Sunday was Dad Day

Sunday I had told M that I would take the kids so she could do whatever she wanted to do. The kids and I left the house about 11 headed towards the tri-cities with no game plan, I was just going to wing this little adventure. I had planed on leaving earlier but Scott W and I stayed out playing cards till late the night before.

We ended up going to get dad a haircut (kids had a great time watching that, I'm sure). Then we went and watched "Wallee" movie, that was very good, then down to the river to throw rocks in the water. And as Kendall said "its kinda like exploring". Then hit the playground of dreams. The kids had fun playing with the little digging machine (pics). Kendall was explaining to Kole how to work the arms (even though he knew how to do it), she's a good teacher or boss.

What else, rode the train that goes thru the park. It cost 25 cents a head so I figured my kids are worth that, so we gave it a try. It was fun but Kendall started getting tired (pic), so we headed home after a nice healthy McDonalds dinner (to go along with the pop, popcorn, icee's, etc they had during the day). It ended up a nice day to hangout with the kids.

Hermiston 5K run

Saturday I ran with Aaron, Missy, and Garth along with a large turnout of other people in Hermiston. Aaron ran great, finished 2nd overall for the 10K race. Garth had to drop out due to leg cramps at mile 4. Missy ran well, even though she didn't get the time she had wanted. I was hoping to improve on my last race time of 20:30. My coaches set a mark of 19:59 to hit. I ended getting a 19:47, so I was happy and exhausted. Will try it again this weekend.

Sprint Races

Saturday went and helped Mitch and Amy at the Yakima fairground speedway. I have not been around and helped with the sprint cars so it was alot of fun. Alot different than the late model cars that Rick races, as far as work the crew has to do. I of course didn't do much, but I got pretty good at knocking off the dirt and giving her a good cleaning every time it went out.

Mitch ended up coming in third place in the main event, a huge turnaround from the night before where he crashed (totaled?) his primary car.

Speaking of Totaled cars....... There was a lot of carnage that night. Its hard to tell from the pics but these cars are a mess. The first one is for sure destroyed and to top it off it got burned up. All the drivers walked away OK. The night before, I guess there was a nasty wreck as well with the cars whole top roll cage being ripped away. I don't know if this is common in this series, but there were alot of cars messed up. I really didn't want to walk around and take pictures of others misfortune.

There is always other sights in the race pits no matter where you go. I think plumbers and race crews all have the same problem, "crack". I just missed a perfect example of this by milliseconds. As you can see from the picture I was just a little to late, butt there was crack.

I did bring home a souvenir from the race. Mitch had a rough Friday night as I stated and I ended up taking a section of his top wing to hang in my shop (after he autographed it). I noticed this couple took a damaged complete top wing section and was tying it down on their ford explorer and I knew I had to get a picture of it. Just cant see it very well because its too dark.

Saturday Sod day

Finally front grass is in. Thanks to all that came out and helped lay the green carpet down. We started about 9 am and we were done about 12. Not to bad for 8000 sq ft. It was a rainy day, not great for us but the sod was happy.

Soccer Thursdays

Let's just say its been a BUSY week. That's is why its now Sun. evening and I'm just writing about Thursdays game. Mrs K has a soccer game on thursday as usual. The team played very well again. Kendall had 2 or 3 goals. Once again I'm sure it was due to all the good coaching. I included some pics of him because he deserves some props. Karen was there so she sent me many nice pics, almost to many to choose from. It is nice to have good pics other than ones that come from my phone.

Kevin's Coffee Company

I broke out the espresso machine the other week, I got tired of paying $4.30 everyday. I haven't used it for about 10 years. Karen bought me a huge vat of chocolate with a hand pump and my loving wife (brownie points) went and got me some 24 and 32 oz cups, and some syrup. I made us both one this morning and I think I finally finished mine around 4:00 pm.

Race Day (late model car)

Back at the track again. Last weekend didn't go to well. We were done with a broken part on lap two. So were hoping this evening will be better.

It hasn't started good. During the first practice the tranny broke so took it out and put spare in. I believe it had a "crack" in it. Scott was busy working on something on the right front suspension (sorry Scott).

Everyone was very interested in seeing Ricks rear end for some reason.

The evening ended ok, finished the race and the car felt a lot better for Rick, still far from perfect but better than last weekend.

What's wrong with this picture?

They are in my way. I got to follow this group of "Wild Hogs" or "Mild Hogs" for a few miles (in the left hand lane, which is my #1 pet peeve). I could not pass on the right because there was a car way up there, and its illegal :) . They either didn't hear me driving on the rumble strip for miles or probably didn't care. They might have been too busy waving at all the other bikers on the other side of the freeway. I finally dropped it down into 3rd and went to pass on the right and ended up merging with them in the left lane. I finally got thru all of them and gave a friendly wave to the Ring Leader (the front biker that was going under the speed limit) and continued on my way.

Race day (run)

Aaron and his brother Garth "made me" run in this race. They told me about it about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I ran the 5K and they ran the 1/2 marathon. I will NEVER run in the same race as them. I finished with a time of 20:30 or givertake. The official time clock said 19:48 when I finished (it got started late by about 40 seconds). It did make me feel pretty good seeing 19 min as I was running towards the finish line. I was just hoping for sub 7 miles. This was my best time so far. I started out a little too fast with a 6:10 first mile.

Aaron finished 13 miles in 1:22 (1st) and Garth was third with 1:27 (I think). Way to fast for me.

I tried to get a pic of Garth getting his award but some lady walked in front of me, Oh well.......

Sunday ride

Nothing to exciting as far as bike ride this weekend. I rode up Paterson hill again. This time the wind was against me on the way up. Towards the top the wind was swirling in all directions. The last few hundred yards sucked. I swear I could just bearly keep myself upright and it didn't seem like I had any forward momentum. Anyways I made it. On the way down I hit one section of road that had no wind, managed to get a 52 mph max. That was fun.

Back at the track

Its been about a year since we had Ricks car out, so here we go. More to come later.

Benton City Parade

Kaity and Kendall are going to be in the Benton City Parade. A pre parade pic and a couple during the parade. The last pic is the horse that Kendall wants. I'm pretty sure that our homeowners association will not allow horses. :)

Kendall 1st game of the season

Kendall had her first game of the season on Thursday. She is playing in the U-7 girls division. Kendall had three goals. All the girls played great. I felt a little bad for the other team because even though we don't keep score officially my girls would tell me the score after each goal. I think the last I remembered was 15 to 2. I'm guessing it was all the great coaching. Kendall does have a great, level headed, professional, athletic, mature, smart, etc. etc. coach.

Prosser Carny

Kendall and Kole on one of the rides at the Prosser carnival. They had a good time. The next day they went to the Prosser parade and got lots of candy. That reminds me I hope mama threw it away today. Also we all got to see the, little Miss Jr Prosser princess, Miss Kaitlyn. Kole was so excited he started running after her (or the candy in the middle of the road) I'm not sure.