STARBUCKS Family Pack

So what did this Starbucks family drink on the 4-5 hr trip home from Kings Canyon:
>> Papa - Grande Soy Chai Latte
>> Mama- Tall Caramel Machiato w Soy
>> Son - Kids Hot Chocolate
>> Daughter - Kids vanilla Soy steamer

And as you can notice I did not use my Starbucks alias of 'Klaus' but my name once again Jacco did not make it on the cup.

Weekend trip to KINGS CANYON

This weekend Maureen booked a trip for fathers day to Kings Canyon. We stayed at a great Lodge in the middle of the woods. Maureen booked our stay at a great place called MonteCito Lake Resort where the kids had a lake to fish in and canoe on, swimming pool to swim in, campfires to play with and make smores etc.

We ofcourse also worn them out with trips to see the local scenery such as the majestic superlarge Redwood and Sequoia trees. They are quite different! These trees make you feel miniscule, and when you see them within the forest surrounded by 'regular' trees it feels as if you are seeing a mamoth.

One of the days we went hiking to Moro Rock within the park. A great morning hike. Nikki (2yrs) and Luke (4yrs) both walked all the way to the top of the granite rock. This was several hundreds of stairs and many adults looked flabbergasted as these youngsters passed them.

Back at the camp/lodge we did some fishing in the lake. With thousands of fish trying to eat the pieces of bread it was possible to get some fish by fast scooping. Both Nikki and Luke had loads of fun by catching some.

To feed my soul I ran one early morning on a bit of a steep climb and in thin air, think a bit about the future and the past. Can anyone guess which song was blasting on my iPod ;-)

A big thank you to my Queen Maureen for organizing this great Fathersday gift!

PRE-SCHOOL GRADUATION DAY

This weekend Luke had his first graduation day from pre-school. Luek was excited about this for the whole week. The night before he came out of bed cause he had a little tummy ache as he was nervous and the morning off he woke up early as he was so excited about graduation.

The school had done a great job and had prepared a ceremony, they had prepared a graduation hat, gifts for the parents, practiced songs and the cermony itself.

Luke was not in the mood to take pictures, but over the past months we have prepared hime pulling different faces. The picture here depicts "Chocolate face", e.g. the face he pulls when het gets chocolate.

Ben and Irene joined us for the whole ceremony and that made Luke's day. It was as much a preparation for all of us as it was for Luke as we slowly get prepared for some of the US educational culture. It was really nice.

We had to take some funny pics outside... sorry but could not let it go by without having some fun.

FUN in KONA - New course PR

I just completed a great trip to Kona / Hawaii with the Kain Performance Team. After last years WC in Clearwater I was ready for a break and took 5 months 'off'. Ready to quite and at the last minute the team motivated me to go and with 8 weeks of training under the belt and one practice race (Bakersfield) I made the trip for my third year in Hawaii.

This year we showed up with 25 Kain athletes, a huge amount for a 5 hr flight (and expensive) destination. We were by far the largest team.

In contrast to previous years I added a little more fun element to it. Like no more positive messaging on the mirrors or eating Cashews/Pretzels all the time. Instead my room mates Bo and Kim who were in the exact same mode, kept the fun/race balane in check, add music, dancing, sunshine and tadddaaaa result was that we had a great time.

Over 1,000 athletes showed up at the start-line and with a mass start all wanted to hit that first buoy. The people in the picture are lined up on a line that spans from the water to the beach.

The water was 78F and super clear during the whole swim! Quite exciting for the fish below to see this spectacle of human swim/piling happening.

Most of my improvements came from the bike, with an average of 22.2 Mph for about 2 1/2 hrs. The run was as horrible (7:58 mm) as ever due to the heat, mostly felt during a section called 'the pit' where you have to run in soaring heat over black-top (asphalt) through lava fields. Its like putting a tread mill in a sauna.

I still managed somewhat of a finish sprint once I realized a PR was within reach

Now the race results somewhat unexpectedly turned out to be my best time over the past three years under approximately the same conditions / course. Reason for a big smile for days on end.

2005: 4:56:50
2006: 4:52:24 (gain on bike)
2007: 4:51:07 (gain on bike)

Once again my road machine (Kestrel) in full race configuration helped me out. Gawd I loooooveeeee my bike!!!!! Thanks as always to Coach Pete to get me in shape on a 8 week program and my room mates Kim and Bo for being best race friends ever.