Adventures in Babysitting

 

Last Thursday was a very happy day for some of my friends and their family. Rose and John welcomed twin boys, Eljin and Regan, and Autumn and Jacob welcomed Caroline. While Autumn and Jacob were at the hospital I got to watch Elliot - not for the whole day - good heavens, I can't be trusted. But from 4 - 6pm, and then at night while Elliot slept, it was an easy gig. Elliot is a very happy guy so he keeps himself entertained, but when he did need some attention, I pulled out the camera. Everyone loves to have their picture taken. Well, maybe just me and babies.

Shot number 2

 

And more pictures to pass the time away. Elliot was really good about keeping himself busy. Very little management on my part. Perfect. Later, we left for the hospital so that Elliot could meet his little sis.

The whole family...

 

I don't think that Elliott realized that he was meeting his little sister yet, but he noted quickly that there was a new baby with mom. I like this shot of the whole family.

And here's the little bundle...

 

This is Caroline Florence. This is a pretty new shot of her...she was working on getting her color, but she is an absolute doll.

More pics of the Rob Thomas night

 

There really aren't that many more pics, it's that I forgot to post them with the first pic. I still love him.

Terrible pic, I know

 

But this is the stage - for 2 musicians plus Rob Thomas. There was a piano, and 3 stools.

Snoqualmie Casino View

 

Here's the view if you look away from the stage. You can't lose either way.

The venue from the back

 

The view before everyone got there.

 

This is what Row 8 looks like. Pretty nifty, huh? Funny how it looks closer when no one is there.

August Highlight: Rob Thomas

 

I love him. I never used to love him, but after seeing him in concert, I've decided that I love him. Rob Thomas was entertaining and very funny. He mocked his own songwriting skills which had the audience rolling.

So the build up to this concert: Susan bought the tickets in April or May, and she got Row 8 seats! So cool. The venue was the outdoor concert theater of the Snoqualmie Casino. We headed out early to grab dinner and make a donation to the tribe (aka we played the slots - of course Susan came out ahead $180...I just made the donation). The venue was cozy and the weather perfect.

My day on the lake

 

A friend invited me to go boating on Friday to catch the Seafair Festivities which included the Blue Angels and a bit of the hydroplane test runs. Why not? I love the water, although I'm a terrible swimmer. Anyway, I packed a lunch and off I went. I thought it'd end up being a 3 hour cruise (a 3 hour cruise...the weather started getting rough...) Back to my story. We left Lake Union and headed over to the Montlake Cut with all the other boaters and then on to Lake Washington. By the time we got to the I-90 end of the bridge, the show was about to get under way. It was great to see the Blue Angels on the water. I loved it. After the show, we headed over to the east side of the lake to just float. Too bad it wasn't warm enough to swim, but it was still a ton of fun. The water was rough...lots of rocking and rolling, and I did hold it together fairly well. No tossing-of-my-cookies overboard so that was good. After an hour or so, we headed back to the south end of the lake to take a look at the hydroplanes. Dang...they go fast. I was convinced at this point that I am no daredevil. Just a nice steady pace for me and I'm fine. But there's more to the story. Read on.

Hydroplane test runs

 

I didn't get an up close view, but this was close enough. The hydroplanes go scary-fast. It was fun to watch as we drifted on the lake.

Sunset at the Ballard Locks

 

After all the giddiness of the Blue Angels show, and the hydroplane test runs, we headed back to Lake Union. However, before we hit the Montlake Cut, we ran out of gas. :( Not good. I know I shouldn't stress about these things, but I do. Anyway, my friend switched engines and we used engine #2 to get us within 50 ft of the fueling dock! 50 ft!!!! Then we ran out of gas again! Anyway, we got a tow from a nice couple in a sail boat. Once we filled up, we headed to the Locks...why not? We had a fresh tank of gas. It was a great night for this. I got to catch a sunset at the Ballard Locks and I got to see salmon jumping out of the water! Uber kewl.

Look what we stumbled upon...

 

So coming back from a looksey at the Locks, we stumbled upon this. (Autumn W: Are you reading this??????? These pics are for you!). My friend pointed out this boat - The Wizard. For any of you Deadliest Catch fans, this is one of the boats featured on the reality show. I gotta say, it's a lot bigger than I expected.

 

It's huge

 

I mean...it's a huge boat

 

A shot of the Capt's office