Fun Saturday morning

After weeks upon weeks of crap weather and lack of sunlight, this morning served as an excellent reminder of why it is great to live in Seattle.

We headed out to the Pro Club in Redmond this morning so that I could work out (!) and Nora and April could go swimming. Nora had been talking non-stop about going back to the swimming pool since we first mentioned the idea to her last night, and she enjoyed herself immensely.

We emerged from the gym a little while later, turned our gaze skyward, and squinted. What was that strange, bright glow? Could it be...? YES! THE SUN! HOOOORAAAAY! The thermometer in the car read 66 degrees, and for the first time in recent memory there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Nora excitedly pointed to the sidewalk and said "Daddy! There's your shadow!"

Inspired by the beautiful weather, we then headed over the lake and into the city in pursuit of brunch.

There is an area on NE 45th St. in Wallingford that we had wanted to explore for a long time, so we spent a few minutes checking it out. The first jewel we uncovered was a little place called Juice Goddess where we got a smoothie. And this was no ordinary smoothie...in true Seattle style, the drink was made by taking heaps of different fruits and vegetables (organic, of course) and either squeezing them or blending them into a delicious concoction. The freshly-made carrot-ginger-apple juice was also fantastic. My favorite part was watching them decimate carrots one at a time in the gigantic industrial-grade blender.

A short walk further down 45th we encountered the second gem: a French bakery called La Boulangerie. It's a tiny little place run by a Vietnamese man who makes fantastic bread. And it's set up just like a place you would see anywhere in France, with the baguettes in a rack behind the counter. The smell of the place alone brought back a lot of great memories for April and I, so we decided to stay put and share a pain au chocolat with Nora. We also got a baguette to have with dinner tonight, although I could not resist nibbling off part of it on our way back to the car.

It was getting close to naptime, so we headed back over the lake. Once we got onto the bridge we were treated to an incredible view of the Cascades, which were visible in their entirety for the first time in weeks. We could even see plumes of snow blowing off the top of Mount Rainier.

Our last stop was the Uwajimaya Market in Bellevue where we stocked up on funky Asian groceries. It's great anytime they hand out samples in the grocery store...but here instead of frozen chicken nuggets and jalapeno poppers, they hand out samples of gyoza and shrimp. Yummy!

Now our culinary adventures have come to an end, and Nora tells me that it is now time to go ride her tricycle.

Have a great weekend everybody!