Boys were hyper last night. I think being kept in so much with this cold weather has made them both stir crazy. They were running from a pretend tiger and doing laps throughout the house. I think the LOVE the new beds. Especially Zach. Anytime it is mentioned that Nate needs to go to bed, Zach calls out “Nate on the bottom, Zach on top!” When I checked on them this morning before leaving for work, Zach was sound asleep with his little face in the space by the ladder. Nate was sideways next to his pillows. Paul had to lay down with them last night to get them to go to sleep (and probably to prevent Nate from just wandering out of bed?) But they were down and good by like 9:15 or so. We borrowed Polar Express from the Alessi’s and Zach loves that movie. He has watched it a ton. He talks about needing his ticket for the train.
Morning Report (14-Dec-2009)
December 14th, 2009The Morning Report (9-December-2009)
December 10th, 2009Yesterday was an odd day at work. There were no cops around. We joked that if you wanted to commit a crime in WA, then yesterday would be the day to do it. I was able to watch some of the funeral on TV and heard a lot of it on the radio. I know Jan watched once she got home (and cried, of course, because it is sad and she is a big softie.)
I took Zach to speech therapy yesterday. Katie pointed out how when he slows down, the words and sounds come out better and easier. But we he rushes, then he loses it. Too bad Zach is a fast talker like me, so he needs to slow down. We put coins and buttons in play-doh and he used pinchers to grab them out. He is working on the phrase “Grabbing the money. [or] Grabbing the button.” He tends to say gramming instead of grabBING. So that is part of his homework. He needs to put it in a phrase because that is when it gets jumbled. When you just ask him to say the word, he tends to get it right. The other homework is the phrase, “Mom, where is it (or you) hiding?” You can hide or we can hide toys. Need to get him to use the “where” question and also say “hiDING” correctly.
Once home, I read the Thomas book with Zach. He almost has that one down as well as the Cars book. He only needs help with one or two words on the Cars book. There are still about 10-15 in the Thomas book he needs help with. He is going to love when Santa brings him so many new books. (I am also glad because I am SICK OF THOSE TWO BOOKS! I almost pulled a new one out, but waited.) Nate worked on puzzles.
Both ate dinner well. We had quesadillas, lima beans (curtesey of Jan’s leftovers), and banana. Both earned yogurt and Zach also had ice cream. Paul gave them a bath last night and got them ready for bed. I went to bed early. Nate cuddled with me a little but willingly went in his crib around 9:15. Zach said how he wants a new bed. I told him that one was being delievered and should arrive soon. He said that he wanted to go to the store to get one.
Guess that is all I have. It is freezing here. It was 20 at our house when I left this morning and the car temp read down to 18 during part of my drive.
If I get a chance, I will attempt to put some of this report on the blog. No one cares what I have to say, though. All they want are pictures. 
The Morning Report (8-Dec-2009)
December 8th, 2009What is this? Steph’s writes a morning report on most mornings and sends it via email. I’m going to start including it on the blog (maybe she’ll start posting it herself). Unfortunately, this mornings is a boring report – so I’ll add to it.
From Steph:
Very odd commute this morning. There were probably about 17 police cars from all around that passed me in the carpool lane on their way to the funeral for the Lakewood officers. When I arrived at work, there is a big empty parking lot next to City Hall, it was full of police cars here starting the staging process to go down to Lakewood.
From Paul:
When I walked out of the bathroom after showering and brushing my teeth, Zach was already up and taking off his jammies. Nate was completely naked in his crib. No sign of the diaper! Hopefully he put it in the diaper champ otherwise it could be hiding under the crib. Both were good at getting dressed and putting on two jackets.
For those who don’t know, the mornings have been in the high teens (ie, 19 degrees) and the daytime high is at or below freezing. So a bit chilly in these parts.
Finally, A New Update
December 5th, 2009Don’t blame me…blame Steph. She’s been writing these excellent daily updates via email – I keep telling her to post them and she won’t. I don’t know why not.
I don’t think I can update on everything that has gone on. Quickly, I’ll say that Halloween was fun (pictures to follow) with the PEPS kids, Jan moved up (not so fun…just kidding), and Thanksgiving occurred (lots of fun except Uncle Mike was sick). Work has been very busy as this is our ‘all hands on deck’ time of year. As for weather, it’s cold now – which is cool but no snow.
I like chocolate too.
Yeah, OK, I’ll wear the hat too.
Weekend in Spokane; Jan/Mike Coming to Town
October 18th, 2009So first the J&M news…they are moving to Seattle. Jan accepted a job offer in Seattle and they have decided to relocate. She starts work on November 16th but Mike will be staying in Eugene working at his current job until their house sells. Auntie Jan will be moving in…Zach and Nate are very excited.
Before I get into our Spokane weekend, here is a shot of the two completed pork shoulders I smoked last weekend.
They tasted as good as they looked.
Last Wednesday, Steph headed over to Spokane for some attorney conference. I held down the fort with the boys until Friday morning. I got them up at 5:30am and hit the road in the Pilot for Spokane. The boys were great on the ride out. We were making record time until mile 236 – that’s where I got my speeding ticket. I probably shouldn’t have been doing 85. It was cool while it lasted – no one (and I mean no one) passed me on I90 from downtown Seattle to milepost 236. After that, everyone passed me. Sigh.
We arrived in Spokane at around 10:30am and headed to Riverfront Park to check out the falls. Very cool. Zach and Nate loved watching the water fall down the rocks.
First part of Upper Falls on the Spokane River.
The other side of Upper Falls.
After the falls we strolled through the park where we picked up acorns. Now this may not seem exciting, but the boys have only seen acorns in the movie Ice Age. So when I introduced them to real acorns – well that was a big treat. We never went anywhere without our acorns the whole weekend. We took them to breakfast, lunch, and dinner…and to the movies.
We met up with mommy at noon and had lunch. Following lunch we had afternoon naps and then we headed back to the park with mommy and then we did some shopping. For dinner we ate at the hotel (We stayed at the Davenport – very nice place) restaurant. We had awesome service, good drinks, and a good meal. On Saturday we ate at Frank’s Diner – a converted railroad car so Zach loved that. We then drove out to Idaho just so the boys could say they’ve been to Idaho. We stopped at Cabela’s which had a bunch of stuffed wildlife. The boys loved that – it was basically a still-life zoo for them. Cabela’s also had an aquarium and a shooting gallery that the boys liked. From there we drove to Cat Tails Zoological Park to check out the 40+ cats (ie, tigers, lynx, pumas) and two bears that were there. It was a small place but fun none the less.
