The Weatherman

We drove up to Alderwood Mall and picked up our new dinnerware at Pottery Barn.  We are going with Sausalito collection - sapphire is the color.  This afternoon Nate took a 2 hour nap (very long for him) and Zach went over to Dominics for some fun.  Otherwise, it was relatively mellow.  I vacuumed and cleaned up around our house.  Here are some pictures I took today.

Nate on the swing after his 2 hour nap.

A (dead) dragonfly…he never moved so I believe he had just croaked.

Bees on lavendar.

Here it is…better late than never…

Well, the weekend ended quieter for some…I went down with a stomach issue (not Mike) that put me out of commission Saturday evening.  We hung out at the house and all, except for me, enjoyed Mike’s top rated chicken burritos (I was bummed).  Mike also made peach cobbler - which I tried.  It was yummy.

Today we were all tired or hung over (Jan).  We spent the morning eating Mike’s southwestern egg, sausage, and tortilla bake.  It was awesome!  The drive home was uneventful…I fortunately did not have to make any bathroom stops and the boys allowed us to drive nonstop.  We would have made record time if it wasn’t for the horrible traffic from Olympia through Fort Lewis and again in Tacoma.  Now we are home for another week of kitchen upgrades.

Nate making some burritos.

This is the RC Jeep we picked up at ToysRUs

Nate hanging in the yard.

Zach getting airborn on the neighbors trampoline.

First - Mike and Jan now have a blog - Check it Out.   Warning:  May not be suitable for all viewers.

Well, since our kitchen is out of commission, we travelled down to Eugene for the weekend to hang with Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike (Jeep). We arrived just after 6pm last night and spent the evening drinking rum…at least Mike, Jan and I. Steph had vino. This morning, everyone except Nate, was up by 6:45am. Yes, even Jan was up!

Mike promptly removed the soft top from the Jeep so we could drive around and enjoy the sun. The trip was to the coffee shop and butcher. Zach loved being in the Jeep. Second trip was to ToysRUs for the following cool toys:

• A rocket…Yes, a real rocket with a large explosive in it. We have yet to fire it.
• A remote controlled jeep
• 3 styrofoam gliding planes
• An Elmo remote control
• A handprint keepsake (don’t ask)

We had lunch at Mcmennamins North Bank - lousy service and OK food but you get to sit along the river. After words we went to the park where Steph and Jan rode the teater totter, Zach ran around on the jungle gym, and Nate sat in the swing. Mike and I launched glider #1 - we are now expert pilots after flying the original glider in the 50mph winds of Lake Chelan. Back to the house and we played with the RC Jeep and then everyone had nappy time.

Zach playing with water at the park.

Nate starting to melt down in Jan’s lap.

Mike watching the glider return to him in a loop d loop.

Steph stepped off the teeter totter and let Jan crash to the ground.

A quick kitchen update…base cabinets are in, canned lights are wired, and all other wiring is run.

Upper cabinets and tools being stored in our dining room.

Base cabinets.

They are making good progress - even a little ahead of schedule…so they should definitely make the scheduled completion date of August 7th.

I met our project manager/contractor assigned to our project today.  He showed up at around 9:45am and we stepped through a bunch of checklists for the next 45 minutes.  Today he laid down a protective floor covering, he moved in his tools, and basically demo’d the whole kitchen.  All of the cabinets have been removed as has the dishwasher.  I have some picutres from before the demo (haven’t took pictures of the kitchen yet today).

Just to make today even more interesting, the boys’ daycare was closed so daddy was very excited to hang out with them all day.  Well, not really excited…more like scared.  Trust me when I say that work is much easier than watching a 1 year old and a 3 year old.  So to make the best of it we went to Endolyne Joes for lunch (best french fries in West Seattle if you didn’t know) and then I took them to the Zoo.  Now this was dangerous since we didn’t leave the house until almost 11am.

The zoo was great.  Zach ran around the whole time with Cars backpack on checking out all of the animals.  I think he liked the elephants the most - at least that was his favorite today.  As for the backpack, we picked it up on Sunday so Zach could carry around his own stuff.  He seems to like it a lot.

