Whidbey Island trip

Last weekend, we went to Whidbey Island with two of our favorite families from preschool.  We have matched-age kids that get along very well, and we adults get along well too, so it was a total treat to travel together.  For those of you not in the know, Whidbey Island is a long winding bit of land within Puget Sound, north of Seattle.

You take a ferry, which breaks up the trip very pleasantly, although it's less than two hours so you hardly even need to break it.  Here are the kids eating ice cream while we wait for the next boat.  That's Adam, Jordan, Aaron, Nathaniel, and Ian with the dark curly hair; Amara (the other four-year-old) was probably dancing.  (FYI this was probably the best weather we had all weekend... while other regions around the country bake like so many potatoes, our zone is cool and cloudy.)

We stayed at a place called the Fort Casey Inn, in what used to be military officers' quarters:  charming old two-bedroom homes with steep staircases, covered porches, vintage furniture, full kitchens, and a lot of patriotism in the décor.  Many eagles.  There are two units to a building; we three families rented both sides and had the run of the place. 

Upstairs was this unusual print of a classical lady noticing a bomber in the distance.  ?

The other real oddity of the house was the water.  It had such a horrible flavor you would gag on it.  It was like sucking a rusty pipe.  We couldn't make coffee or boil pasta in it, it was so vile.  We used spring water instead.  Even taking a shower felt like you were barely breaking even.

We divvied up the meals and cooked at the house.  I volunteered for Shabbat dinner and had the challah rising in the trunk of the car on the way there!  There was not a table that seated 12, so we combined a couple smaller tables and transformed a large utility room into a lovely dining hall.

When we were at the house, mealtimes were practically the only times we laid eyes on the older boys.  They were in six- and seven-year-old heaven, talking nonstop about Pokémon and Bakugan and other imaginative warlike things I could not even follow.  They bedded down on the living room floor, and we adults hung out in the other living room listening to their chatter through the baby monitor.  For hours.  Here they are getting ready for bed, listening to a story by lantern light.

And here they are not waking up in the morning.

That was fine with me; I spent the early mornings blissfully reading a book and listening to the birdsong from the covered porch, with a beautiful view of the water.  Jules had already made the coffee and was in agreement about the true soul of a vacation being a beautiful spot with a book.  I seem to have no photo of that spot, so you will just have to be envious.

Saturday we spent the morning at Fort Casey itself, which all the children (particularly our very war-oriented older boys) thought was seriously awesome.  There were cannons and turrets and alcoves and tunnels and storerooms and a lighthouse.  We explored it all.

There were also a lot of totally nauseating dropoffs.  This one actually had a railing, but many of them didn't.  Kids on ledges freak me out, and we had six of them, all very happy and energetic and fearless.  My heart was in my mouth the whole time and it didn't taste good.

I prefer the taste of marshmallows roasted by the beach.  This was a short walk from the house.  Sadly Adam and Jessica are missing from this picture; Adam got sick and Jessica volunteered to take him home for the rest of the weekend (and study harder for impending exams).  We missed them!

Our last event was tide pools at Deception Pass State Park.  The cool and cloudy had shifted into actual drizzle by then, but we still saw some exciting sea life and had a tasty picnic.  Great weekend everybody!