Date Night: A trip to Puget Sound

Brady and I have never been very creative when it comes to date nights; it's just so hard to think of something new and fun and spontaneous to do sometimes.

Typically it turns into a movie night on our couch, which is great since he comes home exhausted from work and since I'm always exhausted from...um...I'm not sure. Growing a little person in my belly, maybe? That has to be it, since I really don't move much these days.

Luckily, one of the perks of moving to a new state is there are plenty of things to visit, explore, and do. No creative juices needed. Yes!

Well, at least for now.

Yesterday we had our very first, official date night in Seattle. Can you guess where we went? Those of you who know us, and know us well probably could. We went to...

...the beach! Not just any beach. A beach along the Puget Sound.

I bet I can guess what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "Where did you find that picture? It looks amazing."
All I can say is, "I know, right!?"
 Picture courtesy of Brady C. Houston (my handsome husband, who just so happens to also be a handsome photographer with mad skills).

In my book, yesterday was a superlative beach day. I'm finding that Seattle is more perfect for me than I thought. Foggy sky, nippy, jacket wearing weather, dark water, and a perfect breeze. My little Utopia.

After having zero luck searching through the tide pools for star fish or crabs (at least, having zero luck finding ones that hadn't already been hollowed out by seagulls), we pulled out our camera and began documenting the awesome splendor that was around us.

Have you ever been right next to a train as it goes zooming by? Brady has.

Yesterday was his first time standing just a few feet from a moving train. I lived right next to a train yard for 12 years in Montana, so it was nothing new to me. I will say this though, 12 years or not, it still amazes me how big, how fast and how LOUD trains are. You never would have guessed it as you watched it slowly winding its way around the mountain towards us.

Again, if it wasn't for Brady religiously taking pictures of all the things we do and see, you would just have to take my word for it that the train was big and fast and loud. Not the best, most detailed description. 

So, thank you Brady. Thank you.   

For the most part, I love it when we pull out the camera unless i'm in a hurry to move on, then the frequent stops and long waits are NO BUENO. But usually, it's the best because that means I get to play boss and tell Brady what pictures to take and how I want them taken. I figure, since I'm not the one "taking" the shots, I can be the one "calling" the shots :) 

So fun for me, but maybe not so fun for my photographer. 

We love taking pictures.

Brady loves taking pictures of Kate.

And Kate LOVES taking pictures of Brady. 

Gosh, he's good looking.

I think I'm going to make both our dads come up sometime so we can do this together... 

...there's something so appealing about fly fishing. Maybe, for me, it's the fact that I can set the fish free after I catch them. I still haven't recovered from my first fishing excursion, where my dad smacked the head of the rainbow trout I had just caught against a metal bench. I don't think I spoke to him the whole drive home :) 

As this particular fisherman was passing by we asked him if he was having any luck. Discouraged he said, "They don't seem to be around today. Which is unusual because this is supposed to be a great fishing spot." As he was talking, I watched a fish jump out of the water behind him. I didn't really have the heart to tell him they were just mocking him behind his back. 

We thought we'd try our hand at taking couple pictures with the tri-pod. We may have had a little too much fun

Who needs a professional photographer when you have a tri-pod and a husband who can run really fast? 

This is what happens when we try to take a picture looking deep into each other's eyes

And finally, remember this picture from our honeymoon? 

Trying to recreate that was harder than we thought.

Not too bad, eh?

I loved this beach. There were no bright blue skies or turquoise water against white sand but who would have thought a palette of grays could be so beautiful!

A pearly gray sky illuminating a dark bluish-gray profile of trees in the distance, both sky and trees seeming to pop even more in contrast with the silver, gray of the water.

All in all, it was a wonderful, perfect, picturesque afternoon at the beach.

I think this would classify as a sublime first date.
Don't you?