My wife is the best.  What more is there to say?  Two weeks ago (the weekend of April 5th), she (unbeknownst to me) invited my childhood friend Aaron and his wife Kim out to Seattle to spend a couple of days.  There was drinking…

 

sight-seeing…

and, yes – troll-fighting.

 

 

Their first night in town, we went and had dinner at Ivar’s on the waterfront (this is the place that Treasure and I had the rehearsal dinner for our wedding a year-and-a-half ago).  We spent the next day touring various wineries in the area.

 

Eventually, we saw many of the beautiful parts of the Seattle, including the park in Kirkland…

 

and Salty’s restaurant on Alki Beach.  We went geocaching (using a GPS to find hidden “treasures” within an area) and explored the quirky zaniness that is Archie McPhee’s.  Kim was gracious enough to cook for us, and I also got a Baskin Robin’s ice cream cake out of the deal (part of what prompted this event was a belated birthday gift).

But most important of all, I got to re-connect with my long time buddy Aaron.  There are few friendships that endure the test of time, but the ones that do are irreplaceable.  Like most folks, I don’t get to see the people I care deepest about as often as I’d like.  Treasure knew this and engineered this surprise visit.

So, to my parents, I say thank you for the flowers and the cake!  To my good friends Aaron & Kim, I say thanks for spending your spring break with us!  And to my loving wife, I say home run, babe – you hit the nail on the head with this one.