The Weatherman

Last weekend we spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the Olympic Peninsula. On Friday we caught the 8:45am ferry from West Seattle to Southworth and then drove up to Port Townsend. We had lunch at the Public House followed by ice cream at Elevated (yummy stuff).

After lunch we spent some time at Fort Warden (where they filmed An Officer and a Gentleman). We went to Marine Science Center and checked out one of the artillery batteries. We then drove down to Anderson Lake where I strolled along the shoreline for about a half hour. We finally checked into our rustic cottage (emphasis on the word rustic) - Bay Cottage. We ended the day playing in the sand on the beach - Zach loved that part.

The next morning we drove up to Hurricane Ridge for a view of the Olympics. Zach got to play in some snow and he definitely loved that. We drove back into Port Angeles for lunch and followed that up with a drive into the Elwha River valley. The waters in the lake and river was a very beautiful blue-ish green since they are fed by glaciers and snowmelt.

On the way back to Discovery Bay we stopped off in Sequim at Railroad Bridge Park. This was a wonderful place for Zach since it provided a very long straight trail that was elevated so it was easy to keep up with him.

The next day was gloomy and we didn’t have much of a plan. We drove out to Fort Flagler State Park and played on the swing for a bit, but it was really windy, cloudy, and about 50 degrees…so we were not too keen in hanging out. We then drove around for about an hour before settling in Port Townsend for lunch. Zach was tired and cranky and made lunch and walking around difficult. We decided it was best to head home since the place we were staying at was not great for a toddler (small space, not real clean, lots of rust, no tv) and the rain would have kept us inside. Coming home was the right choice - Zach needed to get back on schedule and our home was more comfortable then the cottage we were staying at.

Here are some photos from the trip.

Get dirty on the beach.

Zach on the beach in the late evening.

The Elwha River

View into the forest at Railroad Bridge Park.

Zach and mom strolling at Railroad Bridge Park

This evening while playing in the yard Zach fell off his slide and broke a bone in his forearm. He has been using his slide on his own for about a month now, but tonight he started walking up the slide (rather than using the ladder). He slipped a few times but he always caught himself. I had commented earlier in the evening about how he was getting more confident (not in a good way) with each successful climb up the slide.  I was worried his over-confidence would end up in an accident.

It eventually caught up with him. Steph went inside and I was working on the laptop in the yard and caught a glimpse of Zach tumbling to the ground out of the corner of my eye. He basically fell about 3 to 4 feet and landed on his front side. I ran up and was careful not to move him too quickly since I wasn’t sure how serious the injuries were. Steph and I brought him inside and Steph immediately noticed that his arm was now curved. Definitely abnormal. It wasn’t really swollen…just curved. Without hesitation we packed up his stuff and drove to the ER (Swedish Physicians on First Hill) which is about 15 minutes away.

We walked up to the counter and the staff was looking at Steph since she is very pregnant wondering what is up with the pregnant mom. Steph quickly pointed out that this visit wasn’t for her. Within about 30 seconds of explaining Zach’s injury they had us in a room where a nurse began collecting information on the incident. The doctor came in and quickly looked at the arm and said - “yep, it’s broken”. A nurse and doctor wrapped Zach up in a blanket and with the help of Steph and I we held a screaming Zach on the table while they inserted an IV. A few minutes later, the nurse returned with some morphine and Zach was GOOD!

We read his books and played with the stuffed animal the hospital provided (a purple dragon - how fitting since he was on drugs). He was even pointing at the book with his broken arm and laughing. That was basically the end of the happy time. Next we carried him down to get XRays. This required both Steph and I to hold Zach’s arm down so they could get two quick pictures. No retakes! We even got copies. And yes, it is clearly broken.

