Biking through the tulip fields

We spent the weekend in Skagit County, where the tulips are just starting to bloom. The trip highlight was Saturday morning when we participated in the annual "Tulip Pedal" bicycle ride, a 20-mile course through fields of flowers.

[watch the video] 

Finished tulip pedal

We made it to the end of the 20 mile bike ride.

Skagit county weekend

Here's where we're staying.

No dogs off leash!

Watch Leah and her mother speak out at last week's City Council meeting.

click here or on the photo at left. 

Leah's field trip

Getting ready to go. That's "Duke", the driver.

Ikebana at the library

Nathan's Chess Victory

Nathan proudly holds the trophy he won for placing 8th at the Mercer Island Chess Tournament. Of five rounds, one was a win, two were losses, and two were draws. But all except one of his opponents were first graders with more than a year experience in the chess club. His final score was enough to qualify him for the state tournament in April.

Click the photo to see a video summary of the event.

Nathan's chess tournament

Leah's school concert

Leah's third grade class sang in a concert with the Mercer Island School District on Wednesday night. The concert was part of the "Take Flight" performance that included art work from other students in the school district, including Nathan's Kindergarten class. Click here for a video.

Sliding down the driveway

The kids took advantage of our icy morning to go sledding down the driveway.


Click here for a video.

Snowy morning

We woke up this morning to a lawn covered with icy snow. [see video ]

Making cookies

Grandma sent us some cookies to decorate [see video ]

Stowe's Birthday

What a birthday! We started at 5am, when Richard's coffee grinder woke her up and it was basically non-stop after that. Presents at breakfast, little gifties throughout the day, phonecalls from many friends. Then we had a wonderful sushi dinner, followed by birthday cake.

How was it? Watch the video and see for yourself.

Valentine's Day

Watch the kids open presents.

Martha can kick

MIPA Rainy Day

Video highlights of MIPA Rainy Day.

Boys at the Mercer Island Community Center

Our Y-Guides kindergarten group met tonight at the new Mercer Island Community Center. What a nice place for a get-together, especially for a group of boys who have been cooped up in Seattle's rainy weather for the past few months.

Parking place

Wouldn't it be great if all parking places looked like this:

Christmas 2005 Slide Show

Here is the Youtube version of our Christmas 2005 slide show

Ski Lessons in Snoqualmie

Nathan (2nd from left) rides the ski lift with his instructor at the Snoqualmie Summit (West) for our first snow lessons of the year. Watch the video here.

The video includes brief shots of Leah and Martha, plus Holly Grace, a friend from Nathan's Pre-K class. 

New Orleans Photos

Grampa's site has lots of new photos from their trip to New Orleans.

Kiss this girl

Here's a short video collection of Martha's summer antics. Don't you just want to kiss this girl?

Christmas presents video

Click here for another family video, this time including scenes of opening presents. Woo-hoo!

Warning: I did my best to make this short (4 minutes) and sweet, but watching somebody else open Christmas presents is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Hey, maybe that'll be the subject of my next movie!

Christmas 2005 Slide Show

Click here for a slide show of our Christmas with family.

(If that doesn't work, try the low-bandwidth version).

Christmas Video

Click here for a short video of the kids playing after Christmas.

Father and Daughter

Here we are in our Christmas clothes. 

Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree this weekend, with the kids happily helping with the decorations. Which of the two ornaments in this photo is prettiest? 

Frozen ducks

Ellis Pond is frozen over, as Nathan and I discovered when we walked there this afternoon. We didn't tempt fate, but I bet the ice is thick enough for Nathan to walk across. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Nathan enjoyed a slice of turkey at the Apple Tree country club we visited in Yakima for Thanksgiving. 

Starbucks family

Sunday was rainy and miserable outside, so what else to do but make a run to Starbucks? 

Autumn Bugs

Nathan was happy to find this creature among the leaves during our hike through Mercer Slough. 

Autumn hike

Nathan wanted to bike, Martha wanted to hike, so we compromised: Daddy carried the bikes while the two kids walked through autumn leaves and pouted about how neither was happy. 

Which witch is which?

Martha tries out her mother's Halloween costume. 

Trick or Treat!

Haunted Hike

Leah, Nathan, and I went to Mercer Slough tonight for a guided tour of the wetlands and forest near Lake Washington. We joined a small group of other 5- to 8-year olds for a hike in the dark. They made us turn off our flashlights, though once our eyes adjusted we could see pretty well. The guides were a fun bunch, who dressed up in various costumes to explain about night-time creatures like bats, coyotes, moths, and spiders. My favorite: owl droppings. Did you know that after an owl swallows a mouse he later spits up the fur? It falls to the ground in a tiny ball that you can find on the forest floor if you look.

We also saw a tadpole man, and we asked him about the fate of our own tadpole at home. We bought two of them earlier this year, one of which dutifully turned into a frog a month or so later. But the other one is still a tadpole ten months later! What gives? The expert naturalists at the center say they’ve never heard of such a thing and can only speculate that our so-called tadpole isn’t.

Campfires

Nathan enjoyed roasting marshmallows bythe campfire. 

Rustic cabins

Nathan slept in the top bunk. Daddy slept in the bottom bunk.

The cabins were spacious, but primitive. There was electricity, but no doorway. You could hear, see, (and feel!) the rain outside.

We shared the cabin with six other fathers and sons. 

Camping Trip

Nathan and his father spent the weekend at Camp Orkila, along with 315 other Mercer Island fathers and sons.

The weather was great, so we were able to do everything you do at a camp: beach combing, hiking, row boating (like this photo), cookouts by the fire.

The highlight for Nathan? The crafts projects: he made a bow and arrow from a stick, and some pottery. Click here for a short video. 

Leah is taking Japanese again this year, with several of her friends. She's one of the "advanced" students because she knows how to say basic phrases like "Arigatou Gozaimasu". I'm not super-happy with the curriculum, which his so basic and slow-going that it's hard to imagine the kids really learning much. Her teacher (Ito-Sensei, in the background) exposes them to more than they'd get at home, I suppose, but I wish she would push harder, especially with serious homework.

Nathan rides the bus to school by himself on Friday. Leah had her Japanese class early, so she didn't go with him. They often take the bus home together, though.