2nd Bremerton Weekend (Part I)

So I spent another weekend (August 8-10) with my aunt and uncle in Bremerton again!  When my Uncle David - with his daughter (and our cousin) Kandace - picked up my little sister and I on Friday (August 8), we went to a crêperie in Kingston and had some amazingly delicious crêpes.  It didn't occur to me to take a photo of them unfortunately, but they also served ice cream and one of them including a serving of Jack Daniel's whiskey!  I thought that was kind of funny.  Anyway, I prefer to tell my stories through photos and captions, so here you go!

Would you like some whiskey with that ice cream?

We visited our cousin Kandace's log house that her boyfriend built.  He has collections of so many things, including antique cookware!

My little sister petting the bear rug.

Decoration!

Overlooking the loft at my Uncle David in a rocking chair downstairs.

A huge, pretty painting!

Random knick-knacks hang from the ceiling.

I had a brownie and thought the bear would be better off with it.

My cousin Kandace and her boyfriend are working on building an outdoor patio in their backyard, and they are incorporating pretty little marbles into it!

Another scattering of marbles.

A side view of their log house.

A big, pretty, red dragonfly!

The front door and garden!

Very pretty and very fragrant roses.

We ended the night at my aunt and uncle's house with more s'mores!   The embers looked so cool after the fire died down.

Trek and Travel #1

When I was visiting my aunt and uncle in Bremerton, Washington, we went to a county dog park called Howe Farm County Park.  It's an expansive and beautiful piece of land, and I bet it is even prettier on sunnier summer days.  It has this old abandoned barn on the property, but it's fenced off so no one messes around with it or loses their dog within it.  The property contains two big fields, and then a fun little trail in the nearby woodsy area.
So here is the following photo dump:

If I owned a dog and lived in or near Port Orchard, Washington, I would definitely come out to this place often!  It was soothing even for me, and I am certainly no dog!

Weekend in Bremerton, Washington (Part II)

Sunday was a lovely morning, too short of course.  I had another morning jog before breakfast for a half hour.  We had breakfast with my cousin Kandace (I'm really young in my family - she is in her 30s).  I got to read outdoors for a good while, and then we visited an open house at a place my aunt and uncle were interested in.  It's a good location and a nice-looking neighborhood.  The basement creeps me out a little bit, but it's a nice size and it had a lot of natural light flowing into the rooms.  Before it was time to get going on home, we visited the Bremerton City Nursery to look at their succulents.  My aunt got me seven new ones, two sacks of cacti soil, and an air plant.  She also gave me an old birdbath of hers that leaks, so that I can have a place for the new plants.  I'm thinking she just wanted to get rid of the birdbath, but it works for me!  My dad is going to make sure the stem of the birdbath is cemented to the base so it doesn't tilt from the plants' weight.  Then he is going to drill some more holes in the birdbath so there's better drainage for the plants.
Before we got home however, my aunt had us stop by this Wild Birds Unlimited sanctuary that is very near my house.  It's been near my house for years and years, but I never thought to stop by.  I sure wish I had done so earlier because the place is beautiful!  My aunt also picked up some bird feed while we were there, so we were not complete loiterers.
All right now, here is the rest of my post in iPhone 5S photos.  I promise to start taking and posting pictures with my DSLR for the next posts!

Blurry outfit of the day, sorry!  My sister wanted the mirror and I was rushing.  Nordstrom scarf, Buckle tank top and belt, Forever 21 cardigan, and Miss Me jeans.

Vivid blooms at the Bremerton City Nursery!

The front entrance to the Bremerton City Nursery.

Beautiful waterfall and pond at the Wildlife Sanctuary at the Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner, Washington.

Wildlife Sanctuary entrance!  So charming.

Their cute little welcome sign.

They keep a cat in the shop!  It's a big, fluffy ginger cat named Luther, and he has his own Facebook!

A cute little air plant from the Bremerton City Nursery.

SEVEN new succulent plants!  An early birthday present courtesy of my beloved Aunt Anna.

My air plant and my lantern from World Market in happy matrimony.  I think I am going to name my air plant Thaddeus.

The succulents are (figuratively) dying to be in their birdbath!  When it's finished, I will make a post about it.

Well, this concludes my weekend in Bremerton, Washington.  It was a weekend very well spent and I can't wait to start planting those new succulents.  Hope you enjoyed!

A Weekend in Bremerton, Washington (Part I)

Now, I do not live in Bremerton - but my Aunt Anna and Uncle David do!  My aunt and uncle are wonderfully happy and successful in their lives.  My Aunt Anna has inspired me ever since I met her.  Yes, she does spoil me with fun little gifts on Christmas Days and birthdays, but the thoughtfulness behind almost everything she does is what inspires me.  My Uncle David frequently reminds everyone to take it easy and have a laugh.  One of my past Christmas presents from him was a fart machine, actually.  He always seems to have some funny toy or joke up his sleeve to make everyone laugh.

I have never, ever had a bad time with my aunt and uncle.  Visiting them has always left me motivated and elated.  So without further adieu, I present to you my first blog post: A Weekend in Bremerton, Part I.  This post will include Friday afternoon to Saturday evening of this past weekend.

Outfit of the Day!  American Eagle laceback tank top, Miss Me jeans, and a belt from Buckle.

I used to have a potted white orchid plant my freshman year of college.  I've been thinking about getting a new one!

Catching some late afternoon sunshine with outdoor reading: If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

Dinnertime outdoors!  Toasted ham and pepperjack on wheat bread served with smoked salmon chowder.

Not the best photo of my outfit of the day, but I thought it was a cute outfit regardless!  Nordstrom scarf, Forever 21 camisole and cardigan, and Target maxi skirt.

Visiting Howe Farm County Dog Park in Port Orchard!  My aunt has two small dogs: Ruby and Dixie.

My little sister (also named Anna) looking somewhat menacing on the pony ride at Port Orchard's Fathoms of Fun festival.

Small panorama of Port Orchard's beach.

My aunt's adorable doorknob to the kitchen pantry.

A purchase from World Market!  I will show you what I did with it in the Part II post.

One of my aunt's next ideas for her garden, waiting to be polished.

A little zen spot in my aunt's backyard garden.

The main feature of my aunt and uncle's yard.  Such a fun place to relax and be entertained.

Getting that backyard campfire started!  Right at dusk is when I took this photo.

Sorry for the grainy photo - it was getting dark!  But we were making s'mores.

We ended Friday night with a movie, After Earth, starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith.  It was an all right movie.  Got a few good suspenseful parts in it, but it wasn't very stimulating for me.  I did have a favorite part in the movie though: Will Smith's dialogue about the concept of fear being an illusion rather than reality with the only reality being danger.  However, the plot was very predictable.  I consider it a good film for younger teenagers, maybe for kids no younger than ten.  For Saturday night, we watched Ride Along, which was picked out by my fifteen-year-old sister.  This movie stars Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.  Both are good actors in the comedy genre.  But the film was pretty sucky, and very unrealistic.  I suppose the whole point was to just make the audience laugh a lot - and it did make us a laugh a few times.  Our particular situation made it very awkward though, as it's definitely not a movie for kids.  It's rated PG-13, but the many sexual innuendos made it uncomfortable to watch with my aunt, uncle, and little sister.  My sister did not mind because she thinks everything that falls out of Kevin Hart's mouth is comedy gold.  But the rest of us were not as amused.  Kevin Hart takes a lot of funny trips and falls though.
We had a third movie to watch, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, but we totally forgot about it!  Oh well.

Part II to come soon!