After lunch and naps we went to the movies and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The boys were very good during the movie which meant they were extra surly at dinner (again at the hotel). We drove home early Sunday.
Playing at the park.
Nate still not certain about riding the carousel.
Another happy customer at Frank’s Diner.
Space helmets made at nursery school!
Trip to Remlinger Farms and Pork Butt
October 10th, 2009First, our trip to Remlinger Farms. Today we did our annual pilgrimage to pick out some pumpkins. In past years, we’ve headed over with the PEPS group but this year our soccer schedules didn’t allow this to happen. So today the four of us drove over so we could arrive when it opened at 10am. In past years we’ve just visited the pumpkin patch but this year we decided to go inside of the harvest festival where all of the kiddie rides exist.
Nate and Zach loved it. We first took a ride on a little train around the grounds of the farm which lasted about 20 minutes. We saw scarecrows, pumpkins and a river.
Excitedly waiting for the train to leave the station.
Someone likes the train.
Next up, the dreaded slide. This is a tall bouncy slide (probably around 20′ tall). You walked up the middle and slid down either side. The middle section was very steep with these tiny flimsy steps. Zach was OK on his own but Nate would need help. So good ole dad stepped up to the plate. I quickly realized this task was going to be very difficult. These little flimsy steps did a horrible job at supporting me, let alone me trying to push Nate along. I kept throwing Nate upwards, then I’d hold him in place while climbed up farther. It also kept getting steeper. We were about 2 steps shy of the top when I couldn’t hold Nate anymore. He slid into me taking out my feet, then I slid down taking out another kid…the three of us tumbled to the bottom. Nate and I gave up. Later in the day I learned there were handrails going up the steps…duh! That would have helped.
Next up, Zach and mommy went on some spinny ride. I have no idea how to explain this. But here is a photo of Zach.
After this we went into a large bounce house and then through a hay maze. Daddy had to crawl through a large tube as he chased Zach around. While this alone isn’t a big deal, I was still feeling the affects of my failed attempt on the slide.
Now we got to the fun rides. Remember the lobster at the fair? Well, we had a similar ride but you rode in pumpkins. Zach went with mommy and Nate went with Daddy. Now we get to dad’s next mistake. The ride starts and everyone else’s pumpkin goes up into the air, but not ours. I couldn’t figure out why – I just assumed our pumpkin was broken. Nope, daddy was broken. With about 30 seconds left in the ride I decided to pull this lever sitting in front of Nate and I…guess what? Our pumpkin went upwards. Not very bright daddy. Immediately after the pumpkin fun, we rode the tea cups. Again, mommy and Zach rode together while I got Nate. Fortunately daddy understood how these work and definitely got the tea cup spinning very, very quickly. Nate giggled for a while…then he stopped. That bothered me as I didn’t want projectile vomit coming out. So I slowed down the twirl in the cup.
Next door to the tea cups was a junior size ferris wheel. Zach and Nate waited patiently. This was a kid-only ride. They would be locked in a cage (a good babysitting device actually). It was at this ride we realized we could leave them here for an hour or two and get some food. Not exactly, but if they sold beer…hmmm.
Waiting for the ferris wheel.
Caged, like criminals. Hopefully this is the only time we see them behind bars.
Next to the ferris wheel were these horses. Nate was concerned about riding these – his look, posture, and grip never changed. Zach seemed pretty relaxed on them.
Our final ride was on the roller coaster – the mini twister. Unlike some of the other kids, ours loved it, laughed, and even held their hands up. On the train before ours, a few kids came off screaming and crying – guess they don’t like roller coasters (I can understand this as I was one of those kids).
Some silliness.
Before leaving we went and saw the sheep, goats, chickens, and rabbits. We also did a spin through the pumpkin patch. We found two very nice pumpkins for our doorstep. On the way out we had lunch at the Fall City Grill (another tradition) and then came home.
So what’s better than 7 lbs of brisket? 13 lbs of Pork Butt! Yep, I got a special on Pork Butt – buy one get one free. So I’m smoking all night tonight – both pork butts. One has a basic rub on it while the other just has salt and pepper.
The two pork butt’s right before they hit the smoker.
Oh, and some photos of the boys from a few weeks ago.
Nate throwing a little tantrum at soccer practice.
Zach konking out after a very long day. I believe this was bedtime (yes, it was still light out).
BGE
September 28th, 2009Well I picked up a BGE on Friday (the Big Green Egg). For those who don’t know, this is a ceramic, egg-shaped smoker/grill. It uses lump charcoal and can run for over a day on one load of charcoal so you can smoke food for a very long time. It can also grill at temperatures as high as 750F so you can sear meat really well.
Here is a photo of it immediately after I got it setup.
So what have I cooked? I made a beef brisket on Sunday. It smoked from 8am to 7pm and turned out to be very good. Very tender. I did a basic rub with equal parts Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, Garlic Gourmay Garlic Pepper, Cumin, and Garlic Powder. I rubbed it all over the brisket. I used 4 lumps of applewood to add a light smokey flavor. The temp consistently stayed between 225 and 250 for the full 11 hours. Once done, I wrapped the brisket up in foil, a towel and placed in a cooler for an hour so the juices could continue to permeate the meat. When I pulled the brisket off the grill, the large fork shredded effortlessly through the meat.
Finished brisket on the egg.
Some things I want to try: Searing Filets or Rib-eyes, smoking a turkey, smoking a pork butt (for pulled pork sandwiches), and cooking tri-tip.
The most impressive thing about the grill is its ability to hold a steady temperature with no effort. I did very little to maintain the temperature. I also never had to add any charcoal.
As for the rest of the weekend, Steph and I went to dinner with Jan and some of my work friends at Jak’s Grill. We had an enjoyable time. On Sunday, the boys played soccer (they are signed up at the local community center). The coach runs them through drills and games (no real soccer games) and the boys seem to have a good time (once Nate’s little 20 minute meltdown ended).
Some photos of the boys.
Labor Day
September 9th, 2009This last weekend Marla, Simon, Sophie, and Alex visited us in Seattle. They arrived on Friday to a beautiful evening – unfortunately that was the end of the great weather. We ended up getting close to 2 inches of rain over the weekend. But that didn’t dampen the activities. We went to a fun center with a 3 story kids habitrail. All of the kids loved it. It was obvious once we got home – they all took naps.
Later on Saturday we had all of PEPs over for a Labor Day weekend bar-b-que. We had chicken, hot dogs, sliders, and sausages – plus a bunch of side dishes. Yummy.
