Still struggling to get back in my blogging routine...
A very fun weekend... though went too quickly, as always. A few highlights...
It was sunny and cold here most of the weekend. Seattle is pretty spectacular when the weather is like this - blue sky reflected off the Sound, snow-covered mountains, etc. I'm not as cold-resilient as I was in my Cleveland youth, but I still enjoy it when the weather gets like this.
I took Thomas to basketball practice Saturday morning and, at Karri's urging, hung around and got some exercise until he was done. I went for a great walk and did some stairs/hills to help me work up a sweat. Then walked along the eastern shore of Lake Union and enjoyed the sun before stopping for breakfast at my newest hangout - Louisa's. It was a gorgeous morning.
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| Fishing boats on Lake Union - that's the Space Needle off in the distance. |
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| Floating houses on Lake Union (yes - just like from Sleepless in Seattle, just opposite side of the lake) |
Thomas and I got back in time to catch most of Matthew's basketball game (a win) while Karri was at Victoria's game (a tie), before we all regrouped at home. In the afternoon, we took the kids 'indoor skydiving' at
iFly in Tukwila, about 20 minutes from downtown Seattle. We had given the boys each a gift certificate (one as a birthday present, the other for Christmas) to go and, at the last minute, succumbed to Victoria's pleas to join them.
The facility has a giant, vertical wind tunnel with a heavy-duty net that serves as the 'floor'. It's glass enclosed, so you can view the jumpers as they basically float on a high-speed stream of forced air. There's a half-hour training and equipment-fitting session before. Then an instructor guides a small group of jumpers - 1 at a time - through their jumps (the kids each got 3 jumps).
It's tough to describe. If you are curious, check out a link to a
video I posted on YouTube of each of the kids' first jump (Matthew first, then Victoria, then Thomas). The kids all had a ball and it looked really fun.
In the evening, Matthew had a babysitting gig, Thomas and Victoria stayed home and watched a movie while Karri and I snuck out for a date night. We had delicious dinner at
JaK's, West Seattle's best (and one of Seattle's best) steak house(s).
Sunday was a 'divide and conquer' day....
Thomas has signed up for a ski bus through his school. They go every other Sunday to
Crystal Mountain and this was the first weekend. I dropped him at school at 6:50 and 41 kids headed off (on a nice tour bus - not a school bus, as I had expected) for a day of skiing/boarding.
Victoria also wanted to ski, but Matthew wanted to stay home and watch the Seahawks game. So Karri and Victoria headed out (also to Crystal!) and Matthew and I settled in for 'stinky boys' day.
It was a beautiful day for skiing and they all had a great time. Karri sent me this picture before their first run of the day.
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| Victoria ready for the first run of the day! |
Matthew had couple buddies over for the game and to hang out afterward. I spoiled him with brunch before the game and a massive plate of nachos during the game (along with homemade guacamole - my first ever - which Matthew says was nearly as good as mom's!). He was really bummed out that the Seahawks lost but had a great time with his buddies anyway.
Late afternoon, I noticed the sky turning bright orange, so I grabbed Jack's leash and we headed out for a brisk walk through Lincoln Park and down to the beach. I'm glad we did...
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| Not a bad way to cap off the weekend - sunset over Puget Sound. That's a crescent moon at the top of the picture. |
Everyone was home by 6 and we had a nice dinner together while everyone shared highlights from their day. You could tell from the non-stop story-telling that everyone had a fun day. Me too.
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