Halloween

The neighborhood was full of kids Halloween night. Caroline was a Princess, and Catherine was a teenybopper. We had two costumes on loan from a theater down town so I dressed up as a Spaceman to take Caroline trick-or-treating and then I put on a black cape to hand out candy. Catherine had a great time trick-or-treating with Morgan, and I had a great time scaring kids. I would pop out of the side of the entry way as kids were going for the door bell. We all had a good time.

South Beach Trip

We had our annual Outtask outing to South Beach; Debbie and I flew all night, and checked into our hotel at 8am Friday morning slept a few winks and hit Ocean Drive. It was warm, and sunny. Our hotel was great; our room was huge, and well furnished. We knew we were in good company when we heard that Jamie Fox owns one of the penthouses in the building and ran into Chris Noth (from Law and Order) on the beach and in the hotel several times.
Friday night we met up with the gang at Curt's condo for a party, and had a great evening. His condo is on the 21'st floor of a high rise right on the water; it has a panoramic view that sweeps from the ocean to the city, and overlooks the port. From our hotel room a few blocks away, we watched Cruise ships leave the port; they went down a canal into the Ocean.
Saturday we took a Catamaran cruise out in the bay, the crew kept us entertained, and we managed to avoid most of the rain storms. We cruised by “Stiltsville” in the bay, these houses are remnants of a community of about 50 homes that were built back in the 1930’s – they were most recently used for running drugs. After our cruise we had an early dinner at the “Big Pink”. Later in the evening we meet every one out at a very cool roof top bar – it was very stylish, lots of white walls and pastel colors. On our way back, we were hungry so we went back to the Big Pink. Across the street from the Big Pink was a night club; every one going into the club was in costume and many filtered into the restaurant – we sat between the Village People and a bunch of Pimps – it was fun people watching.
Sunday we walked around on the beach, and then went to a really nice brunch. We flew home arriving at midnight to car with a flat tire. We had a great trip, we’ll have to go back to Miami again. It was a fun sendoff for Outtask, so we’ll have to think of a different reason to meet-up next year.

Catherine's Bed

This bed was Catherine's great great grandfather Love's. Her grandfather got it from a family member, lovingly refinished it, and delivered it to Virginia just in time for us to move to WA. Its got its dings and character, but the finish looks great for a 100 year old piece of furniture. We got the mattress once we moved here, and its really comfortable. I told Catherine there have been allot of Love sleep in this old bed; she sleeps well in it.

Walking the trails around our house

Caroline, Catherine, Fletch, and I took a long walk on the trails around the neighborhood. I think we walked 3 miles. Its part of a network of trails that go throughout the county. People mountain bike, walk, and ride horse. Even though were close to home it feels like the middle of the the woods. After we got back I went to work on a big, partially rotten stump in the back yard. Its amazing what you can do with a 16 inch electric chain saw! Catherine and I tried to count the rings - it looks like the tree was almost 100 years old. No telling when it was cut down.

Swimming

Saturday was a georgous sunny day, we drove up to near Edmonds WA for Catherine's first swim meet on the Wave's team. It was a big meet. She swam 4 events and got 2 first places, and 2 second places. Her 100M freestyle was really fast. Caroline played with several other kids outside. Morgan swam well also, and the girls had a good time.

Bruce Hornsby

I attended a Technology Roadmap presentation at Microsoft. While I was there I ran into Dennis Moreau from USL. He and I had a great visit thursday night at a banquet where Bruce Hornsby was the entertainment. Bruce Hornsby was really in a good mood; cracking jokes, and telling stories about being on the road with the Greatful Dead, and other rock legends. It was educational and fun.

Fall Colors

Summer is over and there is more than a hint of fall in the air. Its starting to get cool, and there are more clouds. Friday night we went to a corn field maze, wandered around lost. Saturday was nice, and Sunday has been a little wet. On Saturday Catherine swam 3 miles! in a fundraiser. We were amazed that she could swim that far. She was a little tired, but otherwise enjoyed herself. Then to top it off she went to a sleepover and spent the night in a tent! Caroline stayed with us and and went to eat Chinese food where she continued her streak of trying new foods - she at Chinese steam bread called pao - it was like white bread without any crust - she loved it.

These trees are just around the corner from us, we've been watching them start to change; we think they are at their highpoint now. We still have some work to do on our yard but the colors are nice.

Salmon Run

Debbie saw a salmon run sign just a few blocks from our neighborhood so we went to check it out. These are Sockeye salmon, they are bright red; it was really interesting to see them slowly swim up stream. They would stop and rest in the calm water, and they would get a burst of energy and splash through the rapids. They are nearing the end of their journey, several were laying eggs. The stream is on a pipeline that has horse trails, so Caroline got to talk to a few horses.