Sunday was a very wet day so we spent most of the day at home. After Marla/Simon and family left on Monday, Zach wanted to go see the animals – the penguins, bears, and giraffes. Off we went to the zoo. We fortunately had very good weather while we were there. The rest of the weekend was quiet until Monday night.
Zach and Nate were playing on our bed and Zacher fell off. He seemed more agitated than normal so we checked him out every 30 minutes for signs of a head injury. He kept falling asleep and only complained of a sore neck. About 2 hours after the fall he woke up complaining of pain. So I took him to the ER. They saw nothing wrong and sent me home. The next morning Zach could not get out of bed because of the pain. He also started protecting his right arm and shoulder. Steph made him another doctor appointment. Within about a minute the doctor guessed that Zach had broke his collarbone – the x-rays confirmed it. Age 4, 2 broken bones…he’s like a little stunt-man.
Here are some photos from the weekend.
Cute Kid!
Happy Alex in the swing.
Sophie playing ball.
Zach playing ball (pre-break).
Camping with the PEPs Group
August 19th, 2009A guest Blog by Steph
Immediately after returning from our big Summer Camp trip, we turned around and went camping again with our PEPs group. (8 adults, 4 four-year-olds, 3 around two-year-olds, and one infant). Guess what? Still don’t love camping. The trip did not get off to a great start. We left the house at 6 and decided to go out to dinner to avoid a long line at the ferry. I thought of it as The Last Supper. Had yummy dinner at the Brew Pub (Elliott Bay) and hopped in the car ready for our two hour trip to the campsite. Two hours? Riiiiiight.
Got to the ferry line at 7:00pm. This line is about a mile from our house. Paul did not consult a schedule because “the ferry leaves every twenty minutes.” We missed the ferry by two cars and thus began our wait for the next one at 7:15pm. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, a ferry arrived. Hurray! But wait. It was only going to Vashon and not to Southworth where we needed to be. So we waited and waited and waited some more. Two hours later, we got on the ferry.
Thus, after 45 minutes on the ferry and another 45 minute drive, we arrived at the campsite at 10:20pm. Upon arrival, we saw that the gates were closed and there was a line of cars outside. Then we saw the sign that the park closes at 10pm to campers. Paul and I would have gotten divorced right then if it weren’t for the fact that a park ranger was just opening the gates to let the cars in – so we didn’t have to wait.
So we checked in and arrived at our site around 10:40pm. In the complete pitch dark. Always fun to set up a campsite in the dark. Fortunately, the PEPs group pitched in to help us out. By the way, Zach and Nate were excellent during this entire long car trip. They just watched their DVDs and hung out.
We got the tent up quick and got the kids settled. They actually went to sleep, so Paul and I got to hang out with the adults for an hour. Paul did make me a cocktail to help me get through the evening and erase the memories of the fact that it took us 3 hours to go 7 miles from our house.
Saturday, the boys got up around 7ish. As it was finally light outside, I could actually see the campgrounds. I was thrilled to find close bathrooms that have running water, hot air hand dryers, and flushable toilets (and these bathrooms were cleaned daily). Breakfast was assigned to Kathy and Mark. They made yummy blueberry pancakes and sausages. After breakfast, all the families went over to this “playground” and open field to play. It was chilly in the morning so we decided not to play in the water in the morning. The playground were just various structures made to look like rocks. Zach loved climbing to the highest levels and jumping off. (Matthew is also fearless when it comes to jumping off high structures). Eventually, we decided to play races with the kids. We wore them out having them run back and forth to a tree. Jacob decided to take off his shirt as he was getting hot, so all the other kids followed suit. Too cute.
Got back to camp for lunch. Shellie and Devin were in charge of lunch and made hot dogs and PB&Js. Perfect camping lunch. I also decided that it was wine o’clock and others joined me in that endeavor. After lunch, all the kids went down for a nap. Eventually, all the adults did too. (Except Paul, of course, who used the time to check out the campgrounds). After naps, we all went down to the water. Zach loves the water and had fun playing in it. Nate is not into it that much (but has to follow Zach around). We were having a great time playing until Zach threw sand in some other kids faces. Thus, ended water play.
Went back to camp and it was our turn for dinner. Paul had made yummy marinara sauce before we left, so all he had to do was boil water, make pasta, heat the sauce and some bread. We also mixed some bag salads. I watched the kids as he cooked. Then he watched the kids as I did the dishes. Dinner was yummy. Others brought stuff to make smores for dessert. Zach is more into watching the marshmallows get set on fire then eating the smores. After dinner, we were all sitting around the campfire when Paul asked if anyone had tums. A few people responded that they did. Devin then said, “Paul, we are in our thirties and we are camping. Of course, we have Tums.” Quote of the trip. (Also we often made references to the fact that Tom and Lynn have a cabin around there. Funny at the time – but doesn’t translate well to the blog).
More drinking and enjoying the campfire, but then it was time for bed. The kids had napped so well that they were hard to get down. Nate finally went down but Zach would not go to sleep. Eventually, I was done and went to bed. Zach cuddled with me and we both fell asleep. Which means that when Paul finally came to bed, he slept with Nate. This presented a huge problem. Paul eventually started snoring. . . loudly. I was too far away from him to just hit him to make him stop. It made me nuts. I was forced to throw his underwear at him, wake him up, and yell at him to stop snoring. (He actually sat up and asked if Nate was snoring. He has no memory of this). Zach was fidgeting a lot and it was cold, so I did not sleep well.
The next morning, Zach woke up and declared that we were going home. When I said we had to pack up camp and have breakfast first, he replied that we were going home in five minutes. Zach decided to wait in the car (so Nate followed, of course). This actually worked out well since it allowed Paul and I to pack up camp and get everything ready while the kids were contained in the car and weren’t roaming around. Also, Sasha and Heidi were in charge of breakfast, so we could pack while they cooked. Sasha made yummy omelets and bacon. It was really good. Zach and Nate did not eat much and hurried back to the car because Zach was ready to go home. (Maybe Zach does take after me more than Paul.)
Overall, this camping trip went pretty well. While camping is still not my thing, the campgrounds were nice and the kids were being good. Zach loved pushing his truck around the campsite. Nate picked up pine cones and put them in his watering can bucket. Those two activities alone provided hours of entertainment for them. Having the kids being good made me less stressed and able to relax some. (Also, only two nights instead of three made a HUGE difference). The PEPs group is already planning for next year. (Maybe they can pick their date and I can figure out a work conference or something for that then???)
