Bellingham!

Wearing three pairs of sunglasses on the drive up to Bellingham.
It was sunny!

Our first stop was lunch at Boomer's.

These are some of the last pictures of Xander's
remaining front baby tooth.

We spent some time at Elizabeth Park, which
made me miss our old neighborhood something fierce.

Posing for Michael.

We got to spend some time with Brian, Lynnelle, Luna...

...and Baby Grace!

Luna is simply fantastic.

Then we got to drive right around the corner and see Susan,
Chris, Maya and Zoe! It's a fact that there is no
better playroom on earth.

Zoe woke up from her nap just in time for us to say hello.

And sweet Maya was a wonderful host.

Then we all headed to Taya and Tony's, where much fun was had
as the dads and little ones ran around the back yard.

At some point during all this running around, Xander
lost his remaining front baby tooth. Did you know
the tooth fairy pays extra if you're out of town when
you lose a tooth? (Sometimes the tooth fairy
doesn't have any singles in her wallet, only fives.)

Xander must have sat stock still for 20 minutes,
taking in the view from Tony and Taya's new house.

I don't think he quite believed that this is the same view Michael and I
had from the apartment we lived in when we first got married.

"Cooking" on the front patio.

Anya is adorable -- and the best conversationalist!

Telling me a story.

Tony read bedtime stories to the kids.

This experiment in having the kids sleep in the same room
failed miserably. Clare was still awake at 11pm, after
bugging poor Xander for ages until he finally fell asleep
and was able to ignore her.

And -- no surprise! -- they were both wide awake at 6am. Lucky us!

Actually, how could we complain when this meant we went
straight down to Boulevard Park. One of my favorite
places on earth.

After grabbing bagels for everyone at the Bagelry, we came back
to Tony and Taya's for a little outdoor breakfast before Clare and I headed
home and Michael and Xander made a pit stop at a Mariners game in Seattle.