Weekend Redux

FRIDAY
Family Pizza Night #164. We broke from the normal Papa Murphy's DeLite or frozen jobbies from Trader Joe's and instead gnoshed on some Pagliacci's. As a lifetime Seattleite, it's easy to grow tired of take for granted the award-winning consistency and overall yumminess that Pagliacci's has to offer... Perfectly crispy sourdough crust and a great selection of tasty toppings and combinations. Without a coupon though, you won't see us shelling out for the good stuff for just any ol' time.

Since Mommy was competing in the Issaquah Triathlon early the next morning, she took off shortly after dinner to spend the night at Nana and Papa's. Daddy and I both wound down with a bottle and some books while Mommy watched a movie with Nana and Papa.

SATURDAY
Daddy was up at 6:30AM to water the garden, clean the house and do some work on some portraits he shot Wednesday. It was another lovely day, so when I woke up Daddy and I had breakfast on the patio while listening to Sky Blue Sky, the latest from Wilco. Our backyard is really coming along; It's great to see the baby's tears filling in and the clematis finally making its way up to the trellises... Or is it trelli?

After some coffee and breakfast we headed to the Mt. Baker neighborhood for the weekly Sponge session. It's always great to see Maestra Lorena and all of the other Spongiforms. Today we learned: Es ruidoso (It's loud), Es silencioso (It's quiet), Es duro (It's hard), Es suave (It's soft), Helado (Ice cream), and Mantel (Place mat). Next week is revista, so Daddy and I are going to have to put some time in to remember all we've learned in the past four weeks. Sadly Campbell Smith and friend of the blog Doug Smith weren't there as a precautionary measure as little brother Carter is suffering from croup. Get better Carter!

Daddy and Mommy have been looking for a specific style of container for the pots they'd like to plant in the backyard for a couple of weeks now. While appearing quite robust and solid, they are in fact very light and made of aluminum or a hip new composite material called fiberstone and have kind of an aged zinc look about them. They found many examples on display at Swanson's that are the perfect size, but Swannie's doesn't actually have any available and don't expect to be getting any more. So the search continues. After Spanish Daddy and I hit: Herban Patio, Pottery Time and Home Depot while down in the general SoDo area, striking out at all three. Where does one find these pots?!

After coming up short on our quest for the pots Mom and Dad have in mind, we headed back to Ballard with a nap on the short list of things to do. But not without one worthwhile detour... The Scoop at Walter's on 32nd and 65th in Northwest Ballard. I had a cup of strawberry ice cream while Daddy had the mojito sorbet. We actually got them to go so we could enjoy them at home while waiting for Carrie Palk to stop by with a delivery for freshly picked organic vegetables.

Carrie is a foley artist and audio engineer at Bad Animals in Seattle, representative and harvester for a new grass-roots organic community-based farming effort called Growing Washington, worldwide traveler, and the uber-sweet girlfriend of Daddy's boss Michael Berlin. We signed up for their CSA Program (Community Supported Agriculture) to receive bi-monthly deliveries of the freshest organic and sustainably farmed fruit and veg that money can buy. It always feels great to support a friend and visit with the always truly enjoyable Ms. Carrie Palk.

After my siesta I awoke to freshly showered parentals as they were gearing me up to head to the house of my pal Owen for the evening while they spent some time on the town with Owen's dad Joe Moriarty and mama Lynn Burgess. In this case Mommy and Daddy were heading to the tapas lounge across the street from my school called Oliver's Twist. While no strangers to Oliver's Twist with frequent pre-pick up cocktails as just the two of them, or alongside uber-friends Doug and Tia Smith, tonight was a dedicated assault on both the bar and the food menu: Martini's, Crown and rocks, Bartender's fancies, vodka gimlets, watermelon carpaccio, roasted fingerling potatoes, Mt. Townsend Camembert cheese plate, Tomato cappuccino and grilled cheese sandwiches, lacinato kale, bleu cheese and bacon stuffed dates, and the oregano Salumi salami. Nothing was left on the table, whistles were whetted, appetites sated, and foody anxiety put to bed. Owen and I had a fun time going wild in the back yard in the meantime.

SUNDAY
After Mommy and Daddy fanatically sharing their love of the Hi-Life as a superior local breakfast choice during their dinner with Joe and Lynn all night, it was no surprise to see Owen, J.P., Joe and Lynn roll up on the joint to see what all of the fuss is about. I have yet to get the full report from the Moriarty-Burgess crew, but Mommy, Daddy and I were once again impressed with the Hi-Life's offerings.

After breakfast we zipped back to the crib so Daddy could meet Henry's dad Don Light. They were meeting there to head out to Port Orchard's Trophy Lake Golf and Casting and rendez-vous with Papa Jack and friend of the blog, Mickey Kosko. The word on the street is that Daddy and Don absolutely put on clinics... Don on what to do (shoot an 82) and Daddy on what not to do (shoot a 122).

While Daddy was off doing his thing, Mommy and I headed to the Ravenna neighborhood to help ELDC friend Nola Parnes celebrate her 3rd birthday. Mommy had the address, but after 45 minutes of looking for this mystery park locale, she decided to pack it in. I was so looking forward to the party (as I had been talking about it ad nauseum for 3 straight days), but I felt it was my role to sooth Mommy's clearly visible frustration. Better luck next time, but happy birthday to Nola as a consolation.

And the piece de resistance of the day and the swan song of the weekend was meeting up Amy Light and her pups Henry and Audrey at Green Lake. Earlier Mommy and I had cruised around the lake, played on the playground, and even went swimming together in the lake so we were really in a groove there. It was fun to play with Henry while the gals caught up, but I'd have to say my strawberry shake and splitting a burger from Red Mill pretty much super ceded all else.

Happy Monday tomorrow. =(