Springtime. Finally.

Having been out of town during the 61 degree day two weeks ago, today was my first spring-like day in Seattle this year. I was a little too excited for the weather and didn’t dress warmly enough (removed my helmuffs, no socks, no sweater under jacket), but I wasn’t the only one. I saw a lot of people in shorts. We all hid our discomfort, though. Blue skies! Blue skies!

Our first stop was Wrench Bicycle Workshop on Dexter. This was my first time with both boys on board going southbound on Dexter (I think it’s steeper that direction), but I braved the incline because they’ve got a dog (though he wasn’t there today) and wrench-shaped gingerbread cookies. Buck gave me a free sample bike bell so while we couldn’t feed our dog addiction, I fed my bike bell addiction. Where to put it! So many bells! He also let me borrow a screwdriver to slide my current bell back in place.

I think they’ll do a lot of business given their location on bike-heavy Dexter. We’ll be stopping in again, too, now that the boys know there’s a dog involved. There are also several exciting construction sites on Dexter. Now that the big crane has left the construction site on Stone, we’re in need of some new ride-by entertainment.

Next up we swung by the Seattle Center to see the Angry Bird on the Space Needle. The boys weren’t impressed, but I thought it was pretty cool.

And then we headed to our real destination: [storefront] Mushroom Farm which I’ve been eager to check out since reading about it on Loop-Frame Love. Unfortunately it was closed. I asked at the Starbucks next door and they thought it had ended on Wednesday. Or maybe it wasn’t closed–when we left Starbucks at 12:40 I noticed a hand-written sign in the mushroom farm’s door, “12:35. Back by 1:30 pm.” But we were ready to move on.

Since we were already in Pioneer Square, we checked out Back Alley Bike Repair. Tubulocity just did a great write-up of the place. The alley is very picturesque and Ben (whoa! Same name as the dog at Wrench) is great. I must have a look about me that says “I have a bike bell problem” because he immediately started showing me bells. I swear I didn’t say a thing! He (rightly so) thought I needed a bell that would fit around the seat post handlebars. He showed us a bar end bicycle bell that would totally do the trick, but it was a little too hard for the four-year old to twist and ring. At least he’s got his kitty cat bell down on the frame by his feet.

We couldn’t leave without a run-around in Pioneer Square. The Fallen Firefighters Memorial made for a nice slide–after some reverential firefighter talk.

And I eyed the cobble stones a block away as a possible place to take the boys and their balance bike on Paris-Roubaix day. Less trafficky cobble stones would probably be better. Or maybe just rocks or gravel. The first baby was born on Paris-Roubaix (and the second during le Tour de France) so it seems like a bike race to honor with a little event.

And just one last picture of the gorgeous blue sky–from South Lake Union Park where we stopped to check in on the construction of the armory (it looks done!) and examine the Schooner Zodiac moored near the Virginia V.