Paul will hopefully add some pictures of the trip. At least I am done with camping for the year.
Playing in Hood Canal
Most of the kids eating.
Eating again..Nice face Jake!
Our campsite.
Summer Camp!
August 11th, 2009Well, summer camp happened last week. We spent 3 days campings at Crane Prairie Resevoir in Central Oregon followed by 7 nights in a wonderful home in Zig Zag, OR just west of Mt Hood.
We left at 4:40am on Friday (30.July) for camping at Crane Prairie. Our 370 mile journey went smoothly and the boys were very good in the car. We arrived at the campground just past noon and quickly got things setup.
Our home for 3 nights. We set up the smaller tent for the boys to play in and hung some tarps to keep the rain off of our food.
The lake provided hours of entertainment. Zach loved paddling the canoe – he was a pro.
What a natural.
Nate chugging down some water.
The lake was the perfect temperature for hanging out in all day. The days were warm (low 90s) with afternoon thunderstorms (my favorite). The only real negatives for me was the hornets nest on the beach and the blue-green algae bloom (worried about the boys getting sick). Steph, on the other hand, had some other gripes including, but not limited to, camping, sleeping in a tent, pooping on a pit toilet, showering in a concrete stall, dust, kid’s poop, dirt, etc…you get the picture. She really doesn’t care for camping.
Afternoon thunderclouds growing over Mt Bachelor.
Some more thunderheads.
We had thunderstorms all 3 afternoons/evenings we were camping. I loved it. So did Zach. He’s as nuts about lightning as his dad.
Sunsets were amazing as well on each evening.
After camping we drove up to Mt Hood for more Steph-appropriate lodging. Along the way we had to drive along the high desert where these incredibly deep gorges form.
Gorge.
Our place in Zig Zag was perfect. Set within the woods with a large grassy backyard which backed into a creek. The creek was 5 to 10 feet wide with 6 inches to 3 feet of water…perfect size for the boys. And big enough for fish. I caught one 6 inch brook trout (I threw him back so he could get larger). I saw many baby trout (less than a inch long) swimming in the creek as well. The creek provided hours of entertainment including dam building, rock throwing, and our favorite…pirates! Yep, we played pirates. Zach would release a stick in the “waterfall” and as the stick flowed downstream, everyone else would bomb it with rocks. This provided hours of fun until our arms wanted to fall off.
On our first full day we took a road trip to Lost Lake. This took us over single lane paved roads and gravel roads around Mt Hood.
Mt Hood overlooking Lost Lake
Nate eating at Lost Lake.
Zach finishing his PB&J
One more shot of Mt Hood
Following Jeep Uncle Mike.
A shot of Mt Hood on our way back to the house.
Lin showed up on Thursday…unfortunately the weather turned on that day as well. We ended up with 2 days of dreary, moist, northwest weather. But it didn’t slow us down. We took a trip to the trout farm where they had 6 ponds for fishing…Zach caught his first fish ever (he actually caught 3 fish).
Our stream.
View from the stream to the house.
On Saturday we took a drive to Timberline Lodge (outside of lodge was setting of lodge in the Shining). It was beautiful up there…just above the cloud line that kept our house in the gloom. We hung out on the patio having drinks and taking small hikes. Zach and I hiked about 3/4 of a mile up the mountain to check out the skiers. Yep, this is only place in the US where you can still ski.
The ski slopes and glaciers on Mt Hood.
Poor uncle mike…no rest for him.
A happy boy on vacation.
On Sunday morning we had a late breakfast, early lunch at the Whistle Stop. Mike got the ultimate whistle burger – a half pound handmade burger patty, with fixins, sauces, ham, egg, and onion rings (mike added the onion rings) all combined between two deep fried buns. I had the mini version of this (minus the egg, ham, and onion rings). I felt very ill for a few hours – all that oil was pretty disgusting. But it was also good in a strange way.
My future home. I think I can get a good price.
I like the natural setting.
Then we headed up to the Mt Hood Adventure park so the boys could play in a kid size habit-trail and jump around on a bunch of balls. Zach and I road inter-tubes down a big slide and the boys road little canoes.
Jumping in balls.
Kiddie canoes.
We had a wonderful time. It was great fun hanging with Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike for 10 days. Camping was a blast (no matter what Steph says). Thanks to Lin for joining us at the house.
2 Records in One Day!
July 29th, 2009Our official low this morning was 71 degrees at SEATAC breaking the previous max low temp of 69. SEATAC just hit 101 degrees – new all time high temp in Seattle!
HOT! HOT! HOT!
July 27th, 2009The weekend was in the upper 80s…Last night the low was only 67 so our house never cooled off. Today hit 92 and now at 11pm it is 80 degrees. I bet we don’t even drop below 70 tonight. This makes it rough in a house with no AC. The temps going forward – Tues 95, Wed 100, Thur 95…Holy Cow.
The record high, ever, in Seattle is 100. We could finally break that on Wed. If we get 5 days with 90+ temps, that would be a record as well. This is going to be a rough week for everyone.
Oh, and the dew points are high which keeps the nighttime temps high and the humidity is running around 50% – so I’m sweating a lot.
Update: Just to be clear, I LOVE IT! I love fun, exciting weather. We had rain and thunder the other day, now we have record breaking heat. I couldn’t ask for more. Well, AC would be nice.
Nate’s Birthday, Injury Update
July 9th, 2009First, the injury update. During the marathon I noticed that I had some left calf pain but the pain had dissipated by the end of the race and was completely gone for 2 days after the race. Once the initial muscle soreness left me, I noticed that my left calf was strained. About two days after that my Achilles Tendon became very sore and a little swollen. Well, over a week later and I’m still suffering from Achilles Tendonitis (my own self-diagnosis). I’m using a lot of ice, some Aleve, and now Arnica (thanks Mike). If the pain/swelling doesn’t subside this week, I’ll either go for acupuncture or a doctor. This is keeping me from running, so I’ve joined a gym and started some cross training (which is probably a smart thing to do anyway).
July 4th was Nate’s birthday and it was absolutely beautiful up here. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law were town for the weekend so they got a good dose of a nice Seattle summer weekend. The highlights from the weekend included an Argosy boat cruise through the locks, the West Seattle 4th of July Children’s Parade, and of course Nate’s Birthday party. We had a few of the PEPs families over plus John/Kim and family for a BBQ.
This weekend we have a Sounders game and West Seattle Summer Fest – pretty exciting.
The BubbleMan was in the Junction tonight doing a bubble show. Zach is right there in the middle of it all.
Watching the BubbleMan.
