It all started in Alaska

The Great Outdoors

2011-03-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to get the girls out on a camping trip for a long time. I had originally considered camping on the trip to Indiana last summer but the idea of setting camp up every night and tearing it down each morning convinced me otherwise.

It was kind of a no brainer that they'd like it. Sleeping in a tent, playing outside all day, kids galore, making smores for dessert... All things I knew they'd enjoy. And did they enjoy it.

The opportunity finally presented itself when Lori invited us to go along with her girls and her sister/brother-in-law's family. We headed out to Canyon Lake and spent 3 nights "roughing it." It went very well. They girls enjoyed playing with the "other" Ellie and Ashlynn. Swimming in the covered pool, enjoying a campfire and just generally having a great time.
I'm pretty sure that they would eat S'mores for dessert every night if I let them.

We headed into Gruene for lunch at The Gristmill. Food was good, the company was great and the weather was spectacular.

After lunch, it was time for the girls to get their first taste of fishing. Mike is a skilled angler and he was awesome with the girls. He brought several extra poles and you can imagine that Elliot and Campbell loved using the Barbie ones. We went down the hill from town to a spot on the river and cast away for an hour or two.

The campground had lots of things for kids to do and on the last night, we went on a glowstick hayride around the grounds. It was fun but I think we all suffered a little from the hay.

At the Nutcracker

2010-12-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

Took the girls and they loved it!

Happy Halloween and some more

2010-11-02T18:00:00.001-07:00

What a huge difference from our neighborhood in Tacoma. Up there, we had almost as many houses with no one home/lights off as those who were home. Halloween was kind of just another day.

And then there's Texas. Our entire neighborhood turned out for a block party. At the peak, there were at least 40 kids with 70+ adults. The moms who organized it did a great job with some games, activities and pumpkin carving. We blocked off the street from around our house down three houses further. Everyone brought some food. I screwed up my spare ribs and they were good but not great. One neighbor made a giant pot of gumbo. And everyone had a fantastic time. Once we got the kids to bed, a lot of the parents came back out sat around a fire pit. I called it a night around 1:00. Some of the wild and crazy ones were out way past that.

Sunday was Trick or Treating. The trend is now to sit outside on either your driveway or sidewalk and pass candy out from there. I like this idea. It made it very festive. The cul-de-sac families just sat together in a group and saw all the kids at once. We went around the circle with two neighbor families and had a blast. Tom and Linda came over and passed out candy for me and the girls were thrilled to be out and around.

Monday was '50's Day at school. Ellie was very interested in what the 50's were like on Sunday afternoon. I showed her some pictures of the people, fashion, icons. New York City. Yankee Stadium :) I showed her a picture of Grace Kelly (arguably the most beautiful woman to ever live.) Her reply: She looks like Mommy. Yes, Ellie, yes she did.

Out and about in October

2010-10-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

I heard a guy on the radio the other day talk about how the 6+ months or so from mid October until mid April is why people live in Houston. The other 5 months are why housing is so cheap here. The weather has definitely turned. We even saw overnight lows in the 40s. So funny to see people walking around in the mornings with sweaters on. Bunch of weenies.

I finally got around to dumping the pictures on my phone onto the computer. Amazing how much stuff I had on there. Great pictures of the girls going back to April, some good mountain shots and some video I took of the Longhorn band marching onto the field before the TX-OU game at the Cotton Bowl.

The girls and I headed to downtown for the Bayou City Art Festival. I had never been before but I was jonesing for something resembling the outdoor markets and festivals that we were spoiled with over the last 3 years. And this one delivered. There was an amazing amount of art on display. Some really fantastic stuff that ranged from basic jewelry up to sculptures selling for $20,000. When we got there, the girls were more interested in getting some food so we ate first. And then came the ice cream.

We browsed some more art and the kiddos were enthralled with a sculpture artist that had created some items from old push button typewriters and Singer sewing machines with the hand spun wheel. Another guy had etched these incredible glass pieces that rivaled the best ice art we ever saw in Alaska. I would have spent a lot more time looking but both girls were in that "must try to touch everything" mode and that really didn't fly. Another snack and we were off to the music stage.

When we first got over there, a group doing traditional African dances was on stage. We were pretty far away from the act but Ellie and Campbell enjoyed the drumming a lot. When they finished a Latin jazz group was up next. We moved right up the stage and the girls started dancing with another little girl. By the time the band had finished their set about 10-12 little kids were trying their darndest to keep some kind of order. It was half dancing to the beat and half kiddo mosh pit.

An impromptu mini monument as a goodbye to so many good (and bad) things over the past months.

Quick update

2010-09-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

The girls have been in school now for a few weeks and love, love, love it! Ellie was never an early riser but now, if her alarm goes off before mine, she's waking me up, ready to start the day. She comes home bubbling with things to tell me. And Campbell is enjoying herself too. She goes 3 hours a day to the same place and is adapting well to that schedule.

It's still hot and humid here, even in September. But there has been a definite cooling down as we've had some very rainy weather. I'm still trying to unpack the house. I'm planning Ellie's birthday party for the 19th so I need to have the house presentable by then.

Unpacking has been easy and hard. There is not an unopened box left that I don't know what's in it. If I really had to, I could get the dadmobile in the garage. I should be done with the house in the next few days. But dang if there aren't some hard moments. I was sitting here going through some of the girls artwork and school stuff. And folded up in the pile was a calendar page Jennifer had kept for September '04. Stuff like "Mom and Dad arrive", "UT v. Arkansas", the week count for Ellie and September 21.

That September seems so far away. Yeah, it's been 6 years. It was a long time ago. Time flies when your having fun. And sometimes even more when your not.

Just an FYI...

2010-08-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

We're fully ensconced in our house. I got back from Seattle Friday after finishing up the last of the things I needed to do up there. For those that don't have, and would like our new address, drop me an e-mail at jwhydes@yahoo.com with a greeting and I'll respond in kind. I don't want to list it here because this is a public blog.

I thought I I was making serious headway on unpacking before the second shipment came two Fridays ago. And I was wrong. The second shipment was nearly all boxes. My garage is overloaded. But, the girls start school on the 23rd so I should be able to make some serious headway then.

I finally got around to uploading a few pictures. The house was a spec job by the builder as they try to finish out the neighborhood. There are only about 10 lots left in our section. I didn't have a ton of say in tile/carpet/paint choices since most of it was already done. I did get them to paint the study, put up blinds on every window and some extra ceiling fans throughout the house. As a bonus, they painted the girl's rooms the color of our choosing (pastel blue for Ellie and lilac for Campbell.) Unbeknownst to me, they had some extras planned for the house; The paneling on the bar in the kitchen and the glass cabinet to the left of the fridge space. The paneling looked awesome builder pictures that I saw. I was not sold on the glass cabinet until I saw it in person.

These are not my best work. I was running around taking pictures as the movers were getting ready to start unloading. Here are some interior shots:

Breakfast nook: One of the builder's reps picked the country green color and it really works. The wainscotting was a builder bonus and it looks fantastic.

Kitchen: You can see the glass cabinet and all the paneling. There is no white/pale line around the walls. I'm not sure why that happened

The study: Yes, that room is burnt orange. Hook 'em Horns!

The family room: There's a formal(ish) living room down stairs by the kitchen. This one upstairs has turned into a media room. I got it wired with speakers in the ceiling and a subwoofer. My TV is on the wall. It looks great.

I should have shared this before now

2010-08-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

This is the eulogy that I delivered for Jennifer back in June.

"I have been up here, on this stage before. And Jennifer toughed it out that day as I nearly broke her hands while we exchanged vows because I was nervous. And I like to think that I'm not really alone now. It's been a world of surreal absurdity over the last few weeks. And the support of so many, from such different places has meant so much to me. We never really understand how many lives are touched and affected by others until things like this happen.

As you can assume, I could talk about Jennifer forever almost. Knowing someone for 22 years would make that exceedingly easy.

For those that don't know, we met in high school. We had an art class together. She made an A because she was excellent artist. My grade was purely based on participation and attendance. Why I waited almost all year to ask her out, I have no idea. I found out several years later that she told her mom after our first date “I’m going to marry that guy.” Give or take 5 years later, I proposed at Brennan’s. I was nervous, excited, and in love. And then we went to the Nutcracker ballet. We were bummed to hear that it burnt down during Ike. However, they rebuilt and one day soon, the girls and I will go back to the new Brennan’s for dinner. And the Nutcracker afterwards.

She was talking to a family member from the midwest one day about a wedding they would attend. There was a gap from around noon until 6:00 for the reception. Jenifer asked the other person why the gap. The reply was "a lot of those people work on dairy farms. They have tasks and chores that have to be done." My wife thinks for a second and says "Why not just wait until it's not milking season?" And from that point on, any dumb question was met with "milking season" in our household.

We drove most of the way to Alaska from Houston with a brief ferry ride. About Day 5, we were in Banff N.P. in Alberta. I'm driving along and a small black bear jumps up onto a Jersey barrier near the road and then into our lane. I stomp on the brakes and tell her to grab the camera, get out and take a picture. She tells me no way. I reply with "OK, how about standing up and taking one from the sun roof?" She's game and gets a shot as I creep closer. Then she sits down and says "You know, we're on the way to Alaska. We're probably going to see a few more bears over the next couple of years."

Cleaning up the personal effects of someone who is a pack rat and in the Army is funny and scary all at the same time. I accept that there is a need for having military forms in triplicate squared. But do any person really need four copies of the same Dixie Chicks CD? Or biochemistry notes from her sophomore year at UT? Or every single piece of school work that the girls have done over the past two years? And even most of my attempts at arts and crafts with the girls. Sadly, most of the girls stuff is better than mine. And it's not really close.

She kept a running commentary on life over the past few years. Thoughts like:

Don’t bother going to an Italian restaurant in Alaska. Calling it Italian food is a lie when they are serving Beefaroni but marking it up 1000%.

North is “Up” on a map. We are really, really far UP right now. Matter of fact, it’s so far UP that most maps don’t even bother to show where we are.

Temperatures below 0 are kind of cool to experience. Once.

BBQ on the west coast barely passes as poorly flavored meat. And Tex-mex is non-existent. Some places up here think Queso is melted then hardened cheddar over chips. That’s not queso. That’s a really boring plates of nachos.

Rain. We need it. The plants and animals need it. Can someone please send some of this rain somewhere else? But at least were not out in the Olympics. There's a rain gauge at Lake Quinault that shows the record of 180+ inches one year. Who went through that year and thought, "Hey, this is a great place to live."

There’s a bakery in the Pike Place Market right next to the famous fish throwers. Maybe the bakery ought to start throwing cookies and donuts at people.

No matter where the sun rises, it’s always burnt orange.

For those that recently followed the drama of the Big XII realignment, I would have bored her to death with the details, the swings, the changes and the end result analysis. And she would have humored me by listening and having her own opinion. And she was ok with the fact that, during the fall, on Saturday, we weren’t going anywhere. The TV would be on, I would be switching between 2-3 games at a time and keeping one eye on the girls. We’d have lunch at home, the girls would play and when the Longhorns came on, unless the house was burning down, I was almost oblivious to the world.

Being a mother thrilled her. Watching her do art projects with Elliot and Campbell was awesome even though I knew I was going to be the one who got to clean it all up eventually. Elliot would try to make something perfect and pretty. Campbell was just happy to have a pair of scissors or markers that she could do some real damage with. And I tried not to eat the glue.

One of the last days we were all together, we went to lunch on Mother’s Day at a place that overlooks Puget Sound. That Sunday was one of the few “nice” spring days we had this year. It was warm and toasty in the sun and a little chilly in the shade. The girls did their usual “I want to sit by mommy” routine and Jennifer always enjoyed knowing that the girls wanted to be at her side. Elliot had picked out some earrings for Jennifer the day before at the Olympia Farmer’s Market and she could barely wait to give them to her. It was a perfect outing. One of memories. One for always.

She was so proud to be a doctor. And she was damn good at it. I know she could have done any number of other things as well but none better. Watching her work hard through it all made me admire her. Hours and hours of studying. Rotations that took her away from home for 10 or 12 hours a day. Being on call sometimes every 4th or 5th night. Caring for patients and sharing the stories of people she helped. Doing it right and well.

And while she got tired of dealing with Army when it came to her own health, I know she was proud to be a soldier. And she was good at it. She was so good at everything she did.

Until recently, I used to wonder what she and I did with all the time before we had children. As I think back, we did a lot. Travel, lots of hard work, and a lot of fun times together. Now, I look to the future and ponder what will I do without her. I have two beautiful, magnificent daughters to serve as a constant and marvelous reminder of all that was good and decent about her. Smart, sensitive, funny, caring, kind. Shortly after she passed away, I got a note from a friend that closed with this line "May your daughters grow to be women like your wife was." I can think of no greater compliment to her.

There will always be a hole in my life. A place where Jennifer fit in so nicely. And it will never completely close. She was loved by so many. And none more than me.

The day she passed, I talked with my best friend. As we finished he said "Tell me what you need and I'll do it." At that point, I didn't have a clue what I needed. And then it hit me. "Call me in two weeks. Not to talk about this. But just to talk. And if I don't answer, tell me 'tag you're it.' And if I don't call you back in a few, call me back and kick me in the ass." Well, we've talked more often than that over the past 5 weeks. And it felt good. Keep in touch. Not just with me. But with your friends and family. Be a better person. Not for any other reason other than just because. Except because that’s what Jennifer would have done.

A home of our own

2010-07-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today was the day. After 6 weeks of inspections, waiting, thinking and moving, I closed on our new house. It will be the first place I have ever owned in 20 years of living on my own. Apartments, rent houses and Army housing, I've never had a place that, ultimately, I was responsible for.

