Yesterday, the family and I were spending the afternoon at a friend's house on Lake Washington. It was Seattle's Seafair weekend - our annual summer festival - and consequently a lot of activities were focused on the lake, meaning there were a ton of boats out there. The water was choppy, and frankly I wouldn't have wanted to swim there yesterday.

The Boy was in a life jacket, jumping off the dock into the water and playing with the other kids.… Read More

I'm just going to put this out there: My son has had a computer since he was three years old, and has been online since he was six.

He plays an MMORPG: a massive multi-player online role-playing game. It's called Club Penguin, and basically he walks around the penguin world, chats with other penguins, and plays games to earn coins so he can buy stuff for his penguin and his igloo. ("Stuff" like clothes, hockey sticks, and other toys every penguin… Read More

My baby - The Girl, age four - is at Family Camp this week.

With someone else's family!

It was a tough decision to allow her to go. But she is with her best friend and her best friend's parents, who I know well and trust. And she has slept over the best friend's house a few times without problems.

The first time I mentioned to a neighbor that my baby was allowed to sleep over at her best friend's house,… Read More

The colorful table caught my eye first. All those pretty colors and patterns...and all the pink! Of course I had to go check it out, both kids in tow.

The table was a display at a race expo, where lots of merchants sell clothing and other items triathletes might need. And frankly, I fell in love at first sight.

The Bondi Bands are not only super-fun, they're also highly functional. They come in stretchy, breathable materials, so they're great for… Read More

It used to be that if I heard one of the many 20-somethings at work talk about what they did this weekend, I'd start to reminisce. "When I was young and fun..." I'd start, and then remember all the cool things I did as a single gal living in a hip neighborhood in Seattle.

But I got married, I had two kids, and that going out and partying stuff just stopped happening. Immediately after giving birth - or maybe even getting… Read More

My husband John married a fat girl. Whenever we did anything athletic - snowboarding, hiking, biking - pretty much he kicked my behind.

But eventually, when I lost weight and became an athlete, that changed. Over the last few years, he's gained a few pounds, and as I've gotten stronger and lighter, I've also gained endurance and speed and agility (though he still kicks my behind at snowboarding). And, frankly, as a hyper-competitive person, I've especially liked being a better cyclist… Read More