Nate on his birthday.
Zach helping with the gift opening.
Nate likes his Handy Manny toolbox.
Illegal fireworks we can see from our house. Yes, those are not legal!
One more shot of the illegal fireworks.
Marathon Details
June 28th, 2009A BIG thanks to Steph for letting train since January and for watching the kids every Saturday morning!
Another big thank you to Team In Training – what an awesome program. The support throughout the training and especially on race day is amazing.
I was able to raise $2385 for LLS (above my minimum but slightly below my goal…although you can still donate). Thanks to everyone for supporting me and donating to a great cause.
Update: Lots of photos of me -> http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=45933&BIB=25091
Pre Race (24 hrs leading up to the race)
My plan, which I over-succeeded at, was to stay hydrated and eat carbs (you’ll see later how you don’t want to over-hydrate). I was well hydrated heading into Friday so staying hydrated was going to be easy. I had also gotten lots of rest – 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. On Friday I had a banana and yogurt for breakfast, plus gatorade and water. I had good pasta lunch over at Elysian Fields plus water. I left work early so I could prep for the race. Good thing too. I spent about 90 minutes getting ready that afternoon. So how do you prep…
1. Pin the number on your jersey in a spot that doesn’t interfere with the fuel belt or your nipples (because of chafing).
2. Get money for parking and emergencies.
3. Load fuel belt bottles with gatorade.
4. Get the GU gel paks ready – some had to be safey pinned to my shorts.
5. Attach the chip to my shoe. Attach the emergency contact tag to my other shoe.
6. Prep my gear bag with stuff for pre-race and post-race
You get the picture. For dinner on Friday we had Pasta that Pat made. Very yummy stuff. Steph and I closed out the evening by watching a movie – The International (crappy film BTW). We both set alarms for 2:45am and went to sleep. I’m not sure what time I fell asleep but I don’t recall having an issue with that. I woke up at 2:40am before the alarms.
So how does one get ready in the morning for a race? For me, it all starts with a shower. Then I had some yogurt. While dressing, I basically covered my body in Body Glide (anti chafing) and Vaseline. Ok, covering my body is an exaggeration. I won’t tell you where I put it, since that isn’t appropriate for my blog. But I will share that Body Glide and large Band Aids were perfect for the nipples! BTW, I had no chafing issues for the race so I think I have the right formula.
I left the house at 3:30am for the parking garage next to Safeco Field. The shuttles started at 4am – yes, I was on the first shuttle. They used school busses! When I got on the bus I said “this is the first time I’ve been on one of these since 1st grade”…everyone laughed. I followed it up with “my 4 year old will be jealous.” To which the driver responded “at least your 4 year old could fit in the seats”. He was right – it was a tight fit. On the way to the starting line, I was talking with the guy next to me who was running the race with his wife (who wanted to sit behind him and not with him for some reason – a little odd). Anyway, he normally does half ironman triathalons – he claims the running is the most grueling. In biking you can coast for some parts and swimming is 99% form. Once you have the form, you can basically swim a long distance.
Now I’m at the starting line. Not a ton of people yet. I quickly found the TNT group who arrived just a few minutes earlier. Now it’s hurry up and wait. So I eat up my banana and Zone Perfect bar. I then picked up a bottle of water and nursed that until the start. Not much happens now – just sitting around on a garbage bag waiting for the start. I checked in my gear bag with post-race stuff at around 5:30am. I also got a quarter of a bagel to eat at that point. During this waiting period I end up taking about 8 pisses – this is when I realize I’m over-hydrated (this throws off the sodium balance in your body…sodium keeps you from getting cramps. This does catch up to me). I was also able to take a poop! This is good since I don’t want to take a poop break on the run.
Starting at around 6am the Honey Bucket (port-a-potty for you folks in CA) lines start to get long. Remember there are 25000 people starting this race. At around 6:45am I get in a bathroom line hopefully for the last time. I finally get into the Honey Bucket with minutes before the starting gun – doesn’t really matter since I won’t cross the starting line for another 30 minutes. Anyway, I’m taking poop and the race is about to start…there is no way I’m going to be stuck in the shitter at the start of this race! Besides, Jan would never let me live that down. So I do a rush job and get out to the crowds in time to cheer at the starting gun.
Now we wait again. I’m in corral 25 and they are releasing a corral every 1 to 2 minutes so it will be at least 30 minutes before I cross the starting line. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I have to take another piss. So I leave the line, go to a Honey Bucket (no line now) and quickly relieve myself. Back in line and waiting. BTW, it was a beautiful day – no clouds, no wind, not too hot (it will get into the low 70s when I finish).
The Race!
I crossed the starting line at approximately 7:41am PT!
And I’m off. So what’s my strategy. My pace on my 18.4 mile run was 10:08 (10 min 8 sec per mile) and was sub 10min/mile for all of my shorter runs. However, at the end of the 18 mile run I was completely gassed. Plus, I had some aches from that race that I felt had not completely healed. So I decided to start of with a slower pace…probably around 10:30 min/mile. Good thing as I would just slow down later.
Things felt great through mile 6. The hills were easy. My pace was good. I felt like I could go faster with no issues, which is what I wanted. I needed to know I had more left. The bands were cool! There were also cheerleaders – local high school teams out there cheering you on. The streets had spectators yelling words of encouragement, some with signs. Along Lake Washington, a bunch of runners kept pulling off to the side looking up in a tree. I already knew what it was by the reaction. A bald eagle. There were lots of out of towners – many of which have probably never seen this American symbol in the wild. This eagle was huge standing majestically at the end of a branch.
My first problem. Around mile 6 or 7 my left calf started to ache. Not a cramping ache but a muscle strain type ache. I didn’t think anything of it as I frequently get aches and they go away pretty quickly. Well, this stayed for the next 12 miles (that’s right, not the whole way).
Now, the next reason to not over-hydrate. The Honey Buckets along the course have lines. At around 7 1/2 miles I decided to take a bathroom stop. I could have kept going but I wanted to avoid stopping later in the race as it would be harder for me to get started. Anyway, I waited in line for about 6 minutes…which sucks. So I spent time stretching, did my business, got some water at the water stop and walked out of the water stop. Yes, I walked for about 50 yards then did a slow jog. This is the best way to get warmed up after a stop. As it turned out the later bathroom stops really didn’t have a line so I easily could have stopped at mile 10 – next time I know.
At around mile 9, the full marathoners and the half marathoners split up. I got to run across the I-90 floating bridge expressways which was very cool. Then I got to run through a tunnel…that was cool as well.