As of today, there is a place like that. The first load of our household goods arrives in the morning. Now the time consuming task of unloading box after box of stuff looms. But I'm ready to do that. It will finally be time to trim down on the number of items we don't need in our home anymore. I have more space to fill since this house is about 450 sq ft bigger than our last one.

Campbell is ready for a big girl bed so I bought a new twin bed frame for her. We have two decent sized family rooms (one up and one down) so we needed a new couch and love seat as well. If anyone reading is interested in seeing builder pictures and a floor plan, let me know and I'll steer you toward the builder's site.

Tomorrow, before the furniture comes, I'll snap some pics of the interior and post them up. I had the girls rooms painted; pastel blue for Ellie like her room in Alaska was and lilac for Campbell since she insists her favorite color is purple. And the study is... Burnt Orange of course. I'll hang all of Jennifer's Texas oriented art in there along with a few other Longhorn things.

It will be interesting mixing my spartan, man oriented taste with having two girls.

As I left the closing, I had a few moments in the car where I wished that I wasn't doing this alone. I doubt I'll ever shake that feeling.

Adios Washington

2010-07-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

In not quite 12 hours, I'll be back in Texas. Bittersweet and exciting all at the same time. Good times to be had ahead, memories of all kinds behind. Anticipation of the future and retrospective of the past.

We had a week of pure NW summer. Temperatures in the upper 70s, blue skies. The kind of summer Texas doesn't get to enjoy. But as I told friends earlier in the week, Texans call this time of the year "February." Mt. Rainier has loomed off in the distance, taunting me with a "Get out here and hike, dummy." The Olympics off to the West as a constant reminder that there are places most never see.

I watched my youngest go from just a baby to not quite a toddler anymore. The oldest is now a full fledged school aged kiddo. They learned their ABCs and how to use the potty instead of being swaddled in diapers. Trips to farmers markets on a Saturday morning (but not during football season!) and weekends in Seattle traipsing around downtown for good, solid fun.

The movers came Friday to get our stuff. And when the house was empty and quiet, there was a memory of the first time I saw it, empty then as it was now. My wife and I kind of stumbled upon it as we house hunted. She loved the quiet neighborhood with flowers galore. I liked how close it was to Puget Sound, bare miles away. We both agreed that it was a good place to raise a family.

It seems like just yesterday that I drove out of Alaska with my best friend but it's been over 3 years. My first night here was spent in a hotel not far from SEATAC once we'd arrived. I'm not far from there now as we get ready for an early morning flight. But back then, I wasn't just a dad. I was a husband too. Tonight, I'm as the girls snooze, I'm kind of alone.

I'll miss this place in spite of why I'm leaving. And I'll come back to visit. Heck, I'll be back in two weeks to wrap things up with the house among other items I need to finish out.

But we're coming home. Minus one.

Ok, who thought it was a good idea to drive to Indiana?

2010-07-14T00:15:00.000-07:00

I mean, really, who decides to drive 5,000+ miles with a 5 and 3 year old?

Well, it wasn't that bad. Matter of fact, I'd do it all over again and maybe add in some other stuff. On our last day, I realized that a slight detour N/NW would have put us within striking distance of Glacier N.P. It might have added some hours on the final day of driving but it would have been worth it. But I think it was better to miss out on somethings and remember it as a good trip than do too much and regret it.

We had a great time in Yellowstone. The girls had a ball seeing bison, bears and elk. It's quite amazing how bold people get when approaching wildlife. This one on the side of the road had people taking pictures of it from 12-15 feet away. And not from inside the safety of their cars. The next day, three bison were traipsing through a parking lot and people were circling them to get pictures. The girls and I were safely ensconced inside the van.
The geysers were very groovy. We got lucky and arrived at Old Faithful about 20 minutes before it erupted. The wait is usually not more than 60-90 minutes between eruptions but we got to sit down for a bit, talk to some people around us and then ka-boom. Ellie told me it was "one of the coolest things she had ever seen!" Campbell wanted to know why we couldn't walk up to it and take a shower. We tried to check out some of the other stuff but the sulfur smells were overpowering. I don't think we missed out on much.
As much as the girls enjoyed the wildlife and geysers, I was kind of underwhelmed. It was nice seeing the girls get excited but I'd already seen a ton of bison and bears when I drove out of Alaska in '07. On the first day in the Park, we had walked to the top of the Lower Falls. It was a great view but kind of anti-climactic. The more famous Upper Falls were visible too but it just wasn't a great vantage point. And the walk down was way more fun than the walk back up. Especially since both girls wanted me to carry them. That wasn't going to happen. On the second day, as we got ready to leave, I stopped into the Artist's Point viewpoint.

It was all that I had imagined it would be and more.
Only a handful of other people were there. It was quiet and even a little chilly in the shade. Ellie and I were awestruck by what we saw. It was the thing I had come to Yellowstone to see. The Upper Falls, from this place, were incredible. I was reminded of why I had planned this detour all those months ago. I could have sat down on a bench and just stared for a long while.

It was off to Rapid City, S.D. after that. We had a date with the Presidents, as Ellie calls Mt. Rushmore.
Mt. Rushmore is all about being touristy. There aren't whole lot of locals milling about. And the gift shop was booming even at 8:30 in the morning. The girls were fascinated by the rock carving methods. Campbell, at one point, asked me "Why would they do that?" I didn't really have a logical reason.

We got on our way toward Indiana and arrived 2 days later. A week hanging around with family was a big boost for all of us. Ellie and Campbell had a blast playing with cousins and swimming their hearts out in the pool. I enjoyed being amongst people who truly love and care about us.

We took the scenic loop through the Badlands on the way back. Pictures don't really do it justice. I could spend days there photographing the formations.

Greetings from Yellowstone

2010-06-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well, sort of. We're about 50 miles north right now. We started our road trip to Indiana yesterday. Drove to Missoula. That's a pretty cool western city. The downtown area was happening at 7:00 in the evening even though it was Sunday. We found a Montana/Wyoming pizza chain that the girls loved because our table was right by the kitchen. They got to watch them throw the dough and the guy making the pizzas was friendly. He told them all about how they make the dough and what kinds of pizzas have which ingredients as he made them.

Today, we headed down I-90 toward Livingston. I had planned on going straight through and then heading down to Mammoth Hot Springs on the northern edge of the Park for the afternoon. When we got to Bozeman, I realized that we could skirt the western edge of the Park and go in through West Yellowstone with a chance to see more of the Park today. That was a decent enough choice, road work inside the Park notwithstanding. On the plus side, we saw a ton of buffalo/bison (depending on who you talk to), lots of "regular" old white tail deer, some elk, a coyote and then finally, a momma grizzly with a cub. Elliot spotted a beaver swimming out of his den but as I got the camera out, he was gone.

The traffic in the Park was exactly what I expected. People coming to a dead stop because some rare bird was in a tree 3 miles away. And the grizzlies had traffic backed up something fierce. But we saw them too and got a few pictures as we sat still on the road.

We're staying in a hotel tonight that Jennifer and I stayed in on our way to Alaska in '04. This was planned way back in January when I originally laid out this trip. Actually being in the hotel has brought back a flood of memories. And I think it had something to do with not driving directly into Livingston this afternoon. I probably could have checked in early and let the girls hit the pool for a while before driving down to Mammoth. As the three of us walked in, I told Elliot that she has been here before. She just couldn't remember it. She was in mommy's tummy.

Tomorrow, as we had always planned, we'll leave early so we can get a jump on the day, see Old Faithful, check out the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and barely sate my indulgence in National Parks. We spend the night in Yellowstone but truthfully, I can't wait to get out of Livingston right now.

The Tooth Fairy visited my house for the first time tonight

2010-06-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

It was awesome and sad all at the same time. It's something I had been looking forward to doing for Elliot. I just never thought I'd be doing it alone.

It's been 6 weeks since this all started. People have been asking me "How are you guys doing?" And I answer with "We're OK. But OK is a completely relative term." It's obviously hard to explain how I feel at any given moment. We'll be leaving for a road trip to Indiana on Sunday morning and as it draws closer, there's just a constant reminder that Jennifer wont be on the trip with us. As I make plans for what to bring on the trip, I realize that I have never had to worry about packing for the girls because she always did that. I spent about making Bingo gameboards for the girls this evening. That was fun. I visited Michael's, Dollar Tree and Target gathering some other car activities. And all the while, I'm wondering, "What would Jennifer have come up with to keep the girls entertained?"

There's a song I like called Bittersweet Symphony. One of the lyrics goes "But I'm a million different people from one day to the next". I can't think of any better explanation of how I feel.

As you wish

2010-05-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

(Semi) wild animals and spring waterfalls

2010-03-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

We're having a "warm" winter by Pacific Northwest standards. Average temperatures in January were the warmest on record by almost a half degree. There has not been any snow at all down here in the lower elevations. But we have still gotten all the rain and then some. But the weather has started to turn for the better. We're starting to see the sun more and more and temperatures approaching 60. So it's time to take some longer outdoor day trips.

This past weekend, I took the girls out to Northwest Trek. It's affiliated with the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. We had not been out there yet and it was a lot of fun. There's a tram that takes you through a section with moose, Roosevelt Elk, deer, a bison herd, mountain goats and bighorn sheep. It takes about an hour to take the whole tour. Fortunately, we got there early enough to get on the first one of the morning the the animals were still out and about. Granted, the area is not big enough for them to really hide but there is cover and it's hilly enough that the sheep and goats could hide. After a PB&J picnic lunch, we walked through the zoo like areas where they had gray wolves, grizzlies, river otters and cougars among other animals. For some reason, Campbell really wanted to see the skunk. Ellie was more interested in going back to the Cafe and getting one of the animal shaped juice bottles. I felt like we kind of sped through the park but we were there for almost 2.5 hours.

We had spectacular weather so I decided to head towards Mt. Rainier. I love going out there and even though the girls aren't ready to do the trails yet, we still had a chance to get out of the car and goof around. For some reason, Ellie was convinced that she wanted to go have a snow ball fight even though 1.) there was no snow on the ground where we were and 2.) we were completely ill-equipped if we found some. But we could see the mountain and it's snow capped as can be so she thought it was possible. Paradise has several feet up there but I was wearing shorts and the girls only had windbreakers. I took the scenic route down to Packwood and we found some early waterfalls which the girls loved "hiking." Ellie loves taking pictures even if only of the ground or sky. During the tram ride, she had my camera about half the time and I have an amazing array of photos of the inside of the tram. With a little instruction, she gets some good ones too.

Even though we didn't have a snow ball fight, seeing the lack of snow near the Park entrance has me planning my first day out at the mountain. I hope to get out there this weekend. It'd be pretty cool to get some winter photos.

I'm terrible about updating this

2009-10-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

We've been busy, busy, busy. School is in full swing. Campbell is in the junior class at Garden Patch and goes on Tuesday and Thursday. Elliot is going MWF to the pre-K class. And some times it feels like I'm in the car more than anywhere else.

Ellie turned five last month. She was very excited about that. The evening was spent playing Princess games. Right up until bed time, she was acutely aware that she was the birthday girl. And she milked it for all it was worth.
Campbell was psyched about starting school. She fit right in and has enjoyed every day so far. Ellie was awesome about encouraging her and helping her get ready. Both girls really love going to Garden Patch and everyone there is so great.
Me, I'm trying to get up to the Mountain as much as possible. I went up two weeks ago to Mt. Fremont and then on Saturday I got up to Comet Falls...
With cooler temps (and the rain), we'll start hanging out closer to home. But we'll be plenty busy.

A great way to spend a morning

2009-09-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

We went up to Rainier on Sunday with the girls. After about an hour of trudging up hill they were more interested in going back down to Paradise Inn and seeing what was on the lunch menu. We talked them into going up around the eastern edge of the Park and stopping off at Sunrise where the view shows even more glaciers.

So yesterday, I went back up by myself. Left the house about 4:30 and was at Paradise about 6:10. Within a few minutes, I had my gear together and was on the trail...

This is the view looking back to where I was had come from. The Paradise Inn and Ranger Station are about a mile back down from here. I had aspirations of being on the trail before the sun came up but I am very, very glad that I wasn't. It was about 50 as I set out and temps didn't change until I was on the descent of my hike, some 90+ minutes later. Not getting on the trail until the sun was rising turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I caught some elk grazing on the summer grass several times along the route.

The trails on this part of the mountain start at around 5400 feet above sea level. As the crow flies, the jump off point is only about 75 miles from our house. It takes about 2 hours to get there because the last 30-40 miles is winding roads with severe twists and turns. When the road signs say "20 MPH" on the curve, they mean it. Once you enter the Nisqually entrance, there's a significant elevation change up to Paradise and it's the kind of road Ferrari owners dream of.

And then you get up to Panorama Point at about 6900 feet above sea level...

Mt. Adams is off to the left in the background. Barely visible about 1/3 of the way from the left in the extreme distance is Mt. Hood way down across the Columbia in Oregon. Mt. St. Helens is the small bump in the distance on the right. It was an absolutely glorious morning. I'm already planning my next few hikes. Don't know if I'll take the same route again because the Park has miles and miles of trails. But I do know that I'll be out there again within then next few weeks.

If anyone wants to see some of my photography...

2009-08-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the link to Zazzle on left (under "This is how I entertain myself".) It's not going to be a huge money maker but maybe I can make some spare change selling some of my better shots.

I'd love to upgrade my camera and spend more time taking pictures but I can't justify the expense and time right now. Some day...

Happy Birthday, Crash

2009-08-10T23:01:00.001-07:00

Well, our baby is 3 years old now. My oh my, how the time flies. As I update pics on our Photobucket account each month I move the ones from last year to the "year" folder and it's always a hoot to look at the girls and how they change each month/year. Campbell's still stubborn, funny, goofy, a challenge and all around handful. She was a wired 2 year old and there is not doubt that she'll be just as full of energy this year. And we love it. Sure, there are times that she drives us crazy but all that craziness is fun, fun, fun. Her personality is so different from Ellie. That's great. We love having kiddos who are unique and full of vigor and vim. But their differences are what make each of them so much of a joy to be around. Campbell gets to start pre-school this fall and she's looking forward to it. She tells us quite often that she's a big girl. Doggone it, she's starting to be a big girl instead of a toddler. But she'll always be our baby.

