I’m a bit behind sharing our weekend adventures this week.  We had a special visitor, so the weekend stretched into Monday.  Friday night was a family night at our favorite Juanita Friday market.  Can you believe that we still have what seems to be an endless supply of summer berries?  I bought two more flats – blueberries and golden raspberries. 

Casey and I both thought that crepes sounded good for dinner, and somehow when we went to order we both ended up with banana Nutella crepes.  Oops!  You only live once.

Saturday was a lazy afternoon at home, followed by a nice evening out in Seattle – visiting a few of our favorite spots. 

Sunday morning we were up early to prepare for a guest arrival!  We had plans to go out for brunch, so I made my breakfast accordingly.  Eggs and smoothies for everybody, including Cullen.  He had a blend of raspberries, mango, banana, and blueberries – it was a HIT.

After Cullen’s morning nap, we headed over to Portage Bay Café to meet up with Meghan – one of my college roommates!  Meg lives in California and came up to Seattle for the weekend.  I was so SO excited to get to spend two days with her.  Hadn’t seen her since my wedding in 2009!

We caught up over brunch, while I inhaled a huge plate of challah bread French toast.  Out of this world.

The weather was perfect this weekend, so we took advantage and tried to stay out for as long as possible.  We walked off our French toast with a loop around Greenlake, and then headed over to Fremont to browse the market.

Cullen rode around on dad’s shoulders.  His little ball cap KILLS me.

Every time I go to the Fremont market I have to stop and check out my favorite booth – Tuesday scarves.  I am slightly obsessed with her scarves, and I buy them for friends and family for holidays and birthdays.  She had a sale bin of summer scarves, and I snagged this cute green and yellow one for just $20.

We also popped into the Theo Chocolate store for some yummy samples and a few bars to enjoy back at home.

And we grabbed a bag of our favorite Ladro coffee before heading out of Fremont.  Even though I love our new house, every time I’m over there I miss just being able to walk home to our little townhouse right around the corner.

Monday mornings are usually my busiest – trying to catch up from the weekend and get ready for the coming week.  But since Meg was still in town visiting, I took the morning and afternoon off to enjoy an extra day with her.  We had a slow morning at home while we waited for Cullen to take his first nap. 

And then we were off to the Seattle wilderness to enjoy a bit of nature and sunshine.  Meg loves the outdoors as much as I do, and I thought Discovery Park would be the perfect place to show her some of Seattle’s natural beauty. 

This was my first time doing the new hiking backpack by myself – it is tough to carry thirty extra pounds on your back!  I knew this was a relatively easy hike though, so I figured it would be a good test run.  We hiked along the South Beach Trail down toward the water.

And finally made our way to the beach for a much needed lunch break.  I packed sandwiches – avocado, arugula, and cucumber on sliced sourdough – delicious!

I wish all Monday lunches included breathtaking views and sandy feet.

Cullen slurped down one of this fruit pouches for lunch.  These are the only purees he still eats, and he loves them!  Demolished in about 30 seconds flat.

I also packed on of his little cups with blueberries.  I can’t even think about how many blueberries this little boy has consumed this summer.

While fall is creeping in around the rest of the country, Seattle is experiencing late summer – temps in the 80’s all week long!  I know we’ll be in scarves and rain boots soon enough, so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.

We hiked for almost three hours total, and Cullen was a champ in the hiking backpack.  He loves riding around on his throne.  It’s a great workout to carry him around, although I definitely appreciated the break on the beach.

Not bad for a Monday.

I love this girl so much, and we don’t see each other nearly as often as I’d like.  So excited to make my first trip to San Diego next summer for her wedding!

Cullen missed the memo on the group shot.

My legs were burning as we hiked back up from the beach.  I also managed to get us lost in some old abandoned military barracks.  It sort of felt like we’d wandered into a horror film.  Around 4ish miles later, we eventually found our way back to the car and headed to the airport.  Such a treat to visit with a friend who enjoys Seattle’s beautiful scenery as much as I do.

Now it’s back to work after being spoiled with an extra day of fun.  One of my friends has started watching Cullen once week while I work, so he’s off to play, and I’m off to the coffee shop to catch up on a major backlog of emails and Babble posts.  Here we go!