Pre demo picture.

Second view of kitchen pre-demo.

Zach at the zoo.

Zebras at the zoo.

Zach’s favorite alphabet.

Bee in the yard (for those who know me, my lens had a min focus distance of 1.5m)

Nater on the swing.

Next up for the kitchen - complete the demo tomorrow, new appliances arrive tomorrow (to be stored in the garage), and the electrician will be here on Wednesday and Thursday working on the canned lights, plugs, and switches.

Yep, where is the poop?  Nate was asleep in his crib.  Zach was in our bed watching Little Einsteins.  Steph and I were downstairs watching a recorded showing of Hopkins.

While downstairs we heard Zach running around upstairs, but we were not too concerned since this happens every night.  On Hopkins, things got really sad (a 2 year old with a heart issues came into the hospital)…I was done and went upstairs to check on our boys.

This is when the fun began.

Zach was standing in living room with his diaper in one hand and his pants in the other.  He was naked with poop smeared down both of his legs.  Yikes!

I brought him into his bedroom and began to wipe him down.  Knowing I had him but no poop, I yelled into the baby monitor…”I need a little help here…Mom…We have a poop problem”.  I was so loud that our neighbors heard (I found out later).

I got Zach into the bath and noticed that he tried to use both his porta potty and the big, adult potty.  Both of which were covered in shit!  Steph began to clean those off and found shit on the living room floor and our couch.  So, of course, she cleaned those off.

Basically, Zach practiced his potty training all over without supervision…good job…but hopefully, next time, he can get some adult supervision.

Clearly I’m not the best photographer of people…since my photos are lacking candid shots of family and such…Here are a bunch of photos that Steph took…

I’m not dirty.

Elton John…eat your heart out!

Auntie Jan and Zach on the boat.

Napping Nate…Daddy passed out!

Here is the link to all photos…link.

Quick update on the weekend…We went to the West Seattle Summer Fest…Zach still through a fit at the bounce houses like last year, however, this year he actually got tired and walked around relatively calmly after playing for 15 or 20 minutes.

It was warm (mid 80s) this weekend so Zach and Dominic ran through our sprinklers on Saturday night, and then they (including Nate) played in Dom’s pool on Sunday night…so they kept cool this weekend.

Between arguments with Steph (yes, things are a little stressful after watching the kids for 2 weeks) I got tons of gardening done - lawn mowing, removed some plants, planted new plants, and laid out some new mulch.  We also packed up 14 bags of clothes and shoes for Goodwill and cleaned out/re-orged the garage.  So a lot of stuff got done.

I kicked Steph out of the house today - she needed some time away from the boys…I didn’t even hit her with the towel today like yesterday…small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

That was the theme coined by Zach during our vacation at Lake Chelan. Whenever we’d pull into our parking spot, Zach would yell out ‘We Made It!’. Also when we pulled our boat up to the dock, Zach again exclaimed ‘We Made It!’. I believe it had something to do with my driving/steering - maybe a little to wild for him.

Now, about our vacation. It was awesome! We had hot weather, lightning, windy weather, and just plain nice days. The house was huge and very kid friendly. The best part about the house was the wrap around deck, large grassy yard, and awesome pool. Plus we had plenty of land to run around and play catch with our giant styrofoam plane.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon (2.July). We took a grocery shopping run to stock up on food supplies. Jan and Mike showed up at around 11pm. I had to go rescue them as they got lost trying to find the place. In all fairness, we were 6 miles up from the lake off on a dirt road plus the road names had changed recently so GPS systems were out of date.

On Thursday we started drinking by 10:30am (actually, this was the theme everyday) - we had lots of alcohol to finish since we had 3 bottles of Tequila, 3 bottles of Rum, a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of gin…that isn’t counting the wine and beer. We played whiffle ball that morning then Mike and I drove down to Wenatchee to pick up Lin who flew up from San Jose.

The pool was cool on the first day since the heat pump had shut off but the pool boy showed up and got things running normally (it was 84 degrees for the rest of the trip). That night we had a chicken dinner…well most of us had a chicken dinner. Mike went down with a stomach ailment for the evening so he didn’t eat much. During the night there were several lightning storms in the area - since we were up above the lake and had a tremendous view, we could lightning to the east, south, and west.

