Gorgeous Night Caps A Fine Day

Colorful night sky from Alki Beach in West Seattle

We had a full, fun day yesterday.

It all started relatively early. Our nephew, Tim, was running in the Rock-and-Roll Marathon. I had planned to go cheer him on by myself, but Karri and the kids decided to come along and turn it into a sightseeing adventure for our nephew Jeffrey (visiting from Ohio), and to show our support for cousin Tim. We were out of the house shortly after 8 - all of us except Thomas, who had an early afternoon basketball game (and wanted to sleep in a bit).

We were fortunate to catch Tim a few different places along the course. We cheered him near the 8 mile mark, then again as he passed the same point going the opposite direction at mile 11.

There were bands setup all along the course (Rock-and-Roll Marathon, right?!). This blues group was just getting started while we waited at mile 11. They were great. Not sure the neighbors liked it at 9:00 on a Saturday morning though!

Go Tim, Go!

Tim (on the left) running with friend and co-worker, Chris.

One of the many amazing views along the course. That's Mt. Rainier in the distance, from the shores of Lake Washington, near Seward Park.

Tim's personal cheering section!

After he passed us, we hopped in the car, headed downtown and stopped at Planet Java Diner for a late breakfast.

Putting away a short stack while cousin Tim is out pounding pavement!

From breakfast, we headed to the 23 mile marker, along 2nd Avenue in downtown, to catch Tim one last time before the finish.

Home stretch

Then we hustled to the finish area and caught him as he came out the chute after finishing.

Still had the strength to work up a smile! He was wiped out.

The race finished at the Seattle Center - home to many of our summertime festivals - near the Space Needle. There was lot's going on - bands, street performers, giveaways, etc., as well as the thousands of runners and their supporters.

Seattle Center fountain

Obligatory Space Needle photo!

After retrieving Tim's stuff, we gave him a ride home, then dropped Karri, Matthew and Victoria at home. Jeffrey and I immediately headed to Bellevue to catch Thomas' basketball game - the first game of the summer league his AAU team plays in. Traffic was horrible (due to marathon road closures) and it took us over an hour to get there (normally 25 minutes), so we got there 5 minutes into the second half. Glad we went though. We won by 2 in a game that went right down to the wire. T played well while we were there, including forcing a key turnover with the other team threatening to score with 5 seconds to go. (Sorry - too exciting, no pics!)

After a little down-time at home, Thomas went to go see a movie with his buddy Ross while the rest of us headed to Tim and Eang's for pizza and to meet the newest addition to their family - George, a cockapoo puppy that Eang had just picked up from Eastern Washington earlier in the day. He's pretty darn cute. And not lacking for attention...

Tiny George

Happy Victoria!

As might be expected, Tim was exhausted. We left before 8pm, stopped home to grab Jack, longboards & rollerblades, and headed down to Alki Beach in West Seattle to enjoy the sunset and get some evening exercise. So glad we did. The kids boarded/bladed along the waterfront path while Karri, Jack and I walked/jogged (and occasionally sprinted), trying to keep up. We stopped along a grassy stretch to watch the sunset...

Final seconds of sunlight.

Taking a break to watch the sunset.

Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound

It was a perfect cap to a very fun day!