Spencefest and Seattle

We left Cape Disappointment with Bryce, Lexie, Conner and Lorelle and drove about 3.5 hours to Nolan's childhood home in Seattle. Since Lexie, Conner, and Bryce were all working that week we mostly spent time with them in the evenings and did our own things during the day. 

One day we went over to Whidbey Island with Aunt Lorelle to hike Ebey's Landing.

After the hike, we stopped by Price Sculpture Forest: a woodland art exhibit full of interesting sculptures.

Seattle included some good catching up with friends. We visited Stephanie Lim and shared a wonderful dinner prepared by her housemates. 

Monisha went paddleboarding with Slim a few days later where she ran into more frisbee friends, had lunch with Khalif, and got boba with Will Chen! 

We took a nice 2 hour bike ride with Aunt Lorelle, and got to traverse the Ballard Locks. Monisha was a little nervous during the first half of the ride because it was entirely downhill and she knew that the second half would include a lot of riding uphill. But fortunately the whole ride was thoroughly enjoyable. 

We had two lovely evenings at Kevin and Leah's. The first started with happy hour and bruschetta appetizers. Then we had delicious miso eggplant and baked tofu as the main course during which we needed to periodically shelter ourselves with umbrellas. After dinner we took a tour of the garden and all had a delightful time tasting fresh garden tomatoes along with the numerous herbs and spices that they are growing. At one point we brought out dessert and began a cookie and herb tasting experience that was so wonderful we invited the neighbors over to join us. We were all surprised by how yummy peanut butter cookies are with quite a variety of herbs! (Mint and tarragon seemed to be the favorites.)

At the second dinner we had fried plantains, a mixed drink made with a sage blackberry cocktail mixer that we brought for Kevin to play around with, southwest salad, absolutely delectable steelhead salmon, an Ottolenghi recipe for yogurt with herbs and charred tomatoes, and oatmeal cookies for dessert. After dinner the conversation turned to winemaking and different types of fortified wines. This prompted Leah to pull out five different types of vermouth and two dessert wines for yet another wonderful tasting experience.

Various other happenings from our Seattle times: 

- Learned four part harmonies to Poor Wayfaring Stranger and The Curse (by the Longest Johns).

- Slacklined at the park, where Bryce first attempted (and was amazingly successful at!!) his newest circus trick on the slackline

- Hackey sacking

- Crepes and waffles for breakfast

- A beautifully displayed fruit plate constructed by Lexie

- Thai Siam takeout (the classic Thai restaurant from the Walsh brothers' childhood)

- Board games: Innovation, Wise and Otherwise, The Crew, and more

- Monisha learned her first finger picking song on the ukelele

- Blackberry picking

- An impromptu, simplified, and very improvised Dungeons and Dragons session, DMed by Nolan Walsh! Surprisingly effective and so much fun. Bryce and Conner's characters really contributed to the humor of the session. The very intelligent Professor Flallivus, who knew a lot about social norms but was not particularly well versed in them, had a delightful habit of making bad puns and following them with a slow and delayed, but very wholehearted chuckle.

Over the weekend, we headed over to Port Angeles for a Spence family reunion. The reunion was held at John and Donna's incredible home (designed by our very own Kevin Spence) and included delicious food, yard games, singing, beach walks, and a bagpiper! It was so nice to spend time with the family and get to know some of the members that we'd never met before. It was also very meaningful to be welcomed in to the family with open arms and so much warmth. 

Next up, Canada.