Daddy/Daughter Adventure

We found a new play area in the middle of Westlake Plaza. We are going to ride the train to the International District and hopefully get some unfortunate fortune cookies before taking the bus home.

Edison Fresh from the Bath

Or is it Billy Grahm at a toga party? It's so hard to tell.

Edy Sleeping

Taken about two days ago. She was snuggling with her kitty. This is the best picture the iPhone can manage. I suppose it's not too bad considering no flash.

First NW Bike Ride

It has been raining all weekend, and we were getting a little stir crazy cooped up inside the house. So today we took our first bike ride (in the rain) of the rainy season. We just bought a tag-a-long bike - one of those that attach to the back of the adult bike and the smaller kids can ride and pedal - Edy loved it. We went to Cafe Javasti and had a hot chocolate. Great trip.

On the beach

In sunny California, er, Seattle yesterday. We we to Golden Gardens and played in the sand. 85 degrees and breezy. Perfect weather.

Kindergarten Class

Edy went to 1/2 day jump start the week before last. Last Wednesday, we went to the school open house and met the teacher to whose class Edy was assigned, and saw her classroom. Her teacher is Ms. Anderson, and this is Edy in her seat.

She is so looking forward to kindergarten.

Edison Kite Flying

On one of the other not so sunny days.

We went with Tashana's brother and her niece and her Mom. We had a good time relaxing in spite of the cloudy days.

At the Oregon coast last weekend

This was one of the three 4 hour sunny stretches while we were there for 6 days.

Boooomb Pop...

...from the ice cream truck after dinner at Matthews Beach. (Mom and Dad are drinking mohitos.) Ahhh, summer.

First Family Camping Trip

Two weekends ago (late posting again) we took our first family camping trip to Tolt-McDonald State Park. It was only about 45 min away, so if things went really bad we wouldn't be too far from home. It was 100% organized by Tashana and she thought of everything.

We were there from Thursday through Saturday night - an ambitious trip.

Thursday it rained all evening, we had hot soup for dinner because there was no way to start a fire in the rain. The rest of the time the weather was great, the camp was great, and the company was great. We were joined by our friends the Radens for the weekend, and the Wilkins also came and had dinner and hung out on Saturday.

We stayed in a yurt, which is a semi insulated, semi heated, temporary structure. Ours was about 14' in diameter and had 2 futons and a bunk bed. I don't consider futons usually camping, but these were pretty bad - almost as bad as sleeping on the ground.

To get to he campground, you had to cross over a 300' people only pedestrian bridge - it shook a little and was pretty cool.

We rode bikes, played a lot in the yard, and threw rocks in the river, dug in a mudslide. Roasted marshmallows, made friends, and had no major accidents.

Though Edison had a hard time adjusting to sleeping in bright conditions, (the yurt had a skylight), in the end it worked out OK. I might even agree to go again someday if my wife makes me.

Favorite Foods

Just finished lunch of fried chicken and potato chips (don't judge my nutritional choices), carrots and red peppers, with Edy, who is on he second post-lunch bowl of chips where she negotiated for every last chip she could get.

"Edy are potato chips your favorite food?"

She nods, because she has a chip in her mouth, then says "And candy and pizza."

You can tell we eat well around here.

Awesome Father's Day

Had a great Fathers Day last weekend. Got up late to blueberry pancakes and enough bacon that I actually got to eat some. I had the kids all day while Mom worked, and they were great.

When Mom got home we went to the park very briefly because Edy has been itching to use her pedal bike without training wheels. I heard from another dad that a great training field was on the playfields where they have that fake turf made of  recycled rubber bits with the fake plastic grass on top. Nice and smooth, no bumps, no hills, and if you fall down, much less damage.

So this is Edy on her bike, after a push from Mom, riding like a champ.

The video is jumping around because I am running in front of her. She's awesome. For a less stomach turning  view, try this one:

She didn't fall once, which I'm sure helped her confidence, though now she is scared to ride on the sidewalk or the street I think I sold the "won't hurt if you fall on the grass" a little too much.

Anyway, then went home to a good bottle of wine, steak and crab all prepared by my lovely wife. Outstanding day.

Oh, and if you can't see the video over email, go to tkjr.blogspot.com.

Nature Find

I love that when we find bugs or other creepy crawlies, my kids' first thought is "Can I hold it?"

Today we found a live snail, and for some reason the shell and cute little tentacles on top don't gross me out the way slugs do, even though they both leave slime trails and are generally a squishy mass. There's probably a behavioral science thesis paper in that somewhere.

Edy was all over it. "Can we keep him as a pet?" Edison says "Put my hand," he wanted to hold it too. So we all got slimed.

Cool.

Naked Edison and His Clean Balls

Edison is so ball centric, (especially basketball, for which his dad is very excited) he has been taking them into the bath with him, where he proceeds to wash them.

This also saves Mom and Dad from making the argument he actually has to stop playing to get into the bath.

This is Edison after bath yesterday with his prized possessions, sparkling clean.

Losing the First Tooth

Can you guess which one?

Edy has been having a good time saying "Look Daddy!" then trying to get me to watch while she wiggles her tooth, which really gives me the heebie-jeebies. I don't like it when things move in ways they aren't supposed to.

I'm pretty sure it will be out by the end of the weekend.