Now I’m at mile 13.1 – halfway. I was more sore than I expected to be. This was concerning as I now had to run this again. sigh. I ran the half in 2 hrs 30 min (that is 11:27 min/mile – so slower than I expected but I was cool with it – if I didn’t take the bathroom stop, I would have been at 11:00 min/mile). At this point I’m starting to realize that miles 16 to 20 will kick my butt (those are the hardest miles of the race with the most hills). No worries, I knew this and was prepared for it.
I moved well through downtown, including past my office building, and then onto the viaduct. For this section we are on the lower deck of the viaduct which had no spectators, not much sun, and was kind of lonely. At the next water stop, mile 16, I replenished two of my bottles with gatorade (I brought a gatorade powder pack) which caused me to stop for about two minutes to get this done. BTW, I picked up some salt packets at the start of the race and I’ve had about 2 of those as well. It’s common to suck down some salt to replenish the sodium in your body. Past mile 16 you go through the Battery Street tunnel and then starts the long uphill toward Canlis and the Aurora Street bridge. This was LONG! I had mentally thought about this for weeks as I knew this would take lots of mental and physical energy. I averaged a 12:30 min/mile pace – a slow jog forward. This was followed by a downhill on the bridge (it’s funny, I never thought about this section being downhill until this race. Because I knew I had to turn around and climb uphill).
Before moving on, let me explain one really cool aspect about this race. Since I was doing this with TNT, I was wearing my purple TNT shirt which has my name written on the front. First, everyone called me by my name…spectators cheering on the side would yell out ‘Go Paul’! For the first mile or two of the race, I was trying to figure out how I knew them. Then I remembered my name on the shirt…duh! Next, at all of the water stops, the people handing out water would yell out ‘Keep running Paul’ or ‘Great Job Paul’…I must say, this was really cool. It definitely helped. So, props to all of the volunteers who helped cheer me on. Next, being with TNT and wearing the purple shirt meant you are part of the TNT family. Everyone is yelling ‘Go Team’ and encouraging you to keep at it. Coaches from all across the country are running the race and giving you advice along the way. If you don’t know this, the coaches basically position themselves at difficult areas (ie, hills) running up the hills encouraging you and then they leave you and run back down to meet up with someone else. The support was truly amazing.
Back to mile 18, heading down this stretch, one of the TNT coaches from Spokane ran with me for a bit.
Coach: “Are you from Seattle?”
Me: “Yep.”
Coach: “How are you doing?”
Me: “Good. Wait, that’s a lie, I’m sore but plowing through this. I’ve slowed down to conserve.”
Coach: “Good answer. Well, since you are from around here, I’ll let you go. You look strong. Now I need to found someone from the Iowa team as they are having trouble with the hills.”
We did some practicing in the hills but there was still more than expected…at least for me. Next I have to trudge my way up the Aurora Street Bridge – again, not steep, but all of these little uphills do add up (I have that total for you later). As I approach mile 21, I have to stop for a quick bathroom break. At this point there is no line but there are very few Honey Buckets (most people don’t need to pee at this point). Anyway, my muscles are definitely tightening up so any type of stopping is not good. I’m lucky I didn’t cramp up in the Honey Bucket – that would have sucked. I could just see the headline – incapacitated man found in Honey Bucket 12 hours after race!
I was told about a month ago, that the first half of the marathon is miles 1 to 20 and the second half is 20 to 26. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!! I can’t stress that enough. Maybe I didn’t exert the equivalent of physical energy but I exerted more mental energy in those 6 miles than at any other point in MY LIFE! This was a “put one foot in front of the other” type of scenario…for 6 MILES. Now, you might ask, how is that fun? The challenge is fun. The prospect of finishing is fun. Thoughts of seeing Steph at the finish line is fun. The continual pain is not fun. I was also starting to have to fight off cramps from mile 22 forward. Various muscles started quivering slightly but nothing seized. This is where the over hydration played a role. I was definitely too low on sodium. I had one more salt packet left but I was going to keep it as long as possible.
At the water stops, I kept seeing people shower water on the face, head, and neck. While I get that, it wasn’t that hot out. I actually thought the weather was nice. Even in the sun, I was able to maintain a good body temp and I never hit a point where I felt like I was sweating because of the heat. At the water stop around mile 22 (I think), I had a little water left in the cup and thought it would be a good idea to splash some on my face to clean off some of the salt. DUMB! I basically created a sea of salt in my eyes. They burned for a good 30 seconds during which I couldn’t keep them open. Note to self, do not wash your face during a race.
I also ran out of gatorade. So I started drinking the official drink of the marathon – cytomax. I had looked at the ingredients before the race and saw it wasn’t much different than Gatorade so I had made the decision pre-race that I would use it if I had to. Well, I had to. You might be asking, why worry about drinking it? If you don’t practice with it, don’t try it in the race. It could make you sick. At this point it didn’t matter, I may not make it if I don’t have a sport drink – water is not enough. BTW, I was drinking water and gatorade throughout the race – it would probably be better in the future to stick with the sport drink 100% of the time and not use water as that doesn’t provide electrolytes.
This part of the race is on the top of the Viaduct – great views although I didn’t enjoy them – I was too busy trying to keep from cramping. I ran for a bit with my mentor during the 23rd mile. At that point my upper forearms began cramping up – yes, cramps in my arms. My legs are still holding up – some quivering but no seizing. The back of my right knee was really starting to ache and all muscles were tight. After I left my mentor, I found one of our coaches and he ran with me for a bit – actually I made him run with me as I felt like I needed someone to talk to. We past the water stop at mile 24, I grabbed cytomax, water, and my salt packet – I took all 3. About a 1/10 of a mile later, my right hamstring started to seize up in a cramp. FUCK! yep, that’s what I was thinking. My coach and I stepped to the side and he showed me a strech to work it out. I looked up at him and said, “Great, the hamstring feels good, now my quad is seizing up.” He said, “Let’s work on one issue at a time.” I really thought this could be the end…what a shitty end that would be. For the quad, my coach told to me to pull my ankle up behind me to work out that cramp. I said, “There is no way I could do that as my hamstring would cramp again.” He quickly dropped his leg and said, “Ouch, I’m cramping now, don’t do that.” My quad wasn’t that bad – more tight than anything – I wasn’t really worried about it. I stretched for about 3 minutes and then started to walk. My coach left me to help out others. Things felt good. Maybe the salt packet I took was working. I started a slow jog and then my mentor caught up with me again. I explained the situation and he ran with me for the next mile and a half to make sure I made it. There were a few points heading up the viaduct (yes, another uphill at mile 25 – amazing) where I was jogging and my mentor was walking – that’s how slow I was going. Along the way, we met up with another coach. She is one of our female coaches…as the three of us ran together, some random guy yelled out to us, “Wow, you guys have hot coaches, I want to switch chapters!” Very funny – we were all laughing, even me. Anyway, my mentor, the coach, and myself talked for the next mile, sharing laughs. They couldn’t believe I was in a good mood with my cramps, but honestly, I knew I would make it and they provided the necessary entertainment to get me to mile 26! Thanks.
