Beach boys

Friends N & S (and their boys J & R) are still visiting from the UK, and this afternoon Zachary and I met up with them and some other friends at the very fun Carkeek Park on the Puget Sound. I'd never been before, and we'll definitely have to go back - there's an actual playground that we didn't even get to check out in our rush to explore the beach. Zachary got his fill of all of his favorites: rocks, driftwood to climb onto and over, sandy beaches, the chilly waters of the sound (he *loved* having his feet in it, and liked it even more when I'd pick him up and drop him back down into the water; needless to say we both go a bit wet by the end), a fairly low flyby of what we think was the new double-decker Airbus, and yes, even a passing enormously long freight train. Of course the train garnered the biggest smiles, though thankfully no attempts to chase it this time; from the moment we heard the whistle in the distance, I knew I was going to have to get him in for a close view from the bridge and stairs that go over the tracks and down to the beach. This video is only a pale rendition of his full excitement:

The view was pretty extraordinary, so I'd be a bit bummed if those tracks don't take passengers anymore. Apparently before we'd arrived, S reported that a truck with some kind of adapter thing had been driving down the railroad tracks - seeing a truck or two was about the only thing missing from Zachary's ideal afternoon!