Kaffeklatsch and Matthews Beach Park

Its August, which means, its balmy and hot. well, when the forecast on my iphone stated, "plentiful sunshine" I had to laugh. It is cloudy and 65. Do the forecasters here think that cloudy and not raining is plentiful enough for us sun starved folks? Well, regardless, I decided to take Z and N to a beach. A lake beach. I think I much prefer the Sound beaches, but if you want to swim, the lake beaches are a tad bit warmer. The problem I find is that all these beaches lack beach and make up for it with lawns that are covered in goose crap. So, I tend to stick to the Sound. feels much more like a real beach. But, I like to try new spots, so we ventured to Matthews Beach, just north of Magnusen. What I liked was that is was a nice park and the lawn as you go farther from the beach was a little less goose poopish. and, the playground was fairly nice. they also had a few picnic tables. My son isn't a dig in the sand kind of guy, so he was occupied with the playground and the lifeguard stand as well as the paddle boards the guards use. And, since I had both kids, I couldn't take one swimming and watch the other too easily. maybe next time I will bring my husband. That said, it was a nice spot for a swim and I did appreciate the lifeguards picking up after the geese..

After the park, I took the boys to a new bakery on Lake City Way. I love seeing a little life in this area. It at one time was so bleak, lots of run down buildings, sketchy folks. not really an area I would want to explore with my 2 small kids. not that I still want to wander up and down the street, BUT, Kaffeklatsch will bring me back for sure. Did I spell that right? They are known for their German pastries and a pretty tasty chocolate chip cookie, one that seems familiar from somewhere else....trying to place it. it has chunks of toffee in it as well as chocolate chips and it was pretty delish. (I love a great cookie) I also tried a couple other goodies. a Pretzel and a honey almond and cream filled yeasted thingy called a Bienenstich. It was good, but I wasnt totally blown away. Z did like that one, though. other things that looked tasty and warrant a return trip: the ginger cookies, blondies, some freshly baked breads. Also, major bonus points in my book was the sweet barista who helped me pronounce all the names. (He actually spoke german!) He was incredibly approachable and nice and even offered a free cinnamon roll to Z. (the unusable ends, which are still delish..) On the way out, I noticed a little kiddie area too. Nice touch. I will be back and I wish them lots of success. It is a tough area, but they could do really well there.