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Small adventures

aaron — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:14:40 +0000

Last weekend Sarah, her sisters & her mom all travelled to Portland for a little “Girl’s Getaway”. The corresponding event at home of course was “Boy’s Weekend” as I wrangled the 2 kids. Nap-times and bed-times were managed with relative ease and Isaac was even pretty gentle on me in the mornings (7am on morning, 6:20am the next). I found I rather enjoyed the window between when Isaac and I got up and when Joel was ready to start his day. He’d play, uninterrupted, with all of his brother’s toys while I sipped my morning coffee and perused the overnight news on my iPad. It was like a flippin’ Apple commercial I’m tellin’ ya.Fortunately for all of us, the weather was amazing and we were able to spend most of our weekend outside, which Isaac just LOVED! Everyone stayed fed and relatively clean, but I will confess there was more than one trip to Dick’s as well as a stop at the “Cupcake Store”. I figured, hey the ladies are all indulging themselves so we should feel free to do the same. Saturday afternoon found us at the Ballard Water Park and then that evening Uncle Sean & Aunt Kaci came over for a little BBQ. On Sunday Gpa Scott came up and hung out with the kids while I got out for a little Daddy time.

By the end of the weekend, I’d become aware of a couple things.

Firstly I’ve got an awesome extended family. I’m so grateful that my boys are connected to their aunts & uncles as well as their grandparents (and great grandparents). These people are a part of their lives, not simply far flung acquaintances.

Secondly, my kids are pretty darn fun. Oh sure, they’re stubborn, illogical, mind numbingly persistent and insufferable when they don’t get their way, but aren’t we all from time to time? As they get older I’m sure the our adventures together will get more grand but for now I’m content with tricycles, sandboxes & sidewalk chalk.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Dynamic Duo

aaron — Wed, 05 May 2010 22:47:54 +0000

When Isaac arrived on the scene, his big brother was more or less nonplussed. He didn’t really freak out, but it was clear he wasn’t super hot on the idea either. There may have even been an occasion or two where he wanted “baby Isaac to go back in Mommy’s tummy.” (Yeah, that ain’t happening kid).As Isaac got older and more mobile Joel seemed somewhat more tolerant of him, that was until Isaac got it in his mind to play with one of Joel’s favorite (and by favorite I mean anything within visual range) toys, at which point the usual reaction was “NOOOOO BABY ISAAAAAC!!!” or something similar.

I suppose that’s pretty normal for an oldest child who’s had his or her world split open by the introduction of a sibling, however I have to admit I’ve been finding it a bit unnerving. The little voice in the back of my head starts chattering away, “What if they never get along?” “What if they never develop a positive relationship, and our family is marred by their rivalry forever?” “WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!?”

Happily there have been, in recent weeks, a few fleeting moments where the boys actually have been playing together and, as far as we can tell, enjoying it. I sure get a kick out of listening to them laugh (while remaining poised to intervene when the inevitable CRASH – BANG – WAAAAA starts).

I mean honestly… would you trust these two alone in a room for very long?

Me neither.

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Serious business

aaron — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:15:28 +0000

It’s been 2 solid days now of solo parenting, and to be honest I think it’s gone really well. Isaac has been merciful to me during the nights and only woken up once at 3am. Even then I just had to pick him up, comfort him a bit and set him back down and he went right back to sleep. So yeah… dodged that bullet!

The thing I’ve noticed most over the last couple days is exactly how “busy” these boys are. While I will fully admit to liberal use of Curious George as a diversion, in those moments when I’m cleaning up from a meal or doing dishes or something I’ll hear Joel in the other room playing make believe with his trains. He’ll be acting out a scene from one of the books or movies, or just making up his own dialog. It’s really cute, and a good reminder to me that while I do enjoy rough-housing with him it’s important for him to have his OWN playtime too.

Isaac is all about the business of developing his 9 month old skill set. And he is SERIOUS too. If he’s pulled himself up to stand next to Joel’s train table and discovered a new toy (which we have an abundance of these post-Christmas days) you’d be well advised not to try and take it away from him because he’ll let you know how unhappy that makes him. It’s as if every single new trinket he finds is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen… and in some ways that may be true. He’s so determined about it too. It’s like the second he’s done eating he’s scanning the room, ready to start exploring. Look out Dad, I gotta PLAY!

