Silverdale, Washington

We have been in Washington for three days now visiting with my brother, his wife Larissa, and daughter, Evie. We arrived on Tuesday evening and ate pizza with them at a local pizzeria. On the next day, Wednesday, it was over cast and a little rainy but that was to be expected, it's Washington. We traveled Bremerton where the naval shipyard is to visit the museum there. It was interesting for the men but to myself and 4-year-old Evie, not so much. We found the children's area in the museum and remained there for about 30 minutes. There was a galley and chef's clothing and books, toys and an informational video for children explaining about the ship. When it was time to leave, we went out to the back of the museum where there was a water garden with pools of water with large fountains in the middle. There was a total of five and they were sequenced to "erupt" at certain times. It looked like a volcano spitting out a mushroom cloud of water that cascaded to the pool beneath it. Evie very much enjoyed watching the fountains explode. Scott, my brother, captured a video of her watching the fountains and the squeals of excitement coming from her are the definition of pure, unadulterated joy that only a child can make. Dinner took place at a local brewery restaurant near the mall in Silverdale which made delicious root beer and ginger ale.

Thursday the weather was sunny and beautiful with a breeze making the temperature a comfortable mid-60's. Before heading out for the day I decided to do some yoga to stretch out. I was in the main living room (which has the most space) and Evie thought I was playing some sort of a game and she was running around me and under me while I was in certain poses. So I decided to take that time to teach her some things. Instead of calling the different poses their actual names I explained them to her and she did a great job of copying me. It was really cute.

We went to a park and beach shore near Scott's house where we practiced skipping rocks on the lake and gathered shells. Then we drove to the library in Bremerton where Larissa works. It is a quaint, cozy, small library with an endearing atmosphere. Next stop was Mom and Dad's hotel where Scott (my husband) and I swam in the pool with an excited Evie. It was an indoor pool but that didn't make the water any less chilly. She was having a great time and I don't think she noticed the temperature of the water until she got out and realized she was cold.

Friday (today) was our last full day here with my brother. We took a day trip to Seattle today and it was very enjoyable. We rode the ferry from Bremerton into downtown Seattle. I'd never ridden a ferry that large before. It was an hour long trip just to cross the Sound. It was windy, chilly and fun. Scott and I stood out on the deck for most of the trip, watching the water and waves looking for whales but, alas, no whales on this trip. Once we got into Seattle, we found parking and then walked around the famous Pike Place Fish Market looking at different crafts and food items they were selling. Scott and I bought a really cool cheese tray/ decorative wall hanging. It is an old wine bottle, melted down flat (long ways), with a picture glued on to it for more flare. It looks really cool.

After lunch we went up the Seattle Space Needle to look at the view. Did you know that it's $20 per person?! I thought that was a little excessive but I didn't pay for it and the view was worth the money. Plus while we were up there walking around the outside I thought I heard some familiar foreign words coming from the group of three women in front of me. As Mom and Dad opened the door to go inside I held back and followed the women. After I got close enough to hear part of their conversation, I did in fact recognize the language. It was Hungarian!! I seized the moment and interrupted them asking them if they were Hungarians and started a conversation with the three of them. Really nice ladies and they were very impressed with my speaking abilities and so was I, seeing as I've been home for almost 2 years with basically no one to speak Hungarian with. So that little interaction made the whole trip worth it for me. Very exciting to speak Hungarian with actual Hungarians in America.

Once we came down from the Space Needle it was time for us to start heading back to Silverdale so we dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport (their flight doesn't leave until 11pm!) and we drove back to Scott and Larissa's apartment. Tomorrow we leave here to continue the rest of our journey but first we will go to Canada to see some Pysch filming locations. As you can see, we really like that show!