Happy belated 4th of July! We’re having a fantastic weekend here. Friday was a holiday, so I got up early and went hiking with a friend to Granite mountain which isn’t too far from Snoqualmie Pass, where we take the kids skiing in the winter. The hike was incredible; 8 miles out and back with lots of elevation gain and beautiful views from the top. You’ll have to click on one of the pictures below to check out a slideshow of my favorite shots. I also took my Garmin 405 with me on the hike, so you can see the specific route we took, plus a bunch of data that will show you just how out of shape I still am despite my triathlon training

Yesterday, Erin and I were practicing some photography techniques using our flashes off camera and grabbed some good shots of the kids. Click here, or on any of the photographs below for a slide show.

Happy New Year!

This was our favorite of the three of them together.

Cole loves to have his picture taken. He posed for probably over a hundred shots.

Nathan posing for a rare shot.

Erin found an article in the Issaquah Reporter back in September saying that a famous sushi chef (James Kwak) had just come to Ika Sushi and Bento down the street from us in Sammamish.  I finally tried them out this past weekend and liked it so much that I offered to pick up some more on the way home from work tonight. 

tonight we had these four sushi roles (rainbow is our fav)

If you live near us, you’ve got to try ‘em out! 

Ika Sushi & Bento

(425) 836-8323

482 228th Ave Ne, Sammamish, WA 98074

We had a great Halloween again this year.  Two days later and the kids seem to be adjusting well to their elevated sugar intakes.  Here are some pictures for Halloween night; as usual, you click ‘em for the larger sizes.

Ian (skeleton pirate) with his friend Luke.

Cole as Indiana Jones

Nathan as Sasuke, a character in the Naruto cartoon

‘Sasuke’ trick-or-treating

Cole and his friend Drew both dressed as Indiana Jones

I’ve posted additional photos to Flickr.  Click Here to visit the site.

For the last couple of days, Erin has been pouring chocolate into molds and baking chocolate ginger bread.  When I arrived home from work, her and the kids had just finished building a haunted house made entirely of edible treats.  Is it really almost the holiday season already? 

Click on the picture to view the original size

Since the time Nathan found out that the Space Needle had a restaurant in it, he’s wanted to eat there.  So we figured that his 9th birthday was as good of an excuse as any to let us (the adults) splurge under the guise of celebrating our oldest child’s 9th birthday.  So with that, we called a sitter for the Ian and Cole and took Nathan, with special guest ‘Cookie Gramma’ and rode the elevator up to the top of the space needle for dinner.  Nathan was enamored with the view and the fact that the restaurant rotated.  Not so excited about having to wait longer than it takes to get a burger at Red Robin, for his food.  Here are a few shots from our adventure last night.

Erin, Nathan and me before dinner

The view on the way up to the top of the needle

Nathan and ‘Cookie Gramma’ on the elevator

Nathan enjoying the view before dinner

Gotta have a birthday milkshake!

Nathan’s ‘lunar orbiter’ dessert

Nine years old today.

We were blessed with another amazing weekend.  Nathan had his weekly soccer match Saturday afternoon and we decided to then drive over to the salmon hatchery in Issaquah.  Next week is the official Salmon days in Issaquah, so we thought we’d get a jump on the crowds and then grab a bite at the brewery next door. 

Watching the salmon jump

Nathan and Ian learned about salmon’s developmental stages

I broke out the macro lens today to grab a few shots of a spider that wove a web just outside of our bedroom window.  Hard to believe that this spider is only about the size of a pencil eraser.  For the full effect, click on the pictures to see the full size image

Ian had his first soccer game at Pine Lake Park on Friday followed by Nathan’s game at 8:15 this morning.  Both he and Nathan have been lucky enough to find that they are generally on the same team as last year so there are many familiar faces.  It amazes me how much Ian has improved in just the last year in terms of coordination.  They are both having a blast so far.  Nathan is really excited about honing his skills as goal keeper.  Erin took him to a goal keeping clinic last week while I was in California.  Here are just a few shots from last night and Nathan’s game this morning. 

Ian practicing his passing skills

Ian going for the ball during their game

Not quite a full moon last night as we were leaving the game

Nathan going after the ball

On the side lines

Cole helping mom film Nathan’s game

Goal keeper

Throwing the ball to a team mate

 Nathan thinking about where he wants to throw the ball