Friday was the 4th of July and of course, Nate’s one year birthday. We opened presents, baked and ate his birthday cake, played in the pool for hours, drank heavily, and went out to dinner. We went to the Hungry Belly which was basically your typical diner - nothing special but we didn’t know. We finished off the evening watching the fireworks over Manson Bay in Lake Chelan - we watched from the comfort of our deck.

Saturday and Sunday were lounge days around the pool. Plus we spent numerous hours playing with a giant styrofoam plane - throwing it around the yard - this was by far the big hit toy for Mike and I. Saturday night was crab and steak night - yummy - except Jan went down with a stomach ailment during the night but she jumped back quickly the next morning. Lin flew home on Sunday afternoon after spending 3 days playing with the boys.

The big highlight on Monday included a trip to Banjo Creek Farms where Zach and I went through the petting zoo feeding and petting goats, ducks, rabbits, horses, cows, chickens, and turkeys. Zach was a little freaked out but I thought it was cool. That afternoon, Mike took Zach and I on an offroading adventure. We took the jeep on a 27 mile trek on the forest service roads high above Lake Chelan - we had tremendous views all around and saw some amazing wildflowers.  Zach was a real trooper…a few times we thought he might be car sick since he kept making some weird noises.  But he held tough, at least until just after dinner where he vomitted over the kitchen table - poor little guy.  He bounced back quick.

On Tuesday, we rented a boat on Lake Chelan for 2 hours and cruised up the lake to catch views of the Cascades to the west.  Nate fell asleep within minutes of the boat leaving the dock - so he doesn’t like riding in a car but he seems to like boats.  Zach had a blast sitting in the bow letting the wind hit him in the face at 30 mph.  Dad didn’t even crash the boat.  There was a ton of debris in the lake (ie, logs and other wood debris) which kept you scanning the water - hitting one of those logs could create a slight problem.

The rest of our final day was spent relaxing in the pool…and drinking.  The drive home today was quick…Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike are staying here tonight in order to break up their drive back to Eugene.  And now for the photos.

Panoramic showing view from our yard.

My best lightning picture so far!

Our driveway.

Having fun on vacation.

Zach at the petting zoo.

One of many views from our 4×4 adventure.

View from backyard.

I’ve post my favorite pictures in my gallery - go here.

We got up to 88 degrees today.  Right now at 9:45pm it is still 74 but with tons of clouds and a definite threat for thunderstorms moving in.  Here is a shot of Nater hangin by the lil pool in our yard today.

Last night at 10:15pm, Zach and I cruised out onto our porch and sat outside for 30 minutes watching cars, people, and animals.  I was amazed that he sat in his chair next to me for 30 minutes without getting up.  Anyway, it was a father/son bonding moment.

Well, we kept pretty this weekend again.  Friday evening we held a BBQ at our house for Steph’s work…we had around 15 people over for a potluck - we supplied the burgers, hot dogs, and refreshments.  But the big story for the weekend was our one night of camping at Millersylvania State Park - about 10 minutes south of Olympia.

First, Millersylvania is a beautiful park and campground situated amoung a primarily Douglas Fir forest and bordering on Deep Lake (don’t think it’s very deep).  We had two adjoining campsights (the other site being used by the Alessi’s).  We packed up the van on Saturday morning and left home at 12:30…We were checked in just before 2pm.

The only painful part of this trip was the amount of stuff you need to bring camping when it involves 2 kids.  So we had our huge Kelty Green River 6 tent, the queen size air mattress, a single air mattress, and the pack-n-play.  We had enough room in our test for another queen size mattress!

We took a walk to Deep Lake where the boys ran around the little beach touching the water.  Zach did fall in - about 3 inches of water.  He got soaked and I think a little scared from his mishap so we had to hurry back to camp and get him changed.  The night was cool (Olympia got down to 37 which tied a record for this date), but the boys slept well.  Mom didn’t sleep since dad kept snoring (he was drunk).  The morning for dad was rough with his hangover.  But the boys jumped right into their playing routine.  We packed up camp and left at around 11:30am (home by 12:30)…then the unpacking started.  2 to 3 hours later everything we put back and things were cleaned up.