Nana and Papa Rausch came up for Campbell's birthday. They love seeing their granddaughters and the Monkey Twins love having them here too. Ellie, in particular, loves to sit with Nana and read books or tell stories or just watch a cartoon. Campbell is more likely to want to play, constantly. At the end of the day, I'm not sure who is more worn out, Nana and Papa or Funky and Crash. I know I'm ready for bed time when the clock strikes. Everybody gets a good night sleep, that's for sure.

We're doing a combo birthday party this weekend for the girls. We do a smaller party for each on their birthday and then one big one for friends and family. Ellie's thoroughly ready for it. She's been asking every day who's coming and how many more days til the party. We're still prepping for it but it should be plenty of fun and if I'm not too lazy, I'll get a post up on it within the next month!

What we're up too...

2009-06-14T14:55:00.001-07:00

I'm lazy. I'm not going to post any pics right now. But I will give an update to our lives...

Ellie: Whoa. Her last day of school is Tuesday. Our little girl has finished a year of pre-school. She loved it and is going back next year to the same school. The teachers at Garden Patch were amazing and Ellie looked forward to school every day. She's a bright little kiddo and we're thrilled that she's enjoying school. She's made some new friends and we'll see some of them throughout the summer.

Campbell: She's still a handful. But she's finally sleeping past 6:00 am and so now I don't have to be up so early! She'll start school in September and be at Garden Patch too. She has so much energy. 11-12 hours a day, she's 100% damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Jennifer: Well, she gets to have surgery again. When she had abdominal surgery in 2006, they fixed one thing and screwed up some others. After almost 3 years of telling her docs that something wasn't right, they are finally going to do something about it.

Me: I'm going to too my own horn. As I do every so often, I decided to get in shape, eat better, exercise, etc. Except this time I actually did it. I've lost 30 pounds and yesterday ran a timed 5k. I wont win any races anytime soon. But I also didn't finish last in my age group and did it in a respectable time for someone who, until March hadn't run more than 100 feet in 10 years or so. And last night as I watched a movie, I googled other races in the Seattle area and signed up for a couple already. What is wrong with me?!?

As a family, we'll tool around the area on day and overnight trips. We're not sure if we'll take a big family vacation this summer but even if we only stay local, there's plenty to do up here this time of year.

Spring has sprung

2009-05-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, kind of. We had a strange and weird winter. Colder, snowier, rainier than normal. But we're starting to get days in the 60s and that is very nice. We'll still see a little too much rain but at least now it wont be cold when it rains during the day.

The Monkey Twins wanted to be Mighty Knights so we made some "armor." Campbell thought it was more fun to go Incredible Hulk and rip it off minutes after putting it on. Ellie wanted a knightly name so she was known as Knight Train.

How often do you have that ridiculosuly awesome day...

2009-04-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

And it really wasn't based on a single "great" event?

Maybe it was the day you got married, the day your children were born or a graduations.

But sometimes, a great day isn't based on a single event. And those days are often the ones that really make it all worth it.

The girls wear me out some days. Every now and then, I can't wait for them to go to bed because I'm ready for some peace and quiet. Today, we had a full schedule and yet, despite being together for 12+ hours straight, it was one of those ridiculously awesome days without being based on something we hadn't done before.

Jennifer's mom had come up for a visit in late March and planned on spending 3 weeks with us. Two weeks in and she started feeling crappy with a terrible headache. Three ER visits later and she was admitted for a luxurious 4 night stay at a local hospital. Jennifer decided to fly home with her.

The girls and I dropped them off at the airport and headed up to the Seattle Aquarium and the Pike Place Market. A couple hours of running around and then we had a fantastic meal at Etta's right down the street from the Market. A chef named Tom Douglas has a string of restaurants in downtown Seattle and they are all exemplary. The girls chowed down on a very good quesadilla with home made salsa and I had what may have been the best crab cakes I have ever had. Heck, even the asparagus was tasty. Of course, the girls were in the mood for a snack 30 minutes later so we hit up the pastry counter that's right next to the guys that throw the fish. As we sat there, we got to watch a street musician play his fiddle and sing. Ellie and Campbell danced and clapped along while enjoying a fresh fritter.

A trip to the playground wore them out something fierce and by the time we got home, both the girls were ready for dinner and bed. Quite a day. Quite a nice day.

Hoh Rain Forest

2009-03-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Pictures can not do this place justice. Even the drive into the area is spectacular. It's only 15 miles or so from Highway 101 but due to the winding curves it took 30+ minutes and we really got some great looks at huge Western Cedar and Sitka Spruce trees. The girls were pooped after a couple of hours at the beach so Jennifer offered to keep them in the van while I went and did the Hall of Mosses loop. It's just under 1 mile and a really easy walk so I took off and did it in about 25 minutes. One could spend hours on that trail. I took probably 100 pictures but due to the weather, not very many were winners. It was raining something fierce and with all the moss and trees, I would have gotten soaked if I wasn't wearing a good rain jacket. There are a couple of other trails here as well including one that winds along the Hoh River up to the glaciers of Mt. Olympus.

There are fallen trees everywhere. At one point, there is a sign giving you details about the size and it tells you to count off your steps (assuming about 3 feet per stride) to the end of one that is laying along the path. It was easily 250 feet long.

Yeah, that's a ball cap hanging from the tree.
We're going back up there sometime this summer when the weather is a little warmer and hopefully a little more sunny.

"National parks are the best idea we ever had...."

2009-03-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

"Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." - Wallace Stegner.

About 10 days ago I was reading online where someone was asking advice for where to stay near Olympic National Park. Suggestions were made for lodging along with activities. As a kid, I'd been up near the park but never in it. It has always been high on my list of National Parks to visit. After googling for a bit, I was sold on a quick weekend trip. Jennifer was in and we originally planned on going up for just one night. But after a day of planning, we decided to make it into a full weekend. And that was a fantastic idea.

The first night we stayed at the Lake Quinault Lodge. The Park Service owns quite a few lodges around the country. There are three in Olympic. This particular Lodge was built in 1926. FDR visited in 1937 on a fact finding mission before creating the National Park a few months later. They've added some additional buildings since then but the main lodge is still going strong. With the exception of not having a large ball room this place is right out of the Poconos and Dirty Dancing.

We got in a little early on Friday and the weather really cooperated. The girls loved running around the grounds. The grass expanse leads down to the lake. It was good for skipping rocks but a bit chilly for a swim. That is a giant rain gauge on the chimney. They get 100+ inches of rain per year. Yeah, 100 inches.

The lobby of the Lodge has plenty of room to sit and watch people, look out over the grounds, play chess on the giant board or sing along at the piano. While we explored the Lodge, there was an older couple sitting by the big fireplace. As Ellie started plinking away on the keys, I asked if it bothered them. The woman just beamed a smile and said "children should always make joyful noises." That piano survived a fire that burned the original Lodge in 1924.

Back outside, the girls found the croquet mallets. It was pretty funny watching them try and play. Ellie was obsessed with getting it right while Campbell was more interested in getting every ball out and rolling them around the grass.

On Saturday, we drove up the coast and the weather cooperated enough for us to hit Ruby Beach for a bit. The tide was in so we didn't get to check out any of the tidal pools but the girls were content to look for shells, explore the beach and search for agates among the rocks. But the real highlight of the day was driving into the Hoh Rain Forest...

Crash and Funky say "Hi!"

2009-03-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

We've had some really weird weather here in the past few weeks. Decently heavy rain (instead of the typical western Washington 'drizzle') and some March snow. But temps have stayed north of 40 for the most part so we can live with that.

This weekend, we're heading north to the Olympic National Park. I have wanted to get up there my whole life and last week, I was talking to Jennifer about it and I just planned it. Originally, we thought we'd just go up for Saturday night. A few hours later and I realized that two nights was much more preferable. Even with late winter/early spring conditions, that is really pushing it. The Park has a huge array of beaches and hiking opportunities. I realized while looking at things to do that Campbell's "early to rise" mentality works in my favor. Ellie and mommy can sleep in while Campbell and I get out in the quiet morning hours to check out some things in advance of everyone else. I'll report back later with the results.

Keeping warm and dry.

2009-01-31T15:05:00.000-08:00

The weather had been kind of cruddy for the past month. Snow in late December was fun for the girls but it stayed cold after that and then the rain came back. We're finally seeing temps back into the mid and upper 40's. It was so clear yesterday that Mt. Adams was visible to the south of Rainier. Adams is about 60 miles SW of Mt. Rainier and I had never noticed it on the horizon before.

The Monkey Twins have been busy though. Grandma Linda (my mom) has been knitting the girls various things over the years and they got these sweaters for Christmas. We've been keeping them busy with trips to the YMCA for gym and school. Heck, between those two things, we're busy 4 days a week. And they both love going up to Seattle and browsing the Market. It's a fruit and veggie field day for them both. And it's nearly impossible to get out of there without buying a huge bundle of flowers for some insanely low price. I'm ready for the Proctor Farmer's Market to crank back up in April. Besides getting some really great local produce, there's live music and when the strawberries come back in season, the BEST strawberry short cake ever at Knapp's Diner.

All aboard and... Let's sing!

2008-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

We took the girls up to North Bend last weekend for a ride on the Santa Train. Lots of fun but it was really cold! The girls loved the train ride but sitting on Santa's lap took a little prodding. We kept the trip a secret because we knew they would be excited.

Later that day, Ellie's school had their Christmas concert. She was giddy all week. And every day leading up to it, she asked "is it Sunday?" She was awesome and loved every minute of it.

Oh, and by the way... We might get a white Christmas. It has snowed off and one for the past week. Today (Thursday) was the high mark so far. Nearly every school between Canada and Oregon, the Cascades to the Pacific was closed or delayed. We're due for more snow this weekend and it wont warm up much so it might hang around until next week.

Over the hills and far away.

2008-12-05T22:36:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Northwest gets a lot of grief about all the rain but every now and then, we get some spectacular weather. The temperatures stayed in the 40s today but it was mostly clear and Rainier was awesome in the distance. I tried to capture the weather over it's head but this picture just does not quite do it. There were 4-5 rings of clouds over top when I took this...

Trick or Treat (Give or take 3 weeks)

2008-11-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

Field trip!

2008-10-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Ellie had her first one today. We went with her pre-school to a farm down near Olympia for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Lots of fun. A short hay ride pulled by Farmer Fred's tractor took us out to the field filled with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Did you know that pumpkin stalks have thistle like barbs on them? Farmer Fred told us that and he was right. Each kiddo picked one out to take back to school for decorating on Thursday. Ellie kept trying to convince me that we needed one for Campbell, mommy, Nana, Papa and me. Not one but five extra.

We went through a hay bale maze. It was pretty funny watching the kids wander around in there. The bails were only stacked 3 high (about chest high on me) but that was enough that they couldn't see over them. We wandered around in there for a while. After that, a farm petting zoo. There was a newly born Holstein calf, piglets, chicks, kittens, baby goats and lambs. Ellie got a little freaked out by a goat that was way too friendly but she loved the calf. I had never seen a non black and white Holstein. This one was a shade of orange. Almost, well, Burnt Orange. And that takes me to my last point.

Hook 'Em Horns!

How far that little candle throws her beams!

2008-09-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're having fun. Another year has passed and Funky is four. She was quite ready for it. Ellie knew her birthday is in September and pretty much from September 1st on, she asked every day "Is today my birthday." Starting school further convinced her that she was a big girl and ready for all sorts of new things. First and foremost was a new bike. She was thrilled to get a "big girl bike." And she was tearing around the block on it. We were quite impressed how easily she learned stopping and starting. She did well riding her Big Wheel but a trial run at the toy store on a bike had been kind of unsuccessful. She'd start pedaling, then reverse the pedals to stop and not want to go forward again. But once she was on her very own bike, the pedaling was on and the brakes were off. She asked the other day of we could ride down the the soccer fields. It's only a mile or so away. And it's kind of hilly. Pretty soon she's going to want the car keys. And then there'll be boys around. Eek!

Campbell likes riding bikes too. We got her a small tricycle for her birthday in August and she is determined to ride as fast and as far as Ellie. She will not be refused. It's so funny watching how kids are different. Ellie can be stubborn but she's more stealthy and secretive. She'll do something and plead ignorance about it. Campbell is upfront about it. Her way isn't quiet and she doesn't even try to hide it. She really wants to do everything her big sister does and she will not be denied if she has her way. Her independence is oddly funny though. She took a lot longer to get over her separation anxiety when we would go to the CDC than Ellie ever did. She doesn't freak out now, matter of fact, she really likes going and runs into the building and down to her room. It's nice to see her enjoy being around other kiddos without either of us having to be there. And as you can see, she's still the clown.

A picture is worth MORE than a thousand words

2008-09-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

I've seen quite a few that have been jaw dropping this past week since Hurricane Ike but I think this one pretty much sums it up:

Click on the picture and you can zoom it to see the resolution better.

This is the Chase Building in downtown Houston. Yeah, those windows are all missing.

Keep our Houston relatives in mind

2008-09-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Not sure who knows it but my in-laws and my sister and her husband live just north of Houston. They survived the worst of Hurricane Ike but are still without power. I've seen reports that the Woodlands will be without power for up to three weeks. We have a ton of friends all over the Houston area and I don't really know who got water in their homes or trees on their roofs.

