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The Muscotts' Family spaceTim, Kristen Gwyneth & Amelia Rocking it in Redmond! |
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August 29 Summer Vacation at Loon LakeThis summer we had a whirlwind tour of a number of different vacations. We started off vacationing around Mt. Rainer which was amazing and you can see the blog photo's showing the amazing scenery and sites. We did lot's of hiking and just hanging out and chatting at Mt. Rainer. We toured around with 2 minivans full of people (Kristen, Tim, Bonnie, Tim, Tom in one van, Doug, Anita, Jarred, Gwyneth & Amelia in the other) and had a great time!
After touring Mt. Rainer Kristen, the girls and myself headed up to Loon lake with Tim & Tom. Everyone was looking forward to some R&R on Loon Lake and watching the kids ski, canoe, tube, hike, etc. We had great sucess on the ski front with Tim, Tom, Gwyneth & Amelia all getting up and skiing around the lake. We also had to put up with "double/double trouble" with 2 sets of twins.
Kristen, Tom, Tim & Kara In addition to all the water activities we also had a little time for huckleberry picking which resulted in a huckleberry pie for dessert (and breakfast the next morning). While we had many different highlights a big highlight for Uncle Tim was when Tim & Tom took the canoe to the middle of the lake and dumped it. Their lifeguarding skills came in as they had to paddle back and get the canoe back to shore. Fun for the rest of us to watch! All in all a great trip watching all the kids (big & small, young & old) enjoying themselves!
April 11 Ustedes fiesta como "rock stars"For this year's spring break we headed down to Cancun with my soprimo (nephew) Jarred to celebrate the end of a chapter in his high school life and the beginning of a new chapter coming up with college. We stayed in Cancun & Playa de Carmen and had a great time seeing the ancient Mayan ruins, going on zip lines, swimming in the ocean and just relaxing by the pool with a good book!
 Shot from our balcony of the condo we stayed in
We stayed in a condo that had a full kitchen and early on went into town to load up on groceries @ "El Wall-Marto" - so we balanced eating in and going into downtown Cancun for our meals. The condo we stayed in was very nice, and we could wander down the beach to go for a swim in the quiet, protected water in front of Club Med. Jarred got some visibility into the "European" way of sunbathing, though I think Tio Tim was more interested than he was :)! Jarred also learned that one should should check his pockets before diving into the ocean -- his wallet and camera go a little water-logged, but hey, no worries! We were on vacation!
 Tia Kristen & Soprimo Jarred in front of Club Med
Kristen and I decided to see the Mayan ruins at Coba because we heard you could hike on the ruins. Ten years ago, Kristen and I visited Chichen Itza, which was amazing, but this trip we wanted to see some new ruins. The trip to Coba was a fantastic way to start our vacation! We took an "eco tour" with a small group of people (6 + us) and had quite the entertaining tour Guide (Oscar) who like to blast "Welcome to the Jungle" from the radio as we jetted and bounced down dirt roads in the jungle at a muy rapido speed.
Tres Amigos in a underground water cave @ Coba Coba was great because we got to do so many things. We started by climbing into a cave that held the Mayan village's drinking water supply, so before beginning the tour, we were told not to wear sunscreen or bug repellent; the water was so clear and pristine! We spent some time exploring the cave and swimming in the water. We then got to do some repelling down a 40' cliff which then lead to a zip line - all experiences that reminded Kristen and me of our time in China! Jarred LOVED the repelling! He and Kristen were a little nervous at first but then were "whooping it up" on the way down! Our next adventure was to Isla Mujeres in which we got to see a few more ancient ruins but was really more of a "all you can drink" cruise & party boat. On the Island we rented a golf cart and cruised around the Island looking at the great scenic views, iguanas and Mayan statues. Very cool and I think Jarred enjoyed driving his Tio & Tia around. We talked about what Jarred could expect in college and how "flexibility" is a good quality to grow as he moves into the bigger world. It's amazing the conversations you can have while riding around in a golf cart.
Jarred cruises us around Isla Mujeres Our next big adventure was to Tulum. Tulum was amazing! By this time we had rented a car and were staying at Playa del Carmen - Tulum is another ancient Mayan city, but it is right on the coast and has an amazing backdrop of the Carribean Sea. At Tulum we spent a good amount of time walking and looking at the ruins but also hiked down to the beach where we spent some time cooling off and doing a little body surfing. Even Tia Kristen got in the water and did her version of body surfing!
Tim & Kristen at the Tulum Ruins
Where we went swimming and body surfing @ Tulum Of course we also had our share of Mexican & Mayan food. While we were staying in Cancun, many a night we took el Autobus to downtown Cancun and had the BEST guacomole and fresh tortillas EVER! My favorite place to eat was El Tocalete where we had some pretty authentic food at a great price. In Playa Del Carmen we had some Mayan food, which seemed fitting, having just visited the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Playa Del Carmen had a pedestrian street with hotels above restaurants, souvenir shops, and coffee and ice cream shops (including Starbucks and Hagen Daaz), all with a European, beachy feel. We would definitely like to visit Playa Del Carmen again.
Tequilla Mangos are prepared @ El Tocalete
Tia Kristen y Jarred @ Playa Del Carmen downtown drag
Our goal for this trip, besides relaxing and taking in some good ol' vitamin D, was to give Jarred the opportunity to use the Spanish he's been learning throughout his high school career. He was a little shy about it during our first dinner at the hotel, but the next day, after asking the sales clerk in WalMart "Where is the Diet Coke in cans?", Jarred was so confident with the language, he was correcting Uncle Tim's Spanish! Jarred got to experience the white-knuckling speed of cars and buses on foreign roads, the quizzical looks that pass between people who can't quite understand each other, and the reflection that comes from standing on ancient ground. As a bonus, he got loads of experience in saying, "no, gracias" every time he was offered tequilla -- some good practice for his college years (not that we're worried :))!
