I heart Ballard

Much of my weekend was spent in Ballard, the Seattle neighborhood I grew up in. Friday I was thrilled to have an afternoon with my cousin who just moved back from Colorado. We hit our favorites--Ivar's, Gasworks, coffee (from Cafe Fiori) & Shilshole Beach.
Saturday was Demolition Day at my mom's house. We took down the old garage in the backyard, which was built in 1930 when the house was going up (the first owners likely lived in the garage while the house was being constructed).
As we were watching Bet wield the chainsaw, sawing through the beams all rough & tough, Boo comments: "This is the same guy who likes bubble baths." :)

The final wall is down!

It's amazing how much this changes the backyard--my mom is very excited to expand her garden. The ground apartment next door will be razed later this year (as well as the house behind it) & townhomes will go up--the view from the back alley will likely change dramatically by next spring.

We uncovered all kinds of bugs & spiders during demolition, which was fun for me. We found possibly the biggest European House Spider I have ever seen. Testing out the macro setting on my camera, here's a nest of newborn spiders making their way into the world (Elyse, skip this photo).

And I couldn't resist climbing the apple tree again. This tree was my access to the top of the garage. As a little kid I used to pack a backpack with a snack & a couple books, climb the apple tree, & "run-away" to the roof of the garage.

After much accomplished at my mom's (but more to do), we headed to downtown Ballard for the Second Ascent Twilight Crit--always a great series of races. Here's the mens Category 1 coming down Salmon Bay at around 32 mph.

Today I biked to church & then met Levi at home to go check out a cruiser off Craig's List (yes, I want another bike) & looked at a few open houses along the way.
I hope everyone had a great weekend--hopefully the next one will be sunny & warmer!