Now back to the room. Two doctors arrived - one to administer drugs and the other to build the cast. They explained that Zach would receive the “happy” drugs and all would be well. One was called Versed and the other was Fetanyl.  The Versed is used to cause sleepiness and to relax people before surgeries.  Zach was pretty unruly as they began to prep his arm for the cast. His behaviour was basically almost tantrum-like at this point requiring both Steph and I to hold him down. He even clawed one of the nurses who very pointedly (but nicely) asked me to hold his free hand.  I guess we need to trim his nails.

As things progressed Zach was in a full blown trantrum, the likes of which we haven’t seen. The other doctor gave him some additional Fetanyl believing that he was in pain. His screaming and kicking lasted the whole time while they applied the cast. He was being monitored on a machine and at one point I saw his pulse upwards of around 168.

Once they were done with the cast they handed him over to me so I could calm him down while sitting in a chair. That wasn’t going to work. For the next 20 minutes Zach was constantly kicking, screaming, and crying.  Every few minutes he would nod off into a sleep for about 15 seconds and then wake up in this tantrum. He was very warm and sweaty from all this exertion so we applied wet towels to him to help cool him down.

Basically, he had a complete opposite reaction to the Versed. This medicine should have made him mellow and a little goofy. The doctor said his reaction was very rare and definitely suggested that we never let him get that medicine again. Not a problem!  We’ll talk to his normal doctor about any associated drugs that hospitals should stay away from on Zacher.

Eventually we got Zach to fall asleep for about 15 minutes. We than had to take him back down for a final XRay to make sure the bone was reformed correctly (as they put the cast on they reshape the arm so the bone is straight again). He immediately woke up and his tantrum started back up right where it left off. A nurse came in to help hold him down while they took two more pictures of his arm. Zach quickly fell back asleep once we returned to the room.  The pictures showed his arm was correctly shaped. We left about 15 minutes later and Zach has basically been asleep the rest of the way home. Now he sleeping in his bed.

Update:  Zach slept all night but he fell out of his bed this morning…I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting to not have the use of his arm.  He is asleep in our bed right now.  We are keeping him home from daycare today but all indications are that he’ll be good to go tomorrow…but now he has a club so the other kids better where a helmet.

We just got back from our Bay Area trip. We flew down on Thursday afternoon from Seattle to SFO, and Zach was awesome on the plane. My dad picked us up and we had dinner with my parents. Later that evening we drove down to our hotel - a Marriott by hwy 92 and hwy 101.

On Friday we took Zach to Lin and Rick’s for the day while Paul and Steph visited some old work friends. Paul also stopped by Keeble and Scuchat in Palo Alto where he purchased some Cokin filters for his camera - yes, more camera toys. Friday evening was spent in the old hood with Bob & Sandy and the Rossi’s. Good food and lots of drinking - nothin has changed

Saturday morning we went up to see Paul’s grandparents in South City where Zach got to play in the dirt. And Saturday afternoon was the big Birthday party.

I want to extend a big thank you for everyone who attended - it was really great seeing all of our friends. And another big thank you to Mom and Bev for putting the party together - it was perfect! Great job!

We spent Saturday evening at Brian and Karen’s where Zach ran around for several more hours with Cole and Mckenna. We flew home on Sunday morning and again Zach was an angel on the plane. Maybe because he was a holy terror in the terminal beforehand. He threw a tamtrum for the 20 to 30 minutes before getting on the plane - I had to use every atom in my body to not open a can of whoop ass on him! Seriously, I am now thinking about therapy! Not to mention the 200 people watching us and hoping to god this devil child doesn’t go on their plane. All the screaming before the flight caused him to sleep the whole time on the plane.

Here is a video at grandpa’s and here are a few photos.

My grandpa standing with his faithful tractor.

Zach playing in the dirt.

Some wood.

BTW, I didn’t have a chance to take photos at the bday party - if you have some in electronic format - please email them over. Thanks!

Zach turned 2 years old at 7:56am this morning, and nothing changed…still a fussy toddler But we love him more everyday no matter what.

What a year for Zacher! Let’s summarize year number 2.

