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!

Annual End-of-School Camping Trip

9 years ago, when Thomas was in 1st grade, 5 families at our school - each with a 1st grader - decided to go on a camping trip the first weekend after school ended. The moms all coordinated a trip to Grayland Beach State Park on the Pacific ocean, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Seattle. We had such a great time that we decided to do it again. The next year, I think we had 8 families. Last year - the 8th annual - we had over 25 families. This year was a little smaller - probably closer to 20 families, but a great time, as always.

Dads and kids, with the 'Happy Fathers Day' banner that the kids made on the 2008 trip!

If you spend 3 consecutive days on the Washington coast in June, you're pretty much guaranteed to experience some inclement weather - rain, wind, cold. Most of our trips have involved battles against the elements (not that they've deterred us from having fun). This year was (as my kids would say) epic, as we had sun and warmth, and NO RAIN, for the entire weekend. It was beautiful and made this special, community-building weekend all the more fun.

We're not talking rustic camping. Grayland is car-camping at its finest, with paved cul-de-sacs and each site with potable water, a firepit, a picnic table, and a couple electrical outlets. And every site is just a short walk (over sand dunes) to the great expanse of a Pacific coast beach. The kids have a ball wearing themselves out on bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller blades, etc., riding through the park and around the neighboring cul-de-sacs, or skimboarding, wave-jumping, sand-castle-building, etc., on the beach.

Matthew giving Jeffrey longboarding tips!

Victoria learning to ride a 2-wheeler on the 2008 trip!

The Lange Family campsite, with Jack keeping watch. Karri and I slept in the 2-person tent we used on our backpacking trip in South America in 1997!

Karri and Thomas proving they can still fit in the kiddie camp chairs we used on the first trip in 2004!

The trip usually falls on Fathers Day weekend and the dads are usually granted a 'hall pass' to head into the fishing town of Westport, at the mouth of Grays Harbor, or Tokeland to the South, on Saturday or Sunday to watch the US Open and enjoy a couple bloody mary's. We usually come back with coolers full of live Dungeness crab that we buy straight off the boat and cook up as part of a community potluck meal. We got shut out on crab this year (our go-to fisherman didn't get back to port until after 7pm), but still had plenty of food for all.

Victoria with friend Elena - holding live crab on their way to the cooking pot - 2012 trip! 

Enjoying this year's potluck

After the potluck, we headed to the beach for a sunset bonfire that the older kids had prepared that afternoon.

Victoria getting a piggy-back from cousin Jeffrey at the bonfire!

Jeffrey, Victoria, Matthew and Jack enjoying the bonfire!

Sun setting over the Pacific

Happy couple!

On the beach at sunset! So great to have Jeffrey with us. His sister Jennifer joined us on this trip 5 years ago!

We love this trip for so many reasons. It signals the start of our summer. It reminds us what a beautiful part of the country we live in. It gives us time to slow down a bit and spend quality time with each other. And it reminds us how blessed we are to have so many wonderful friends in our West Seattle community!

The Jig is Up

Matthew and my bonding weekend is coming to a close. No better way to cap it than with a greasy spoon breakfast...

Sitting down to eat

We had some leftover home fries from our Greek feast last night. I diced them, browned them, then scrambled them with eggs, sausage, ham and cheese. Matthew loves breakfast like this. Me too.

Karri and Victoria just pulled in the drive - just as we were cleaning up the last of the breakfast dishes. It's like Christmas here as they are showing off and passing out some of the purchases from the Nike outlet store. Not only were things heavily discounted (most were 50+% off), there's no sales tax in Oregon. We should be stocked up on sports gear/attire for a while (hopefully)!

Mathew just got invited by a friend to go to the Mariners' game today. Victoria's got a soccer game at 1. Thomas should be home soon after (they are playing their last game as I type - hope they are doing well).

Divide and Conquer

Kids activities pulled us in separate directions this weekend...

Karri, Thomas and Victoria headed 3 hours south on I-5 to Portland, OR, where Thomas is playing in the Rose City Showcase - a basketball tournament sponsored by Nike. They left mid-day Friday, spent the night and had 2 games today - a win and a loss. They'll have 1 more game (possibly 2) tomorrow. Karri and Victoria need to head back early for Victoria's soccer game at 1pm Sunday. Thomas will catch a ride home with friends.

