Picnic and a New Friend

Vân and a few colleagues from work organized their first picnic. It began with the simple idea of sharing food and introducing the children to each other. Vân thought it would be just a few families. But it became a huge success with at least 15 families showing up with their children in tow. We had a lot of fun meeting new people with children. And Sophie made a new friend -- Lucia.

 

Mother's Day at Joule

It's a little too late to wish Vân a happy mother's day on this blog. But we did go out to celebrate her day. We had brunch at Joule in Ballard.

The first time we went to Joule was years ago, when it was still in Wallingford. I don't think Sophie was even an idea yet at the time. The food, fusion Korean and French, was so good that I still remember some of the dishes we had that day. Kim chi gnocchi and condensed milk ice cream with chocolate molten cake. 

Joule did not disappoint us this time -- even years later at a new location. Vân had the Joule version of chicken and waffle. It was waffle with tonkatsu. And I had the shrimp and grit with Chinese sausage (lạp xưởng). Everything was so good -- and interesting. But what made Joule better this time around was that we could share it with Sophie. She was very well-behaved, and she tried all of our food. We hope she will have our love for food and appreciate the labor and love that go into cooking.

Mother & daughter

Juice!

Waffle with tonkatsu

Shrimp and grit with Chinese sausage

Hama Hama Revisited

About a month ago, we made it back to Hama Hama oyster farm for their last open farm event of the year. It was a bit sad to say goodbye, but it was really fun visiting the farm again.

Instead of driving the whole way, we took the ferry to Bremerton, which was half way to the farm, then drove the rest of the way. Taking the ferry didn't save much time, but we wanted to introduce Sophie to it. She loved the ferry ride. She was giggling the whole way. And on the way, we saw a whale breaching. It was too fast for me to take a picture, so you guys just have to take my word for it.

I love ferry!

"What's that about it?"

Ferry in the distance

The weather was so much better this time around. Sophie actually walked around on her own and attempted to dig for clams. She touched a sea star -- a first in my book! And when she fell and scratched herself on some oyster shell, she just wiped her hand and kept playing.

Mother and daughter going to work

Crab

I'm touching a sea star

Sea cucumber

I want to eat this one!

Blood, Sweat, & (No) Tears

Gunnel (fish)

Digging for clams

Clams

Lunch -- chorizo, tripple cream brie, Izzie, and focaccia bread

We wanted to stay longer, but they had to shut down the event because the temperature was reaching 65F. This is the point where oysters break down their meat and fat and begin to spawn. It might be good for the oysters, but it would not be good for us -- to eat them. We packed up our 4 dozens of oysters and 3 lbs of clams with ice and headed straight home. Deep fried oysters were the best. Until next year!

Oysters

Clams with pasta

Dancing

It's about time we have another video of Sophie dancing. This time she was dancing to the theme song of the movie "Tangled." She got a few new moves. Have a look.

Boating in Lake Union

Vân learned from a friend at work that the Center for Wooden Boats in Lake Union had free boat rides every Sunday. So we had to take Sophie. We were a bit worried at first because Sophie didn't seem to like the water. But it turned out that she loved it. We saw hydroplanes coming and going; sail boats; yachts bigger than our apartment; and house boats -- where they filmed "Sleepless in Seattle." Then to top it off, we went to Dot's in Fremont for lunch -- sandwiches with merguez and steak, and fries with aioli. We came home really sleepy. 

I'm ready to go!

Where's our boat?

Our electric boat

Sail boat

House boats

Captain Jack in the back

Sophie's favorite meal - fries with Coke