Mom's Visit

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago but was waiting to upload pics before I published it. Alas, still no pics!

My mom left earlier this week after being here for two weeks. It was so wonderful to see her after being apart for 11 months. We both suffered for a bit from a cold but once everyone was healthy it was a blast! I mentioned going to a bachelorette party but I never wrote about the appetizer I made. I made some baked brie and it was a hit! I definitely think I'll be making it for other gatherings. I omitted the raspberry jam and maple syrup. I really liked this recipe because there is a ton of flexibility for adding different flavors, types of brie, and things to dip etc!

Last week I took Friday off and my mom and I left for an island adventure. The night before we decided to go to the San Juan Islands. I did some quick research and ended up finding a cute place to stay the night. On Friday morning we drive up the Washington coast and took the Anacortes ferry to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island. The views of the ocean, islands, and mountains along the route were stunning!

After an hour we were driving off the ferry onto the island. Our hotel was super cute and a great price for a summer weekend. It felt like a really upscale european hostle. We spent the next two days exploring the island and soaking up the intense beauty.

The highlight for both of us was watching an Orca whale pod swim just off shore. We had waited for a few hours at the normal viewing spot, reading our books, soaking in the sun etc. From our perch we could see Victoria, B.C. in the distance. The pod ended up heading south again before making it to our area so we decided to go searching. We hopped into our car and drove to the first south location on the island and parked. We were the only ones in the parking lot and started walking down a long path. My mom spotted a dorsal fin way off in the distance and we took off running. It was so hilarious and fun! We ran the .75mi to the coast and had about 15 minutes of watching the whales before they descended.

Back in Seattle on Sunday we wend downtown and took my mom to Dim Sum for her first time. The food was delicious. We tried to make it to a mass moon-walking celebration but lunch went a little too long. We did end up seeing people doing some tribute dancing and singing to Michael Jackson though.

My mom's back home and life is getting back to normal. Hosting a visitor is a blast but really exhausting. I miss my mom and we're already planning our visit back east for Nov. or Dec.
Not sure what this holiday weekend is going to bring but hopefully lots of relaxing and time spent outdoors in the beautiful weather!