Tried a new-to-us boba place just for the cute logo. (Boba Tea Lab in Kent, and it was good!)

Dim sum in Renton as good as Richmond, B.C.!!? According to The Seattle Times. I had to try Triumph Valley, and it was... okay.

The two items Tan extolled, the salted egg yolk mochi and the crispy shrimp rice roll, I was hoping for my mind to be blown. Both were fine, mind not blown. The bean curd shrimp wrap was greasy and the pan fried pork, shrimp and chive dumplings were saltier than I would have liked. On the plus side, the siu mai was gigantic and the kids loved the red bean sesame balls.

Overall, not worth the drive to Renton and definitely not worth the sloooooowest service in the history of dim sum. Yummy, yes. But I'll stick with my regular spots in the ID.

Fun day at the zoo!

Last day for Candy Cane Lane in Ravenna is Sunday, Jan 1. We loved the signs in front of each house saying "peace" in different languages. There was English, Spanish and German, but also Navajo, Azerbaijani, Tibetan and Serbian.

We ended 2022 with a stop at the amazing Menashe house, 5605 Beach Drive SW in West Seattle. Mrs. Menashe stepped outside while we were gawking at her house, and she was the nicest lady. The family's been doing this for 40 years! They start laying everything out in September, and the display stays up until New Year's Day. They use a crane to get that star up in the giant tree. The rest of the year, everything lives in a storage unit.

Bison stew and fry bread with berries from Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Discovery Park. Paul said his favorite part was "the white stuff" (whipped cream).

My next door neighbors have this tree with beautiful red bark, and I was going to try to take a picture of the iced branches. Two slick steps down my porch and I changed my mind. Pretty sure unless you're driving a Zamboni, you shouldn't be on the streets today.

Swanson's Nursery in Ballard is a must at least once during the holiday season. We love the holiday train (this year's is Toy Story-themed), the koi pond and all the pretty ornaments.

Olympic Manor, off 85th in Ballard, is where we go for walks to admire the lights.

This year's photo with Santa, back in person! Same Santa, but now the boys stand next to him because they'd crush him trying to sit in his lap.

And, we tried? Yes, those are store-bought cookies!

Snow day! In Seattle, everyone hunkers down and we wait and wait and wait until the ice melts. We don't believe in salt or snow plows, and hills turn into giant slip 'n' slides.

I keep a ridiculous stash of cookie cutters for the one day of the year we use them: our annual salt dough ornament making event. 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 2 cups hot water and the food coloring of your choice.

Win 2 for the Downtown Seattle Association. They lured me to Pioneer Square with ice skating, and now to Westlake — at night, no less — with these light installations. Enchant skipped Seattle this year, so these were a fun (and free) substitute.