Lots of work for such a short trip…but we had a good time.

Palace de Arthur

Minutes before Zach fell in.

Looking out over Deep Lake.

Canoeist on Deep Lake.

Looking up from our campsite.

Random picture of Nate about a week ago…funny laugh.

And for the movie…This covers Memorial Day weekend with Jan and Mike, setting up the tent in our yard, camping, and post camping fun with the kids - It’s a long one.

We had another busy weekend for the Arthurs.  We didn’t travel far but seemed to move around a lot…trip to REI, trip to the grocery store, running, walk to coffee, morning trip to Seward Park, lunch in downtown, trip to pickup firewood, trial setup of our new tent, walk the dog, clean, and cook…it all adds up.

Before I forget, here is a picture from Zach’s birthday party that Steph took.

Rare moment on film where they are together.

While I was picking up firewood, I was able to take a quick shot of this racoon.  He wouldn’t look down since he was sleeping.  Jim kept throwing wood in the vicinity (absolutely far enough away to not even come close to hitting it) and finally the lil guy popped his head up.

Raccoon in the tree.

Zach at Seward Park

Looking over Lake Washington at Seward Park

Smith Tower in downtown Seattle (we ate just up the street at Collins Pub).

Now onto the tent…the thing is huge.  We bought the Kelty Green River 6.  It has floor space of 13.5′ by 9′ and an 80 square foot vestibule.  Center height is around 6 and a half feet.  I was able to get a good portion of it setup on my own but definitely needed help to move it and setup the rain fly.  It is a sweet palace.  We are going away for one night of camping next weekend - the first camping night with the boys - it could be interesting.

Today we cruised around a small portion of Seward Park along Lake Washington.  Wow, what a beautiful park.  It is amazingly untouched with beautiful forests and paths throughout.  I definitely want to head back and go running around there.

A quick comment about the firewood - Jim, friend of mine in Sammammish, lost some trees in the December 2006 wind storm.  He had cut up the trees into largish chunks last year and he has been splitting the wood over the last month - so I was able to pick up some (probably a fifth of a cord)…I agreed to pay $1.18 per cubic foot (don’t ask).

And now for one really annoying item.  As some of you know, Steph was at Whistler in early May for a conference.  Steph has an iPhone.  These two facts can really f*ck you over if you don’t turn off the data part of the iPhone.  We got dinged for $650 of data transfer fees…basically any email she downloaded on the phone incurred huge fees.  For example, one data transfer session for 6.2 MB (this could be one email with a largish photo) cost $94!  AT&T, those stealing bastards.  That’s ridiculous.  They have one page buried on their website that I found that discusses this.  I’ll be honest, even if I looked before she left, I may have not found it.  I need to call them, although, I’m sure it will just piss me off and I’ll get no where.

Sometimes, not all that glitters is gold.  During the week Steph and I talked about heading out to Mt Rainier on Saturday if the weather cooperated.  Friday night was wonderfully clear and we awoke on Saturday morning to clear blue skies.  We promptly packed up and headed out on our journey with Nate and Zach.  As we were driving south we heard there might be showers in the cascades…well, it didn’t take long…it started raining in Auburn (only about 20 minutes from our house).  So much for the clear blue skies.

The total drive up to Paradise took about 2.5 hours (we didn’t stop heading up).  The boys were very good the whole way.  Once at Paradise we checked out the inn and the visitors center.  We couldn’t do much hiking on account there was still 13 feet of snow on the ground…yes, thirteen feet.  Plus it was raining off and on.  We could see about halfway up Rainier - the remainder was stuck in the clouds.  We had lunch at the visitors center and took in the views between rain showers.

