As I left my noon meeting at The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 I paused midway up the concrete stairs at Tacoma's Landmark and took this rooftop view of Mt. Rainier ignoring the photographer joke/advice of Dane Meyer, "Use your flash." In the lower right had corner of the image you can just make out the top of the Murray Morgan bridge. Another beautiful view of Mt Rainier is a freeway shot just above and through the bridge. It would be foolish to stop and take that photo eventhough this was our April Fools adventure.
Our original plan was to pick up our youngest granddaughter, Laci, on Friday, April Fools Day and return her home in time for play practice at her church. However, it turned out we would have had to return her early in the morning on Sunday instead of early in the afternoon. Spring Break offered us an opportunity to visit her earlier in the week, so Peg was going to pick her up while I attended Rotary. That changed, too.
In the end, Wendy, our daughter-in-law dropped her off on Thursday evening.
Our friend, Randy Melquist stopped by Thursday evening to take home a container of left-over bean soup. The soup was made with the bone and ham pieces for Easter dinner. Peg's broth was unbelievable. She boiled down a turkey carcass on Sunday and then the next day used that stock to cook the hambone, ham pieces and two kinds of white beans. With cornbread it was fantastic. It was not a quick exchange. Randy joined Peg and I at the breakfast table. We laughed and shared news until Wendy and Laci arrived (about nine-thirty).
Once Randy and Wendy left, I wrongly thought it would be bed time. While I called it a day, Peg and Laci had a creative evening. Peg told Laci should could take home whatever art supplies she wanted. They worked on art until one-thiry in the morning. Peg created a very nice "beet" card for her friend Jeanie, who was having a grand opening of her cafe in University Place at noon on Friday.
At ten on Friday I gave up and woke up Peg and Laci. I think they would have slept well into the afternoon. As we walked out to the car, Laci remarked, "Deer are walking up the driveway." I said, "Yes, those are our guard deer.
We arrived slightly after the grand opening. We just missed our friend George Bell, Jeanie's dad who had to get back to work. Laci, Peg and I chose a noon snack. While Laci and Peg selected excellent cookies I ordered the strawberry scone. The scone looked a little strange. It didn't have the pie shape of a normal scone, it also wasn't dry like a normal scone. For me scones have always been an excuse to consume large amounts of butter . . . not that there's anything wrong with that. Jeanie's scones however didn't need butter. They fell apart . . . more like a moist cookie than a biscuit. The scone was gone well before we were joined by our friends Jan and Mike and their granddaughter, Aurey. There is nothing like cute little granddaughters to bring a smile to your face . . . well, okay, scones, cookies, and granddaughters.
Jeanie's Place is located at 3318 Bridgeport Way W, in University Place in the Alicia Apartment and office complex. With the middle of the road divider, you can only enter the parking lot driving south on Bridgeport Way. Jeanie's Place is in the right-hand corner on the ground floor.
Soon Jeanie's mom, Bernie Bell, along with three of her co-workers from downtown Tacoma walked into the cafe. Bernie had called in her order. The cafe has a small gathering room in addition to the cafe itself. In warm weather there is an interior open-air patio in the middle of the building with tables, chairs, and plants. That will be a really nice feature for summer. When we left customers were waiting for our chairs and table. We got the menu, however.
As soon as we drove away, Peg called granddaughter Vanessa Carey. Vanessa was in town for training about charting as part of her Nurse Practitioner program from the University of Washington. It took her three years of submitting applications to get accepted. There's only so much room and so many applicants. It's an excellerated two-year program. She is a hardworker. When we visit Seattle for an adventure we like to connect with Vanessa and her boyfriend, William.
Vanessa and her other grandfather Randy joined us for lunch at the Original Pancake House (6th and Pine). It was nice to chat with our little family group over pancakes . . . and bacon. Unfortunatly, Vanessa was unable to attend her mom's birthday party on Sunday at It's Greek to Me . . . but we'll probably see Randy, again.
Sunday morning addition: Our niece Marie Keplinger was just accepted for the nursing program at Bellevue College!
We had one more afternoon stop before Peg, Laci, and me could hope for a nap. We were going to visit UPS (University of Puget Sound) for an art exhibit.
Laci had never been to UPS before. Her mother graduated from long-time rival Pacific Lutheran University. Wendy met Patrick while she was a student at PLU. Peg and I met while we were both students at UPS.
We went inside the SUB (Student Union Building). Peg and I pointed out where we met (below the clock where three boys are talking). Imagine a crowed floor with rock and roll music blasting. I walked up to Peg and her friend Penny and asked Peg to dance. Peg thought I was asking her friend Penny, so she looke at Penny expecting her to answer and then did a double-take and said, "Me?" We had a date the following day. Eventrually in the second floor above the dining room is where I would lay my head in Peg's lap, while music played on Friday nights. I would eventually fall asleep before heading out to my late night shift at Western State Hospital. As soon as I was asleep Peg would take a text book and lay it on my head so she could study. I still a flat spot on my forehead where her heavy reading rested.
Laci, asked "Can we walk through here?" She must have figured we needed permission, but a university is not like a public grade school. We walked through the building and then out onto the campus. It must have been visitor's day. We could see little groups of prospective students be given little tours. What a gorgeous day. Outside the SUB there was rock/rap music playing. Students having a pie throwing fund raising program provided laughter and interest. Small groups of friends had little picnics across the lawns.
I spend most of my time and UPS in Kittredge Hall. That's where the art classes were held. My classes were mostly independent study. I was a Fine Arts (painting and drawing) major. On the bottom floor is Kittredge Gallery. Admission is free, and there is almost always a current exhibit. We were there to see "Sculpted Books." It wasn't what we thought it would be. The books weren't part of a sculpture, but rather each book was excavated. Like a giant open-air mine the art is revealed by cutting out sections from the cover onward. James Allen: Anesidora reveals art that becomes its own shadow box.
My favorite piece was "The Queen of Autumn Flowers" illustrating the chrysanthemum. Pages are cut so petal like slices cascade out of the book to add even more dimension.
After well-needed naps we headed to dinner for our usual Friends & Fridays gathering. Chrildren and grandchildren make appearances from time to time. Even at the age of ten you are expected to participate. We did a round-robin discussion are what fifth grade was like for each one of us gathered around the table. It was an early evening and I thought Laci and Peg would retire early. I think Peg would have, but Laci wanted to create more art. The finally got to bed about two hours later. On Saturday morning I had to knock and scratch on the door to awaken Laci. We grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's and then I dropped off the two of them at Point Ruston cinema for Zootopia, which Laci hadn't seen, yet and Peg was happy to see it again. Afterwards we drove to Puyallup for a quick bite at Don's Drive-In continuing on to Edgewood, where we chatted with our son Patrick and gave hugs around before leaving.
Peg and I hustled back to Tacoma to meet friends for dinner at La Fondita before before viewing Hello, My Name is Doris at The Grand Cinema. What an excellent movie: "With help from her best friend's (Tyne Daly) granddaughter (Isabella Acres), a smitten woman (Sally Field) concocts schemes to get the attention of a younger co-worker (Max Greenfield) in her office." Back home we were worn out, but ready for discussion about the film at breakfast on Sunday.
