Waiting for the ferry in Anacortes, and sharing a cinnamon roll.
It was a beautiful day for a ferry ride to Orcas Island. We had fun looking at the ships and sailboats. We could hardly wait to get there to see Eric, Allison and Luci.
This is the house we stayed in.
Ila worked on filling this bucket with little live crabs...and one big live crab named pinchy. There were "thousands" of them she kept saying.
Watching a great fireworks show.
Luci trying to get to Ila's peaches.
Driving into Washington
These are pictures of our stay at my Aunt MaryJean and Uncle Bert's house. We had a great, relaxing time with them. They were so sweet to host us and Ila had blast in their playroom, in their hot tub, and on the beach in front of their house.
Taking the water taxi from West Seattle to the big city.
Opal's first french fry.
We visited the Seattle Aquarium. The touch pools were a highlight. It was very crowded, but we managed to find the Seahorses in the back room in a very small aquarium. It was the one creature Ila really wanted to see.
Ila walked and walked without complaining. Of course we stopped for a giant ice cream cone and also at a candy shop to sweeten the deal. Besides the french fry and the tide pools at the aquarium, Opal hung out on my back asleep most of the day.
I'll leave you with the thought of this face...
The pine cone obstacle course for bike riders.
I think the only thing I forgot to pack was Opal's bathing suit. Once again we had a great time reconnecting with the family at relaxing Black Butte. Just wish we could have stayed a little longer. I didn't get very many pictures this year for a couple of reasons. I was too busy chasing Opal around and once we got there we rarely saw Ila. She and Natalie do their thing the whole time and she really doesn't have much to do with me, unless there is a crisis of course.
Creative Ila set up an arena on the outside table to use for top-spinning competitions with the Eaton family.
Poor baby Opal. Ila and her friend Lily from across the street barricaded the living room so that she couldn't get in. It sure didn't stop her from trying. You can see Ila barking orders in the background.
Always doing shows for me. 