I was a High School Basketball'er

As many people know, because I find a way to wind it into conversations, I played high school basketball at Newport High School in Bellevue (Go Knights!).  We were awful as in pathetic, as in horrible, as in embarrassingly bad.  We won one game and lost nineteen.

Attendance at our games was spotty, we rarely made it into the local newspaper and ESPN never really showed must interest in us either.

While working out today, looking at the little television screen in front of me for inspiration ("can a 43 year old make it in the NBA," I wonder as the calorie counter slowly clicks off calories), I see a promo for an upcoming televised double-header.....for high school basketball on ESPN this evening.  What?!

I realize it is not 1986 (despite my musical tastes and sense of style) but to raise high school basketball to the level of being worthy of a national broadcast on ESPN seems to be just one more example of society making our children grow up faster and faster... and putting extreme, adult pressure on kids who should still just enjoy being part of a team.  We were lucky to have enough basketballs for everyone to use.  Nowadays, there are multiple assistant coaches, student trainers, flashy sweatsuits, and now television cameras showing up at regular season games.  Maybe I am just jealous and I reserve the right to change my tune when my children make varsity, but shouldn't we let kids just enjoy playing the game in front of the pep band, student body and adoring parents?

Such an Angry Bird

For the past several days we have had a very good friend of ours stay with us.  He is the perfect guest - incredible cook, generous in every sense of the word, kids adore him, and most importantly, he comes with an Ipad.

Since his arrival on Sunday evening we have not seen or really heard from our children except for the occasional call out for food and beverage.  If we could feed them intravenously, they would be happier.  They are addicted to Angry Birds and it is not pretty.

The first words uttered each morning relate to Angry Birds and access to the Ipad.  Bedtime routines are thrown out the window and negotiations center around how many more turns each child gets.
Yes, I will admit that I enjoy sending birds flying through the air, but when my little guy uttered that he likes Angry Birds more than Batman, I knew we had a problem.

Our friend's visit is a gentle wake-up call/reminder that as much fun as Xbox-Ipad-Wii would be (mostly for me), the rapid disappearance of children into a technological void where they barely recognize if it is night or day leaves some very lonely parents behind.

Guess and Go

Our first child has entered the wonderful world of academia (see earlier post) and is now a seasoned veteran of Kindergarten.  I am hoping it is only a one year experience and based on what she is learning and regurgitating at home, I think she is doing well.

One aspect of Kindergarten that I wish I could apply in my everyday life is what is known as Guess and Go.  It is a simple concept - teaching children how to spell and write based on intuition.  They simply sound out the word they want to spell and put letters that they think make those sounds.  For example, if one were to say "I played baseball today," the Guess and Go would look like "I plad bsbal tuda." 

When our daughter brings home her sentences from school, it is kind of like trying to read someone elses vanity license plate, and when you finally figure it out, you feel like you just solved the puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. 

Today where everything has a spell check, thesaurus and grammar check at the click of a mouse, it is nice to see old school teaching still exists.  I know it will not be long before we are fighting over using the computer.  Until then, I wil smpley uz mi Ges n Go.

Eating our way to Fairhaven

Our kids love an unplanned adventure, and so do we.  Despite the downpour, we all packed into the car, cranked on the Wiggles tunes and headed north with a general sense of what we wanted to see, fall color, but no idea just where to see it.

Before we knew it, we were exiting I-5 and heading to LaConner with a quick stop at Skagit River Produce, where we picked up organic Honey Crisp apples for $1.50/pound, some of the sweetest corn at 5/$1.00 and met two (Brownie and Maggie) sweet labradorfs (as our little guy calls them), one of whom peels her own corn and eats the kernels off, leaving a very clean cobb.

With a brief stop in LaConner for nourishment we were off to Chuckanut Drive on our way to Fairhaven.  On the way, we passed through thet tiny town of Edison, where the bakery (neither my wife nor her family has ever driven by a bakery without stopping) pulled us in like a magnet.  Two loaves of bread later, we were back on the road only to stumble upon Taylor Shellfish Farms' tiny little store front down a one lane road, nestled on Samish Bay.  Two pounds of mussels and a dozen Kusshi oysters later, we were finally getting closer to Fairhaven and the famous double-decker bus, home to some of the best fish and chips in the Pacific Northwest.