Before I get to the finish, let me share some observances. I saw people cramping up at mile 12 and 13 and every mile after that. I saw people lying down with medics at various points along the second part of the race. It was VERY common to see people like myself standing on the side of the road stretching out a cramp. Plenty of people were walking, err hobbling, along with one hand on a leg. Shin Splints. Cramps. Soreness. These were all common complaints. Yet, everyone kept going on. This is what it means to get through miles 20 to 26. Plenty of people limping. More than one woman commented between miles 23 and 25 that child birth was easier.
The Finish
My mentor jogged with me to the offramp from the viaduct that leads to mile 26 and the home stretch. I knuckle bumped my mentor and the other coach who ran with us. Right before I turned down the off ramp, our head coach was there giving me a high five and now I was on the home stretch…I will make it…or will I?
As I head down the viaduct, I hear someone screaming my name. I realize there is no spectator close enough to see the name on my shirt…so it must be Steph! It was, she was about 25 yards away in a spectator area below. I gave a way and kicked it into gear. I must make a good showing in front of my wife. Now for the next hurdle. I got all choked up and emotional after seeing her. I’m finishing a marathon and my wife is cheering me on. It was too much. My breathing got all screwed up and now I was getting a breathing cramp. Holy Cramp! Can’t I just cross the damn line already. So I as I choke back the salt filled tears that were burning my eyes…I sucked it up. I past the 26 mile mark and started cranking (according to my GPS watch I was running a 9:00 min/mile pace through here. I turned the corner and came down the last 1/10 of a mile. I gave Steph a two-thumbs up and a high five and I crossed the finish line in 5 hrs and 13 min.
Post Race
I followed the rules after the race. I got a bottle water, got my medal, got a picture taken, grabbed a banana, bagel, and orange slices and started eating and drinking. The whole time I kept walking. It’s important to do all three of these things. I returned to the TNT tent and checked in where I also had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then we walked over to the gear check truck and picked up my gear bag. I tried to do a bit of stretching but there was no way I could stretch one muscle without another cramping up. In the end we walked around for about 45 minutes to an hour before I hopped in the car. No cramps. So that was done correctly.
That night I had a 12 ounce Filet Mignon (protein) and baked potato (carbs). I had lost 5 pounds during the race. By Sunday morning, even thought I had big dinner, I had lost another pound.
I uploaded the data from my GPS watch to my TrailRunner software. My data basically matches the official timings below. The one interesting thing is the ascent. In other words, how many total vertical feet did I climb – that would be 3200 ft!!! So, while no hill was probably more than 250 ft, all of the hills combined totaled 3200ft (FYI, I’m trying to confirm this as I don’t believe it either). I heard from the TNT coaches and read in the paper that the hills were the biggest “comment” made by runners – especially out of towners.
What next? Rest for now. My muscle soreness is even better since yesterday. Knowing my soreness recovery, I give it 4 to 5 days to go away. I have some pretty severe aches that will take longer. The worst is a pain behind my right knee. Nothing much on the internet about it but others have suffered similarly – no diagnosis. We’ll see how quickly it improves.
I plan to run the Seattle Marathon on November 29th (I’m already signed up). I wouldn’t mind running a half marathon in September – that will fit in nicely with my training. As for next year, maybe another round with TNT or maybe Steph will do TNT.
Here are a few picts that Steph took.
Coming off the viaduct at mile 26
Giving Steph the thumbs up right before the finish.
Links to Articles
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2009392405_marathon28.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2009393566_marathoncolor28m.html
Finished my First Marathon
June 28th, 2009Quick stats, detailed write-up to follow later today.
Paul Arthur #25091
Seattle, WAAge: 38 Gender: M
| Distance | MAR |
| Clock Time | 5:54:04 |
| Chip Time | 5:13:25 |
| Overall Place | 4076 / 5602 |
| Gender Place | 2102 / 2543 |
| Division Place | 364 / 435 |
| Age Grade | 40.2% |
| Pace | 11:58 |
| Ttlrace | 5602 |
| Ttldiv | 435 |
| Ttlsex | 2543 |
| 5 Km | 32:37 |
| 10 Km | 1:06:38 |
| 9 Mi | 1:42:51 |
| Half Way | 2:30:08 |
| 30 Km | 3:35:22 |
| 24 Mile | 4:41:39 |
Wow…Been a While
June 15th, 2009Yeah, I know, I haven’t written much in a while…nothing on Facebook either. No real excuse…just busy. Zach and I took a trip down to the Bay Area to see my grandparents and the following weekend we drove down to Eugene in the new car. Oh yeah, we traded in the Acura TSX for a Honda Pilot. I must say, the Honda Pilot is pretty awesome vehicle – probably my favorite so far of any car we’ve owned. Steph drives the Pilot as the minivan is mine
I also performed my longest run ever of 18.5 miles at the end of May. That was longest until my marathon on June 27th, which is coming up very quickly. I’m in the final preparation stages…all that means is I need to taper off in my running – the last two weeks are all about recovery and healing. I can do that.
Here are some photos from our recent trip to Eugene.
Not often do you get a 2 year old to pose as well as Nate did. Great shot of Nate and Auntie Jan.
Nate is a hangin. We took the boys to a bounce gymastics facility where they had open play time. This really wears them out.
Oops, Nate fell down.
A mid-air Zach. It’s tough to get in-focus shots of Zach since he moves so quickly.
Grumpy Nate on the swing.
Goin down the big slide. Check out that smile!
A pano of the Tokyo skyline..I forgot to put this up a while back. Click on it for a bigger version.
In other news, we took the boys to see Up this weekend at the movie theatre. Aside from both kids wanting to sit on mommy’s lap, they were both very quiet and good in the theatre. We made it through the whole film. I think Steph was the most excited as she finally made it to the movies – it’s been a while.
