We were planning to go out for a grown up dinner last night but Steph went down with a stomach ache.  She pulled a Mike!  Fortunately, it was nothing serious and she was back to herself by 8pm.  We played board games and we all agreed to let Jan win so she wouldn’t whine.

Today we had breakfast at Charlestown Cafe and then headed over to Kubota Garden.  Kubota is a very cool Japanese garden in South Seattle.  For the afternoon we relaxed at home, had a fire, and I cooked up a New York Strip Roast..yummy.

Large pano from the Space Needle – click it for a larger version.

A happy Zach at Kubota Garden.

Waterfall at Kubota Garden.

As for my chest cold…it’s hung on strong with a good cough but today I made it out for a 4 mile run.  Hopefully it will go away in the next few days.

Overlooking one of the many streams and ponds.

Close up of water on needles.

Some of the color that was on display today.

It’s not often I get a shot of the boys together – here they are on what would become Nate’s bridge.

Nate leading mommy to another bridge.

Zach movin all over the grounds.

Fern sitting on water.  This was taken handheld with a 300mm lens at 1/30 f/4…not too bad.

Nate’s bridge.

Nate protesting.  I think he’ll make a fine anti-war activist some day with all of this practice.

On the weather note, we received about a 1/4″ of snow last night and it’s been snowing very, very lightly all day with no accumulation.  Supposedly, this snow will end in a few hours and the temps will plummet into the low 20s.  The expectation is a return to warmer, rainier weather later this week.

Gift opening took about 2 hours.  Zach opened Santa’s gift first – a little remote controlled WALL-E (which is what he asked Santa for)…this has by-far been his favorite gift.  He and Nate have  also enjoyed some noisy gifts and they both love flashlights (we got them a few of those).

On Friday everyone left.  Jan and Mike drove back to Eugene during the day and Lin took a late evening flight home.  So, of course, on Saturday the boys were royal pains in the asses.  We took them to the mall so daddy could by some toys for the house.

Most notable is the Logitech Squeezebox we set up in the living room – very cool wifi internet radio player.  We’ve been listening to Pandora and some Bay Area favorite radio stations like KFOG, Alice, and KNBR.

Today the boys were in daycare so mommy and daddy took a fun day.  We went skiing at Snoqualmie Summit – about an hours drive.  It snowed all day which made for some soft conditions.  This is the first time Steph has skiid in 3 years (it’s been 4 years since we’ve skiid together).  All was going good until about 2 hours into our skiing and the wind suddenly kicked up.  30 to 40 mph gusts blowing all of the snow off of the trees and whipping oup the fine powder off of the slopes.  Basically creating white conditions.  Steph was done – she went to the bar.  I kept skiing for almost another 2 hours – overall it was a good day.

Tomorrow I’m planning on heading up to Crystal Mountain for another ski day!

As for the weather…well, the snow is gone.  High temps have been in the low 40s (high today at our house was 41) with lows in the mid 30s (currently 36 and windy) – so not very warm.  Snow level is hovering around 1000 ft (we are at 500 ft).  There is another stronger storm coming in tomorrow night and that will be followed up by a big storm on Thursday/Friday – that storm could pack damaging winds.

One of the big complaints from the recent snow was the lack of plowing which then resulted in no trash pickup.  We missed 2 consecutive pickups…basically keeping 3 weeks of garbage and recycling lying around our yard.  But today it was finally picked up 

I’ve been reading comments on the West Seattle Blog (www.westseattleblog.com) and it’s clear that West Seattle-ites are tired of the snow, but I’m lovin it.  I’ll be bummed to see the rain later today…oh well, this stuff has been fun while it lasted.  Although I can see how this can get annoying – I’d be completely irritated commuting in this everyday mainly because of how everyone else drives…irritatingly cautious.  I’m not saying that you drive wreckless, fast, or dangerous.  Nope, just that you actually go faster than 5 mph on non-icy pavement.  It’s the overly-cautious that drive me whacky.  If you can’t be safe and drive at a reasonable speed (ie, 20 to 25) then you shouldn’t be out.

Fortunately this has been the beginning of the holidays for many so traffic has been lighter than normal – at least on the roads.  SeaTac has been a mess for departing passengers (arrivals seem good – at least Grandma made it safely and ontime).

Saturday/Sunday (13-Dec to 14-Dec): 3 inches of snow, melted away by Wednesday.

Thursday (18-Dec): 6.5 inches of snow

Saturday (20-Dec): 7 inches of snow, 1/8 inch of freezing rain

Sunday (21-Dec): 4.5 inches of snow

The recent storms since Thursday have given us 18 inches of snow.  Wow!  The last significant snow event was December, 1996 when 2 feet fell out of 2 different storms right after Christmas – then it warmed up and caused flooding.

Yesterday, Mike and I took a few trips around town to check things out.  We also took a spin down along the beach including Alki.  It is amazing to see everything so well covered in snow.  The streets have several inches of snow and ice on them.  The main roads are plowed and sanded but still covered in snow with a snow depth of 1 to 2 feet in the median.  Today is supposed to be warmer with a high of 33 (right now it is 30) and we will progressively get warmer as the week goes on.  We should be back to normal temps with rain this next weekend (it will be strange seeing our ground again).

Yesterday driving down SW 48th toward Beach Drive.

Looking at West Seattle from Alki point during the snow yesterday.

Driving along Alki yesterday.

Looking out our porch this morning.

Post shovelling this morning.  I’ve been keeping our sidewalk clear – it is appreciated by the postal service.

Morning shot of the front of our house.

Uncle Mike showing Zach how to drink a Fosters!

What is the downside with all of this snow?  No garbage pickup…Today will be the second time we will not have our garbage picked up meaning we’ll have 3 weeks worth by next Monday.  The snow also makes it tough to get in the hot tub.

