back to the routine, puppy playdate, an impromptu trip to bellingham

 it was back to (remote) school last week. there was some grumbling from the kids, but overall it went okay. the weather was pretty nice too. we had some outdoor playdates and playground time with friends, which was good. 

tuesday morning we were eating breakfast and azalea says "there's a raccoon out there!" sure enough there was one in our tree. i was surprised because i usually only see them in the summer. soon another one joined him. we watched them from the window. they really creep me out, but i don't mind them behind glass. ha! soon they both fell asleep and i thought they might stay there all day, but they were gone an hour later. 

tuesday after school we went to our aussie friends' backyard to play with them and their new puppy, kirby. she's a beagle/king charles cavalier mix and she is so dang sweet. puppy heaven :) 

on thursday afternoon i jumped on zoom to watch my cousin ryan's wife maria do her oath ceremony for becoming a lawyer. they live in new jersey, so it was fun to get to be a part of it. and it only lasted 5 minutes ;)

on friday while faced with yet another weekend with no plans, i suggested to thatcher that we take a day trip to bellingham (90 minutes north) on saturday. he one-upped me by saying "lets spend the night." even better! so we booked a hotel and packed our bags.

we left in the late morning on saturday and got to bellingham at lunch time. our first stop was a park and playground next to whatcom lake. it was pretty. 

we ordered lunch from "mount bakery" and picked it up to have a little picnic at zuanich point park, which was beautiful. we went for a walk along the water after we ate. the sunshine felt amazing.  

 

it reminded me a lot of the lake walk in duluth, mn

 

we picked up treats from the food co-op then we drove to the "sehome hill" arboretum on the campus of western washington university. we did a short hike to the lookout tower, which had a great view of the city. 

 

 this used to be a tunnel for Model T size cars 

there was really cool graffiti along these mossy concrete walls

then it was time to check into our hotel, which was a holiday inn express on the outskirts of town. we ended up spending the rest of the day/night there lounging in the room. there was a harry potter marathon on tv, i read my book and took a nap, and thatcher picked up dinner from "chuckanut brewery" to bring back. it was soooo nice just to relax. 

on sunday we had the continental breakfast at the hotel (ordered the night before and picked up in the morning). then we got coffee at "camber coffee" and took it to "larrabee state park" along chuckanut drive. there was hardly anyone there and it was such a pretty spot.

we were home by lunch time and spent the rest of the day getting groceries, cleaning, and getting ready for the week ahead. it was nice to escape for 24 hours for a change of scenery :)