Overall, the area got lucky. Ike strayed just a bit NE as hit land and that seemed to make all the difference. The worst surge hit either open water (the channel into Galveston Bay) or High Island (which has very little development on it.) Consensus among the weather gurus is that if it had the worst had hit 10-20 miles further SE, it would have been a lot worse.

I read BBS post from a guy in Houston. They were jamming to some Rolling Stones and playing Connect Four (ha, that brings back memories). The winds were beating the house really loudly and debris was flying around outside. Then the eye passed over and it got quiet and the wind died down. They were outside (this was around 2:00 am) and then someone said "Hey, do you guys hear a train?" Whoa. There were not any trains running. They could hear a tornado. They couldn't see it though. They high tailed it back inside and dove into the bathtubs. The sound subsided but another 10-15 minutes went by and they heard another one. He said it was actually less tense with the constant gale force winds during the Hurricane than it was during the quiet hearing the tornados nearby.

So keep Tom, Linda, Athena, David and everyone else down there in your thoughts if you don't mind.

Funky goes to school...

2008-09-04T22:52:00.001-07:00

And she was EXCITED! Through a friend from the YMCA, we were referred to the preschool at a church in Lakewood. We took Ellie to visit the school and teachers a few months ago. And then for pretty much the last 6-8 weeks, she asked continually when she would get to go to her new school. We had beautiful fall weather today. Blue sky, a slight breeze and 70 degrees.

Two weeks ago, Jennifer and I went to the parent orientation and Ellie was totally bummed that she couldn't go with us. I had dropped the Monkey Twins at the CDC so we could go but Ellie thought that "it wasn't very nice" that we didn't take her.

Then, last Thursday, she got to go to meet the other kiddos that would be in her class and make her place mat. Ellie was thrilled. Campell... not so much. She doesn't like being away from her big sister. We left Ellie at school for about 45 minutes and the whole time Campbell was very concerned about Ellie. Today, I took Campbell to the Ft. Lewis CDC. She loves going there now and it gave me a chance to let Ellie have her own special first day.

We dropped Campbell off at 11:00 and Ellie was ready to go to school. A quick stop at the Commissary for some groceries killed a little time but we still had to wait a few minutes (school starts at noon for her) and I think that was the longest hour of her life. We got there a few minutes early but that was ok.

It felt like it was only a few days ago that Funky was just a baby. Watching her grow into being a toddler. Well, she's little girl now.

After she got her stuff put away and her name tag on it was time for the parents to say goodbye and let the teachers do their thing.

She went in and I went out. The walk up the stairs and out the door out into the sun was kind of surreal. I have dropped her off at both the Ft. Wainwright and Ft. Lewis CDCs dozens of times going back to when she was barely one year old.

It took me a minute to figure out what going through my mind. I felt a little lonely.

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.

2008-08-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

With school coming up and schedules being new or different, we decided to do a combo birthday part for the Monkey Twins . They're birthdays are 6 weeks apart but I hated to try and plan two parties so close together.

The weather leading up to Saturday was worrisome but we ended up with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The high was around 78 when we started. It was one of the nicest days we've had this summer.

Originally, I had planned to magnetize some bath toy fish and rig a pole for the kids. After several unsuccessful attempts at that, we found some kids lacrosse sticks at Target. Toss some rubber duckies into a kiddie pool and Voila! They loved it. Mason and Madison (my cousin Lisa's kiddos) were on mission to catch as many as possible. Mason set the Official Backyard Duck Contest tally number at 49 in around 40 seconds (give or take a few seconds.)

I doubt I'll ever be hired as professional party decorator but I had a lot of fun putting it all up.

Word to the wise though... When buying balloons, don't stick 40 of them in your car at one time. It's nearly impossible to untangle that many. I was still trying to get a few loose to put outside when our first guests arrived. Ellie thought it was great fun to "help." I don't know how we managed to keep them all from floating to the ceiling. Campbell relished in tearing down streamers wherever she found them. I had hung crepe paper up around the house and finally had to give up with any of them being near her eye or hand level.

A side benefit of preparing the house for the party is that I think I finally figured out how to get our kitchen floor sparkling clean. It involves a lot of scrubbing and time but regular mopping just wasn't getting it done.

I found a palm tree cake tin and Jennifer went to town on decorating them. She did a great job and the girls loved them. The only bad thing about cake is that I ate too much of it.

Thanks to everyone for making Funky and Crash's birthday a great success! We had a blast and hoped you did too.

After all that, I'm really glad we just did one party.

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world

2008-07-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a heckuva month. We've kept busy with a plethora of birthday parties, day trips and just plain fun. If you ever get to Tacoma, the Museum of Glass is well worth visiting. They have a large workshop with 5 furnaces and during weekdays, there is always a team working on pieces of glass. While we were there, they were working on a pterodactyl and a brontosaurus. Ellie was enthralled. Campbell was interested for a bit. The exhibit halls have some fantastic pieces on display (no pictures allowed, ugh.)

We took our first ferry ride this week too. I wondered how the girls would handle being on a small ship away from land. Well, they loved it. We took the Point Defiance/Vashon ride that is about 35 minutes to/from. We left the car in the parking lot and walked on. Ellie has wants to go back on the ferry NOW!!!

Our next ferry ride will be from the downtown peirs in Seattle to either Bremerton or Bainbridge. Now that I know the girls like it, a sunny day on the water will be a gret way to spend some time together.

A Day Out With Thomas... And then Daddy got to see the Thunderbirds

2008-07-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a fantastic weekend. And there's still a birthday party tomorrow to attend.

Ellie is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan and I had a surprise for her on Friday. The Northern Railway Museum is one of the places where they bring a Thomas look-a-like for rides and pictures. We got in the car and told her when we were on the road where we were going. She was ecstatic. We got our first taste of "Are we there yet?" Fortunately, Snoqualmie is under an hour away. When we saw Thomas parked on the tracks, she went berzerk. I think it was the happiest I have ever seen her.

Ellie in her new conductor hat. She was all ready to run the train. We were a little worried about whether she would like the ride. Well, our fears were completely unfounded.

Campbell was all grins. She had just as much fun as Ellie. By the end of the ride, we couldn't keep her on the train. She was leaning out the window, waiving at cars and generally having a blast.
The train ride goes down toward Snoqualmie Falls. From the tracks you can't see it but we drove down the line after the train ride. The Salish Lodge & Spa is on the bluffs right above the Falls and I think it's a prime candidate for a Daddy/Mommy getaway.

Nana watched the kids on Saturday afternoon and I took advantage of the break by going over to McChord Air Force Base for their Air Show. I had never seen the USAF Thunderbirds and they did not disappoint.

Charlie: So lieutenant, where exactly were you?
Maverick: Well, we...
Goose: Thank you.
Maverick: Started up on a 6, when he pulled from the clouds, and then I moved in above him.
Charlie: Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?
Maverick: Because I was inverted.
Iceman: [coughs whilst saying] Bull****.
Goose: No he was man, it was a really great move. He was inverted.

It's fun to play at the YMCA... And the zoo... And just chill out at home

2008-07-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah. I know the pictures are out of order. I took the Y pics last week and didn't get around to posting them until this week. We go there 2-3 times a week to burn off some toddler energy. It's great for them and we've made some playdate friends there as well. We went to the zoo on Monday with my cousin Sarah and her kiddos. The Point Defiance Zoo has expanded the "playground" section and we learned that on sunny days, we're going to need to bring a change of clothes after Funky and Crash get done running around in the water.

Hot weather? Ha!

2008-06-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

So we went over to Ocean Shores for the day to escape the heat. Great idea and I only wish that we had planned ahead and gone over on Saturday. It got up to 92 in Tacoma and the temps were still in the upper 80's at 7:30. The water on the Washington coast it too cold to play in but the 65 degree temps with cloud cover was a nice break from the heat.

I think we'll be finding sand in weird places for the next few days. I don't know how I managed to live in Texas for 20+ years. Summer heat down there would kill me now.

Mini vacations rule!

2008-06-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

With little kids it can be kind of a pain to travel. With Jennifer's school schedule it wasn't very easy to get away for more than a day or two at a time. She's finished with the commute to UW for classwork and is now at Ft. Lewis full time. She's off to D.C. for 3+ weeks next weekend so we wanted to squeeze in one more mini vacation before she left. Fortunately, the Puget Sound has a treasure trove of places to visit for the day or a short overnight trip. We took the girls back to downtown Seattle last Saturday for a night and had a lot of fun. We did this back in February and enjoyed it.

The Grand Hyatt is 7 blocks up from Pike Place Market and right in the middle of a lot of shopping and restaurants. Very convenient and we got a really good deal on an awesome suite. Heck, the 1/2 bath off the entry was more than big enough for Campbell's portable crib. Jennifer and Ellie got the king bed and I got the comfy couch. The girls were entranced by the view out across Elliott Bay and down onto the streets. Right over Ellie's head is Pike Place. Off to right we could see the Space Needle. The ferries come and go up until midnight and several cruise ships departed in the late afternoon. We got to check in a little early so we did the Market first and then came back to the room to clean up and get ready for dinner. Each time we visit downtown we end up finding somewhere else great to eat. The girls really don't give a hoot but Jennifer and I like the variety. On Sunday we went to the Seattle Aquarium. Small crowd for such a nice day but we weren't complaining. It was nice to let Campbell walk around with us without worrying about her getting run over.

After the girls were in bed, I walked down the street and took some pictures. I was trying to get some street scenes and while there were a lot of people out and about I just didn't seem to see anything that caught my eye. Until I got back down to the Market. The neon "Public Market" is the icon of area and is picture friendly. After I got back to the room I kicked myself for not bringing my tripod because the added stability would have really helped. But that's just something I'll add to the list for next time. It's not like we don't bring enough stuff as it is! We're heading to Ocean Shores tomorrow to escape the heat. Officially, it hit 87 today but the temperature downstairs was 80 as of 11:00 pm. Upstairs was even warmer. The girls' rooms stay a bit cooler but the master bedroom roasts for some reason. I know the Monkey Twins will love playing in the sand. Hopefully Ellie isn't dead set on playing in the water. She tried that last time we went and ended up with 50 degree water up to her knees. So here's to 70 degrees and some shade tomorrow at the beach. Even if we do end up with sand in odd places.

I am the master of my domain

2008-06-09T20:02:00.001-07:00

This was the scene in our laundry room last Saturday...
I managed to overload the washing machine. A bunch of towels was too much for the old girl. I called a buddy who does appliance repair but he doesn't come this far south for work. But he walked me through 90% of getting the machine apart. As I got the motor unclipped, he says "when you get it off, you'll see what the problem is. I gotta go." Uh. Well, I pulled the motor off, turned it over and there is was. A broken coupling that costs $15. My friend just saved me $200 for a house call. I picked up the piece from Sears on Monday, put the washing machine back together and was doing laundry 10 minutes later. Thanks to Bill, I learned an easy lesson in home repair and managed to feel manly all at the same time.

80 degrees and it's killing me

2008-05-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Four years away from Texas and I'm a wuss in the heat. We'll be up over 80 again tomorrow. If we had some ceiling fans it might make being inside a bit more bearable but for now we're getting some good breezes. The temps are back down in the 60's right now but then again, it is 11:15 at night.

I dropped the girls off at the Ft. Lewis Child Development Center this morning, came home to do some quick work around the house and then headed out to take some pictures on a beautiful sunny day. The Olympics were stunning off to the west and Mt. Rainier looked bigger than ever but not seeing it for 2-3 weeks will do that to you. There's a park down in Steilacoom that runs along the shore. Apparently, today was Senior Skip Day from Lakes High School and, well, I feel old.
The girls have been enjoying life outside more and more. Prior to today, we've had some nice "warm" weather with temps in the mid 60's. The girls think it's ALWAYS time to go to the playground. We spend as much time as possible outside. Ellie thinks every flower needs to be picked and Campbell loves to pour sand down her shirt and pants. I think she'll learn that sand in the diaper sucks soon enough.

Spring is nature's way of saying "Let's party!"

2008-04-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

I can't take credit for that. Robin Williams said it at some point. But Spring has sprung finally for us. We had fantastic weather on Friday and Saturday last week and today brightened up after lunch time. Obviously, the Monkey Twins are enjoying the chance to play without having to avoid wet slides or swings.

The parade ground at Ft. Lewis was a great place to celebrate. The girls were competing in a "who could make a bigger shadow" contest. Then it was "who can run around in circles the most before getting too dizzy."

We moved out of Alaska, right?

2008-03-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

I'm kidding. Sort of . We got snow Wednesday through Friday. Morning temperatures have been in the low 30's. Ellie and Campbell still get super excited when they see snow. Ellie wants to go out and try to catch snowflakes on her tongue. We've been 10-12 degrees below normal the past few days and with the precipitation, it was just time for some snow. Tom and Linda came up last week and got to enjoy the end of our winter. Tom left before the snow came but I'm betting he's ok with that. Linda is dealing with the cold weather. It was 80 when they left Houston. Heh. I miss Houston in March and April. But I don't miss July and August.

We can't complain too much. I-90 over the Snoqualmie Pass has been a mess the past few days. The State Police have traffic monitored and cars are going through at a paced 10-15 miles per hour. It was kind of funny to see some of the people being interviewed. Some skiers were trying to get out there because the fresh powder and they ended up having to turn back because they spent so long in traffic. We're looking forward to some sunshine this coming week. Supposed to see temps back into the mid 50's and little rain until at least mid week. I'm ready to let the girls run wild without having to worry about mud on them or our carpet.

We've been taking the girls to our local Y for some (un)organized play time. They have great programs and we start T-ball on Monday for Ellie and swim lesson for both girls on Saturday. That should be a blast. They both love the water so we're looking forward to getting them in the pool regularly.

