Rock & Ice

As I was sitting down around 9:15 yesterday morning to work on a blog post I received a text from my friend Lauren saying that they were going rock climbing at 9:30. Ack! I was definitely in my pajamas - but the yogurt was... becoming yogurt, the beans were cooking, and the sun was shining, so I figured why not?

I managed to get all my gear (and myself) together and over to my friend's in about 20 minutes flat. Love living in a small town. We headed over to Larrabee State Park (only about 15 minutes south of Bellingham) to find a wall located right along the railroad tracks. 

You could tell lots of people use this spot for climbing - there are a number of what I would think are "unofficial" trails leading down to the tracks, and you can see scars of the trees and rock from ropes rubbing against them so much. I also found a number of bottles of pop, beer, and water as well as other litter around. 

Cool madrone trees and the beautifully blue sky =)

We were joined by MaryAnn and her boyfriend Tim. 

This was his first time ever climbing! 

Look at Lauren go!

Me at belay. 

My turn to climb! The spot I'm at in this photo was the trickiest! 

I came back with Ross when he got off work, and the clouds were coming in for the evening. 

Ross' rock shoes make us think of aliens. 

Ross ascending the route. 

Don't I have the cutest husband ever? 

At the top! Success! 

Then I had fun playing with the 10-second timer on our camera! We took our engagement photos here at Larrabee - and decided to celebrate our 9-month anniversary last night watching the sunset over the bay.

And with a treat! On our way home we stopped by Mallard Ice Cream.

Their ice cream is all house-made and uses local and seasonal ingredients, and they usually have some unusual flavors such as Rose, Cinnamon Rhubarb, or Sour Cream!?!?! You can sample any flavor before committing to it - and I definitely sampled 4 flavors before I decided! 

I went with the Super Chocolate (aka dark) and an Espresso Cardamom - which was an intriguing flavor! Coffee and spicy at the same time - I loved this combination! It was a party for my tongue. 

Ross had a bowl of Cookies & Chocolate - also fantastic! 

As we arrived home and we walking down the steps to our home Ross spotted the BIGGEST slug he thinks he has ever seen! 

He ran inside to set stuff down and grabbed his headlamp and camera and went out to take pictures. In the meantime I put away our rock gear, switched over a load of laundry, did some dishes, and then realized he still hadn't come back inside! 

He was still hanging out with this slug family and taking pictures!!! So cute. I had never seen slugs growing up until I worked at camps on the west coast - but we have them on our back porch nearly every day now living in Bellingham. I tend to just do my best to not step on them or run them over on my bike - but it really was neat to stop and really look at this little guys. For instance - I never really noticed the holes on the sides of their heads! Sometimes it's the little things in life isn't it? 

What's a small thing that made you smile today?