Last Hurrah in Port Townsend

On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the kids over to Port Townsend for a couple of days -- our last weekdays before Lucy starts school five days a week. This week, most of the kids Lucy plays with have already gone back to school. So instead of hanging around the house with the kids or doing the usual Seattle area things to entertain ourselves, it seemed a trip to the country to be with the grandparents was in order. It is so quiet here and the air feels so fresh and clean. The kids are so very happy here. Why wouldn't they be? Today we got up leisurely, drove to downtown PT then walked up the beach to Chetzamoca Park - a breathtakingly beautiful park full of wide stretches of grass, beautiful old trees, a bridge, flowers, an arbor, the glistening sea sprawling in the distance - had a picnic and then walked back down to town to have homemade Italian ices and play more at another park on the beach. Lucy went into her own world, barefooted at the edge of the clear, cold water, picking shreds of emerald green seaweed out of the waves to make cake. Jasper quickly joined her in this endeavor. Is there anything more magical than playing at the edge of the sea? Well, maybe so, if you also add the backdrop of the wooden sailboats trolling by, the seabirds swooping, the sunshine sprinkling down while a slightly cool breeze blows the long yellow grasses. You get the picture...

Now I have to shatter the perfect image by adding that Jasper slept atrociously last night. He officially woke twice, but in between those times he called out for me every 15 minutes or so, until I realized his bed had gotten too lumpy with all the blankets I put on him. Once I sorted those out, sleep improved. Lucy, of course, slept soundly and luxuriously next to me, taking up a good two-thirds of the bed. Sleeping through the night and no more diapers: these are things I dream of.