San Juan Islands Adventure

Tim and I spent this weekend aboard the 110% with our friends John and Pam exploring the San Juan Islands. We stayed overnight on Lopez Island and spent the days boating around the islands. Pam's goal was to see some Orcas, but we searched and searched to no avail. We did see lots of other wildlife including tons of seals and a few porpoises. Since none of us had ever boated through the islands before, it was quite an adventure. We even assisted in the rescue of a Kenmore Air seaplane that had a little trouble coming into Friday Harbor and had to unload its passengers in the middle of the water.

Here are some lessons learned: 1) charts are a necessity, not a luxury! 2) checking the tide charts before leaving would be smart, 3) Tim is the only one who knows proper radio protocal and likes to point that out, 4) even Mr. Coastguard (Tim) can read a chart incorrectly when there are tons of little islands that all look the same, 5) Nextel's navigation program with lattitude and longitude comes in handy, and one that none of us will ever forget 6) "Red, Right Return".


We had a great time with no major injuries to us or the boat. We did have a minor run in (literally) with the bottom of Fisherman's Bay, but it didn't look too bad when we pulled the boat out of the water this afternoon. Whew!


Thanks John and Pam for risking our lives and your Cobalt for a weekend of fun in the sun.

John & Pam Block

The sunset coming out of Friday Harbor on Saturday.

Kris & Tim aboard the 110%

The Kenmore Air unloading in the middle of the water.

She's Back!

28 days after that rude young man ran into the back of her and caused over $7400 in damage, Patrice (the Acura, as named by the kids) is safe and sound back in her own garage tonight. I wish I could say she was as "good as new" but that's never going to be the case. She looks good, but will never be the same, which is so sad when she was only 6 months old when she was violated.
I hated having to deal with all the stuff associated with the accident, like insurance claims, body shops, and rental cars, but am again thankful that no one was seriously injured. Things could have been much worse so I will count my blessings and get reacquainted with Patrice. It was so weird to drive it home tonight after not driving it for a month. It feels like a new car and I have to learn all the controls over again.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Today was Kaitlyn's 15th Birthday Party. Her actual birthday was on the 3rd. Seven girls, along with Tim and Derek, played laser tag at LaserQuest in Federal Way. It was actually pretty fun. I even played one of the games. Later the girls came back to our house for a sleep-over. I'm not sure Tim and I will survive a night with 6 fifteen and 1 sixteen year old girls! Derek should be in heaven as a 14 year old boy in a house full of older women!

From left to right:

Amber, Rochelle, Amy, Tim, Amy, Mackenna, Rose

And below: The Birthday Princess!

4th of July

It was an amazingly beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest for the 4th of July. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 80s. What a perfect day to spend out on the water! Kaitlyn brought along her BFF Mackenna and we headed off to Lake Washington. Tim launched the boat early in the morning (by himself - what a superman!). The girls and I met up with him about 10:40 at Coulan park to jump on board. We cruised on up to Kirkland for lunch and then hung out all day anchored in a nearby bay. Our friends John and Pam boated up along side in the afternoon and we tied the boats together for a little socializing. We pulled our boat out of the water about 8:00 p.m. after a long day in the sun, which was evident by the pinkish color of our skin!

What a Wreck !

Who would drive a car that looks like this?

Well after tonight, I do! So much for my brand new car! On my way home from work this evening, and only about 4 miles from home, I was rear-ended. I slowed down to an almost stop for the car in front of me that was turning right. The van behind didn't slow down and slammed right into me. I saw it coming and tried to move out of his way, but couldn't move fast enough. My car was hit and pushed into the oncoming traffic lane and thankfully no one was heading down the hill at the time or things could have been much worse
The bumper is done, and so is the trunk. The lights are toast and the exhaust pipe that you can't see (there are 2 on my car) has some issues as well. So much for my brand new car.

What I am thankful for is that no one was seriously injured and none of my kids were in the car with me. My thigh slammed into the steering wheel and I was limping when I got out of the car. I'm sure I'll have a pretty little bruise. My head is beginning to hurt now 3 hours after the accident. I can't wait to see how my head and neck feel in the morning. The young guy that hit me hurt his shoulder from the restraint of his seat belt. He had to pull his bumper off his wheel-well in order to drive home. I think it was a bad day for both of us!

Father's Day 2007

Kakin Originals

Leaping through the air (or through the kitchen!)

The family on the balcony of our hotel room in Tri-Cities over Memorial Day Weekend!

Kaitlyn's artistic photo of waves under the bridge on the Columbia River in Tri-Cities. This photo was taken before Tim and Derek managed to ruin the prop on the boat. Here's a tip: boats and rocks don't play nice!

Mom and Tim at Relay For Life of Tacoma 2007.

Sweet 16!

Happy 16th Birthday Rose!
Last night we celebrated with birthday dinner and cake. Rose wanted a shopping spree for her birthday so this morning Tim and the kids headed south to Portland for some serious birthday shopping - sales tax free! Her wallet is full of birthday money and I'm sure the truck will be loaded down with birthday purchases when they head back up I-5 tomorrow afternoon.