We’re heading to Tacoma today to spend a little time with Grandma & Grandpa and then Sarah should be home by dinnertime. I’ll be nice to have her home with us, but I’ve also really enjoyed this special time with my boys.

The dynamic duo at yesterday’s Mobile Chowdown.

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Here’s to 2010, more or less

aaron — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:01:40 +0000

I’m not typically the type to make grand New Year’s resolutions or anything like that. Maybe because I know myself too well and the inevitable result of setting myself a specific measurable goal is me being afraid I won’t be able to achieve it and so therefore not really try thereby justifying my failure by saying “well, I didn’t REALLY try that hard”. Dumb huh?

Not this year.

This year was interesting for me because I did just that. I set myself just one specific goal and set about the task of getting there. It was to ride the High Pass Challenge, a very strenuous ambitious bike ride this past September. The act of setting and attaining that simple goal this year reminded me of the fact that I do have a say in how to to go about this whole life thing, so next year I’m setting some more.

Specifics:
- Learn to play steel guitar. That’s right, good old school country gospel twangy pedal steel.
- Author at least one iPhone or Mac application. I work at a flipping software development company for crying out loud, time to move past scripting and unix hackery onto something more elegant.
- Lose these last 10 pounds. I already dropped 30 this summer while training for the bike ride, but I’ve picked up 5 or 6 again in the last couple months.
- Find a church home. This is an aspect of our family’s spiritual and social life that is sorely absent.
- Take my wife on an extended getaway, somewhere new and fun. At least 4 days.

Things to do more of:
- Writing, both music and otherwise (blogging, letters, etc).
- Projects at home, like paining, home improvement stuff. I’m way more capable of that stuff than I give myself credit for and it always feels good to have it done.
- Traveling, both with and without the kids.

Things to do less of:
- Drinking & eating junk food. Not talking about an absolute ban here, but definitely need to get this back into balance.
- Watching TV, waste of time.
- Twitter / Facebook / RSS reading, basically all forms of digital ADD. It’s a time-suck and also impedes my ability to focus.
- Making excuses for not starting things.

All things considered 2009 was a really great year. I’m looking forward to the 2010’s (or whatever the heck this next decade is supposed to be called). I hope it is a blessed one for y’all!

PS> Just for fun I poked around in my old photo box (before the advent of digital cameras & iPhoto) and found this picture of me and my brother Jason at a “Dress Like The Future” party from New Year’s Eve, 1999.

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Remembering winter 2008

aaron — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:50:31 +0000

It’s been cold here recently, cold enough in fact to force me off the bike for my daily commute. However, despite the chill and the torrential rain we had throughout November, there’s not a flake of snow to be seen. I’m still holding out hope for some semblance of a white Christmas but I doubt we’ll have much and almost certainly it’ll be nothing like last year!

Also, going thru these pictures I came across this video of Joel reading. It doesn’t seem like he changes that much from day to day anymore, but looking back it’s pretty remarkable (insert some “they grow up so fast” platitude here). I think he was fighting a cold or was all stuffed up from being outside or something. The result is even that much more adorable.

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Halloween’d

aaron — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:15:06 +0000

I’m kinda sad that the holiday I remember as Halloween seems to be going by the wayside. Like most people my age I fondly recall tromping un-chapperoned as a child through the neighborhood on my annual candy quest. Apparently the world is different now and we had a grand total of 3 visitors on Halloween night at our house. However, we did join a whole grip of costumed kiddos earlier at the Greenwood Businesses “Safe Trick or Treat“. Joel had a great time playing the carnival games and by the end of the afternoon was confidently (if uncharacteristically) galloping up to the candy distributors along the route announcing, “It’s me! I’m Eeyore!”

We did have a few people comment about his little “sister” dressed up as Piglet.

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Photo Op

aaron — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:49:09 +0000

I love October!

I love the crisp air and the fact that there’s still an acceptable amount of daylight. You get those brisk sunny days where the shadows are all slanty because the sun is scooting along the horizon instead of straight overhead and there are great picture opportunities. This is precisely why God invented the pumpkin patch! Let’s face it, it’s not really about pumpkins (since those can be had much less expensively at the Fred Meyer on the corner) but it’s about the urban novelty of tramping through a muddy field and snapping vibrant colorful pictures of your kids.

