What could be finer, during a wet, cold February, than a trip to the beach? On February 4, I flew to Seattle to take Lisa and the Flindt kids to Abderdeen Washington, on the Pacific Coast.
On Friday night, before our trip began, we ate supper at the Noodle Box, a Thai restaurant in Issaquah, near Lisa's home. We filled the table with spring rolls, grilled chicken with peanut sauce, and curried noodles.
One of the servers was a very cute older Oriental woman who gave Michael some grandmotherly advice. "When you get married, you'll have two mothers," she said, "but never forget who the real one is."
Early Saturday morning, we watched Grant and Michael play basketball with their ward team. They were aggressive and talented, but their team lost to a group of older boys. Kyle took a break from work to sit on the stage and help keep score. 
The team players were Bryce's heroes.
We then drove 2 1/2 hours, southwest past Tacoma and Olympia, to the coast. Aberdeen is an old logging town, and we stopped first at a "historic mansion" built by one of the timber barons in the late 1800s
The town is full of colorful wood houses.
We wandered through the town museum. 
The museum had an antique fire engine, chapel from a town church, and old-time piano...
vintage clothes, including a satin evening dress and fur stole...
And even an early hair perming machine.
We then headed north along the Pacific coast, with stops to take photos on picturesque Gray's Harbor.
Finally, we reached Pacific Beach, wild and deserted on this chilly winter day.
That didn't deter the kids in the slightest. They wandered through the grass along the shore...
and walked barefoot on the beach.
Bryce was proud of the sand dollars he found.
After our beach stroll, we checked into a motel with a swimming pool and buffet breakfast, two "must haves" for a fun kids' weekend.
Safeway had great soup and sandwich bars, where we ate lunch and supper.
We were back in Seattle in time for Church and a big pork chop dinner on Sunday.