I took this picture earlier in the week before the snow. We have a gorgeous tree in our backyard that is very full and provides some nice shade and a little privacy. But it flowers very nicely right now. I'm pretty sure it's a Japanese Red Maple but I'll know for sure when the leaves start sprouting. I'm getting ready for the flowers to start blooming around here. It should make for some fantastic pictures. The girls and I will be ready for some short walks up at Point Defiance when that happens. I'll let them run the trails while I snap away. I got a great wide angle lens for Christmas that should help a lot with some close ups. When we got here in May last year, there were still some great blooms and the trees were solid green. Leaves everywhere (on the limbs.) I have some tentative plans for some hiking either down near Rainier or up in the Olympics on Hurricane Ridge with the girls. The scenery should be breathtaking in late April and early May as the flowers poke out from under the snow and rain. I'm hoping to find some bike trails that are trailer friendly as well. I know there are some old railroad cuts up north and if they can be traversed with the kiddos in the Chariot trailer, I'm down with that.

Down at Pike Place Market, there's a fruit and veggie stand that also sells these fantastic bundles of peppers. The long strands are only $20 and the short ones are $10. I have a strand drying in the kitchen right now and I think it's going to look pretty cool even when the peppers shrivel. The green ones are turning orange. Not Burnt Orange (unfortunately) but more like that other UT over near the Smokey Mountains. The girls love going up to the Market. There's so much to see. One really cool thing is the street musicians. Anywhere there's an embedded brass musical note on the sidewalk, a musician, band or singer can set up and play. On any given day, there'll be a barbershop quartet down the street from a folk band playing steel guitars and a washboard. Heck, the other day, there was a guy playing an upright piano on one of the street corners.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

2008-02-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

We took a short overnight trip to downtown Seattle this past weekend. Jennifer had President's Day off from school so we put together a last minute sojourn. One of my little joys in life is trip research and after a day of hotel shopping, we ended up at the Hotel Andra. It was a very pleasant stay. For a decently reasonable rate, we got a suite with a bedroom separated from the living room. We had a small view of the Olympic Mountains out over Elliott Bay. One of the things I love about Seattle is all of the "boutique" hotels. It's a lot like New York City because there a 10-15 hotels that aren't part of a national chain but are 4 star. I have a friend that works for another hotel company with 2 buildings in downtown and when I mentioned where we were staying he said it was one of Seattle's best kept secrets.

We took the girls to Pike Place Market on Sunday. It was crazy nuts with people. The long weekend had brought a lot of people downtown. Both Ellie and Campbell enjoyed the people watching opportunities. We got to watch the guys as Grunden's Fish Market throw the various items around as people bought fresh fish for meals. It was so busy that we really didn't get to take our time and enjoy all of the artisan crafts that are on display. Jennifer and Ellie had stopped for some ice cream and I got a chance to talk to a local artist that was selling his paintings. He was snapping photos and I asked about his camera. Two minutes later and we were both trying to decipher Campbell's comments on passersby.

We've been down to Pike Place Market before but never seen the original Starbucks location. Apparently, this is some kind of Mecca for coffee fanatics. There were dozens of people taking pictures of the outside. The store is set in a normal city block of other locales and kind of nondescript except for the different style Starbucks Coffee Goddess signs. I thought it was funny to see all the tourists snapping away on their cameras to show the folks back in Omaha. We had planned on visiting the Aquarium but the line was out the door and down past Waterfront Park. We passed and decided to come back on Monday.

Ellie was pretty psyched about seeing the otters, seals, octopus and fish. We had to temper her desires on Sunday due to the crowds. On Monday morning, she was chattering about seeing the fish. The Seattle Aquarium recently went through a major renovation and it was all for the better. It's in a prime spot located on one of the piers along Alaskan Way right at the waterfront. The last time we were there was in May and the construction was still ongoing. They are about 95% done with the current expansion and the change is welcome. Seeing the changes has made me think a day trip or three by myself with the girls is warranted during the remaining rainy season this year. I've been happy taking the girls to the Point Defiance Zoo every 7-10 days but I think a week day trip to Pike Place is in order very soon. The awesome variety of crafts, produce plus odds and ends would make for a very fun day for the Funky Bunch. Ellie is getting old enough that she enjoys the freedom of walking. But if she gets tired, I can always plop her into the double stroller in front where she can be on point. From experience, she likes to ride a little but walk a lot. And she's very aware of her surroundings. Everything is fair game. :).

Campbell would run wild if we let her. She's about twice the handful that Ellie was but also a sweetheart. She wants to sit in your lap one second and then run loose like a banshee the next. At the Aquarium, she was quite happy to ride around in luxury. Even though Monday's crowd was smaller than the line we saw the day before, it was still quite busy. It amazes me how many people are oblivious to others as they mall walk around public places. It's the people with strollers and small children that bewilder me the most They should know better how to maneuver in crowds. And there are always the families with 30 kids. They run crazy making the rest of us play dodge ball trying to avoid tiny feet and bodies.

We were rewarded with spectacular weather on both Sunday and Monday. Temperatures were in the upper 40's with crystal clear blue skies and very little rain. It was a wonderful late Winter/early Spring day. I know the girls enjoyed the sunshine. I was busy trying to snap pictures and all the light played havoc on my adjustments. It was a glorious problem to have. We definitely will plan for some more time downtown during Jennifer's next break. Just not on a holiday weekend. Too many people, too much traffic and not enough time. Like I said earlier, the girls and I have got to get downtown more often. Good time.

A moment of sanguine solitude

2008-02-12T22:42:00.000-08:00

We're finally getting a few days here and there without too much rain. Today, there was just a hint of drizzle around noon. But we caught some cloud breaks and had some sunshine in the afternoon.

The girls and I headed down to the McChord P/X to buy Ellie some new shoes. She's growing and growing and growing and... I like the McChord P/X because it's newer than the one at Ft. Lewis and never as busy. We can't go to the P/X without Ellie begging for pizza so I just go ahead and plan for lunch to be at Anthony's. For those not familiar with P/X eating, Anthony's is ubiquitous to Army and Air Force food courts. It's not terrible and the kiddos like it so I don't argue.

On the way home, we stopped at a playground and the girls go to run around, go crazy and enjoy some time outside without being soggy when done. Ellie is getting big enough that no ladder, set of stairs or other obstacle will keep her off a play set. Campbell THINKS she's big enough to do everything big sister can do. The kid is fearless.

Jennifer has been busy with mid-terms and has been studying up a storm. As usual, she's worried about how she'll do. And as usual, she'll do fine. I'll never understand how someone so smart has so much self-doubt. Heck, I hardly managed to stay in college my first two years and I didn't sweat it half as much as she does. And she's the one who graduated from UT with honors. I think my diploma says "Barely Graduated" on it somewhere.

Tonight, I took advantage of the lack of rain, grabbed a book and a cigar, then retreated to the back porch. A starry night greeted me and and a friendly moon shone just over the roofline. Some times, just 30 minutes of privacy can renew and rejuvenate.

Do you know the street value of all this snow?

2008-01-25T23:03:00.001-08:00

People around here refer to Mt. Rainier as simply "the mountain." Makes sense I guess since Rainier dominates the horizon around here. Mt. Baker is out there somewhere to the far north/northeast of us but we haven't been up close enough to see it. The Olympic Mountains out on the Peninsula are too far away and sometimes just seem like a constant ribbon. Mt. Rainier is truly a landmark.

I took the girls up to the mountain on Monday. It's only about a 60 minute drive to get into the main foothills. In past years, this would have been a nice drive through some quaint towns but now, Buckley and Enumclaw are probably more commuter oriented than "small" towns.

Ellie was intent on making a snow angel. Once we found a snow-park that wasn't completely full of cars, we got out and walked around a little. Ellie discovered very quickly that snow is COLD. And the cotton mittens she had on got wet after a few minutes of throwing snowballs as me. Campbell enthralled by the clouds of snow that billowed up when either Ellie or I tossed a snowball. But she found out quickly that walking in snow was harder than it looked. The temperature when I took this picture was 19 degrees. It's kind of funny to realize that she doesn't have any real recollection of our 3 years in Alaska in regards to the cold and snow.

The road we took up there cuts down into the National Park when it's open. Chinook Pass has some weird weather and there have been years where it didn't open until June or even July. Instead, we just tooled along until we got to the (closed) Park entrance and then came back. We drove up the other way (the south entrance) this past summer. That whole area is spectacularly beautiful no matter what time of year. This summer, we're going to get the girls up there to do some day hiking. They both like being outside so much that even if we only cover a few miles, it'll be fun just getting them out there.

I got two new lenses for my camera for Christmas. I took this picture with the zoom. We were at around 3,000 feet above sea level . Rainier is about 14,400 feet tall. It's hard to tell from this far away but there was a lot of wind on the mountain top and it was swirling something fierce. If Jennifer had been with me, I would have found out where this road goes but I thought it might not be prudent being by myself.

Here comes the rain again. And again. And again...

2008-01-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

Nah, it's not that bad. We have a lot of things we can do indoors. And fortunately, the rain doesn't come down in buckets usually so we can sneak outside every now and then. The Point Defiance Zoo has a great aquarium that the girls like to walk around in and see the different kinds of fish. Lately, Ellie has been asking nearly every day to go. So we pack up some snacks, grab the juice boxes and away we go. I was in the kitchen cutting up an apple and Ellie asked me if we could feed it to the sharks in the big tank. That might have been fun but a little scary. One of the other cool things about the aquarium is the strong emphasis on local fish and water flora.

We discovered on Monday that the zoo has two Sumatran tigers. The area behind Ellie in the picture usually houses one but another habitat over my shoulder had another one. We didn't see any staff around to ask questions so next time we go, we'll try and find out more about them. Ellie still isn't real keen on looking at the elephants that are there. She had a scare at the Rainforest Cafe when we first moved here.

During busy hours, the zoo staff will be on the grounds showing some of the smaller animals. Ellie saw an armadillo this summer and thought it was a dinosaur. They have a great amphitheater where they do their Discovery shows and I think both girls will be ready for that next year. Jennifer and I were discussing an overnight trip to downtown Seattle. We want to hit the Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium without having to spend 3 hours driving back and forth. Winter's as good a time as any to do it.

Campbell is about ready to walk the zoo on her own. She can't really get into any trouble but when she's in the stroller she has a better vantage point. I think she still enjoys being chauffeured around even though she normally hates being constrained. And I like it when Ellie walks it. We have an awesome front/back stroller but when Ellie is in front, it's HEAVY!

I'm debating about taking the girls for a day trip out to Mt. Rainier this week/weekend. There's plenty of snow out there now and I think they'd have a blast playing in it. We're only about an hour or so away from the base of the mountain. With the overcast skies, we don't get many chances to see the mountain during the winter so maybe getting in the car and seeing some snow close up would be fun. Or I could be asking for trouble. Ellie could start bugging me daily to go make some snow angels.

It's good to be home

2008-01-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

But Texas was fun. We got back Thursday afternoon from a two week visit. We had near perfect weather. It was so nice to cook a steak and not have to worry about the meat getting damp when I opened the grill cover. A couple of days before we left, a cold front came through. Now, you have to remember, a lot Texans freak out if there's even a freeze warning. And there was a freeze warning. The funny thing is that the weathermen are now giving out time frames for how many hours they'll be under 32 degrees. On Tuesday night, it was 4 hours. 4 WHOLE HOURS OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES? OH THE HUMANITY!!! Te-he. I brought 2 pair of shorts and one pair of jeans with me. I never wore the jeans. I'll admit, there were a couple of evenings when it got chilly enough to warrant long sleeves. But it was nice to be outside in 70 degree temperatures.

Ellie and Campbell enjoyed running around Nana and Papa's house/yard. While we had warm weather, it was great to take them to the playground or let Ellie ride a bike on the driveway or to play tag/keep away/hide and go seek in the backyard. Christmas was fun too. Ellie gets the concept of opening presents but Campbell is pretty happy to just play in a pile of spent wrapping paper. In true kid fashion, some of the boxes got more attention than what came in them. We had a chance to see Lisa and Tim for a few days. Heck, Jennifer and I went to a movie with them and it was the first one we've seen in a theater in over 2 years. It felt so... grownup.

Sometimes all we ever really need is a nap

2007-12-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

And sometimes, a nap is too much.

Ellie's at the age where she doesn't nap every day. Which is good and bad. She still needs a nap. But then on the days she does take one, if it lasts longer than an hour or so, she's wired at bed time. On the plus side, when she's up while Campbell's down, we get some time together one on one. That makes it easier to do a craft project or play with her Thomas trains.

Campbell? She's still good for 1.5-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon. She can go without one if we keep her active but we try not to do that to her too often.

Because I said so.

2007-11-25T23:44:00.001-08:00

I remember, long ago during some idyllic moment in my life, thinking that I would never, ever say those four words to my kiddos. I even thought that just a few months ago. Heck, I might have thought that two or three weeks ago.

Ellie is a great little conversationalist. She's usually very happy to listen to banter back and forth with us. She's an inquisitive kiddo and that's a great thing. We want her to talk to us, ask questions and learn to converse. Heaven knows, I talk enough. I'm pretty sure this is God's way of rewarding me for being the talker that I can be. Or just some kind of joke on me.

One thing we have learned, though, is that if Jennifer and I are in the car together, there is no way that she and I can talk for more than about 30 seconds without Ellie deciding that she needs to tell Mommy something. She'll peep up with "Excuse me.... Excuse me..." We'll stop talking and ask her "Yes, Ellie?" And then we'll get some random question about the Backyardigans or Thomas the Tank Engine. Or "Where is the sun/moon/that airplane she saw 5 minutes ago. It's pretty funny in a way. I still ask a lot of questions as an adult. Ask Jennifer. But we've learned that, if we have anything important to talk about, during a car ride is usually not the place to get it done. It used to take a lot to shut me up. Now, I just need a talkative 3 year old riding along with me.

