My first triathlon

With Jeff busy training for the Seattle-to-Portland Ride in July, I decided to do something especially crazy and - along with my good friend, Quinn - joined a local triathlon club. On June 28, I completed my first race: the Lake Padden Triathlon right here in Bellingham. The race included a 1/4-mile swim, 10-mile bike ride, and 2.8 mile run. When I started training, my initial goal was simply to finish the race without dying. As I improved throughout the spring, my goal then became to finish the race without dying AND not to come in last. I'm please to announce I accomplished both! My goal for next year is to complete the longer version of the Padden Tri, which is a 1/2-mile swim, 20-mile bike, and 5.2-mile run.

Jennifer's 40th birthday

Jeff took the day off of work and we drove up to Vancouver to celebrate my 40th birthday. It is so amazing living this close to a great city like Vancouver, with its incredible diversity and absolutely phenomenal selection of restaurants. Today we found a great sushi place for lunch and had dinner at our favorite Chinese place, a dive over on E. Hastings called Penny Restaurant. Even though I'm still in shock at hitting the big four-zero, it was a fun day!

Father's Day Camping Trip

We've made it an annual tradition to go camping every year to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday. It's also become the yearly "shakedown" trip for our little 22-foot travel trailer, which we've nicknamed Ethel (the Suburban we bought to tow her is named Fred). Ethel, also known as a 1984 Kit Companion model, joined our family about 4 years ago after we rescued her and gave her a complete overhaul and remodeling. She's cute, she's cozy, and best of all she beats sleeping on the ground! This year we did our trip to one of our favorite (and nearby) campgrounds: Bayview State Park in Skagit County. This is also the trip where Emma learned to ride on 2 wheels on her bike!

We really enjoy taking the kids camping because it's a fun way to spend time together as a family, without the TV, video games, computer, and all the interruptions of daily life.