A Short Trip to Whidbey Island

Thursday Tom and I traveled to Whidbey Island to spend some time with family, and especially John and Andrea Moser.

Divorce happens.  Couples part and go their separate ways.  That doesn't mean you divorce the whole family of that former spouse.  John and Andrea are Jill's former in-laws, but they are still people we have come to love and they are still grandparents of Isaac and Irene. They still live in Colorado, so that means they see much less of Jill and her kids than they used to.  We were so pleased that they chose to come and spend a week here in the Pacific Northwest.

 We just missed the boat when we arrived at the Mukilteo dock, so I did some strolling around, including getting a different perspective of the Mukilteo light house.

 But then it was time for my ship to come in so I scurried back to the car and the queue.

 We finally got to ride the new ferry, the Tokitae.

 The rain had let up finally so Jill and the gang went to Fort Casey for the morning, so when we arrived at the cabin, I put on my gardening clothes and groomed the cabin garden, just finishing as they returned.  There were hugs all around.

We had lunch and we visited and the kids played.  John and Andrea brought the kids' cousin Allie with them.  Cousins are still cousins too. They picked up other beach kids too to join in the fun.

We all pitched in to create a feast for dinner of grilled chicken and shrimp and zucchini (of course! Jill has a garden too) and corn on the cob.

Then we went for an after dinner walk and ended up on the beach. Isaac chose to sit this one out.

 Some of us just stood for a long time watching the Osprey, or Seahawks, fish.  They are the only raptors that dive and submerge as they go after their prey. From a fairly high elevation they dive head first, hit the water with a splash, and emerge moments later, take tremulous flight and visibly shake the water off before regaining their equilibrium and rising into the air and off to find a place to eat the catch held firmly in their talons. As we watched, they were successful on about 50% of their dives.

 The evening was very calm and quiet and lovely.

Back at the cabin it was time for dessert.  I brought apple pie and Jill had left over Marion berry cobbler, and ice cream to top both.  It was plate licking good!

 Yes, I have been known to lick my plate too in the privacy of my own home.  Where do you think she learned it?

We scrambled to make the 9:00 ferry, leaving the island and family behind.

We'll see them all again Sunday morning when we get together for brunch before the Colorado family flies away back home