It’s as close to hunting and gathering as we city-folk get.

More pictures here.

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Some more brother pics

aaron — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:51:14 +0000

Just going thru the photo library and came across these. Enjoy!

Isaac, Week 27

Joel, Week 32

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There and back again

aaron — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:08:26 +0000

In May, when a few co-workers and I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for the High Pass Challenge, there was no way on the face of this planet I was ready for it. One hundred and fourteen miles accompanied with 7500 feet of climbing up to Windy Ridge? Are you kidding?!? I’ve described myself as an “avid” cyclist several times in past but not in recent history. Long gray Seattle winters, a regrettably sedentary day job and the day to day demands of supporting a family of two young boys had relegated any notion of personal fitness well onto the back burner.

Nevertheless, something clicked in me and I decided that I would accept this challenge.

I started biking to work. It’s a very manageable 3.5 mile commute (one way). To work is almost exclusively downhill and home from work is, well, not. Those first weeks of huffing back home with the family’s dinner strapped to my back were humbling. However, by mid June I was feeling stronger, and wasn’t completely out of breath when I arrived home after the 300 foot climb.

I also started eating better. I tracked my caloric intake using an iPhone app called “Lose It!” which many of my co-workers also use. The changes I made weren’t super drastic, just being aware of what I was putting into my body helped. I cut back on the starchy, carby stuff like bread, pasta, potatoes, etc… however beer stayed on the menu! (gotta have SOME carbs, right?)

We organized a few training rides on the weekends, and I would also occasionally ride up and around the Magnolia Loop on my way into work in the mornings. Fortunately for me (and my co-workers) our office has showers! My father-in-law convinced me to play hooky from work one Friday in August and ride day 1 of the RSVP with him as part of the preparation.

Finally, after months of prep, training, dieting, and anticipation, the weekend was upon us. I loaded up the Explorer and thanks to the generosity of my neighbor hitched up his tent-trailer and headed to Packwood. We camped out on Saturday night in a field by the start line. There was a spaghetti feed organized at a local restaurant and I have to say I probably ate more that night than I had in a single sitting for several months. Full and anxious we hit the sack, surrounded by the sounds of small-town Western Washington… coyotes, crickets, and the occasional 18 wheeler rolling by on highway 12.

Fueled by instant oatmeal and coffee prepared on our single-burner camp stove we stumbled to the start line at 7am. Within the first mile my front derailer cable snapped! A quick examination of the damage led me to only one conclusion… to remove it. Given the nature of the terrain I didn’t really even miss it. Crisis averted.

The sun rose higher in the clear sky and we pressed on, climb after climb, food stop after food stop. The weather gods saved all their mercies for us that day because it was unbelievably gorgeous! By 11:15 we were at the top which is quite an impressive time considering the mechanical issues that slowed us earlier. Cruising back down towards home was about the sweetest bit of riding I’ve ever done. The sun streamed though the pine trees and we sped along through the warm breeze. Amazing. The final leg of the ride is where we truly encountered the “Challenge” part of the High Pass Challenge. Winding roads strewn with loose gravel and sudden brief climbs coming in miles 90 thru 100 were not what we’d expected. I found myself several times talking myself back to sanity, “Keep pedaling, another mile-marker means another drink of water, just make it past the next corner and then make it past whatever is after that.”

I crossed the finish line just before 3pm.

The ride was every bit of what I’d hoped it would be. But perhaps even more than that, the journey of preparing for the ride reminded me of something. Seldom have I honestly set goals like this for myself, ones that are out there… that take more than a few moments worth of consideration. Living in a world where “if it takes more than 3 seconds to update my twitter status something must be broken”, it’s challenging not to feel the progress right away, that slow, steady, incremental movement towards a destination. And yet looking back at the last four months even I’m amazed. I dropped nearly 30 pounds and am in better shape physically (and emotionally) than I’ve been for many, many years.

A picture of me and my co-workers at the top

Check out the rest of the album here.

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Just when you thought

aaron — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:35:03 +0000

Just when you thought it was impossible to get quality, fun, candid photos of your kids, BEHOLD! Two in one night!

PS> Please ignore the drool marks on Daddy’s shirt. Situational hazard.

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