A Tough Day

Friday was the last day of school for the kids and a day of taking a huge step backwards to 50 years ago. I couldn't concentrate all day and felt an intense mix of sadness, anger, devastation and helplessness. Addy came home from school and was in tears and when I asked her about it she said she was sad happy because of being done with elementary school. Her tears brought on my tears so we just hugged and cried. She told me all about her emotions about finishing 6th grade and going into middle school. I told her what happened in the Supreme Court and she instantly understood why this was such a big deal and that it made no sense. I told her that my only hope is that her generation can be the change that is needed. I wish I had the right words but they just feel empty right now. The priorities of this country leave me speechless. 

Localvore!

Last weekend, Edmonds has their "localvore" days which involves getting a passport to 10 local stores and if you get a stamp at each place, you can enter a drawing and get a swag bag (if you finish early enough). It's one of my favorite things because you support the local stores who also usually have fun booths and specials. Addy and I went with my friend and her daughter. The girls got their hair braided, we made flower rings and got cute Edmonds shirts. It turned out to be a beautiful day so it was just perfect to be walking around town. My favorite was the flower shop who created a flower photo wall that was absolutely amazing. Addy kept us on task and we finished in time to get a swag bag, but even cooler was that my name was drawn for the grand prize so I won merchandise from every single store! As if I needed a reason to love Edmonds even more. 

Explore

On the drive to our mini-vacation over Memorial Day we stopped at park that had a bunch of great trails, a boardwalk and even some animals and a lookout tower. It was fun to explore and we timed it perfectly between the rain showers. We had been there before but the kids didn't remember anything about it. They also had an amazing fragrance garden with more variety of plants than I think I've ever seen. It was beautiful to see and to smell. You know it's good when the kids want to keep looking at all the plants and flowers! They also couldn't get enough of the chickens. I guess now that we don't have ours anymore they are more excited about chickens! 

Semi-Vacation at Semiahmoo

Over Memorial Day weekend I took the kids on a little getaway to a resort called Semiahmoo while Brian took a boys trip to Minnesota. We had a great time and lucked out that the weather changed for the better and there was hardly any rain. The resort is on a penisula with views of Canada over the bay. We did just about everything they have to offer, except golf! We rode bikes, played pingpong and pickle ball, swam and roasted marshmallows on the beach. I was really impressed with how good the kids were at pickle ball, they've been playing at school and it shows.