March 18 Jarred's Senior Project - A half marathon!!This past Sunday my nephew Jarred and I ran a half marathon together. For Jarred it was the culmination of his senior project and a fitness endeavor that saw him join the Cross Country team, build up to running 3 miles, completing the cross country season, training for a half marathon and completing his first half marathon in the rain, wind, sleet, snow and even a little Sunshine in Rochester, Wa. Jarred has a great support crew that consisted of 3 grandparents, an aunt & uncle, and of course 2 little cousins that had made signs for him to encourage him along the way. His Auntie Kristen went a little crazy with the support, proceeding to park her van on the side of the road and crank out Journey's "Don't stop Believin'" (she gets a little out of control at times!).
Jarred & Uncle Tim getting ready to drive down to Rochester and run a half marathon in the rain, snow & wind - good times!
After a hectic drive down in the snow we were joined by Jarred's grandparents Jim & Marlyss. It was good to see them there and they had braved the roads from even further North than we had leaving at 6:15 a.m.! Now that's support! We milled around for a bit then started the race @ 10:30 am. There was ~40 runners at the start running a 5K, 10K, half marathon & marathon. Within the first 2 minutes my feet were soaking wet!
 Jarred on the early part of the run - all smiles!
The first half of the race was pretty uneventful with a simple out and back course. Jarred and chatted and tried to get into a rhythm with our running. There is a lot of chatter in the race and we had runners around us who were running their 7th & 28th marathons! The small crowd thinned out pretty quickly. Jarred was doing great and of course we had the support & encouragement of our family members who honked, clapped, cheered, showed signs, etc. I know that Jarred had a big grin whenever we passed the family members. By mile 10 Jarred was starting to realize what a half marathon was all about - we had just 3.1 miles to go-- the same distance as a cross country race. By mile 12 Jarred was in full concentration to make it to the end - his breathing became a little more labored and he felt like the wind was always blowing against him :) Down the home stretch Jarred picked up the pace and finished strong to the thunderous applause of his family! Great job Jarred - we are all super proud of this big accomplishment!
 Jarred finished the race in ~2:22 and we ended up running 13.4 miles (should have run 13.1), but such is the life of a runner! After running we all went out and had lunch at Subway. Jarred's post-race meal was a foot long Subway Melt, some Dorritos, and a chocolate chip cookie. He said later that he felt like he had eaten a horse :)! Then, it was back on the road toward home. All in all a great way to spend a Sunday!
December 23 House RemodelAs we get ready to head out to the cabin we thought we should update everyone on the status/progress of our house remodel. What started out as a project with a tentative completion date of Thanksgiving has now extended into Christmas and should be done when we return from the cabin - prior to New Years! We have gone through the process of having our wood floors redone (twice!) and adding new wood floors, texturizing the walls, demo'ing the entry way closet, adding new trim, painting
 Kristen makes coffee in the middle of our remodel - good times in the kitchen!
During the remodel life has been a bit painful! We have spent multiple nights at the high falutin Redmond Inn, have lodged at our good friends & neighbors the Stenersons, have eaten out *way more* than we've liked, and have proceeded to get on each others nerves! ;) Hopefully the end of project is in site and we'll return to updated house with everyone cleared out! Stay tuned for more updates... October 31 Amelia's 9th Bday.... With Elvis!Oh what a CrAzY birthday week it was for Amelia! So much going on and such big birthday plans. It started with Amelia indicating she wanted a "costume" birthday party and the Muscott Bear Cave Cabin with all her family members. *Costume* had a heavy emphasis on Elvis dress up for Granpa, Uncle TJ & me! We did a shout out to our good friends Mia & Sophie Lindheimer in Beijing and gave them the general theme of the party. They responded with this classic video (http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Syk-N2MaC3s ) which brought a smile to everyone in family - great job Mia & Sophie!!
After soccer games and watching Gwyneth's team go undefeated & Amelia winning *and* scoring a goal on her birthday (and her team had to sing happy birthday after the game of course!) we piled into the van and headed to the cabin. We decided to go with Village Pizza for dinner once we arrived at the cabin... It was great seeing everybody get into the holiday spirit & dress up. Grammy was a witch, Grampa was "Old Elvis the day before his final day", Auntie Bonnie was a witch, Uncle TJ was "Late 60's Elvis", Thomas was the Chaqita Banana, Jarred was a fooball (headed) fan, Timothy was Lebron James, Kristen was yet another witch, Gwyneth was a Halloween Angel, Millie was Hermione and I was classic Las Vegas Elvis.
Thomas, Jarred, Timothy, Gwyneth & Amelia
Gwyneth & Grammie After the pizza and partying we opened so many great gifts for Millie! She thoroughly enjoyed this part and even the dogs got into the present opening (while in costome)... After dinner we dug into Millies Birthday Ice Cream cake - YUM E!
Bday Girl Ready to make a wish
A little cake frosting! The next day was a bit more relaxing and we ended up going for a long walk on the Coal Mines trail in Roslyn. The weather out was *Beautiful* and we had a great time! The dogs got some good exercise in and on the way there Emma decided to sit in Grampa's lap and we only almost crashed one time! That dog needs some discipline! ;)
All in all a great weekend and a great 9th Bday for Millie!
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