The plan on the way down was to stop several times so I could photos.  There are several scenic viewpoints along the way of waterfalls, glaciers, rivers, and forest.  There is one longish turnout with dramatic views of the Nisqually River - while there we decided to change Nate’s diaper.  He had been fussy since we left Paradise.  He had some poops, but otherwise no big deal.  Then Steph changed Zach…OH MY GOD!  He had shit down in his socks and almost up too his neck - I kid you NOT.  Every piece of clothing he had on had crap on it.  Not only that, we got globs of poop smeared in the back of the van.  Change of clothes for Zach?  Nope, we didn’t bring any - didn’t really think he would need them.  So Zach rode the rest of the back in his diaper and baseball cap…and yes, a few blankets.

Bag of poop and clothes - yes, we tossed the clothes.

Post poop nap.

Zach and Nate fell asleep for a bit but not long enough.  For the last 90 minutes of our drive, Nate cried.  The whole time!  We’d give him toys, he would throw them.  We gave him his binky - he would throw it.  We gave him a water bottle to play with - yep, he threw it.  We gave him a bottle of formula - he drank it then threw it.  He just wasn’t going to be happy (at least until he got out of the car seat, ie, home).  Zach was good except he kept bugging Steph every few minutes - ‘Momma, momma, momma, I want another movie.’  ‘Momma, momma, momma, I’m hungry.’  ‘Momma, momma, momma, I want a book.’  Steph was going looney.  I found this all pretty comical (which is odd for me - I usually get stressed out).

Anyway, we are back from our little day trip…here are some more photos.

A stream.

Grove of trees in the middle of glacier runoff.

Nisqually River as seen from Poop Point!

Tiny waterfall.

Jagged peaks across from Mt Rainier.

Near the entrance of the park.

Yeah, I know, no pictures of Mt Rainier…that’s what happens when it rains.

Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike drove up from Eugene to hang with their nephews for the weekend.  We had a great time.  They arrived around 8:30pm on Friday night - much earlier than expected since they left work a little early and there wasn’t traffic.

On Saturday we took the ferry over to Vashon Island and headed to Point Robertson where we threw rocks in the water and picked up shells.  It was incredibly beautiful and clear during the day - we were able to see for miles north, south and east.  To add to the amazing views, there is also a lighthouse on the point.  We had lunch at Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant in town and we ended the day chowing down on Paul’s chili and Mike’s cornbread.

On Sunday we went up to North Seattle to check out a Hawaiian store for Mike.  After that we spent the afternoon in a park in Wallingford.  Zach mixed up his time on the playground equipment, swings, and playing frisbee.

Today was a recovery day (yep, I had to recover from all of the drinkin we did).  The boys took long naps, we cleaned house, and did some shopping.  I took Zach to Lincoln Park - in addition to playing on the playground we went on a 30 minute walk through the park - he really enjoyed it (my little hiker).

Playing with rocks on Vashon Island

Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike hanging with Nate.

I can’t hear the ocean in this rock.

Looking out to the Olympics.

Climbing over driftwood.

Wildflowers.

More of the Olympics.

I like the swing.

Here is a movie of Nate attempting to stand.  BTW, once he’s up he’s good to go.

Yesterday was Zachary Anthony Arthur’s 3rd birthday. And what a birthday. The day started out opening presents and playing with new toys - oh boy. Dad and Zacher went grocery shopping in the morning, then things quieted down until 3pm.

Steph did all the planning and preparations for Zacher’s 3rd birthday which included a 15′ by 15′ bounce house set up in our backyard. He also had a chocolate Thomas the Train cake and decorations.

Zach was a little apprehensive at first to get in the bounce house but he warmed up to it pretty quick. We ended up having most of the PEPS kids and some daycare kids over for the party which went very well. No injuries and no arguining - not bad for 2 to 3 hours with a bunch of 3 year olds. Nate was mellow as usual. He sat on the blanket in the grass while he took in the whole scene. BTW, it was a beautiful day with a high of 89 that occurred during the party. Fortunately the back of our yard has some good shade.

Pre party pic of the bounce house in our backyard.

Crazy toddlers in the bounce house.

A very happy birthday boy.

Sitting in the shade.

Update: Here is the movie from Zach’s 3rd Birthday.

Check out this movie of the PEPS kids at our house - what a crazy bunch of guys!

