Despite the fact that we are all adults now, my cousins and I still sit at the perpetual “kids table.” No matter the celebration or the venue, somehow this is how it always works out. So the day after my grandma’s birthday party, we decided to step it up with Cousins Day. We ditched our parents and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island for lunch. Since we don’t see each other often, it was great to spend a little quality time together.

Hooray for Cousins Day!

And yay for the Armstrong kids in my “I (heart) NY” t-shirts!

The real reason we were in Seattle was to celebrate my grandmother’s 88th birthday. And what better excuse for a family reunion? We came from near and far - San Diego, the Bay Area, Sacramento, New York, and Seattle - to honor my mom’s mom. This amazing woman has 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, and that doesn’t even include significant others! It’s always been important to her to have everyone together, which makes these gatherings extra special. Just look how much fun it was to take some family photos!

Jack was not interested in a family photo.

He just wanted to play!

Finally, a (almost) successful family photo.

Mother and her 3 children.

Grandmother and 6 of 7 grandchildren.

Great-grandmother and great-grandchildren. (This was the best we could do, since the kids kept running away!)

Suffering from jetlag, I woke up on Saturday morning bright and early. So while Matthew slept in, I took a solo journey back to Pike Place Market. The produce vendors laid everything out like a rainbow of colors. It was simply beautiful. I walked around and ogled all sorts of goodies on my morning stroll. Unfortunately I was headed for brunch at my aunt’s house in a couple hours, so I had to refrain from tasting everything at the market. Next time!

(with a name like that, I HAD to buy a couple of these!)

Woohoo! Freedom! (runaway crawfish)

I missed my good friend Pete’s wedding in June, so I was excited to have dinner with him and his new wife, Sue. Pete and I worked together in SF and have been good friends for years, and he moved back to Seattle a couple years ago. They chose Wild Ginger, a very popular Asian-fusion restaurant in downtown, conveniently near our hotel. It was fun to catch up and hear about life in Seattle.

While wandering around downtown Seattle, we stumbled upon the Sand Sculpture Competition. Some of the sculptures were quite creative. There were some works in progress, and some finished pieces. It was a perfect, sunny day for such an activity.