Visitors

When we arrived home from our glacier adventure on Sunday night, we had visitors waiting! 

My grandparents drove from Aurora, Colorado to Bellingham to visit us for my week break from school. (I am taking summer block classes for my masters program.) Carl and Myra are my Mom's parents and are my second set of parents - Grandma was our nanny while my Mom was working, so we spent everyday after school with them. I feel so blessed to have a close relationship with them, and they mean the world to me. 

On Monday they let us sleep a bit and helped us unload and hang all our wet gear from our trip, go grocery shopping and then we had a leisurely day exploring Bellingham. 

We started at Big Rock Garden for a nice walk, which Ross and I discovered on a walk on Memorial Day.

The fence around the sculpture garden transports you to another place. 

I finally figured out that these are Rhododendrons - the state flower of Washington. In a way I can't believe I didn't know this - though in my defense I did attend the 4th grade in Colorado and certainly can tell you that the state flower of Colorado in the Columbine. 

We saw one of the deer who frequent our yard and neighborhood. 

Then we walked hobbled (my knee is bothering me...) down the path a bit and I went into Environmental Ed mode and took my grandparents on a plant walk. 

Check out the size of these Big Leaf Maple leaves! 

We also saw sword ferns, lady ferns, Western Red Cedars, Western Hemlocks (the state tree of Washington), and Red Alders. 

Then we stopped by Lafeen's for donuts and then took them to Boulevard Park to enjoy them with coffee on the water. We also did a driving tour of campus, our church, and around downtown Bellingham.  

Then we grilled!!!!! On our little camp grill. We decided this was as much grill as we could handle/afford right now. For $20 it's perfect for the two of us, and portable so we can take it when we go car camping or to the lake for BBQs. 

Beef burgers for them, a turkey burger for me. 

And while we were out we picked up something I have been thinking about getting for a while - patio dishes! 4 bowls, plates and cups that won't break if you drop them, and all for under $10. We figure will also work great for car camping. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! (Ross is stoked that they are dishwasher safe as well!)

I slathered my turkey burger with Colby jack cheese, ketchup and wing sauce. 

We also enjoyed a fresh salad with mixed greens, peppers, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and garbanzo beans as well as roasted sweet potatoes. Yummy dinner! Though my grandparents and I don't really agree on organics (cost $$), at least they love their veggies! 

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Today we surprised them with a day long adventure in the San Juan Islands for the 46th anniversary - which I will tell you about tomorrow! Good night!