Shortly, and I do mean shortly, after his first birthday, the family moved up to Seattle, WA so dad could start a new job at Amazon.com. We lived in an apartment in Issaquah for 2 months while mom studied and took the WA State Bar exam. Zacher visited Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic mountains and even took a trip to Mt St Helens. While in the apartment Zacher perfected his walking and took his first independent steps on August 10th. BTW, Zacher moved into his new home on July 28th.

We flew down to the bay area in early October to catch up with friends and family. Then came winter. We had the record rains of November (and some snow), the huge windstorm in December and the snowstorm in January.

For Christmas the Duiven and Arthur clans came up to celebrate and the only thing that broke was the furnace. In early January, Zacher had a minor operation on one of his beans (it needed to be lowered) but he recovered very quickly.

During the year Zacher has become a member of the Woodland Park Zoo, the Seattle Aquarium, the Museum of Flight (OK, this was more for daddy), and the Children’s Museum. He holds more memberships than his parents! He has visited each place several times. In addition he became good friends with Dominic who introduced him to 4 other buddies (Matthew - who shares Zach’s bday, Drew, Jake, and Natalie).

In February, Zacher got a new minivan so his brother Nate will have a seat next to him and we can still drive around other people. Zacher took a drive to Bellingham, Anacortes, and Whidbey Island in the new van. In March, Zacher took a trip to Eugene to see Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike - they fed him lots of cookies!

Now that spring has arrived, Zacher has been playing a lot outside and he really digs sidewalk chalk. Plus we’ve been making many trips to Lincoln Park so Zacher can play in the sandbox and on the swing.

Oh, and just for the record, Zacher hit the terrible twos at about 18 months…does that mean it ends 6 months earlier or are we just privileged with an additional 6 months or terrible-ness?

We love you Zacher!

Update:  Steph just sent me this…Grandma’s first update to her secretary when Zach was born:

I sure had fun.  Held Zach for an hour and a half - he was awake the whole first hour, looking around.  Then he had the hiccups and went to sleep. Paul went out for lunch while we were there.  Then they gave Steph 2 Percocet and we left.  Steph looks tired but otherwise fine.  Zach looks perfect!

We had a high temperature of 83 today and it was 80 at 6:30pm (officially SeaTac hit 85 and the hotspot was Kirkland at 89). We spent the whole evening outside…actually, we spent about an hour at Lincoln Park letting Zach run around and then the rest of the evening in our front yard.

I bbq’d some fish up…but unfortunately I had a little too much beer and overcooked the fish. Well, actually, it turned into leather. Anyway, I took Zach out on his tricycle with Dominic. Heidi and Sash (Dom’s parents) made sure I didn’t walk Zach into any cars…since I had a little too much beer. Anyway, Zach has spent the last hour dumping toys on Steph and now he is heading to bed.

I did take some photos tonight…enjoy.

Close up of Zach while playing in the sandbox at Lincoln Park

Zach and his sand toys.

Zach climbingup the slide.

Sea rocks along the shoreline in Puget Sound at Lincoln Park.

Tonight’s sunset - taken about 3 blocks from our house. We can see some of the Olympics and part of the Sound from our porch.

Wow, a lot has happened in the last year. Last May12th was my last day at Yahoo. The following I was running errands and getting things ready for our big move to Seattle. Steph was completing her last week of work, and Zacher turned 1.

Now I’ve been at Amazon for almost a year…and I got to say, things are looking good. It’s a good place to work. It helps tremendously that I’m on a great team - each person works hard, wants to do well, and is genuinely fun to work with.

This next weekend we’ll be down in the bay area for Zach’s 2nd birthday. We fly down on his birthday (Thursday May17th) and we’ll return on Sunday. The following weekend we are staying in a cottage in Discovery Bay just west of Port Townshend. This will be the calm before the storm…Nate’s storm that is.