Fortunately, Campbell is quite content to sit in her car seat just babbling with the occasional grunting for a cookie or pointing at her penguin stuffed animal that she threw on the floor. She can't say "Excuse me.... Excuse me...." Yet.

But after a while, especially when we're in the car, it turns into the Battle of Why with Ellie.

Ellie: Where are we going Daddy?

Me: To the grocery store.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because we have run out of things we need like milk.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because you and Campbell drank it all.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because we played all morning and you worked up a big thirst.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because playing too hard dehydrates you.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because playing hard makes you hot and so you sweat.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because your body heats up and the evaporation of sweat cools you off.

Ellie: Pool? Pool! Pool?

Me: No, I said cool, not pool. We're not going to the pool.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because it's too cold.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because it's winter.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because we live in the northern hemisphere and we get less direct sunlight.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Because I said so.

Ellie: Why?

Me: Hey, do you want to listen to some "Jack's Big Music Show" music?

Ellie: Why?

Bless her heart.

Trick or Treat!

2007-10-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

One of the perks to being back in the real world is being able to take the girls out for some real trick or treating. While in Alaska, we were hampered by the dismal temperatures (it's 23 in Fairbanks right now) and because we lived in a remote place on post. Too cold and too far to walk around mooching candy. We were a bit worried that our neighborhood might be a tad quiet tonight since there are so few children around. But I talked to one of the only other moms in the subdivision this afternoon and she told me that they had gone around last year and had fun. That was good news because I had spent the past few days scoping out other neighborhoods around in case we decided to bail and try someplace else.

Ellie was quite aware that we would be going out to get some candy. Campbell was just thrilled to be dressed up. It was kind of sweet when Ellie asked us if we were going to drive to the hospital for the candy. At Ft. Wainwright, the hospital turned itself into a giant trick or treating party with each department's staffs handing out candy and decorating their floors. I was surprised that she remember that. Once we explained that we got to go for a walk and visit our neighbors, she was gung ho and ready to go. Ellie was standing at the door telling us that it was time to go. As we walked down the driveway, she was pulling and tugging on me to hurry up.

The weather cooperated today and we had pleasant temperatures and no rain. Ellie was her usual shy self. When we approached a house, she would hang back but once she saw the bowls of candy that were being offered she got a dose of bravery. And as we walked from house to house, she was happy to tell us about how much she loves chocolate. And sweets of just about any and all kinds.

Campbell was a lobster and Ellie was happy to reprise her role as a lion. Both of them really enjoyed getting dressed up. After 8-10 houses, Ellie informed us that she was ready to go home. We were concerned that she was scared of being outside in the dark or maybe from meeting new people. No, she wanted to get back inside and eat some candy.

We only saw one other group while we were going door to door so we thought maybe it would be a quiet night. But within a few minutes, we had a few kids come by. Over the next 45 minutes, we had 30-35 trick or treaters and each time, Ellie and Campbell were thrilled to greet them at the door and check out their costumes. Lots of pirates this year. And there were several costumes that I'm not really sure what they were going for. And while we thought not many people would be giving out stuff, I'm pretty sure that most of the kids who came by didn't live in our neighborhood. Evidently, word is out that the Danbridge subdivision gives out good candy.

Jennifer's mom has been in town for the past two weeks but she leaves tomorrow. It's been great having her here. I got to have a few breaks during the day and my kids have been able to eat some real cooking a couple of times since she's been here. I don't mind cooking but Linda makes some things that I could only dream of doing as well. It has motivated me to expand my repertoire and try some new things. The girls are relatively adventurous eaters and if I screw something up, making a grilled cheese sandwich is always a quick alternative. We'll miss having her around. I keep trying to convince her that she needs to stay for another week or four.

Now there's something you don't see every day

2007-10-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

Campbell can't be deterred when she decides she's going somewhere. Not only is she walking with abandon but she's climbing on everything. She can walk our house in seconds flat. And she now uses her mobility to not only play and have fun but find new and unusual methods for wreaking havoc. Objects within reach on a table, chair or flat surface of any kind is fair game. She really doesn't want to play with it or use it, she just wants to pull it down, spread it out and the move on to the next item to mess with. Leave a door open to the bathroom? Well, be prepared to find her either playing in the toilet (Ewwww, right?) or the entire roll of toilet paper on the floor. Trying to sort clothes in the laundry room? Forget about it. She's tossing things left and right and dragging the other stuff back out into the hallway. Leave the gate on the stairs open? 10 seconds later, she's upstairs running down the hallway preparing to make a mess with whatever she can find. But there are some positives. When I cut up some banana and put it in bowl for her, she makes a beeline for her denim chair. She knows it's snack time. Matter of fact, she might beat me to the chair. I remember thinking "Man, once Campbell is walking, things might be easier for me around here." Heh. I kind of miss the days when she could only roll around to grab the things she wanted. Much more so than Ellie, Campbell hates to be "confined." When she decides she needs to be on the move, she's GONE.

Big sister still has her moments of defiance but she can be a great help. Campbell likes to just be around her and Ellie takes it in stride. With a few exceptions, Ellie seems to understand that Campbell is more interested in knocking over the blocks or tearing up Thomas the Tank Engines tracks.

The other day, we went to the grocery. Now, when we go to Fred Meyer for groceries, Ellie assumes we're there to eat. It doesn't matter whether we just had a meal or not. Well, we had just eaten lunch. We get in the door and I was prepared to hear "I want a hamburger... no, a cheeseburger. I want a hot dog. I want a milkshake." Then I'd have to retort with "You'll get nothing and like it." At first, Ellie tells me that we need "macky-roni." When I tell her that we're only there for a few things and that we just had lunch, she continues with her need for macky-roni. So I look for a compromise. "How about some animal crackers in a few minutes?" That buys me some time. As I continue grabbing the things I need, we finally get to the cracker aisle. Those little boxes of Barnum's Animal Crackers are lifesavers. I grab a one of the shelf and crack it open. I hand her a cookie. She hands it to her sister and tells me "Campbell is hungry too." Altruism at it's finest, right?

Have I mentioned lately that I have the best job in the world? I work longer hours now than I ever did working for some company. At the last job I worked before we moved to Alaska, I had to track my hours. Shortly before I gave my notice, I was working 60+ hours a week. Now, I'm working 85-90+ hours a week and I'm on call pretty much all the time. I've had every kind of bodily fluid that exists pooped, spit up, puked, etc. on me. I have to juggle all sorts of things that I never even imagined just a few years ago. But I love it. My wife is completely supportive of me being a House Dad and I have the two best kiddos ever. I've been home now f0r over 3 years and it's been a blast. Each day, either Ellie or Campbell does something that amazes me. Or wears me out. If you don't have kiddos, it is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Funky Monkey turns three

2007-09-23T23:46:00.001-07:00

And you know how excited a three year old gets about a birthday. We thought ahead and kept the presents out of sight. There is no way we would have been able to keep the wrapped or in the gift bags. After she fell asleep for her nap, we hung some streamers and balloons, got out the presents and took the cake out of it's hiding place. When she came downstairs after waking up, she knew something was brewing and she knew it was for her. She has been ready for this since Campbell's birthday last month. Now, she knows hers is in September. I don't think she understand yet that September comes after August but she did know that Mommy and Daddy had been shuttling boxes that had arrived in the mail out to the garage without opening them. And for about a month, she's been asking about when her birthday is. By the beginning of the week were just saying "Later this month" because we knew she was getting excited about it. So when the time came to open the presents, the wrapping paper was in trouble. Campbell was quite happy to play with the empty boxes. Ellie was ready to supply her with them. When we brought the activity desk in from the garage that we had gotten her, the living room was a wreck, Ellie was in heaven and Campbell was somewhere under the paper and boxes.

A couple observations about kid's toys:

1. Who's the brainiac who invented colored pens that have smells? Sure, this sounds like a great idea. Guess what three year olds do when a pen smells like fruit?
2. If something needs to be put together in advance, the directions will stink, it wont fit together like the schematic says and one or more of the screws will strip out.
3. A one year old doesn't comprehend that the point of Thomas the Tank Engine is to set the track up and play with the trains. Campbell likes to waddle into the middle of the setup and then play Godzilla. It would only be funnier if Ellie knew Japanese and could point, panic and run.

So after all of this, the cake beckoned.
Ellie was quite happy to get all hopped up on frosting. And Jennifer is wondering how she got it in her hair. On the back of her head.
And Campbell, well, you know.

A Trip to the Beach

2007-09-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Jennifer has some time off between quarters at UW so we decided to take our first family trip. We'd traveled a bit with Ellie but so far, Campbell's adventures had been limited to playgrounds and zoos. After looking at our options around the area, we headed over to the coast for a few days. The Navy has resort in Pacific Beach about 2.5 hours from here. It's open to anyone on active duty so we took advantage of the Navy's hospitality and rented a cottage. They will start renovating in October and I hope they do more than just slap on a new coat of paint. But the price was right and we were only there two nights. Heck, the Holiday Inn down the shore was $170 a night for just King suite. We paid less than half of that for 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a full kitchen and a separate living area. It sure was nice having a full size fridge and cabinets filled with dishes. And Ellie was thrilled that we were about 20 yards one of their playgrounds. We discovered that the town of Ocean Shores is only about 2 hours away so it's within day trip distance. Before it gets too cold over there, we'll definitely make a few more trips. Now that we know how easy it is to get over there, I will probably take the girls over during the week when Jennifer is back in school. Anyone up for a swim on 45 degree water?

As you can see, Campbell liked the ocean air. And Ellie loved to watch the waves. The weather was a bit nippy. We had highs in the upper 50's but there wasn't much wind so it was still bearable. I had forgotten how desolate yet beautiful the Pacific Northwest beaches are. Deep drop offs from the bluffs down to long beach expanses. For stretches of the area, you can drive quite a distance along without ever getting on paved roads. For now, we were quite content to chase Ellie's ball across the sand and let Campbell try to walk a few steps. Oh yes, Campbell has started to walk. She rambles on for 5-10 steps before she either forgets where she was off to or takes a tumble. And then she gets up and keeps going. Watching her try to pitter-pat her way across the sand was quite entertaining. The afternoon was quite entertaining. Ellie discovered that the water is quite a bit colder than she expected. She had been telling us that she needed to put her swimsuit on. But I think she was quite content to stay on the shore and away from the cold. I'm not where any tidal pools are but if we can find some, the girls will be enthralled at watching sea creatures up close.

An evening thunderstorm

2007-09-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

It's been over 3 years since I've seen/heard one. About 45 minutes ago, lighting flitted off near the horizon. Then, a bit later, the slow retort of distant thunder. The flashes grew brighter and the salvos boomed more frequently. I actually wondered whether it would wake either of our girls up because neither has experienced one during their young lives. I stood on the front porch kind of dazed and delighted by the streaks of light. I've always liked thunderstorms. The light show coupled with the accompanying uneven, ragged music is different every time. It was coming in from over the Sound and I thought about grabbing my camera and heading to the overlook just up the road from the house.

There was that indescribable, incredible smell of rain in the air as the storm drew closer. And then the sky let loose. For a good 30 minutes, the rain pelted the ground with small fury. The earth consumed as much of it as it could and the remainder flowed out into the street to hurry down to the storm drains. Slashes of white played across the dark and was reflected back up off the wet ground. The cannonade of sound echoed back and forth. And then it quieted. The storm moved on it's way to some place else. Right now, I can here the last remnants of rain lightly drop down onto our house. The barrage fading into our past. Then, showers glanced across the area but without the symphony of sound and flashes that had come before.

Sweet music to tired old ears. And I miss Texas.

It finally happened...

2007-08-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

I swore that it wouldn't. I promised myself that I would never let it happen. Not to me. I'm too groovy and funky. Someone would have to drag my butt, kicking and screaming the entire way. But it did. I drive one of these now...

And yet, it's not that bad. We were just out of room in the CR-V. We couldn't fit more than 5 in it and with the girl's car seats in the back row, it was nearly impossible to carry anything bigger than a stroller or some groceries in the back.

The Odyssey rocks in some pretty cool ways. The sliding doors are pressure sensitive. That means if something is sticking out in their way, they will butt up against it and then pull back open. The doors can also be closed and opened from the key fob. And it rides a lot smoother than the CR-V. We'll get about the same MPG as the old Honda too. Plus, we can fit 7 in it without a problem and 8 if we really need to. And we have 15 drink holders. Top that!

It's official, I am fully domesticated.

Gramma Hydes comes to visit and Campbells turns 1!

2007-08-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

You know the expression "Time flies when you're having fun"? Well, it really does. Campbell turned one on the 8th. Doesn't seem possible that over a year ago, our second blessed little gift was born. Tom and Linda came up on the 6th so they got to watch her have great fun destroying her birthday cake. She still only has the her two bottom front teeth and as such, she can really only gum her food. But some cake and frosting was a great hit and she made a grand mess out of it. She's about ready to start walking too. This week, she's started being able to stand without needing support (albeit for just 5-10 seconds at a time.) She can definitely cruise along the furniture and she decides to go some where, there's no stopping her. And now that she has some mobility, she hates being left out of games and horseplay. I just wish she realized how firm and powerful her pincer grip is. Campbell can do some serious damage when she puts her mind to it. Ellie enjoyed eating cake for dessert the past few nights. She informed us yesterday that she needed cake for lunch. When I told her that wasn't going to happen, she asked if ice cream was ok. But then again, Ellie thinks ice cream is one of the four major food groups.

My mom drove up from Redding last week. She had not seen Campbell and it had been over 2 years since she had seen Ellie. She was thrilled to spend some time with the girls. We went out to Owen Beach at Pt. Defiance and to the Proctor Street Fair too. The girls had fun and I know my mom was just in awe. We really enjoyed having her here and hope she can make it up every so often while we're here in Washington. And as only grandparents can do, she spoiled (in a good way) the girls with attention. Of course, we were the ones who got to try and settle Ellie down for bed when it was time to lay down! We've been debating about driving down to Redding to see my grandparents and other assorted family that live there. I just don't know if we're ready for an 8-9 hour drive with a three year old and a one year old. It's much easier when Grandma drives to see us!

