the parental files: day 1

Second only to her love of the loathsome green parrot (Paco) that plagues our lives in Bristol is Mom’s love of going out to breakfast.  After shaking off the jetlag Mom and Dad were treated to one of our favorite breakfast places in Seattle–Pete’s Egg Nest–a family-run diner specializing not only in wonderful breakfasts, but as one would imagine–eggs, specifically.  We were also joined by our cousin Amy, who like Mom (her side) has an affinity or good food, dining out, and being generally “social”, something the Rivard men occasionally struggle with, particularly in the morning hours.

the family at breakfast; more smiley after coffee.

Next stop was the Ballard Farmer’s Market, where Mom, unsurprisingly, was able to locate and occupy what is possibly the only exotic bird in the town of Ballard.  After spending several minutes bonding with the umbrella cockatoo, we made a few laps of the market in the late morning sun, perusing the organically farmed vegetables, fresh cut flowers, and the confections of the local bakeries.

Mom finds the only bird in the joint

Periodically coming back to ask opinions on earrings and trinket decisions, two things became abundantly clear: Mom loves anything that has a bird on it, and that Rivard men are not amused by shopping.

Fortunately a quick drive brought us to the Ballard Locks where we walked onto the grounds just as a Sunday concert band was finishing up the last half of Glenn Miller’s In the Mood.  The connecting waterway between Seattle’s Lake Union and the Puget Sound, the Chittenden Locks offer all-time water access between the two bodies of water by a controlled raising and lowering of water in compartments holding crossing ships.

walking the locks

A rise and fall of several loads of boats was enough and we made our way over the crosswalk, past the fish sluices, and over to the salmon ladder where we could see 3-4′ salmon schooling in the water prepping for the drive upstream into Lake Union.

Below the retention wall we watched some of the salmon cruise through the ladder by way of the glass observation wall, half listening to the informational recording playing over the chatter of the crowd.

Coho? Maybe?

A few unsuccessful attempts at differentiating between the species of salmon (there are five) and we headed back out into the sun.

We made a brief stop at the Fremont Bridge Troll before finally snaking a parking spaceand walking to Gasworks Park so Kevin and I could stock up on our vitamin D stores for the winter and show Mom and Dad the Seattle skyline over Lake Union.

At the Fremont troll.

 

That kid is still hanging tough…

Being a weekend it was fairly busy, with motor and sailboats crisscrossing paths as kayakers, paddleboarders, and canoers nimbly avoided collision and occasional seaplane traffic.

Pops and the boys over Seattle

 

Still adjusting to the time change and recovering from travel, the parents opted for a lower key evening, so Kevin left to do a training run and I took them for a walk around Green Lake and to get a movie to watch that evening.  Kevin did not approve of my choice if Kung Fu Panda 2, but I didn’t hear any complaints.

 

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