Zacher has been acting like a person on depression drugs - he has really good moods and really cranky moods, but nothing in between. And if you are not careful, the moods change almost immediately. Sounds like his dad! Tonight we had a big win (I think) in the Zacher cranky mood phase. He worked himself into a crying frenzy. So I shut him in his room and after about 5 minutes he stopped crying. I walked in and he was sitting on his bed indian style. We read a little and watched a little TV. He was asleep by 8:15pm which is early for him.

I haven’t figured out how much time I’m going to take off of work when Nate is born. Definitely 2 weeks. I want to take 3 but not necessarily consecutively. I’m thinking of taking a week in September so we can spend a long weekend somewhere. This also gets complicated by work since September and October are very busy times. Steph will be off of work from July 13th to October 22nd.

Morning at Seacrest Park

View of Seattle skyline on the way home.

Tanker with Mt Rainier in the background.

Two photos of flowers in our yard using my Canon 70-200 f/4L on my new tripod.

And the sunset from Clearwater Beach, FL…yes, I was there last Monday night.

First Paul decided to buy some toys.  I picked up a new lens - basically a walk-around lens.  It is the Tamron 28-300mm…it size and versatility make it a great lens to take when you don’t want to lug a bunch of stuff.  It’s small but with a huge range.  I also bought a tripod and tripod head - Manfrotto 3001 and Manfrotto 3265.

Next we drove to Gregg’s Greenlake Bicycles to get Zach his 2 year bday gift from Nonnie and Papa - a Kettler Tricycle.  Then we came home so Zacher could nap.  Paul mowed and trimmed the back lawn while mom and Zacher napped…or not.  Zach didn’t take a nap…oh, we’re screwed!

So at 4pm, Paul has the wonderful idea of going to Lincoln Park so Zacher could ride the tricycle.  All started out well…then Zach staged a protest.  Mom and dad wanted to go one way while Zach had other plans.  Finally, dad won (he’s stubborn you know).  He carried Zach all the way to the point…with Zach screaming very loudly in his ear.  I’m sure everyone thought I was beating him.

We sat out on the point while Paul took pictures and Zach beat mommy with sticks.  Not really, Zach was hitting a picnic table with sticks.  Zach actually rode the tricycle most of the way back.  We stopped off at the store for some wine (yes, we needed it).  We got home and I put together a little snack for Zach but by the time I got it to him he was asleep in our bed.  The end.  Oh, here are some pictures.

Look at me cruise…the chicks dig my helmet!

I know I’m cute.

You keep taking pictures dad.

Look I can push it too.

Come back!

View towards Vashon Island (or just north of it)

They finally let me swing.  Just wait till they try to take me out of the swing.

I finally tried out the Seattle Water Taxi…and loved it. It’s a pleasant trip across Elliot Bay. I saw 2 seals and got to enjoy the skyline of Seattle. The only downfall is the time you take in getting to it. Since there is little to no parking at the water taxi, I have to drive to Alaska Junction and take a shuttle. Once the taxi docks at Pier 55 I have about a 15 minute walk to work.

Since I’m parked at Alaska Junction, if I don’t take the water taxi home, there are a myriad of buses I can catch that go directly to the junction.

Update 5/9/2007: I took the water taxi again on Monday and Tuesday, however, I parked on the street at Seacrest Park. Yes, there is plenty of parking at the park. Granted I still have to get in the car for this but I do that anyway to take my kid to daycare. The important fact is that I drive fewer miles and I don’t add congestion to the West Seattle Bridge or downtown.

My 3 trips have been ontime and very enjoyable. I have walked from the taxi to work and back…which is good exercise. All in all I plan on taking it more often - hopefully 3 to 4 days per week. It’s free for me since I have a FlexPass so I’m not concerned about the fees.

You can also read more at highpoint.wordpress.com.

So this judge is suing a dry cleaner for $65M for losing a pair of pants for a week. Part of the lawsuit even includes his rental car for having to go to a different dry cleaner. Of course he is representing himself…what an idiot.

Check out this story.

Other frivolous lawsuits.