Saturday morning, I went with Jim to take the kids to Aikido while Polly went to yoga. It was fun to watch and then we repaired to a coffee shop, where I treated myself to a pain au chocolat--not a particularly good one, but a thing I like to have to remind me of France and how good they are. I also ordered an Italian soda (raspberry), which was mainly half and half and whipped cream. Then I sat by the window with my iPad like a Seattle ite.

We took them home, where Nate and I played Spider, eventually winning a game! Two days in a row! Lidet and Jim went to the park to watch the milk carton derby (boats). Ray walked over and met them there. I read to Lidet and she took a nap. Polly and Jim and Nate left. Ray and Lidet and I went on an urban farm tour. We visited 6 or 7 of 60 homes that have backyard chickens, gardens, and sometimes rabbits or goats. We all enjoyed it. Ray told all the people about our chickens. Lidet got to feed them some clover and pat the soft rabbits. I do feel very at home here. And what a fun way to see some neighborhoods. I fantasize about buying a house here (a small one) and look at them, saying, "maybe that would we could afford."

At home, Lidet went to get her friend Natalie and they came back to the house. I made homemade pizza, which did not turn out perfectly and we ate later than I would have liked, but they were appreciative. The thing where you heat up the pizza stone and make the pizza on a big paddle, or peel, didn't work so well. Getting the pizza off of it and onto the really hot stone in the really hot oven seems pretty impossible. We ended up getting it onto a cookie sheet, but it burned in places and was raw in places. Not the way that went in my head.

We watched a Dolphin Tale, which made most of us cry several times. Good movie with good messages. So it was very late when they went to bed (almost 11). Lidet wanted us to sleep in Polly's bed upstairs, so we did. The view of the lights below is pretty amazing. I did have some trouble sleeping, maybe because it was a different bed...

Gray and windy and cool this morning. I just want to watch cartoons in my pajamas...well, almost.

Sunday morning we had pancakes, of course. Lidet and Natalie played in their pajamas for hours. It was even cooler and grayer than usual, so there was not a lot of incentive for going out. By the time Natalie went home and we got dressed and had lunch (homemade lentil stew), it was about 3 before we headed out. We were on our way to Bastille Day celebrations at the Seattle Center. We found a great parking spot (free!) and walked over, but could find no festival. There is a lot to see and do anyway--admire the Space Needle and the fountains, play in the fields. Thanks to the magic of iPhone, I discovered that there had been a mistake--Bastille Day, not surprisingly, was only Saturday, the 14th. But there was enough information to the contrary that there was a disclaimer on the website. Humph! We were looking forward to that, for sure. In particular, I wanted a pain au chocolat after my healthy, low-carb lunch! Lidet was not pleased either and rejected most of our alternative suggestions. (there's always a lot to choose from in Seattle--especially on a summer weekend). As we got back in the car, heading to Chinatown, Polly called. They were almost home. Given the choice, Lidet said, "let's go home!" So we did.

Jim and Ray and Lidet headed down to a bar. Polly and I discussed dinner and started working on it. They called me to say Lidet was heading to Goodwill and did I want to join them. So, I walked down there and helped her pick out the adorable black and white dres she has on here. Eventually we had a lovely dinner, for which she made the menu you see.