Gladitude Monday

Well, it's not officially, officially summer yet, but I thought the red, white, and blue worked nicely for the holiday. Happy Memorial Day, everybody. God Bless America.

Whidbey Island, WA is a treasure for our family, and we've been blessed to have a beach house there for almost 2 years. I thought it might be fun to do a pictoral Gladitude, showing some of my gladdy mcfavorite things about Whidbey. You'll notice that eating is a pretty high priority.

The Bayview Farmer's Market.

We usually get cheeeeeese, Grommit!

And on occasion: An incredible, edible, marionberry, gladariffic pie.

Then, sometimes, we go to Mike's Place, for desirable edibles, such as chocolate chip pancakes, huevos rancheros, turkey club sandwiches, and omelets. But we try not to go to Mike's for the same meal as the farmer's market. Ahem.

Oh, look! Another restaurant. Does Gretchen cook at all? This one serves green eggs and ham. Shall I count the ways it makes me glad? Moving on...

The Clyde Theater makes me ever so gladdy! We just saw Monsters and Aliens last night. $6 for adults, and $4.00 for kids, I think. Popcorn starts at $1/bag. Drama was asked by the theater owner if she wanted to start the movie last night. How often does that happen at the metroplex? Of course the movies are about a month old, but we're usually not the first to the theater, anyway.

Whales make us all glad! We haven't seen a gray whale for a while now, but we don't give up trying! Also, it's fun to look for seals and sea birds, too. The kids (and most of these "urban" shots) are in Langley, a town about 4 miles from our house. They roll up the streets and shut down the town at 9 p.m., but we likey.

Of course there's hardly anything that gladifies us more than going beach combing. When the tide goes out, we can walk out at least a 1/2 mile, and look at things like crabs, heron, and these live sand dollars, below. When alive, they're inky black. Poor crabs are dead, but don't they make for a great picture? :)
Below: Mr. Bald Eagle. My favorite animal to see on Whidbey. This guy was pretty far away, so the picture isn't great, but I LURVE SEEING THESE on the beach and near our house. Majestic.

Finally, a fun tradition, started last year is building a driftwood fort. Last year, as you may recall, we built Ft. Stinky--so named after the stinky fish and seaweed.

Yesterday, after many failed attempts, a bruised thumb (me), bruised unmentionables (David), we went home and built up energy and momentum.

Today, I give you, with all the gladitude in my heart:

The FS II.

Drama took a picture of me in all my unshowered, cowboy hatted glory.

Gladness.

Blessings, all!