Out & About

Yesterday Tim and I enjoyed the beautiful sunny day out in the Puget Sound.
We launched the boat in Tacoma at Point Defiance. Tim was very impressed with the launch. It was well worth his $13 launch fee.
We then headed over to Redondo to meet up with Tim's friends, Kenny & Don, who were fishing in that area. It gave Tim a chance to show off his boat to his buddies.
We then headed for Gig Harbor, where we docked up at the Tides Tavern for some lunch on the deck overlooking the water.
After lunch, we boated under the narrows bridge, back over to Ruston Way, and then back to the launch. It was a beautiful day on the Sound. Very peaceful and scenic.
(Silly me forgot the camera, so this photo was taken with Tim's cell phone. Not bad!)

My New Kitchen Floor (finally!)

After months and months, its finally finished - my new kitchen floor. We decided to replace the kitchen floor early this spring. We picked out a marble laminate that was installed in late March. It looked pretty, but was impossible to clean. After several conversations with the flooring store, visits from the product manufacturer, and lots of debating, it was decided we would rip out that laminate and put down something else. Tim and I decided to bite the bullet (like we should have to begin with) and buy the italian tiles. It is so pretty and durable. This floor will outlast our lives in this house and will probably still be standing and looking beautiful for years and years. I couldn't be happier with my floor, but now its on to paint and other fun projects! :)

a Whale of a Tale

Tim "the birthday boy" Babbitt (seen below in his new Captain's hat) got his wish and we boated to the San Juan Islands on his birthday for a few days. We just got back late this evening.
The weather was incredible! We spent Monday night in Friday Harbor and Tuesday night in Roche Harbor. The photo is our boat docked up in Roche Harbor - it looks so tiny between the two bigger boats/yachts on either side of us. You have to look closely but we're there. 27 feet is nothing compared to the sizes of yachts that are in these marinas. The price tags of these babies are unfathomable.
The sunset photo is last night's sunset over the marina in Roche Harbor. It was an incredible sight!
Speaking of incredible sights - today was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen - a pod of Orcas swimming in front of our boat. In fact two were so close they swam under the bow of our boat and came up for air about 50 feet behind us. It was amazing and honestly, a little scary. I was so afraid they were going to hit the boat or tip us over and we'd be done. The water was pretty rough where we spotted them and we were rocking pretty good that one little hit with a whale-tail or bump from underneath would have sent us in for an unscheduled and mighty chilly swim in the Puget Sound. I can't even describe what it is like to see whales popping up all around you for about 5 minutes. Crazy Cool!
We met some really nice people on our journey. Talk about a small world! On Monday afternoon we were entering Friday Harbor on our way to our moorage slip for the night and we pass my cousins Karen & David in their brand new boat. They were about 10 slips down the same dock from us. It was so fun to see each others new "toys". We had dinner together for Tim's birthday - some great fish & chips!
We even had left over fish in sandwiches the next afternoon before we headed out to go our separate ways (after Tim and David did a little mechanic work on their boat). We headed to Roche Harbor and they were headed to Sucia Island for a few days. I love Karen dearly and it was so fun to see her in this setting and spend some one-on-one time chatting! I hope we run into them again when we are out in the water. Maybe next time we'll even plan it!
All-in-all it was a good trip. I survived sleeping, eating and showering on the boat. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated. This boat is so much smoother in the water than our Sea Ray. We hit a rough patch of water yesterday. I told Tim that if we had been in the Sea Ray I would have been on the floor crying. On the Monterey, I just sat there, holding on, but not freaking out.
Tomorrow is "clean the boat day". The salt water reaks havoc on the poor thing. She's covered in salt and will get a good scrubbing so she's bright and shiny the next time we go out.

Is it a date?

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then generally it is a duck, right? Isn't that what our mamas always taught us?

I think Kaitlyn had a date, but she denies it. Oh the joys of a 16 year old daughter!!

Let's see....
Coffee at Starbucks - check
Movie - check
Bowling - check
All in the same day with the same boy. That sounds remarkably like a date. But what do I know, I'm just a Mom!

Just for reference - Rose is "chaperoning" the bowling event this evening. She's doing the "big sister snoop" for me. Gotta love it!

I just met this boy tonight, although I've seen him a few times dropping Kaitlyn off places. She met him at work and I'm not using his name on purpose...just in case! He seems very nice and Kaitlyn is a pretty good judge of character. Since I don't know what 16 year old girls think is "cute" anymore, I'll just go with Rose's endorsement that he's pretty cute.

Kaitlyn is truly loving the freedom of having a drivers license. She's been running around all day meeting her friends and doing as she pleases. She is very good about calling or texting me to check-in and let me know where she is and that she's gotten to her destination safely. How long will this last? Who knows, but I'm enjoying her compliance while she's willing to put up with the over-protective mother-thing.