Birthdays

BIRTHDAY BOY:  And just like that, CJ wakes up one day and he's a teenager. What better way to mark that than a terrible breakfast of doughnuts and Black Label Mountain Dew (fancy sauce!).

In the early afternoon, we headed up to Everett and went to the coolest collectibles store around, Bobakhan, where CJ scored another item for his Cantina Band collection. From there it was on to Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse for lunch (CJ's choice).

Next on the agenda: A boat ride across Puget Sound, from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island. Here was our ride approaching. 

Its name was the Tokitae. That means "nice day, pretty colors" in Chinook jargon. Very fitting for our trip, I'd say!

It was a gorgeous afternoon on the sound. Hardly a breeze, sunny and warm, with brilliant blue skies and water.

We saw sailboats ... 

 and other ferries. 

 We walked 'round the ship ... 

 and stopped to puzzle for a moment.

We made a brief stopover in Clinton, WA, ...

and then headed right back to Mukilteo.

 Seagulls seemed to like to use the ferry as a floating island.

 This bird caught a ride for awhile.

 On the return trip, we had a nice view of the Mukilteo lighthouse as we approached port.

 After that, we were back southbound, stopping in Edmonds to hit Another Castle, a great retro game store and arcade!

CJ's birthday wish was to beat the game CarnEvil for the first time. With Annabelle's help and about $10 in quarters, they did it!

We continued south, stopping in the Green Lake neighborhood to pick up CJ's cake, which is almost entirely ice cream. The writing on top was his idea. ...

All in all, a big, busy, fun day! Happy #13, CJ!

NEEDLED: This morning, an email alerted me to the fact that April 21, 2016, marks the Space Needle's 54th birthday.

She's looking pretty awesome for 54, don't you think? As iconic and futuristic as ever!

 And how nice of the Needle to host its own birthday party, complete with Full Tilt ice cream. 

Called Wheedle on the Needle, it's a special Full Tilt flavor, available only at the Space Needle on most days. Below, you can see Jeff Maxwell, executive chef of the landmark's rotating restaurant SkyCity, making sure Annabelle got her ice cream. :)

 Oh, and there was FREE SALMON as well. Mmmm! 

We've been to Seattle Center four times in the last five days!