How Hot It Is! Staycation In Super-Heated Seattle

Shawn and Tom cool down with Andy and Sylvia in Colman Pool.




It's hot in Seattle so Tom and I have been making the most of it. On Friday, we headed to Colman Pool for the family swim. It's the closest to a resort you'll find in public pools in Seattle. It's a large salt water pool on the beach facing Puget Sound and Vashon Island and they have lots of pool toys for kids, including 100s of little rubber duckies. Sylvia immediately grabbed a little duck in each hand and didn't let go until we left the pool. We finished with dinner on the beach there complete with roasted marshmellows and an incredible flaming red sunset. On Saturday, we took our boat from Ballard, stopping several times to jump in the water and swim for a few minutes, before picking up Cherise, Shawn, Andy and Sylvia from Magnuson Park and heading across to Yarrow Bay for dinner. It was a beautiful dinner above the water and best of all, next to us in the square, a group of families had gathered to watch an outdoor movie. Despite my best pleading that Sylvia really wanted to see The Goonies, Cherise insisted it was super late and little kids had to go to bed. In fact, Sylvia was asleep before we got across the lake. Andy, on the other hand was standing up saying -- "faster, grandpa, faster." Cherise has all of the great pictures of the evening on her camera so stay tuned.

Tom and I then headed down Lake Washington on a still very warm evening to anchor off Seward Park where we slept on the deck. It never cooled down but at some time in the night I awoke to distant thunder and lightening followed by a very tropical-like burst of a brief, light rain. We didn't even get wet, it must have evaporated quickly. Can anyone say -- Global Warming? The next morning, still very warm, we both jumped in the water before having tea and breakfast on the boat. We spent the entire day swimming our way back, stopping for lunch at Ivar's before reluctantly taking the boat out in Ballard.

We've made the most of the heat wave this weekend. Tomorrow, it's supposed to rain.

Peter's in Prague Collaborating On A New Book

Peter in in Prague for a month, renting his Czech friend Robert Barta's apartment (he is a wonderful artist whose art work is featured above). He is there to collaborate with his university colleague and fellow professor (in Turkey, thus meeting in Prague) Tom on a new academic book. But pictures I am receiving show no serious book writing sessions, only mushroom gathering and eating, jam sessions, wine drinking, touring, and plenty of fun with old friends. Knowing how prolific Peter is, he is writing when he isn't touring, drinking and having fun. Glad you are keeping us posted, Pete.

Aquarium Visit, Sylvia's Almost Walking, Shawn's 34 Birthday

Shawn turned 34 last night and we celebrated at Anthony's Pier 66. It's usually a safe bet with children. Both kids wanted to sit on grandpa's lap and afterward Tom, who is usually neat as a pin and quite dapper, had tomato sauce down the front of his pants. The family photo was taken at the end of a nice evening.






Sylvia is standing, sometimes unaided, and walking, always aided. The once tranquil baby is now entering her active, exploration tot phase. In my office she pulls out paper from my printer, she feels around the table top for anything she can pull off, she's now opening kitchen doors and cabinets, and in my bedroom pulled everything out of two drawers leaving a pile on the floor before she took off to another room. As she was exploring my grandmother's credenza, I realized that she is the third generation to do so. Her hair is turning a golden brown and her eyes a baby bluish-gray. She'll be one years old next month.







While Cherise worked on a pressing deadline, I took the kids to the Aquarium across the street. Andy is getting old enough to really appreciate the touching pools and spent a great deal of time there. Sylvia is just beginning to engage in new surroundings and seemed much more aware of the fish, pointing and saying "that". Andy was exceptionally well behaved and is really trying hard to gently hug Sylvia. But as you can see from the picture, his best intentions are not always welcome. Andy wanted a picture in the octopus. Right after, a young man was being photographed by his wife and Andy suddenly popped into the photo with the man. Oh yeah, the octopus with two heads. I only wish I captured the surprised look of the man and the happy smile of Andy, but alas, it's on someone else's camera.

A Little Piece of Earth

A few months ago, Andy saw the moon in the sky and he said, "That's the moon. It's like a little piece of the earth." Cherise told me they had been learning about the earth at school, but to hear the word "earth" come out of a 3-year-old's mouth seemed really smart.

As soon as Sylvia could crawl, when she heard music she brightened up, promptly crawled to the piano, lifted herself up and, without even being able to see the keys, reached up and began to play with her little fingers. The kid knows music. (She was only about 8-9 months old when she revealed this talent.)