The last time we had visited the Fairhaven Fish & Chips bus was years ago, so it was fun to introduce the kids to an old favorite spot. Summed up, the day was a great one. We saw some of the beloved spots we hadn't seen in years, and were thrilled when the kids had a positive response as well. The long car ride went surprisingly well with minimum fuss, and the kids even embraced the "assignment" of drawing pictures when they got home of some of the things they saw during  the day.  We're looking forward to our next family adventure day... and this time the kids are, too.

They call me coach...or hey you

This past summer, I answered the call.....the call to be a volunteer soccer coach for my son's 3-4 year old soccer team.  Though it is a soccer team by name and look, it is more like a soccer scrum that you commonly see in rugby.

We are the Otters.  Not exactly Manchester United or any of the other intimidating names one associates with soccer, but you don't want to mess with these 3-4 year olds as they will turn your shins black and blue.  All of the kids are wonderful and seem to have a good time each Saturday morning, mixing it up with the other kids, ocassionally scoring in the right goal, and for the most part not using their hands.

There is very little traditional soccer coaching that goes on at this level.  Rather, I make sure everyone knows where the potty is located, which direction we generally are trying to go in, and that all super heroes are created equally, though I do think Batman may have a slight edge overall.

I will admit that I do watch Sportscenter on Saturday night to see if we made the highlight reel, but we have yet to make it despite my voluminous submissions.

I do love the game, I do enjoy all of the children and their enthusiasm, and most importantly, I love being called coach (or hey you) for an hour each Saturday morning. Goalllllllllllllllll!

Kindie - Garten

It is a right of passage.....for parents - sending their first born off to Kindergarten.  Everyone says, "I cannot believe how quickly this has happened, she/he was just a baby the other day."  I officially would like to join that group of parents who have muttered those words.

The night before our oldest child started Kindergarten, my wife and I just sat for 10 minutes or so, watching her sleep and reminiscing with a list of "remember when's."  Like remember the day when we brought her home from the hospital, and let Winston (our most lovable labradorf (as our youngest says)) sniff her. And remember when I could carry her in my arms like a football, when she would sit in her car seat on the dinner table as we wolfed down dinner, when we would hand her over the fence to our neighbor so she could explore our neighbor's garden, when she would stretch out in her mini-footie pajamas such that her little bottom would extend so far that you could balance a tray on it.....

She now walks, sometimes falls, talks, sometimes demands, and is eager to learn.  The monkey bars are becoming easier to do, she now swims and does not sink, the alphabet is so yesterday along with the Wiggles (amen!) But to my wife and I, she will always be our little girl with big blue eyes, blonde hair and a warm and caring heart for all in her family.  Let the roller coaster ride begin... and pray that my blog entry about her first day of high school doesn't come too soon!!

A 30 Year Idaho Tradition

Some thirty years ago, my parents, along with nine other couples, invested in a two-bedroom condo in a sleepy little village called Elkhorn, adjacent to Sun Valley, Idaho, and minutes from Baldy Mountain.  Every summer and winter, we would load up the Subaru and make the eleven hour drive for the best skiing in the winter, the best hiking, swimming and golfing in the summer, and the best memories a child could have.

For the past ten summers I've had the pleasure and joy of watching those memories form for my wife, and for the past five years, for my children.  I have always loved this place, but have found that introducing it to someone else is even better.  Whether it is the joy of splashing around in the outdoor pools, where a swim suit dries in a matter of minutes because of the zero humidity, diving into the incredible mexican food at Despo's, shopping the farmer's market, or strolling the lovely, historic grounds of the Sun Valley Lodge while eating blizzard-like concotions, this place is the ideal spot for me to recharge my batteries and regain any perspective on life that was lost over the course of the year.

Though Elkhorn has become more than a sleepy little village and Sun Valley has been developed into a first class resort, with a bit of ritz, the core of Sun Valley has not changed.  There is a love and respect for the outdoors, khaki shorts and a clean t-shirt passes as being dressed up, and bowling at a bowling alley where the lanes have not been touched since it opened in 1937, make this place so special for me, and now the rest of my family.

Ode to a Good Boy

As summer winds down, I thought it only appropriate to reminisce a bit about......my dog.  For those who know Winston, he is a sweet, velvet-fur yellow lab, that has a strong opinion about things he likes and things he does not like.

