Syttende Mai in Ballard

We had a parade in Ballard this past Wednesday, just a block away from the apt. Norwegian Constitution Day, commonly known as "Syttende Mai" or the 17th of May, is a celebration of the day in 1814 when Norway’s constitution was signed in the town of Eidsvoll, Norway. Apparently, the people of Ballard take this day VERY seriously. I imagined maybe an hour or so of parade at the most, but it was near two hours. Crazy, but very fun. Liv scored a ton of candy.



Snacking up and waiting for the parade to start.



The whole fam.




The parade started with the SPD Motorcycle Drill Team.



This is how close they came. Kinda freaked Livvie out.



They are too loud!


I never knew there were this many Scandies in the world, much less WA...




And, yes, there were some giant blonde inbreds. Why do you ask?

And, four different marching bands, at least.



Livvie started loosening up and really enjoying the parade as we went into the second hour.






And just a few more of our favorite moments - librarians, an old clown, gnomes, and a giant manure scooper. Man, I love Ballard.

Carkeek Park

Carkeek Park is one of my favorite parks. It is on the north edge of Seattle, with really groovy play areas, access to the shore, and the railroad running practically through it (you cross a footbridge over the tracks to get to the beach).

Anyway, the girls and I kicked it at Carkeek in the beauty weather last weekend.



I loves me some nose kisses.



What NW park is complete without a giant salmon slide?



Peeking through a giant log.



There are bunch of these cool installations made up like tidepools.



Tossin' rocks into the creek.



Just bein' cute by the creek.



Here comes the train!



And it's really loud!



Lookin' for groovy stuff in the rocks, just before we left.

Desert Aire - the Palm Springs of Washington State

Or so they advertise in the brochures selling real estate. Liv and I went on our first road trip vacation together over to Eastern Washington. My sister just bought a vacation place on the Columbia River south of Vantage in Desert Aire. Lovely little developing community in the middle of nowhere - quite literally.

But, alas, the sun was shining, and it was warm. We had fun with the cousins and Auntie Sissy, and it was nice to get out the city and see grand things like the mountains and the Columbia River.


the cousins - try and guess which one is the best behaved...


charley aka chi chi, cheech


miss molly mae


livvie ann


throwin' rocks into the mighty columbia


my artsy shot for the weekend

Tea for 13

Me and Liv having tea with 11 of our closest friends.

Future Rave Chick

Auntie sent Liv some glow stick necklaces, and we had some fun with the night mode on the camera. This is as artistic as my photos get - happy accidents and cropping.

Bunny Hill

Liv and I took a little trip this week to visit the wild bunnies that live in this giant warren in Woodland Park. There's been talk about and even attempts to exterminate the bunnies because of the INCREDIBLE amount of droppings (they are like a level of mulch in the grass even a couple hundred meters away from the main warren), but short of napalm and carpet bombing it is probably a lost cause. Anyway, we like the bunnies.


She's just so shy around the camera.


Numbers are definitely down - usually the rocks are covered.


Bunny.


Maybe if I get really really tiny, he won't see me.


We found this little shrine, and Livvie asked what it was. I said it looked like it might be a grave for a bunny that died. She said, "But, we don't want it to be a bunny. Maybe it's a squirrel!"


Enough! I'm eatin' my snack!