About 6 days short of being here for a month, I think we are finally settled in!
When we first arrived, we stayed in temporary (plush!) housing in Kirkland, WA. It was a really nice, furnished apartment directly in the center of town, within walking distance of everything there. Laura and I spent our first days at the park, library, shores of Lake Washington, and generally all over being "explorers". Andrew and I had visited this town in February on high recommendations from a friend of mine, but for whatever reason when we had initially visited the town turned me off in some sort of way and I had said "Let's NOT look there anymore!". After actually staying in the town, I have no idea what I was thinking and must have just been in a weird mood that morning! Kirkland is really nice, but we chose to live in Redmond (which is better... just saying - you can't always judge a town by a quick drive through!)
Finally, on July 1st, we got to move into our new house! It was so nice to get our stuff back, as it had been in storage since May 28th. Opening the boxes was like getting new stuff again! Of course, moving always involves digging into your capital for installation and setup fees (annoying!)... but at least now I can be calm and write about it as we are past that stage. :)
In trying to stock our house, we've gotten to know the lay of the land. There are many familiar stores such as Target and Whole Foods... but other than that most of the stores are different. The grocery stores comprise of QFC (Kroger equivalent?), Safeway (Randalls), Fred Meyer (like a small WalMart), and Top Foods. Then coming from Houston, expecting furniture delivery services like Mattress Mac offers, is apparently a lot to ask for here!
Henry and Lorraine drove in 4th of July weekend on their way to visit friends in Portland. Good thing - we put them to work unpacking right away! :) It also gave us a little extra motivation to get things setup properly. We celebrated Henry's birthday and then on the 4th, watched a firework celebration in Bellevue. Which, by the way - Bellevue was ranked 4th in 2010 for best places to live in the US!
(Really the whole "Eastside": Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland might as well be considered one place.) :)
Overall, we love it here! The temperature is great (for the most part - except for last week when it hit into the high 90s and we didn't have AC!), scenery is beautiful, and the air is fresh! It has a small town feel, yet everything you could want to do.
Here are some pictures from the first month!
Laura and her new best friend, Lily. Luckily, they do actually get along quite well and Lily tends to sleep in Laura's bed each night along with the other "babies" and "animals".
A shot of the sign hanging over Pike's Place Market.
It is quite the hangout on a weekend morning! Shop owners throwing around fish the size of small children, singing hippies, and generally the people watching place for when you are not buying spices, tea, and produce!
Last time we went, Laura ran through a Chinese genocide protest/memorial. They were having some sort of silent "sit-in" and she ran through laughing her head off before we realized it. A bit embarrassing, but funny. :P
This is also around Pike's Place. I love this picture because it reminds me of Laura as like a circus dancer with the pigeons. :)
This is Mt. Ranier. Extremely tall mountain with glaciers on the top.
It looks over the whole Seattle/Eastside area and SUPPOSEDLY on a clear day, has been seen in Portland. I'm not sure how much I believe that though for a few reasons... but mainly, it's never clear. :)
It is the defining image though for the Seattle mentality of getting out in the wilderness, hiking, and biking, etc... Another weird thing though and this picture doesn't show it, but the mountain really is gigantic and breathtaking when you are driving around. On an overcast day, the clouds can hide this in a way you would never know it is there. This fact is just amazing to me and really shows you the power of the skies that a few clouds could cover up something so grand.
Andrew built Laura a tent out of our luggage and the bedding in the temporary housing. She thought it was the coolest thing ever.
You can't tell, but we're riding a stone frog in the park... :)
Laura playing on the shores of the lake by our house.
Andrew and Laura at the park.
The girl can't seem to keep the PB&J off of her face... :)
Because of all of the rain, there are flowers everywhere! Probably the most common is lavender and hydrangeas.
Running away from the ducks at Lake Washington.
