My favorite things about living in Langley, WA.

On July 1st we moved to Langley located on Whidbey Island in Washington.  This move would bring us a lot closer to Mike's job at Boeing in Everett/Mukilteo.  We decided that we wanted a slower pace of life and one that would be a great place for kids.  Langley is a beautiful, peaceful place.  For now we are renting while we decide if this is the right place for us. 

I will never get tired of the view from our house or as I drive along the roads here!

 

Another great perk is the seafood, especially the ones you can get for free at the beach!

Fresh dungeness crab provided by some generous neighbors!

Another favorite thing to do is visit the beaches.  This is Saratoga beach which is just a very short walk from our house.  The best is low tide when we can play in the sand and search for baby crabs.

Double Bluff beach is about 10 minutes drive from the house and another great place. I could spend everyday of summer at these beaches.

 

We had a junco bird lay 3 eggs in my potted plant.  I think one of the eggs was a different species.  Here they are looking pretty unsightly still.

...and here he is nearly grown up and looking more like a bird ready to take flight.

Mike repainted and fixed up Millie's swing and we found a perfect tree for her to swing on.

Millie still loves making her fairy houses.  The deer like to come by and visit.

I think it only rained 4 days this whole summer here in the Northwest.  (Driest summer I have experienced, so far!)  On one of those rainy days we love to spend the day playing with play-do.

Looks good enough to eat!

Shortly after moving on the island, I found out about a horse camp.  That was one of Millie's favorite things this summer.  She looked forward to that camp so much, we decided to continue with horse lessons once a week.  It's great to see her gaining confidence while doing something so fun.

Archery.

Making new friends while enjoying our first visit to the Whidbey Island Fair.

Mike definitely prefers commuting to work by ferry boat and then a 10 minute bus ride rather than his  hour and half to 2 hour commute through heavy traffic.

This area has an overwhelming amount of gardeners and farms.  It has been so beautiful to drive around and see all these u-pick farms.  It seems everyone has something pretty growing at their house.

A real highlight has been the time Millie and I have spent volunteering at the West garden located in Clinton.  Millie learned so much from the gardeners there while having an amazing time. They have taught her about bees, flowers, growing fruits and vegetables and how to prepare what we harvested that day into a meal that we share each time for lunch.   Most of the food from the garden goes to the local food bank here on the island.

Millie and the apprentice gardener, Alexa harvesting lettuce.

Millie and Alexa bagging carrots for the food bank.

At mid-day we always stop to share a meal together.  I have continued to volunteer here every Thursday.  Millie is now in school, but we are so lucky that the gardeners from this garden visit her elementary school every 2 weeks for a lesson on gardening.  The second graders, including Millie's 2nd grade class, are in charge of the school garden.  They planted radishes last week.

And lastly, we never tire of seeing a beautiful sunset at the end of a summer day.  Can't wait to discover what fall is like here.