April has Chuck's birthday (11th), Becca's birthday (20th), Chuck's and my wedding anniversary (27th), Easter, and the NBA Playoffs, which in our family is a big deal. Frequently, as happened this year, Easter lands on either Chuck's or Becca's birthday.
I was odd man out with a birthday in July (19th). It was feeling pretty lonely until Evelyn came along and joined me on July 12. And Grandma June on the 14th. Now July is just as cozy!
Becca likes traditions and celebrating her birthday has become an example. She always wants to spend the day at Pike's Place market in Seattle, to be followed by dinner at her favorite vegetarian Thai food restaurant "Jhanjays" in Wallingford, then a short stroll down 45th brings us to "Molly Moons" ice cream shop for dessert, where she gets her favorite honey lavender ice cream in a waffle cone. This year, her special day was ended by going to the Village Theater in Issaquah to see a musical called "The Tutor". Chuck had given her tickets as a birthday present.
Our trip to Seattle started with brunch at a bistro called "Baccos" which had Nutella hot chocolate.
Then the obligatory stroll through Pikes Place to enjoy the profusion of tulips available this time of year.
Since tulips are my favorite flower, Becca has to convince me that we have enough pictures of them, then she can drag me along to discover other treasures. The market's fruit and vegetable stalls always have new delights:
Like rainbow carrots-
I really wished I had gotten a picture of whatever Little Green Balls of Death were........
Then there were Rambutans! Read the instructions!! You must spit the seed to the person on your right (????)
And scampi larger than my hand...
Once we passed the produce area, we browsed the arts and crafts booths where we happened across these adorable Bernese Mountain Dog (sniff) pins...
From the open stalls we meandered deeper into the market into the crush of little stores. One of our favorites that always merits a visit is the tea and spice store.......
From this tea store, we moseyed across the street and down Post Alley to the "Perennial Tea Shop" for a chance to sit down, rest our feet and have a cup of tea. There we tried a new spring offering called "Caramelized Pear Tea" which was actually an herbal rooibos and was delightful. I ended up buying 4 ounces of it to bring home, and Man, is it Good!!
The marvelous thing about Pikes Place Market, is that it is always the same, but at the same time, ever changing. Every single time we go we discover new shops buried in the labyrinth underground, like the Afghani shop where Becca purchased a silk scarf, and the Indian shop where I saw silk yarn recycled from silk Saris. Even shops that we are familiar with produce things we have never noticed before. I mean, really, where else can one go to find an 8oz package of rendered duck fat?
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