The picture left is of Rose and her Sweet 16 Tiara. It looked a little small at first, but as Rose so eloquently put it "every Tiara fits my head". And true to form, it did!

Relay For Life 2007

Relay for Life of Tacoma kicked off last night. With this year's movie theme, Team Merrill Lynch was the Incredi-Bulls. Kaitlyn is a superhero in the fight against cancer (with Mackenna as her side-kick). This year Kaitlyn rasied over $1100 to benefit the American Cancer Society and I raised $2800. Our team total as of last night, with a chance of more $ yet to come, was.....$56,000. And that's just from one team. Close to 200 teams participate in this event in Tacoma each year with thousands of Relays around the country and internationally. This year, Kaitlyn and I walked in memory of my step-mother who passed away last summer after her 2nd battle with cancer. We can't bring her back, but we can honor her memory by taking part in the fight against cancer so no one else has to lose a loved-one from this dreaded disease. For those of you that donated, THANK YOU so much. You have made a difference in the lives of so many! At night, Luminaria bags are lit for cancer survivors and those we've lost. The photo below are the bags Kaitlyn and Mackenna made for Kaitlyn's grandma and the young son of one of Kaitlyn's teachers that passed away from cancer, along with the bag for our friend Dani who continues her battle.

No More Track!

The 2007 Track season has come to an end for Kaitlyn. She had a great year, especially considering she is just a freshman! Kaitlyn ran at the League meet in both of her individual events - the 100 dash and the 200 dash. She didn't make it to the finals, but did have her personal best times all year. Kaitlyn improved so much over the season. Her 100 time at the beginning of the season was 15.6 and her best time at the League meet was 14.06. She improved more than 1.5 seconds. Way to Go!

Kaitlyn did qualify for the League Finals in her Long Jump event. She didn't end up qualifying for Tri-Districts, but had her longest jump of the year at 12' 8 1/2". Kaitlyn's 4x100 relay team came in 3rd place at the League meet and qualified for Tri-Districts. Friday night was the preliminary meet for Tri-Districts at King's High School in Shoreline. Kaitlyn's team had some difficulty with their baton hand-offs, which in the relay can make the difference between winning and losing. Kaitlyn is the lead-off leg of the Relay team. She did a great job of getting up and out of the blocks and setting her team up for a great race. Unfortunately, they didn't qualify for the Tri-District finals with a time of 56.3.

Some good news to report is that Kaitlyn's BFF, Mackenna, qualified for the Tri-District Finals this weekend in her 200 sprint and finished 4th on Saturday afternoon, which qualified her for the State track meet next weekend. Congratulations Mac on going to State!

I am so proud of Kaitlyn and the way she performed during her first year of High School sports. She had a positive attitude and was a great supporter of her teammates, always with an encouraging word. Even though she didn't always win, she performed the best she could and was happy with just improving her personal best times. On Friday night at the Tri-District meet, one of Kaitlyn's teammates told me how sweet Kaitlyn was and that I did a great job in raising her. I had to admit that she is an amazing kid, but it is purely by the Grace of God. Kaitlyn is a wonderful young lady, in spite of the fact that I am her mother. She is a true blessing and gift that I am thankful for each and every day!

Congratulations on a great Track season Kaitlyn! I can't wait to see what you are going to accomplish next year!

Family Day

Sunday we spent the day at the ballpark. It was a beautiful day in the spring sunshine and the Mariner's kicked butt with a score of 14-6.
I was lucky enough for the kids to cooperate and have their photo taken with the Mariner Moose. That's pretty amazing considering they are all teenagers, and generally "too cool" for mascots.
Derek also had a good day. It was "kids day" at the ballpark and they each received JJ Putz tee-shirts. Derek even got his autographed by JJ himself. Pretty cool!
All-in-all, it was a great family day!

A first place finish and more...

Another afternoon spent in the cold weather on a hard metal bench watching one of the slowest sporting events known to man: Track! You would think that they could run these meets in less than 3 hours, but apparently not. The kids run fast, but the officials don't seem to "officiate" very quickly!

Anyway....

Today was a FABULOUS track meet for Miss Kaitlyn. She had two personal records today; one in the 100 meter sprint and one in long jump. She even came in first in her 100 meter heat. Her form and performance were the best so far this season. Nice job Kaitlyn!

And more good news about little Miss Kaitlyn. Her report card came in the mail yesterday. Kaitlyn once again received 7 perfect A's. What a smart little cookie! She must take after her mother. (Yes, you can all laugh now!).

Tiptoe through the tulips

Kaitlyn is quite the photographer!

Kakin's new Doo

What a cute BOB!

She Places!

Standing out in the pouring down rain yesterday was worth it! Kaitlyn was running in her 2nd high school track meet. After getting close to placing in the first track meet last week, yesterday she did it! Kaitlyn finished 3rd in the 100 meter sprint yesterday with a personal best time! Way to go Kaitlyn!
She also ran the 200 for the first time this year and had an great finish of 4th place, right on the heels of the girl ahead of her.
Keep up the good work Kaitlyn. We (your parental units - all 4 of us) are VERY proud of you!