Matthew played in a lacrosse tournament today (Saturday) in Snohomish - about an hour north of Seattle on I-5 (near where the bridge collapsed a couple weeks ago). 4 games and 4 losses. A tough day for the kids. It seems we didn't have much business being in the tournament in the first place. Our team was a combination of kids from 2 squads who expressed interest in playing in tournaments after the season ended 2 weeks ago. We haven't practiced in those 2 weeks. We played in a 7th/8th grade bracket with mostly 7th graders against select teams that were much bigger and faster, and more skilled. But we still had fun...

A few of the parents organized a 'tailgate' for between games. Each family brought something to contribute - burgers, dogs, salad, fruit, chips, desserts, beverages, etc. It worked out great and made for a fun way to pass the time between games.

Big tournament with dozens of teams and lots of tailgating!

Team Wolfpack relaxing between games

The tournament took place in a large, open field next to a regional airport. They must have a skydiving school there, because skydivers were circling overhead all day and landing about 100 yards from the lacrosse fields. It felt like the pre-game festivities at the Rose Bowl! Made for good entertainment.

Plane taking off in the background

Matthew and I stopped on our way home at Kokoras Greek Grill, a great local spot here in West Seattle, and picked up a couple gyro platter dinners. We brought them home and enjoyed them on our patio.

Bachelor dinner on the patio (that's my Pacifico - not Mattew's)

After dinner, we watched a movie together. A great father-son bonding day - not something we get to do very often.

Sounds like Karri, Thomas and Victoria are having fun together too. After the games today, they met up with a college friend of Karri's who lives in Portland, whom she hadn't seen in over a decade. After a stop at the Nike outlet store and a team dinner, Thomas went to watch more tournament games with the team while Karri and Victoria had a girls night. Good stuff.

Sunflower Sunday

Each year in 7th grade, the kids grow sunflowers from seed. They have a competition of sorts to help them figure out which growing conditions are optimal. After a couple weeks of nurturing, the tallest seedling plant gets declared the winner and the plants get sent home for planting. Turns out sunflowers do very well in our yard, so Victoria and I have had a tradition of planting seeds the last few Springs.

After 2 weekends of working in the yard and getting our beds (mostly) back under control, Victoria and I decided to plant the seeds on Sunday. Here are a couple shots from our successful planting 2 years ago...

Almost twice her size!

Great colors 

And here's Victoria planting this year's crop...

 

Sunflower girl!

I don't have much of a green thumb. Karri deserves most of the credit for keeping our yard colorful. 

Of course, we've got nothing on my cousin Ellen (who, by the way, helped provide the inspiration for me to start this blog nearly 9 months ago).

Final CYO Track Meet

A beautiful day for the last meet of the year. Matthew and Victoria both ran the 800m - a race they've rarely run. Matthew also anchored a 4x100m relay team. No medals, but both ran great races. Very proud of them. I think everybody is glad to be done with track though.

Start of the 4th-5th girls 800 - Victoria is 3rd from right

Getting squeezed on the inside

Strong finish!

Start of 7th & 8th boys 800 - Matthew at far left

Battling off a challenge in the home stretch 

Finish of the 4x100

And So It Begins

Hard to believe it's June 1st. Even though the kids still have a week+ of school - and summer never (really) starts in Seattle until July 5th (after inevitable rain on the 4th) - it feels like our 'summer' starts this week. I told Karri last night over dinner (another impromptu 'date night') that it feels like we've been slowly click-clacking our way to the highest point on the roller coaster. This weekend is the crest where you catch your breath, stick your hands up in the air, and get ready for the ride that will be Summer 2013.

It's a relatively uneventful weekend for us. No lacrosse, no basketball tournaments, no entertaining. Just a track meet (last one!) and a soccer game on Sunday.

Last night felt very similar to last Friday. Thomas had a buddy over after school, then basketball practice, then back here for a sleepover. Matthew had a CYO dance - last one of the school year. Victoria and a friend spent the evening at the pool with a gaggle of their classmates. In between shuttling kids around, Karri and I were able to sneak in another quiet, though quick, dinner together.

As for 'shuttling' kids around... I drove six 7th grade boys - and one brave 7th grade girl - to the dance last night. We've apparently become the go-to family for driving kids to the dances. Matthew said it felt like every boy in his class asked him at school if they could have a ride to the dance (about 15 minutes away). For many of the dances this year, he's had a handful of boys come over right after school. They play basketball, jump on the trampoline and do general, goofy, 7th-grade-boy stuff. Then we feed them pizza and drive them to the dance. We are happy to have the boys congregate at our house. The nice part is, somebody else gets to pick them up at 10pm and drop 6 or 7 kids at their respective homes.

