animals.   We were glad that we bought bread because that makes the experience unforgettable.   You drive around the farm in your vehicle, you are allowed to open your windows, but they have strict rules that everyone should stay inside their vehicles at all times.   While driving around the farm, you can see a lot of animals on the road, a lot of Peacocks, and other type of birds.   Lamas and Yak are swarming the road; sometimes you have to stop because you cannot pass through.   They approach your vehicle and nozzle on your window hoping to get some bread.  They love it when you feed them with wheat bread.   At first, it’s kind of freaky because you don’t know what they will do or can do, but once you tried it, they are fun!   This farm has good number of Timber Wolves.  Their African Lions both male and female are huge and looks well fed.   You can see Bunnies and other types of small animals in every corner.   They also have a lot of Kodiak Bears and Black Bears.  

The moment we entered another portion of the farm, we were ambush with a flock of American Bison!  I think these animals become used to people feeding them bread, that once they saw a car approaching they swarm the car hoping to get food.  It was kind of scary at the same time fun.  It was new and one of a kind experience to the kids and of course for us grown ups as well.

This is the picture of the car right in front of us!

When we paid the entrance fee, we felt like it was so steep, but after the drive around, we told ourselves, it was all worth it!

You can check their website for more info; Olympic Game Farm

I highly recommend this place for the whole family; it was a lot of fun!  

Next stop, Port Angeles and Forks !  Here we come Twilight :-)

Cherry Blossom @ University of Washington

Over the weekend, we went to University of Washington to check out the Cherry Blossom inside the campus and to check the University Belt.   Once we entered the campus we drove around to see the different buildings and other facilities.   It was huge, and I love the architecture, landscape and open concept design of the buildings.  The Cherry trees are planted around the middle ground.   The place was packed with people visiting and I guess students who were just hanging out.  We went there on a Sunday, yet the place was packed.   The weather was really nice, I think that is why a lot of people wanted to enjoy the place before the rain wash it on the next few days.

The girls was just having fun :-)

This was taken in the huge open space in front of the University's library.

On the main entrance or rather the front yard of the University is a fountain, were people just sit and enjoyed the sun.   Walking around the campus or just sitting in the grass is very relaxing.   The place is beautiful, it make’s me want go back to college!

If you are visiting Seattle, this place is worth visiting.  It is near other beautiful places in Seattle like the Japanese Garden, Arboretum, Woodland Park Zoo, then you can drop by Space Needle, Pike Market, the first Starbucks and other famous places in down town Seattle.

The Good Daughter - Book Review

The Good Daughter is the first book of Jane Porter that I have ever read.   I love to read books in different genres, depending on my mood.  Jane Porter is the award- winning author of The Good Woman, Flirting with Forty and several other novels.

The Good Daughter is a story of a woman who is approaching forty and single.   She came from a good catholic family and a teacher in a catholic school.   They have an ideal family who live by their catholic values, support each other through thick and thin.  They are also like other families who have its ups and downs.  She is fraught with her mother’s advance cancer stage, a brother and sister in-law who just lost a baby, a sister who is trying to keep her marriage going and a twin sister who is in Africa and a black ship in the family.     To top it all, she has to deal with one of her students who was troubled and thinks that her life might be in danger.  She dealt with all these and the fact that she is turning Forty and no family of her own with no boyfriend, only a career and her love of teaching.

Then she met someone who is the least person who would fit and approved by her family.  This someone does not want commitment, relationship and most of all marriage.  

 The story of this book is very distinctive for me, because it depicts the life of an ordinary person who strives with her personal problems, and yet she was there to support, listen and help her family.  She has a big heart, opens her arms to everybody who needs her.   She is strong, compassionate, a good listener, a confidante, who always finds good in people.   And of course she loves to read!  

Beauty in simple things

Another amazing picture from Allan!  Can you imagine a simple thing as an eraser that we used and neglect everyday?   He was able to see beauty in this simple things.  

There are so many things in life that we tend to ignore and does not appreciate until time comes that we need them.   Then we look for them and appreciate their importance no matter how mundane it is.  

I think it is time to show the people around us how important they are to us, that we appreciate them, that we love them.   Value all the things that you have and be grateful that you have all those things no matter how small, no matter how insignificant they are.   Appreciate and be thankful !

Summer Fun @ Bellevue Park

Spring is almost here, but I am so excited for summer.   You can do a lot of activities during summer, go to the beach or lake, go camping, ride your bike, picnic with friends, hike, go to the park with family and friends or explore the magnificent beauty of Washington State.

Yesterday, while waiting for our appointment near Crossroad Mall in Bellevue, we went to the nearby park.   I have seen this park before during summer, but never got the chance to actually to there and let the kids play.   Yesterday, my daughter was so excited when she saw the park because it was huge and very nice.   She have not seen this kind of park yet, where there is giant Dolphins, a Dragon and other animals.   When she step into the playground she was surprised and said " the ground is squishy!" She run around, climb the slide and explore.

This playground is a Water Spray Play Area that is open all year round.   They open the water spray starting Memorial Day until end of September from 8am to 8pm.   Water comes out from the Dolphins, frogs, clams and other animals.   Beside the water play area, are shed with picnic tables, benches, a slide and green grass where you could just sit and enjoy the surrounding!

To better understand, what I am talking about here are the pictures I took:

There are a lot of walking path around the park and I saw a lot of people walking around that day.   This is a pet friendly park as well.

This is a fun place to bring the kids during summer, you can do variety of activities all day long.   The place is beautiful, fun and most of all it is free.


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