Yesterday evening the husband and I enjoyed a dinner picnic.  How could we resist?  At 5 pm it was still 75 degrees out.

I prepped all of the food before we went:  grilled chicken legs, cherry couscous and arugula salad (it was amazing, though I cheated and used a bottled dressing), garlic focaccia and Girl Scout cookies for dessert.  Iced tea for me (my current obsession is Diet Gold Peak), Diet Pepsi for the husband.

We arrived at Tolmie State Park at around 5:30 in shorts and t-shirts.  We decided to take a little walk on some of the surrounding trails before eating.  The trail was beautiful, but very buggy, so we didn’t stay out long.  We dropped down onto the beach to discover that the tide was out, so we had a lot of beach to choose from.  Families dotted the shore, kids played in the water (ewww…I’m sorry, but the thought of swimming in most Western Washington tidal water grosses me out).  The sun was warm, the company good.

We looked across the water and what should we spy with our little eyes but the Goodyear blimp hovering above Chambers Bay.  We wondered if we were to come down to the park on the 4th of July if we’d be able to see the Steilacoom fireworks.They put on an impressive show off of a barge out in the bay.

After a leisurely stroll we spread out dinner.  We elected to go blanket versus picnic table, though the husband reminded me that we purchased a table in a bag a few months ago.  We’ll bust it out next picnic.  Because we decided there will definitely be more dinner picnics this summer.  We have a lot of parks to choose from in our area, so lots of opportunities to picnic.

We enjoyed our meal, then lay back to enjoy the sunshine.  The breeze would come up, alder leaves would fall, I would try to capture them with my camera.  And, what do you know?  It worked.  I love my new camera.

We watched a guy row around just off shore in his little inflatable raft, crab pot perched on the back.  We agreed that it looked like a good idea.  But, there are lots of things that sound like good ideas when your bellies are full and the sun is shining.

After a while we noticed that the tide had come in while we were staring at the sky and the trees.  It’s always amazing how quickly it turns. So, I grabbed the camera and headed back down the shore for a few more shots.

We wrapped things up around 7:45.  We could have stayed for the sunset, but it was the longest day of the year and it’s a work night, so we headed home.

Good times with my favorite guy.  I love summer.