Kennedy's birthday was a blast

2007-07-21T22:17:00.002-07:00

We are lucky to have some family in the area. My mom's sister Sandy and her husband Ken plus two of their daughters live over in Puyallup. They have been a great resource for our move. Today, we headed over to my cousin Sarah's house for her daughter Kennedy's third birthday festivities. Ellie was a bit perplexed about the departure plans. We were trying to explain that the party was for Kennedy, not her. We got on the road and she was quite happy to participate in the day's activities. Sarah and Josh (her husband) went all out for this. Their house has an awesome, large backyard with a built in swing set/playground. Also, they had rented an inflatable "bouncy" playscape set up in the backyard for the kiddos to go crazy in. There were fruit and veggie plates to snack on and then the pizza showed up. And you know how kids like pizza. After a few minutes, we adjourned to the living room so Kennedy could open her gifts. She was a gracious and kind birthday girl, thanking everyone for her presents. After the presents, everybody got a piece of Dora the Explorer cake and some ice cream.

Campbell was kind of a tweener today. There were a bunch of kids over 2 and then a bunch of little babies. But, only as Campbell can do, she got her fair share of attention. She's so full of energy and determination. Honestly, sometimes I forget that she's not even one year old yet (just a few more weeks!!) She wants to do everything Ellie is doing. The past few days she finally figured out crawling. For the past 2-3 months, she's done this elbow/knee thing. She's darn fast at it but it's really funny to watch. This week, she's finally getting up on her hands and knees. And she's figured out how to climb stairs. I used to be able to assume that if she was out of my line of site that she had just found something interesting to play with in the living room. The past two days, I have learned that if I can't see her, there's a good chance that she's half way up the stairs. She's great going up with no worries. But she has yet to figure out that coming down head first is not a good idea. She hasn't done that without one of us there to stop it from happening on more than one stair but I think it's time to break out the safety gates again. Ellie's gonna hate that but in the interest of keeping the little sister safe, we're going to have to limit the big sister's freedom.

Jennifer's sister, Lisa, was in town this past week. The girls and I drove up to UW, picked up Jennifer and then drove down to Redmond to meet her for dinner. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera so we didn't get any pics. Ellie was up to her usual "guest" shenanigans at dinner so that was an adventure. Campbell was content to sit there and eat steak fries. Typical baby, keep her tummy full and every thing is A-OK. :) Hopefully, now that we're back in the real world, we'll see Lisa and Tim a little more.

We broke in the new grill today

2007-07-01T23:43:00.001-07:00

It was finally time to cook something outside. I bought a Kingsford barrel grill a few weeks ago but we just hadn't used it yet. Ellie went with me to the store to get some fixings but as we were on the way home, she was very perturbed with me that we weren't going to the playground. I told her that we'd try and go after dinner. That kind of placated her but she reminded me several times over the next 5 minutes that we were now going to the playground after dinner.

Jennifer whipped up some excellent onion rings while I got the fire going. Ellie was great at supervising. At one point, she told me that the flames were "hot and high." Fortunately, she knows that hot means stay away. Once we got the coals going, Ellie informed me that we needed to eat right then. Jennifer brought out some veggies and Ranch dressing to assuage her. Ellie devoured some zucchini, cucumber and carrots. She's also fascinated with the sidewalk around to the gate. I'm just glad that the latch is up high enough that Ellie can't reach it (for now.) I'm pretty sure that Ellie was eye balling the gate as a potential escape route.

At this point, I realized that Campbell was just going to keep begging to come outside so we moved her bouncy out. She alternately played with a piece of zucchini and nibbled on it. I'd bet that she'd like some Ranch to dip it in but I'm not sure we'd want to deal with the after effect of that experience yet. Everybody sat around our patio table and we chowed down. The burgers and onion rings (at least the batter) were a hit with Ellie. Campbell was content to eat the mashed up sweet potatoes that I was feeding her. Ellie did the typical toddler thing and ate her burger in stages. She started with the cheese, then the bun and then finally the burger itself. I'm still adjusting to the fact that we can sit outside in the summer and the temperatures are only in the mid 70's. There was a slight breeze and it was downright perfect.

Oh, and when we got done, we cleaned up and went to the playground. Ellie was quite thrilled with that.

The joys of parenthood

2007-06-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

If you have kids, you know how this goes... We're still trying to get Ellie back into a nap routine. At this age, she still needs an afternoon nap. Lately, Ellie doesn't agree but the facts are that she does. On Thursday, I got her all snuggled in at about 1:15. I recounted the tale of Goldilocks and then the Three Little Pigs. And then I told her it was nap time. Five minutes later, I heard her door open. I got her back in bed and told her that she needed to take a nap. Her music was playing and I mentioned that she needed to lay down, close her eyes and stay in bed until the music stopped. Another five minutes went by and I hear her door open. Ellie meets me at the top of the stairs and tells me "My music all done." Her CD is 65+ minutes long. It's been about 25 minutes since we started this dance. As I walked back in her room, I notice that her CD player is UNPLUGGED. Yeah Ellie, the music is all done. She didn't get a nap that day.

Campbell is going to walk before she ever really crawls. She does this weird "Ranger" crawl where she scoots on her elbows/forearms and knees around the house. I have yet to see her ramble around on her hands and knees. But just on her elbows, she's pretty darn fast. When she wants to get somewhere, she is gonna get there NOW!!!

Today, we went down to the Ft. Steilacoom Park. This playground has a "tot" area next to the regular one. Ellie likes the swings on the tot one but the roaming space on the other. The main playground looks like a castle. We climbed around on the different playgrounds for about 45 minutes before we got rained on. There was a McDonald's with a covered playground just up the road so we headed there for a weather break. We went back to the house for naps and Ellie kept trying to convince me that it was no longer raining even though it was. Within 10 minutes of laying down, Ellie was conked out. And later when we ran an errand in a downpour, Ellie was insistent that there was no rain and that we need to return to the castle playground.

I kind of miss the old playground...

2007-06-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

At Ft. Wainwright, we had two playgrounds right across the street from the house. The closest one, to the new digs, Colgate Park, is a 5-10 minute car ride away. The trade off (and I think it's worth it) is that Colgate is shaded and has a fence around it. Ellie (and Campbell any day now) can't really get too far. And it's darn nice to spend an afternoon playing while it's 75 degrees outside and shady. I know, 75 isn't that warm. I don't know if I'll be able to live in Texas again after summers in Alaska and Washington.

Campbell is a big fan of the swings. She thinks they're groovy. Ellie likes them too but since she's mobile, she gets bored and wants to go climb on the playground after a few minutes. But then in true toddler fashion, she's back to the swings. And then back to the playground. And then the swings. And then the playground... You get the idea. A little farther north is the Titlow City Park. This one has two playgrounds, a duck pond, a swimming pool and a large walking path. We went there the other day for a picnic but the train that runs right beside the park freaked Ellie out big time and we ended up going back to our regular haunt at Colgate.

I'm pretty sure that if we let Ellie, she'd live at the playground. Down on the Sound is a town called Steilacoom that has a really nice surf side beach park. We'd go more often but since we're not Steilacoom residents, we have to pay $5 to park. Ellie can see the playground whenever we drive by on the back way down to Ft. Lewis. And every time, she tells me that we "have to" stop. I noticed some free parking up the hill near the small downtown so maybe I'll break out the double stroller and take them soon. Ellie also thinks that whenever we pass Fred Meyer's (a local grocery chain) during lunch or dinner time that "have to" stop in for their Macaroni and Cheese from the deli. I got in the habit when we were grocery shopping in Fairbanks to hit Fred's once a week during lunch time and we'd stop in the deli and get food. And now, Ellie only wants to eat it there. She doesn't want to get it to go. We have to eat it RIGHT NOW!!! Of course, I don't really object. They have better than average corn dogs in the deli too.

Tomorrow, we're going to hit one of the Tacoma Farmer's Markets. There are probably eight or nine Farmer's Markets within 12-15 miles of our house. I found a website listing some of the ones throughout Washington state. There are almost 125 statewide. Granted some of those are over in Spokane or north of Seattle. But compared the Fairbanks one, we should be able to get a much bigger selection of fruits, veggies, bread, etc. I will say one thing about the Fairbanks Farmer's Market... There was a woman there who sold the best English Cucumbers I've ever tasted. And Ellie definitely concurs. Puyallup supposedly has a nice one as well that takes place in downtown. We'll swing by there on Saturday to check it out.

Campbell is still just using her arms and legs to kind of "Army crawl" but dang if she isn't fast at it. We're starting to think she's going to walk before she ever really crawls. She's pulling herself up on things quite a bit. The other morning, I went in to get her and she was standing there holding on to the inside of the crib. We might need a crib canopy to prevent a jail break. Ellie thinks that Campbell is the perfect size to lay on. For the most part, Campbell doesn't mind. It's just when Ellie wants Campbell to give her a horsey ride that things get a little out of control. They get along really well though. When Campbell starts getting fussy in the car, Ellie is very helpful in trying to get her relaxed. They love to laugh and giggle together. I'm pretty sure that they are going to be ganging up on me very soon.

25 nights in hotels, 392 items tagged for moving...

2007-06-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

And we're still unpacking. We moved into the new house two weeks ago. Our furniture arrived a week ago. But when you have this much stuff (and two kiddos underfoot) it takes a while to get it all put away. The downstairs is mostly done. Jennifer's office is still under construction but we have all the kitchen stuff put away and we can now cook more than just macaroni and cheese.

Ellie is sleeping in a big girl bed. We have yet to find some suitable rails for the sleigh bed we bought but with a body pillow in bed with her, she has yet to roll off onto the floor.

As you can see, the laundry room is a popular place to play. Campbell is happy being in whatever room I am right now. I don't have to be entertaining her at all, she's just content to be around.

Jennifer thought she was going to start classes on Monday (the 18th) but she found out today that none of her sections meet until at least July 5th. Hopefully we'll be able to get the house done and then maybe we'll take off for a day trip to the coast.

A day at the Zoo and Aquarium

2007-05-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

We had some great weather last week. Highs in the mid 70's with a breeze most of the time. We headed up to Seattle on Thursday for a day trip to see some animals. Ellie had been to the Indianapolis Zoo when we were on vacation last Memorial Day but I doubt she remembered. This time, Campbell got to go too. Ellie had a great time. Campbell was a little more interested in getting a nap in. All in all, everybody had a good time enjoying some sunshine. The Seattle Zoo is not particularly big but it's easy to get around in and has a lot of natural (like) habitat. There is a lot of open space with grass and picnicking is encouraged. Had we known this, we could have skipped the burgers and fries at the food court. But Ellie got a monkey sippy cup out of it so I think she was happy. If you're in the area, the Zoo is just 4-5 miles north of downtown. It's an excellent side trip with kids and they have a cool carousel (sadly, it was out of action while we were there.)

Campbell is a lot like Ellie was as a baby... Just happy to be here. She's content to be around us and likes to just check out the scenery. She's usually only fussy when she's hungry or tired. Even though nap and sleep schedules have been totally messed up the past 3 weeks due to the move and being in hotels, she's been a pretty happy camper. Today, we went over to see some relatives of mine on my mom's side of the family. Campbell didn't have any problem being held by my Aunt Sandy within minutes of arriving. Actually, I think Sandy said something along the lines of "I'll hold her" but it was really more of a command. :) It was ok by me. Ellie saw the swing set in the backyard and was itching to go outside. My cousin Sarah has a daughter (Kennedy) who will be three in July and My cousin Lisa has two kids (Mason and Madison who are 5 and 4 respectively. It was great to see Ellie around kids her own age for the first time since we left Fairbanks. She still asks me where Cody, Jacob and Livie are. Today, while we were driving around, she had my phone and was "talking" to those three.

We found a house in University Place just west of Tacoma on the peninsula. The area is very quiet and we're only about a mile off the Sound. There are walking and bike trails all around us. Hopefully, I can burn off some of this hibernation weight I've been carrying. Of course, most of it was with me before we moved to Alaska, so I can't blame it on cold weather. The house is supposed to be ready by Thursday or Friday. Depending on route, Jennifer will be 15-30 minutes from Ft. Lewis and 20-25 minutes to downtown Tacoma to catch the train up to UW for school. I-5 is a freaking disaster. Traffic in this area is just insanely bad. It can take an hour to go 15 miles and that's normal during rush hour. Just too many people without any alternate routes.

We are so ready to be in a house after three plus weeks in hotels. The girls have been super troopers but it's time for some more space. Remember when you were a kid and you thought eating out for lunch and dinner every day would be cool? Well, by the third week of restaurants for lunch and/or dinner, it's not so cool anymore. I'd kill for a home made grilled cheese sandwich right about now.

A few more pictures of the trip out

2007-05-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some more memorable shots of Alaska and Canada. One last shot of Denali as we stopped along the Richardson Highway for some great shots at a pull off. Ross was dying to get a good view of it and we had been socked in with clouds on Sunday. We actually drove 10 miles west down the Parks Highway on Monday morning for some pictures before heading back to east. About an hour outside of Fairbanks, we took a slew of pictures from this vantage point. This is one big mountain. By contrast, Mt. Rainier dominates the Seattle skyline and it's only just over 14,400 feet. Mt. McKinley is over 20,000. I read on Wikipedia that Denali has a larger bulk and rise than even Everest. Partly that's due to Everest being on the Tibetan Plateau where everything is already 10-15,000 feet above sea level. Just so you know, people in Alaska don't call it Mt. McKinley. Denali means "the high one" in Athabascan. In 1897 the Mountain was officially named Mount McKinley, after U.S. president William McKinley. As the decades progressed Indian-rights activists began increasingly to view this renaming as colonial and disrespectful. When Denali National Park and Preserve was established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, December 2, 1980, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to "Denali." However, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names maintains "McKinley". Alaskans tend to use "Denali" and rely on context to distinguish between the park and the mountain. There have been several campaigns to officially switch the federally recognized name of the mountain back to "Denali". However, the name "McKinley" is well-known and has support as well. The name "McKinley" also allows visitors to differentiate between the mountain and Denali National Park, in which the mountain is located.

