Dear Metropolitan Market,

As we are packing up to leave Seattle I am pondering the things that I will miss the most. I have enjoyed the new friends I have made. I love your parks, each one is seriously amazing. I also love all of your restaurants and shopping. And Burke-Gilman Trail we had some good times. But, let's be honest, Metropolitan Market, I will miss you the most!

I will miss the overflowing flowers arranged in color groupings by the door. I will miss the beautiful and glossy produce section that makes vegetables look appetizing. I will miss your glorious deli with my favorite sandwiches and other treats. I will miss your free and exotic cheese samples. Camembert! Aged Cheddar! Gouda! And dessert section, I am starting to well up as I think I leaving you behind. Cookies, pies, cakes, sold in individual portions, calling out to me. You are one minute away from my house and open for a casual visit 24 hours a day. I will miss visiting you every time I forget just one thing for dinner, or have a late-night-craving, or a weird ingredient the other stores don't sell.

I thinks it is time for the MM to branch out and start some stores in Boise.

Love, LauriAnn

So Doctor-y

Tonight Joe had his white coat ceremony signifying the end of his second year of med school and the beginning of the third when they do their clinical rotations. He is done with school now, and is studying for the board exams (major test that helps determine what type of residencies you can apply for) and the kids and I are moving next weekend! Joe's family came and we had a fun time. Joe celebrated this momentous occasion this morning by riding his bike around Lake Washington with his friends Dale and Matt. It is an at least fifty mile loop with more hills than they anticipated, but they did it!

Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip

For Memorial Day we did a scenic road trip called the Cascade Loop that circles the North Cascade Mountains in Washington. We stopped in Leavenworth, a little Bavarian town, and played some miniature golf. The kids loved it, but mostly just picked up their balls and moved them to the edge of the cup, and then hit them in. After a round of golf, we rode into town and got some ice cream and saw a German band. They were awesome! We stayed the night in Wenatchee in a sketchy little hotel.

The next day we drove by the Columbia River and and Lake Chelan. It is amazing how sunny and warm things are as soon as you get on the eastern side of the cascades. You are welcome Eastern Washington from us Western Washingtonians for absorbing all the rain and clouds. We visited a little Western-themed town called Winthrop that was pretty cute. There we saw a glass blower in action, that was fascinating! We drove through the North Cascades National Park and went sledding at the summit. We did a little bit of hiking and saw all kinds of water falls, rivers, and lakes.

That night we stayed in Bellingham near the Canadian border. The kids were thrilled to be in a hotel that had a pool. The next day we did a scenic drive called Chuckanut that followed the coast down, and it was pretty. I think everyone had a good time; Joe and I are always up for a road trip as long as we have the DVD players for the kids.