Happy Birthday Zach! (and my Tokyo Trip)
May 17th, 2009Today Zachary Anthony turned 4 years old! We had a birthday bash at our house yesterday afternoon with a bounce house for him and his friends to enjoy. Plus Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike came up for the festivities. I returned from Tokyo Friday morning so I was able to enjoy the whole weekend with him. All in all the birthday party was a blast and today he opened up gifts and played outside a lot (we also went to Matthew’s birthday party who shares the same birth date).
Steph climbing in the bounce house. Zach spent about 4 hours in this thing. Nate took a while to warm up to it, but once he got in he loved it.
Zach on his cool new bike.
Nate gets a hand-me-down…Zach’s old bike and helmet.
Zach hanging out at the park.
Zach throwing rocks in the water.
Today was goergous at the park…about 75 degrees, and not much of a breeze.
Big smiles from Nate.
As I mentioned, I had just returned from Tokyo. I had to fly out for work. I flew out last Saturday on the Northwest flight and arrived late Sunday afternoon (remember, you cross the dateline). And then the fun begins. Japan is absolutely paranoid about the swine flu, and only from flights from North America. So we pull into the gate but we cannot leave our seats. We had to close our shades and wait while a bunch of people dressed in hazmat suites boarded the plane and took our temperature with a thermal imager. If you had a fever – you are screwed. Not only that, but if that person has the swine flu, they will hunt down the individuals seated in the vicinity and quarantine them as well. The quarantine is for 10 days (later I heard this was dropped to 7 days). This whole process took about 45 minutes. I also had to fill out a questionairre about my health, where I was staying, and what seat I was on during the flight.
I landed at Narita Airport which is about a 90 minute bus ride from the hotel. I was staying, with other coworkers, at the Cerulean Tower Hotel – which is pretty fancy, western style hotel. They had an awesome (but very expensive) 40th floor bar overlooking Tokyo. Monday was a mellow day at our office which was only about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Monday and Tuesday were very humid and extremely smoggy – enough to make the eyes burn.
We were staying next to Shibuya Square (the equivalent of Times Square), so we had dinner in that area both Sunday and Monday evenings. Tuesday morning (and subsequently Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning), I got up at 5:30am and went running. I cruised up to Yoyogi Park each morning and ran there. There were not many people on the street but the park was full of runners and walkers.
Tuesday was a busy work day. Tuesday we had dinner at a very cool restaurant where I had Japanese Sours (alcohol is Schochu…yummy) and Shabu Shabu (thin cuts of poultry cooked in a boiling broth). Cool place with good food.
I worked Wednesday morning but took off during the afternoon and went to SensoJi Temple and Harajuku. Wednesday, one of our customers took us to dinner to a members only club. Excellent beer, wine, and food – all topped off with a cigar. Thursday was a full work day plus a little shopping for Steph and Takashimaya (high end Japan store). My flight left Tokyo on Friday at 3:50pm and I got home at 9am on Friday (gotta love the international dateline).
Anyway, I really appreciated the experience. Some observations…
- Very crowded, yet no one bumps into you.
- Excellent subway system.
- Everyone is very friendly.
- People obey lines, especially while waiting for a subway train.
- No one jaywalks. I stood at intersection that was 20 feet wide with 100 people on one side and 100 people on the other side…no cars going…everyone waited for the walk sign. Amazing.
- The internet connection in my room didn’t work. After 2 hours of troubleshooting, they still would not believe that their network link was broken. It wasn’t thinkable that there was a problem with something in the hotel.
- Prices are not expensive (unless you were in our 40th floor hotel bar) – everything seemed comparably priced to here.
Some photos…
Some lights in Shibuya Square.
Cool lit up bottles.
Just go…no one will bump into you.
Flea market outside of SensoJi Temple.
Crowded subway train.
View from room on the 22nd floor.
The smog cleared enough on my last day so I could see Mt Fuji.
Early Mother’s Day
May 5th, 2009So I’ll be in Japan for Mother’s Day so we celebrated early by going to brunch at Salty’s on Alki this last Sunday. All of the boys dressed up – slacks and collared shirts. And all of the boys were on their best behaviour. No tantrums, no annoying habits…just messy hands and mouths.
Pre brunch photo.
Hammin it up with the Seattle skyline in the background.
Look at all that chocolate on my pants.
“h-i-p-p-o-p-o-t-a-m-u-s”
We weren’t the only ones having an early Mother’s Day brunch.
In other news, we had a decent rain storm blow threw last night. Definitely had some pretty heavy rain and high winds. No lightning and thunder though. We got over an inch of rain from this system and we are close to two inches for the month of May. From 4:37am to 4:53am we got .41″ of rain! That’s pretty damn heavy. Otherwise, fortunately, it’s been warm.
Wonderful Day in Seattle
April 19th, 2009Yesterday was nice also. I finally had a long run where it didn’t rain. Plus it was the first time I’ve run 13 miles. It hurt but I feel good today.
Today we went to Seward Park in morning and I did some gardening (weeding, composting, mowing) in the afternoon. I also did this while downing a rum and coke (good gardening drink), a few Bob’s, and finally some wine. Yeah, I was little drunk, but have since recovered to write up this blog post.
Here are some photos from our trip to the park.
Nate pretty happy throwing rocks.
Let’s throw a stick now.
Diggin for that special meal.
Look out Tim Lincecum.
You tell me.
Yes, Spring does happen in Seattle.
Nate isn’t always happy.
A nice morning at the park.
Photos From Germany/Austria
April 14th, 2009I wanted to post some photos from my trip.
I arrived on Thursday evening and the first thing I had to do was find my way from the hotel to the subway station through these streets.
Streets in Freising.
At one corner on these cobble stoned streets was a brand new Porsche.
New town hall in Marienplatz Munich.
Marienplatz (St Mary’s Square).
Old town hall in Marienplatz.
A few small beers at the Hofbrauhaus.
The local band whipping a fast polka.
The next morning (and I thought the fog was because of my bloodshot eyes). This is the drive from my hotel to downtown Munich on the Autobahn.
Mirabell Gartens in Salzburg.
More from the gardens.
The magnolias were blooming in Salzburg.
Mozart’s home.
Looking up at the fortress up Salzburg.
Tower within fortress.
Clone wars?
Cool weapon. If you run out of bullets, just hack your enemy with the ax.
The torture room.
Overlooking Salzburg from the fortress.
I actually got a picture of myself.
Looking toward the Austrian Alps.
A street in old town Salzburg.
Fortress at sunset.
My preferred beverages.
Final night in Munich. Our hotel was across the street next to the tractor barn. All of this was about a 1/2 mile off the end of a runway at Munich airport.
And finally, a panorama of the Alps.