Last night, Mike and I cruised around the neighborhood with our Irish Coffee (me) and Rum and Egg Nog (Mike) enjoying cigars…What a great way to enjoy winter.  Then we got cold and sought out shelter in a bus stop until we could finish our cigars – what a couple of bums.

After our shopping we headed downtown and had drinks at Cellars Restaurant – very nice bar with a very friendly bartender.  We spent about 90 minutes there and had a very enjoyable time.  Next we went over to Brasa to meet up with some friends for dinner.  We had a drink in the bar and then sat down at our table.  The restaurant was not very crowded, relatively quiet, but there was music playing throughout.  The table to my left had a young, quiet couple – never saw them talk to each other – so either fighting, eavesdropping or both.

Anyway, we haven’t spent much time recently with John and Kim (who have similar aged kids to Nate and Zach) so we had lots of catching up to do.  Being parents, we naturally talked about our kids quite a bit and their antics and funny stories.  Eventually, Steph and I were going through our Where’s The Poop story (see further down in blog) and I was in the middle of describing how I found Zach standing upstairs naked with a poopy diaper in one hand – when the guy in the table next to me interrupted the story.  He explained, in so many words, that our discussion was repulsive and inappropriate since he was trying to eat his dinner.  He explained that us talking about poop while he was eating was not acceptable and asked that we change the subject.

Ouch!  Flashback to my comment earlier – he and his significant other were quiet – either fighting, eavesdropping, or both.  I think we know the answer…clearly it was both.  Unfortunately, I was speechless…I couldn’t finish the story since I didn’t know how without using the word poop.  Maybe, if I said ‘shit’ that would have made it alright.

So we continue along our merry way with different conversation (not about poop)…the whole time we kept dropping unapproving glances their way.  Anyway, they finally left and went into the bar area.  Now for the other shoe to drop.

The hostess, in a not so professional tone, stopped by our table to explain that our conversation was inappropriate and multiple tables had complained.  WHAT!  Multiple tables!  We were asked to quiet down and change the subject.  Also, you could tell she did not personally approve of the topic – which was mostly about our kids…not necessarily about poop.  Once the shock and absurdity wore off, we felt kind of proud.  It’s been awhile since we’ve annoyed such a large group at a restaurant (think back to nights at Spat’s in Berkeley during Steph’s law school days).  Since the hostess was absolutely rude about it, we felt challenged to push the limit.

Actually, we basically ended up talking about which tables could have possibly been annoyed by us.  BTW, there was a couple behind us with a screaming kid who was much louder (definitely making it tough for us to hear each other)…I wonder if they got shooshed?   Supposedly, a couple had sat at the table to my right (never saw them sit there – neither did Kim) and they eventually moved away…so I assumed they complained.

Shoe number 3 is about to drop.  Next the manager comes over to talk to us.  Un-F*ck-ing believable…I swear we were not loud and at this point all we were discussing was how crappy this place was.  The manager was much more professional, explaining that some patrons were complaining about conversation and how loud we were.  We asked that she reseat us in a more appropriate place…even the bar area would be fine.  She agreed to reseat us after we finished our appertizers which had just arrived.

We completed our appertizers and they moved us into the completely empty bar area…yes, a nice restaurant in belltown has a completely empty bar at 9pm on Saturday night…that should tell you something about this place!  We asked if we could be loud and obnoxious and they said ‘yes’…we had clearance to discuss poop all we wanted in the bar area.  The irritated hostess stopped by to see how we were doing.  So we asked who complained…she said 4 different tables filed complaints and she was personally offended.  Oh My God!  Amazing.  All this because we told some kid stories in normal voices and they contained the word poop.

Anyway, we finished off our meal, dessert, and coffee in the bar area.  I do want to point out that our server was awesome!  She never complained, she was always professional, always had a smile, and eventually shared her kid’s poop story with us.  She got a good tip.

It goes without saying that we will never go back to Brasa again.  If you can’t have normal conversation in a normal volume level – than what’s the point…unless you are fighting and/or eavesdropping.  We definitely give this place a thumbs down on service and atmosphere.  Food was hit and miss.  Some plates were very good, like the Paella, others like the pappardelle were not very inspiring – in fact, John didn’t finish it.

We got our menus and I noticed that the kids menu didn’t have much in the way of breakfast food…and no where was there listed any fruit. Ok, so not overly friendly for my kids. Anyway, I digress. I ordered Zach PB&J sandwiches (they cut them up into slices) and I ordered french toast with a side of bacon and coffee. BTW, they had no crayons (rare to not have crayons at a restaurant that seems to be for families)…they didn’t have children friendly cups either but our waitress improvised and provided apple juice in a coffee-to-go cup.

After ordering one other gentleman showed up and was seated near us and he eventually ordered. After no more than 10 minutes, Zach received his PB&J. I continued to wait for mine. BTW, I never asked to bring Zach’s food early. 5 minutes went by and the gentleman who showed up after we ordered received his meal. After another 5 minutes (10 minutes since Zach received his food) Zach was finishing up his meal and getting ancy and I had yet to receive my food.

I called over the waitress and asked for my food to go and explained that she gave us Zach’s food much too soon. Now that he has finished, I won’t be able to peacefully eat my food with him running around. She proceeded to get my food to go and check…albeit at a leisurely pace. She comped my french toast (which wasn’t very good to begin with – not sure the batter was completely cooked). We left and returned home where I ate my breakfast.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=98126

Here in West Seattle, I can definitely see Nautical Twilight. The rise is at 3:35am and the set is at 10:47am…not much darnness – about 5 hours worth. I love it. We’ve been sleeping with the blinds open so I can see our daylight start. This has been a little rough this week with the full moon glaring at us all night.

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.