About 20 minutes before we were planning to leave, Matthew (somewhat sheepishly) asked if we could take 1 more person to the dance - a girl from a nearby school, who the boys know from the pool, who apparently couldn't find a ride. Emma showed up a few minutes later with her dad who, understandably, wanted to check out the situation. Soon after, we were piled in the car. We had to drive with all the windows down to avoid asphyxiation from all the 'AXE' deodorant body spray each of the boys had generously applied moments earlier! I don't remember having the same obsession with how I smelled when I was 13.

Need to get on with the day here. I'll be sure to include some pictures in my next post.

Memorial Weekend Starts with Impromptu Date Night

It feels like we've been especially busy lately so, heading into the long weekend, we made a decision to try to have some quality family time together. Then Matthew got invited to go spend the weekend at the lakefront cabin of one of his classmates - to which Karri and I agreed (Matthew is very excited and will, no doubt, have a ball). They plan to leave this morning (Saturday), so we had tentatively planned for a family dinner on Friday night... until Victoria, who had spent the afternoon at a friend's house, got invited to stay for a cookout with a few of her other friends' families. Shortly thereafter, Thomas called to see if he could have dinner at a friend's house and hang out with his buddies before his 7:30pm basketball practice. Then Matthew got invited to go to the pool with a few of his classmates... You get the idea.

All this to say that Karri and I ended up having a nice (though brief), impromptu Date Night dinner at home. She had planned a delicious meal for the family of steaks, baked potatoes and salad - good, simple, delicious, and something we don't do very often. I mixed up a couple martinis, we dimmed the lights and lit a few candles... great stuff.

Table for 5... 4... 3... 2!

Of course our solitude didn't last long. Matthew called mid-meal to ask for a ride home. Shortly after I brought him home and we had quickly finished our dinner, Victoria called for a ride. While Karri went to pick her up and I cleaned up the kitchen, Thomas arrived home from practice. Karri stayed to have a glass of wine with our friends and the boys and I were in bed by 10:30. Karri and Victoria were home minutes later.

The modern 'Family Night' I suppose.

We send Matthew off in an hour. Karri and Victoria are making a batch of cookies for them to take. I'm intent on getting some yard work done today before the forecast rains arrive this afternoon. Thomas is playing in a basketball tournament this weekend and has 2 games tonight. No rest for the weary. Regardless, we are looking forward to a fun, long weekend - whether together or not!

Spring Sports Wrapping Up

(Wow, two posts in one night!)

A brief, belated wrap-up from our weekend...

The Spring sports season is coming to a close. We had nice weather and, fortunately, remembered to bring our 'good' camera to the events on Saturday. After all the cellphone photos I've posted of the kids competing, I couldn't resist including a few sharper images from Saturday.

Matthew had his last regular season lacrosse game. There are no playoffs, but the team may play in one or more tournaments in June - so we may not be done yet. Matthew has had a lot of fun playing and would like to play in at least one of the tournaments.

We lost a close one on Saturday (3-2, I think) against a good and very physical team. Things got a little chippy at times on the field and there were some hard hits. Matthew got blindsided by one and quickly found himself on the ground. But he got up quickly and played on. We only had three subs, so Matthew got lots of playing time.

The orange socks make him much easier to pick out on the field!

Defending the goal

Cutting off an attack.

Matthew had a great season and learned a lot. I think he'll be back again next year.

After lacrosse, we headed to the Individual Championship track meet. This is the event where they award individual (and relay team) performances. In 2 weeks they'll have a Team Championship meet where the school with the most points will be crowned the overall winner (just an excuse to have another meet!).

Neither Matthew or Victoria qualified in an individual event, but Victoria's 4x100 relay team barely qualified last weekend. So we had the pleasure of running in the last event of a 5+ hour track meet! Fortunately, we didn't have to stay for the whole thing - although Victoria had to be there to check in at the beginning of the meet.

The girls did great - finishing 5th in a fast field. Victoria ran the 3rd leg.

Outside lane, just after the hand-off, heading into the 3rd turn

Final turn

Happy trackster

Cassady, Victoria, Alena and Emma with 5th place ribbons!

Final meet is in 2 weeks and we will be done!