The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Canada was a trip. People from all over the world have stolen, borrowed or bought road signs to put up here along the highway. There have to be thousands of them. The town just finished rehanging them this spring. Some of the wooden poles needed replacing due to weather. It was amazing how many European (particularly German) signs there were. And Texas was represented well. Thankfully, we did not see any Aggie signs. Those jokers have embarrassed Texas enough over the past few years. I really wish I had thought this through a little more. With some luck, Ross could have brought us a sign to hang. Oh well, there's always next time. Heh. I'd like to find a giant Longhorn to put in there. That'd be memorable, right? Watson Lake is also where we discovered that Chinese food is available in the strangest places. The town sports a population of just over 1,500. There were three gas stations and two Chinese food restaurants. Go figure.

Our last full day on the road was spent working our way toward Whistler and then down to Vancouver. It was a truly beautiful and remarkable drive. From Prince George, you wind through some scenic farm country and then into the Fraser River valley until you run into the Fitzsimmons Range of which Whistler Mountain is part. Whistler is a mix of cool and kitsch. The skiing there is supposed to be awesome but the town itself is a tourist trap. We had an excellent meal there so it wasn't all bad. On the way out of town we caught a great sunset and then wound our way down the Sea to Sky Highway to Vancouver. I regret that we didn't stay downtown. We ended up in a suburb about 25 miles east. As with most things in Canada, by 8:00 pm there was not much to do around our hotel. Since we had eaten in Whistler, we were content to find the hotel and sack out for the night.

2,400 miles is a really long way to drive

2007-05-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

I mean REALLY long. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad my friend Ross came up to do it with me. We had a blast and I'm glad I had someone else in the car with me. I would have been going a little stir crazy by about the middle of the third day. We had some unreal conversations. Some philosophical; How do we deal with immigration or should kids have to take music lessons until they leave the house. Some not so much; How many Nilla Wafers can you stuff in your mouth at one time? (he won with 12) And my personal favorite, How many midgets could you fight at the same time? We saw an amazing amount of wild life.

I'll post more pics later but here's a basic list:
6 Moose
7 Black Bears
10+ Mountain Sheep (The bighorn kind)
50+ Bison
10+ Caribou
10+ Elk
20+ Deer
1 Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle was flying right at us while we driving. He sort of dive bombed us and then pulled up and over to the right. It was so fast and sudden that we didn't get a chance for pictures.

Seeing all the bears was kind of funny. On the drive up to Alaska, Jennifer and I only saw one. I told Ross that seeing a bear was going to be sketchy. Then, on the afternoon of the second day, we saw two within 5-10 minutes of each other. A few hours later, we saw our third. The seventh one was just 60-70 miles north of Vancouver on the drive out down from Whistler on day 4. By that time, we were just kind of "Eh, another bear." Thank goodness for good camera lenses. This pic was taken from about 30 feet away as we stayed in the car for safety sake.

Definitely the coolest thing I saw were the bison herds. I had never seen a bison in person. When we drove through Wyoming and Montana in 2004, I was hoping to see one of the private herds that roam around there. In 2006, I drove up Richardson Highway from Glenallen back to Fairbanks but never saw the heard that lives near Delta Junction.

We first saw a group of three but there might have been more in the trees. A few miles down the road, there was a larger group of 10-12. The biggest pack we saw was around 15-18 about 20 miles away from the second group. There were probably more in the tree line. Bison were the least skittish animals that we saw. They just stood there and ate the grass. They hardly paid any attention to the cars and trucks that were (sometimes) flying right by them. We slowed down because we wanted to take pictures and we also didn't want any horns or hooves impaled on the front of the Dadmobile. The only other animals that even approached the non-chalant manner of the bison were the bighorn sheep. Those little daredevils would stand right on the side of the road and eat the small flora that was growing. They would stand there while traffic buzzed by but tended to move away when we slowed to take pics. Not sure why, but they were not phased by fast moving traffic, just the slow moving ones.

A couple of things about the stops we made along the way:

Whitehorse: A pretty town set along the Yukon river. But get there early if you ever go. EVERYTHING except McDonald's and KFC shuts down at 9:00. We got seated at a restaurant and then got told that they were closing when we left. Our waitress all but kicked us out shortly after our food came. Matter of fact, she left before we did and she peeled out as she did.

Liard Hot Springs: About halfway between Whitehorse and Ft. Nelson. It's well worth the stop. It was 70 degrees outside and when we got out of the water, we were both a bit chilly. The water is amazing.

Ft. Nelson: There is NOTHING to do there. It's an oil patch town with a few hotels, some gas stations and not much else. It's kind of a necessary stop unless you want to try one of the roadside motels either before or after it but that's a total crap shoot. Not to mention that lot of them look permanently closed.

Prince George: It's a lot bigger than I remembered it being in 2004. We stayed at the Treasure Cove. The restaurant next door (called Publik) had great food and was showing the Spurs/Suns game.

Vancouver Area: We took a detour and drove down through Whistler instead of the farther eastern route. It was well worth it. The mountains are beautiful and the drive is breathtaking. Just remember to follow the road signs regarding speed. We did and our breaks still smelled burnt after the final switchback descent into the valley where the Whistler and Blackcombe ski areas are. BTW, they're still skiing up there this time of the year. Our waiter told us that they will ski until at least mid June. They stop for a few months and then start back up again in September or October. I really hope we can get up there this winter. It's a pretty town and I can only imagine what it looks like with snow all over. Vancouver is hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010 and Whistler will handle the skiing events. We ended up staying a little bit to the east of Vancouver and I regret not staying downtown. Like most Canadian cities, it was clean and full of people, even at nearly 9:00 pm when we drove through.

Well, I'll post some more pictures once I sort through them. But I really want to thank my buddy Ross for making this a memorable and fun trip.

It's official: Alaska really is a 3rd world country

2007-05-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

Things are different up here. I've come to expect AND accept that. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Alaska is the farthest north redneck state in the country. But our hotel experience as we prepare to depart has been funny and sad all at the same time.

There's a brand new hotel out by the airport called the Alpine Lodge. For the first three weeks that they're open (starting on May 1st), they're offering a $59 special on regular rooms. The other comparable places in town are all over $100 a night this time of the year. When I called to reserve a room, I was told that they had some family and business suites that had separate bedrooms from the living/work areas. The family suites were all booked but they had a business suite. Cool beans. We'd take that and have a place to put Campbell at night without having her and Ellie in the same room. The rate was a little different ($75 vs. $59) but I'll take more room for just $16 any time. And then I checked in.

On the door as I arrived was a printed out sign saying something like "Please be patient. We are still preparing the hotel." No biggie. As long as we have our room, I'm good. I check in and walk to the room. When I go in there are two queen beds, just like I expected. And other than that, there is not much else in the way of furniture. The TV is sitting on a small table. There is no nightstand, dresser, desk or alarm clock. Other than a small kitchenette and a bathroom, there's nothing else. When I got back to the desk, I'm told that the business suites are not ready yet. And wont be until 5/11 at the earliest. Well, we'll have to make do.

Linda, my mother-in-law, came up to help Jennifer while I'm on the road. She gets a room across the hall from us and we decide that Campbell will sleep in there at night. Linda is a saint. She's been a tremendous help with the girls. Between Jennifer and I, we were able to sit at the house with the movers while Jennifer continued to out process. Starting last night, I got on the clean up and painting that needed to be done. Without Linda here, we'd be screwed trying to get the house ready for clearing.

So tonight, I walk out to the car to get my backpack. When I come back in, my room key wont work. I go back to the front desk and they re-key the card. No dice. We try a third. Nada. Well crap. Jennifer and Ellie are asleep in the room. I really don't want to knock on the door and wake them up. Our options seem limited. We're on the first floor and our window is open so I'm all for cutting the screen and going in SWAT style. Jim at the front desk starts making phone calls. After an hour, he finds out from the maintenance guy that there is an airplane like black box that he can use to reset the door. With a walkie talkie connecting him to the front desk where the other night clerk relays info over the phone from the maintenance guy, he gets it open.

So, here I sit, at 11:30, 1.) hoping that this is our Murphy's Law moment for the trip out and 2.) starting to count the hours til I can leave this 3rd world country and rejoin civilization.

For the record, as of right now, I'm under 80 hours. That's 4800 minutes or 288,000 seconds for those scoring at home.

Something odd about the Army

2007-05-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

Well, there's a lot that's odd about it. But for whatever reason, there are several guys who are married to Army Docs/Nurses who stay home too. I know of 4 others who are here right now. I'm not sure why but Army Medicine seems to attract that combo.

Our pediatrician's husband stays home with their three kids. I've been told they don't have a TV. I'm not real keen on letting kids watch too much TV but there are times when it's a life saver. And in the fall, I need it to get my college football fix. Jennifer knows that, on Saturdays, from early September until late November, I will be planted in front of the TV, with the remote blazing across 4-5 channels, watching as much college football as I can. I've been fortunate the past three years. I only missed two Texas games on TV. One was against North Texas in 2004, the other was against Sam Houston State in 2006. In other words, I really didn't miss anything. But I'm not giving up my TV. Let me rephrase that... Ellie wont let me give up "her" TV.

In two weeks, I'll be in Canada

2007-04-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Time is FLYING! But we have so much to do. In the next two weeks, we still have a ton of stuff to get done. We've been telling Ellie about our move and preparing her the changes. She's grown quite attached to the kids in our building. Hopefully, we'll meet new kids her age but it is kind of sad because some of these kids she's known her entire (albeit short) life. She is pretty happy that we're moving some place with a zoo.

Cleaning the house has been fun. We have to try and get the carpet clean enough to clear our inspection on the 14th. To the naked eye, it's fine but the Housing guys up here use a black light to look for, ahem, spit up, poop and pee. With two kiddos there's gonna be some poop and pee that we missed after the 38th time one of them had an accident. I have to put primer on the walls that we painted, which is nearly every room. Hopefully some of the PFCs from Jennifer's office will be enticed by the offer of cash and free pizza to come help me out.

The movers come on Monday the 7th to start packing up our stuff. We still need to pare down the things we aren't going to take with us. Besides stuff we brought up here that we didn't need, we have baby clothes that we're just not going to use again. We also need to get Jennifer's car shipped out. It will take 14-20 days for it to get down to Seattle. I thought moving to Alaska was a pain in the butt. Moving out of Alaska is even more so.

My best friend Ross is coming up on the 12th to drive out with me. This is going to be a blast. We haven't hung out since October 2005. I promised Jennifer that we'd behave. We'll try. Heh. Nah, we will. We'll be on the road for 4 nights and 5 days. Our stops are scenic Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory and then Ft. Nelson, Prince George and Abbotsford, B.C. When we came up, we caught the ferry part of the way. I'm pretty psyched about driving the Alaska Highway. We'll have some long days but it should be fun.

Jennifer's mom is coming on Friday. She's going to fly out with Jennifer and the girls when they leave around the 16th. I bet Linda's thrilled that this is her last trip to Alaska. She wont be the only person not missing the winters up here.

Jennifer found out today that school wont start for her until early July (not June 18th.) So we'll have 5-6 weeks in the Seattle area to find our bearings. We're looking at homes in Puyallup or south of there. Jennifer's going to have a bit of a commute the first year but hopefully she can catch the train to downtown without too much trouble.

There will be things I miss. It's 9:30 right now and the sun wont be setting for another 45 minutes. There's nothing quite like sitting outside at 10:00 with a good book and a cigar in broad daylight. It's a really odd feeling. For nearly 3 years, I've been waiting for the day when we'd leave Alaska. It will be here soon. We've been here for more than 1000 days. I thought this would be a completely happy occurrence, something that I'd be 100% ready to do. But I'm not.

We cooked out with our neighbors last weekend. Our kiddos ran helter skelter around outside as we grilled. We watched them play in the sand box and draw with chalk on the sidewalk. I held my youngest on my shoulders as I flipped the steaks and made some hot dogs for the kiddos. It was beautiful weather wise. 60 degrees in the sun with just a slight breeze.

After dinner, Ellie and Campbell got baths and went to bed. I ran to the store to get hamburger fixings for the next night as we had all decided to grill again. As I drove home, the sun was still up. I was wearing sunglasses in the car at nearly 10:00 pm. My sunroof was open as I jammed to some Marley and thought about the day.

I know why I'll miss Alaska. It wont be the -40 winter days. It wont be isolation from home and friends. It will be the days like this. Sure, we'll have experience like this some where else. But as I watched my oldest daughter play, I could see her with our neighbor's daughter. They are about the same age and have known each other their whole lives. Short lives yes but they are "best" friends. I could stand outside and watch the sun not be ready to set for another few hours. I am in the only home my kids have known so far.

I will miss Alaska. I really didn't think I would say that.

2007-04-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to House Dad's world

2007-04-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is something I should have done quite some time ago.

It all started in Alaska. My wife and I moved up to Ft. Wainwright in 2004. She was pregnant with our first daughter when we arrived. Kiddo #1 arrived in September. And so began my journey as a house dad. We had always planned on me staying home. And I thought I was ready for it. Oh boy.

It's been two and a half years now. Kiddo #2 arrived 8 months ago. Two kids is not just twice the work. It's more. And I love it.