Both kids love to dance. A few weeks ago, I was taking care of both of them -- all day -- and in a desperate act, played the song Mamma Mia and picked up Sylvia and started dancing. Andy wanted to dance to so I put down Sylvia who promptly began to cry her complaint. What else could I do but pick up both kids, one in each arm and dance to not only that song but a few others by ABBA. Both kids thought it was pretty funny and fun and were laughing with each other. I, on the other hand, had sore arms as I was holding about 70 pounds together. By the end of the day, I was ready for the soaking tub and a glass of wine - or two.

The other day, Tom and I were bringing both kids to the pool in our car. Andy promptly fell asleep in his car seat. Sylvia, unaccustomed to not having to compete with Andy for our attention (he's very communicative these days), began talking very loud in a continuous stream of blabber but with the cadence of words. We couldn't see her (her seat faces the back of the car)and she couldn't see us, but that didn't stop her from getting her two words in while she could.

More Andy Photos

We took Andy to soccer this week and afterwards we headed to the water for a quick dip on a hot and muggy day. The skidoo belongs to some nice young men who graciously let Andy sit on top and pose. Of course Andy was all -- "I want to ride it..." -- not yet Andy, maybe in 16 or so years. When we brought Andy home, Cherise and I heard plenty of "music" coming from the living room. There was Andy and Grandpa, playing about a dozen instruments together. It was pretty cute.

8-8-08 Lucky Birthday for Cherise

8-8-08 the Olympic Games began in China and Cherise celebrated her 37th year. To celebrate, we treated Cherise, Andy and Sylvia (Shawn was working)to a leisure lunch at Saltys (West Seattle). Andy drove our boat to the restaurant. The boy loves speed and not only steers the boat but puts on the gas. We sat outside in the perfect spot overlooking Elliot Bay and Seattle, and had a great lunch of seafood all around. It was pretty festive, what with Cherise's princess crown and all. Cherise then went home to prepare for a night out with the girls and Tom and I headed to Magnolia to swim with the kids. When we finally got a very tired Sylvia and Andy home to bed, Andy said, "this was a fun day." And it was.

Bike Oregon Adventure

Two days after returning from the Bay Area, we packed our bikes in the tricked out Ford Van -- Tom has put in a couch/bench (with storage underneath) that converts into a full-size bed(as my daughter said, "what, you can't sleep in a motel?") and we headed off to Astoria, Oregon for a three-day Bike Oregon trip that included some 2,000 other bicyclists. We arrived on Friday afternoon at Ft. Stevens, which sits on a spit of land that reaches out to the Columbia River on one side and the Ocean on the other. Soon after checking in, we got our dinner and settled in for a night of music (four great local bands played until 10 p.m.) There were plenty of families and kids were winding their way on bikes through the diners, people were dancing, and the weather cooperated with sunshine and perfect temperature. The next day we headed out on (what we thought was a leisure) ride of 40 miles. Some people went more than 60 miles. Everyone, including a father pulling behind him his three daughters, passed us up -- "on your left, on your left....". Of course we did have heavy all-terrain bikes with wheels two or so inches thick, still... Given our slow, labored speed, I thought -- seriously, we aren't young, we could have a coronary!" We completed the course and enjoyed dinner and wine and music and lots of camaraderie that night. But instead of heading out on a 60-mile course across the Columbia River on a narrow 4-mile bridge with the other couple of thousand people, we drove across and camped in Fort Canby on the Washington side, enjoying the beautiful beach (called Wakiki Beach for a reason) and the park that extends from the southern most point of land up quite a ways to Long Beach. We ate the Pelicano restaurant in Ilwaco that night (we brought no provisions, or utensils for that matter) and the staff and chef/owner were friendly and the food good (I highly recommend it if you are in Ilawco). The next day we biked around the park, hiked one of the Lewis & Clark trails, then headed up Long Beach and over to the park beyond Oysterville on Willapa Bay. We enjoyed Willapa Bay, and lingered so long, that we stayed the night on the other side of Willapa Bay in a campground. On the way out we purchased the best fresh Oysters and clams from a family-owned producer and when we got home invited our neighbors Bonnie and Byron to eat them with us, wanting to share our bounty.

I would highly recommend Bike Oregon and hope to do this again next year. We now know that we will need to train throughout this year to not only prepare us for Bike Oregon's weekend ride next year but for our bike trip in Croatia. (We have friends who tuned us into this bike trip and promptly signed up for Croatia 2009.)