Then on to Seattle!

After our lovely night in Cle Elum, we slept in and then got up, checked out of our hotel, then ventured onward (and upward...then back down).

We met Tim and Heidi and our adorable niece, Ethne, for lunch in Snoqualamie.
She is getting to be such a chunker! She was litteraly less than half her size last time I saw her, and about four times the size she was at birth!






Then we back tracked slightly and went to the outlet malls at North Bend.
This is the parking lot, pre shopping, and the view from the parking lot.



After a wonderful time shopping (and a lot of new summer clothes for Miles!), we headed downward to Seattle and checked into our hotel.





The hotel was out on a pier and walking distance to the aquarium, food, Pike Place Market, downtown, etc. It was a cozy, quaint hotel with a rustic atmosphere.



The veiw from our room was nice. We left the door wide open most of the time and you could hear the water.
We also enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching the ferries pass by.



Then we went on a walk on a search for dinner.



After our late dinner at The Crab Pot, we called it a night and prepared for another full day of adventures!

Sasquatch

As you know, Ben and I went on a "mini-vacay" as I call it, by ourselves, without the babe! I was a little worried that it wouldn't go well, mostly for me (I knew Miles would be just fine with his grandparents!). After we got to George, WA, I was fine. It is mostly the travel part that I get worried about (you know, not trusting other drivers, esp since it was the busy holliday weekend).

First stop was The Gorge Amphitheater for Sasquatch Music Festival. We saw Nine Inch Nails (which I actually liked!) and Janes Addiction (which I did not prefer). Though I have been to the Gorge many times in the past, I am still suprised by how HOT it is during the day and how COLD it gets at night!

We begin our trip (I think this was actually taken in the McDonald's parking lot in Moses Lake):



This year, the Gorge extended camping and used half the parking lot for it. Tents everywhere!


We made it through security! Beautiful day.





This is how clear the sky was:


This helped me survive the sun...well worth the $5!

Well, this and a lot of sunscreen :)

And the concert began (well there was music all day, but this was the begining of Nine Inch Nails)


And the sun began to set...




And the music played on.




And the sun continued to set.




Until it was long past dark and it got very cold. We walked back to the car and drove to Cle Elum and sayed over night. The next day, our adventures continued...

Got some projects DONE!

Well, I was off for two weeks, and though we didn't get as much done as I would have liked, we did finish some big projects (they're all pretty big actually!).

I finally finished putting up our new doors and knobs. It was about a 3 month long process...who would have thought hanging six doors could have been that complicating!

Here is the final door, the pantry door in our kitchen. This wall needs to be painted (will be olive green)...maybe in a few weeks!




The other big project was painting our hallway and entry way, as well as the trim in the entry way. We painted it "Holmes Cream" by Valspar. It was tricky, took some brainstorming and elbow grease, but it is finished! I don't think we'll be repainting it for a looooong time!

Here is the entry way with the sign I made above the door:



You see, the trickiest part is that to the left of the stairs going down is another 1/2 flight going down, making it really high from the bottom of the basement stairs to the ceiling!

The rest of the finished doors (bedrooms, bathroom, coat and linen closets):

I'd like to use this hallway wall as a "photo wall" with family pictures.



So, that is it for now. I still am behind on posts about our trip to Seattle and up to "the lake". I'll catch up some day....maybe :)