One thing that he loves and could do all day, is swim.  This past weekend, with the temps in the 80's, I finally braved the chilly waters of Lake Washington and went for a swim.....with Winston.  The only problem with swimming with Winston is he likes to be held in the water and if you are not standing in shallow water, it is slightly impossible to hold a 75 pound lab and stay above water.  Nonetheless, it is a blast to swim with him as I have done for the past 8 summers.

The past few months, Winston has also been the big dog on the block.....serving as the baseball retriever during baseball games, recipient of squirts from squirt guns, official watcher for cats, and a de facto garbage can as he is constantly on clean up duty of all unattended food.  He strikes me as having that perfect balance of needing some love, but not being overly needy.  He loves to lay down next to you as much as he loves to lay in cool, wet grass, surveying the entire scene.

Winston has been a constant companion for the entire family for the past 8.5 years.  He came to us a broken, emaciated dog, and has been nothing but a pile of love ever since.  He is getting older, but pull out a tennis ball or walk past some swimming spot and he turns into a puppy again, and that is the way it should be.

A gardener's summer

As my Seattle friends and family are well aware, this summer has been less than ideal for getting out and spending quality (read - sunny) time outside. While the rest of the country has been sweltering in the heat, it's been record cool temps and wet days here until the past few weeks. However, for a gardener, it has been pretty decent.

This past spring, I decided our backyard needed a makeover to go along with the new deck I installed last fall.  Because of some poorly manufactured Trex decking, I was forced to rip out the old decking and install new decking.  Thanks to myi father's guidance and tools, I was able to accomplish this task within about 4 weeks.

When we moved into our house 3 years ago, the spacing and look of the yard was perfect.  However, things grow and our backyard was being darkened and swallowed up by trees.  Wanting to provide a nice sunny space to grow fruits and vegetables on our new deck, I started a long process of removing every other evergreen which were each about 15-20 feet tall. Oh yeah, did I mention I did most of them with a handsaw until I managed to borrow a chainsaw?! 

The good news is all of the hard work and serious manual labor is finally paying off. With the opened up backyard, we have had a bumper crop of lettuce this spring, carrots, herbs, tomatoes (though they are still green, making their way to ripe) and some gorgeous flowers (nasturtiums, calla lilies, roses, sun flowers, and a mystery flower that I cannot seem to find the name for - see picture below).



I hope to see everyone tomorrow at the Taste of Main in Old Bellevue, a wonderful fundraiser for the Children's Response Center.  My wife is an honorary board member for this organization and would have been very upset if I had not mentioned it here!

Everyone is a blogger

I'm finally caving in. Everyone seems to have their own blog so I thought why not join in the fun?  I hope this blog provides humorous insight and interesting recommendations.

As a happily married father of two, keeper of the best dog in town, owner of a supervised visitation business (Children First Supervised Visitation Service), enthusiastic gardener, sports fan, traveller, and ocassional kitchen hack, I hope to make this blog an interesting place for all who stumble upon it... especially our wonderful family members and friends.

As most of you already know, I am a Minnesota native.  Our family moved to Bellevue in 1977, which had the sad side effect of crushing my enthusiasm for baseball. Who can deny that going from watching the Minnesota Twins in their glorious natural habitat, to watching the Mariners in the old Kingdome was anything but depressing?

After living in Seattle for 20 years, I find myself back in the burbs, living on the East Side.  This past spring, I did an extreme makeover of our backyard, removing trees, re-building our deck and adding some much needed color. A lot of hard work, but well worth it. It's now a favorite spot for the whole family, especially my wife and daughter who now get a vase or two of fresh flowers on an almost daily basis.

When I am not juggling food in the kitchen, our family enjoys going out for Asian food. Some of our favorite spots:

Seattle Deli:  Best Vietnamese sandwiches (Bahn Mi) and to go noodle salads (plus tons of other great items!) in Seattle
Pho Bac:  Anything but fancy, but it's all about the pho... supposedly one of Tom Douglas' favorites, too!
Peking Bellevue: Paul Allen eats here and I have a feeling he has tried a few places in his time
AA Sushi:  The $1.50 a plate lunch special is hard to beat, especially in Kirkland

In my next posting, I'm going to give a little tour of our garden, so stay tuned!