Yesterday was definitely a mellow day. I had given Steph her Mother’s Day gift on Friday afternoon (a Macbook Air) so there was no gift giving yesterday. But I did make pancakes and bacon/egg/cheese breakfast sandwiches. We spent the afternoon with Dominic, Heidi and Sasha watching the boys play with toys and puzzles.

Both our boys are doing well. They both have gotten over their mild diarrhea and seem to be doing fine. Nate is really moving around the house on his hands and knees. Now we really need to watch him.

One interesting observation this morning…there was a very minor traffic accident in front of our house this morning. I missed the collision…but to give you an idea of how minor - I couldn’t see any damage from our house. So why is this interesting? One car stayed in the middle of the street while the drivers shared information. The car was fine - I’m not sure why this guy didn’t pull over. So during the 10 minutes they two people shared info, other drivers had to find an alternate route.

As I said, this was really minor, however, the woman (the one who was presumably hit) was visibly distraught. She looked fine so I can only guess she was all worked up about having her little red 350Z dinged…nice car so it can be understandable. She immediately got on the phone and within 5 minutes some guy (presumably a significant other) showed up to help her verify that she has all the necessary info.

So everyone parts ways…however the significant other drives the little Z away while the women takes the pickup. Was she that shaken up over a very, very minor accident? Was she so distraught over having a blemish on her Z she couldn’t drive it?

Ok, Paul, what’s the point? Every time you get in a car, you are at risk at being in an accident. It doesn’t matter how careful you drive, how old or new your car is, or how safe you are. So, when you get in a minor accident, be thankful it’s a minor accident and get over the blemish! Also, you should be happy it wasn’t a hit and run! Steph’s car got nailed (all minor) 3 times in less than a year - all hit and runs. What a nuisance.

From my Mother In Law (whose is very smart):

The woman drove away in the pickup because the significant other made some snotty remark about women drivers and how she was never going to be allowed to drive his precious car again.

I was able to take the kayak out for an hour today. I must say - I am impressed. Inflating and deflating the Advanced Elements AF Expedition is not a huge deal. In the water the kayak is very stable, tracks well, and overall is a pleasure to paddle. The biggest downside is carrying the 42 lb bag plus your gear to your paddle spot. That is no fun! I plan on getting some wheels - I’ll inflate it at the car and tow it by hand to my launch spot.

The obligatory photo with my kayak bow in the photo.

Looking into Lincoln Park.

This was also the 3rd Birthday Party for the PEPS kids. We reserved a shelter at Lincoln Park with some tables. Steph, Zach, Nate, and I were the first to arrive at 3:30pm. We played on the slide swing, ran around, kick the soccer ball, threw rocks in the water, and played frisbee. Zach was a good little boy except when he was trying to get at the cupcakes. It turns out he really likes frisbee. I guess I shouldn’t call it frisbee since it was one of those flying rings that you can launch a mile. Anyway, the party was fun - we had salads, chips, and sandwiched…and of course cupcakes. We also did a gift exchange - Zach has a huge supply of playdough!

The PEPS boys lined up eating the cupcakes.

Oooommmm…Sugar.

And a movie… PEPS 3rd Birthday Movie.

As for getting whacked. I was standing around minding my own business chatting with Sasha. Heidi - that world class frisbee player, decided to throw it at her husband…only to miss very badly and nail me in the nose…that flying ring is pretty damn painful. Oh well, no blood. I forgive you Heidi. Unfortunately you cannot take revenge on these kind of acts - especially against a pregnant person.

I have another movie - it’s really 3 movies in one.  The first third is of Zach playing soccer, the next third is Nate as he first started to crawl, and the last third is Nate crawling like a champ.

Soccer and Crawling Movie.

Steph got back tonight from her conference at Whistler.  Yeah, the rest of us were going to attempt to go but it didn’t work out.  That’s fine - I get plenty of good trips so it was time for Steph to go somewhere I’ve been itching to visit. Did she ski?  No.  Did she hike?  No.  Oh well, maybe she’ll have fun next time. 

Zach got some new jammies…you be the judge.

And Zach mounting the table…

And now for Nate eating some biscuit…

Now that’s a messy face.