visiting Surrey

It was mom/Popo's birthday, and we needed to interview in Blaine for our Nexus passes, and there was no school for the kids on Friday, and so we seized the opportunity to go north for the weekend. Steve picked the kids up from school on Thursday and brought them to the Amtrak station to meet me, and we took the train up through Seattle to Bellingham. 

We had 20 minutes in Seattle to get off the train and stretch our legs, so wandered over to peer into the Seahawks football stadium. We had ordered two pizzas and grazed on them (and our treats) for dinner. The train ran late, but we eventually arrived and mom and dad were there to meet us and take us home.

On Friday morning we dropped mom off at her Zumba class and then went to Redwoods Park to check on the children's fairy houses. We found Roxy's first, still hanging from its little branch. Sebastian's came next - it had been moved and was muddy, but was recognizable by its striped roof. Liesl started to get a little sad because we couldn't find hers and couldn't quite remember where it had been. A mom and her little boy were also in the fairy forest and she asked to see a picture of Liesl's house -- and she found it! We were happy and relieved. We relocated the three found houses (Danica's, sadly, could not be found) together, near Roxy's tree.

Then we went to the new-ish Grandview Heights pool and spent a bit over an hour in the water, playing catch with a giant ball, diving like otters in the lazy river, and swimming a few laps.

After lunch we headed south, back across the border, because we had our 4 pm interview in Blaine. We were early - really early, of course - and so we headed for Lincoln Park, which had showed up on my map as a good-size green area and which none of us had ever visited. The park was full of beautiful big trees and ferns and moss, and there is an 18-hole frisbee golf course laid out in the midst of the forest, weaving through and around the trees. I picked up one (tiny, crappy) frisbee and two foam balls at the grocery store and we played the game for about eight holes. It was really fun - Sebastian really liked it and asked to find a disc golf course in Portland (and pick up some better frisbees) when we returned home.

 

We interviewed, we passed (phew), and then we went to Bellingham. We looked in a book store, a toy store, and a fancy wood shop - the children may have each gotten early birthday presents - and then had dinner at Skylark Cafe. The clam chowder was outstanding and our brandy-spiked apple cider pretty tasty too.