July Celebrations

Well, so far I am surviving the busiest month of the year of multiple birthdays and all the various celebrations of July.   When the kids were little, I would basically collapse when August came and say “I survived July!!” because it truly was an accomplishment.  We have my birthday in July, Nick’s birthday, Lauren’s birthday, (and Hana and Keaton’s birthdays but they aren’t here right now), our anniversary and then the Fourth of July all in one month.  It’s basically nonstop around here. Also, my sister came to visit this month from Colorado to see her newborn grandson (another celebration!) who lives just a few miles from our house so it was perfect for her to stay with us, plus I love having her here for lots of sister-time.  Of course, we had a family barbecue during her visit so we could all welcome the new addition to our family. 

It was also good timing that my sister was here for my birthday, too.  We all went to dinner at a local neighborhood favorite restaurant called Salty's which is always such a fun time.

and I got my favorite complimentary birthday cake that I've been getting for years. 

Nick’s birthday was earlier in the month so we FaceTimed him on his birthday and then again on my birthday. He is working in Bahrain right now while Sachiyo and the kids are in Japan. It was so interesting to hear about life in that part of the world.  We talked for 2 hours on his birthday. He’s staying at a 5-star Four Seasons hotel there and gave us a tour. It’s basically too hot to go outside until evening when it drops to under 95 degrees because of it's extremely high humidity. He went to Abu Dhabi one day which was a 1 hour flight away to see the U.S. Olympic basketball team play Australia.  So, he’s making the most of his time there. He LOVES the food there, too.  It’s a combination of Greek-type food and other international cuisines but no pork at all because of the dominate Muslim religion and also no alcohol! Bahrain is an island next to Saudi Arabia and also close to Dubai.  Since it is so international, Americans are welcomed there plus a U.S. naval base is there which is where he goes to work each day.

He says it reminds him of Singapore.  He’s been to Singapore a few times for work and it’s also very modern and new but instead of 80 percent of the population being Asian, in Bahrain, 80 percent are Arab.  It was nice to be able to get all caught up with Nick and his exciting, world-traveling life. Lauren’s birthday is next week and I don’t know what we are doing to celebrate yet but I told her to pick out a favorite restaurant and we’d take her. Gotta love July! And then we had our anniversary celebrating 43 years since our wedding day.  As one of my longtime friends who knew me many years before I met Bruce said to me this year about our anniversary, "Sylvia, you hit the jackpot!"  

Bruce would think the same thing, though, that he hit the jackpot.  We were both very lucky to find each other and we still know it today.  Sometimes, the stars align just right in life and in 1980, they did for us. So, to celebrate, we drove to Gig Harbor, about an hour away and had dinner at another favorite called Anthony's.  They have a gorgeous setting to eat as you can see from the photo above and also great food: currently focusing on all the glorious berries that are ripe this time of year like in my hard lemonade cocktail. 

We booked a sunset cruise on an authentic Venetian gondola around the harbor that we'd seen before when we visited Gig Harbor.   I always wanted to do that since we went to Venice, Italy in 2016 so we finally did and it was spectacular.  We were serenaded in a authentic gondola from Venice with a fantastic driver who sang in Italian.  It was just like out of a movie.  

It was so fun and so much more than we expected. Our driver told many interesting stories and an excellent tour of the harbor. And his singing voice was beautiful.   It really was breathtaking. 

 It was an amazing evening and the moon was nearly full. Mt. Rainier was out it in all her glory - it honestly could not have been more perfect.  

I'd have to say it was one of our best anniversary celebrations.  If you can't go to Venice, this is definitely the next best thing. 

And then of course, we had a busy Fourth of July. We went to a Mariner game with friends and then came back to our house for a barbecue.  We barbecued burgers and I made my special Fourth of July Fresh Berry Trifles and yes, they tasted as good as they look.  We can't get enough of all the berries this time of year.  

We can see the Seattle city fireworks pretty good from our house.   It was also fun watching all the private fireworks going off all over the city since we live on top of a hill so we can see quite far.  It's never a dull moment from our view on the Fourth of July.   

And July is still not over.  We have more planned ahead and are ready for more fun, excitement and celebrations.  Summer in Seattle is always the best and we try to make the most of it.  And in August, I will say once again, "I survived July!!"