Let It Snow...

First snow of the season has arrived on Bainbridge Island. It was a bit of a wet snow, but snow nonetheless. The white stuff ignited my holiday spirit, causing me to embark on a light stringing quest inside and outside the house. The girls woke up cranky from their afternoon nap, so the "lights effect" fell a little flat.

As I am composing this I realize that I haven't written in a while. There is no reason, other than the fact that I am--as usual--pretty busy. Between my family, work, school, recent work travel, my sad attempt at making a drummer--me--a guitar player, and all the other daily trials, I am surprised I have time to write even this much. I have loads of pictures, tons of unprocessed video, and all kinds of ideas on what I would like to do musically, but just no time to do any of it. Mostly, anyway.

OK, enough of my whining about not having time. It isn't such a big deal.

As for the twins, they are doing well. Their vocabulary is pretty good for nearly 2.5 years, and they have nearly perfected the art of saying NO! Their listening skills could use some work.

Jar Jar Lives Here

I am a self-professed Star Wars junky, but even I thought Jar Jar was LAME--even the Ewoks were tolerable when compared to the floppy-eared buffoon that commanded way too much screen time in Episode I. Anyway, you might find it amusing to know that the twins , in their determination to do things on their own, have adopted Jar Jar's speaking style. Around here we here we often hear things like "Thisa my do it." or "Mesa by my own". It's cute, and I don't know where hey picked it up--I haven't unleashed the Star Wars saga on them yet--but why Jar Jar? Why couldn't they speak like Yoda? I would much rather hear phrases like, "To the potty I go" or "Potty Power I please watch" or "More milk I have please." Hmmm...maybe it's time to sit them down for a viewing of Empire Strikes Back and a language lesson from a 900 year old Jedi Master?

Autumn, Day 1: Nice

Today was officially the first day of Autumn. It was fairly nice here on the island; high 60s and mostly sunny. I spent most of the day ridding one of the garden areas of a parasitic clover plant and amending soil with smelly compost. Rachelle spent a lot of time inside hanging with the little ladies and being a power mom. The girls and I had popsicles and rode trikes; they did anyway. We also got educated about potty power--again--and how it's bad to steal like the Swiper does on Dora the Explorer. Swiper, no swiping!

Valdez--my lawn club friend and neighbor--launched a rocket with his son, my next-door neighbor re-stained his front porch, and I blasted KEXP while on my anti-clover crusade. Down with clover!! It was a good day; I didn't have to use my AK--as if I had one--and the neighborhood was awash in the usual suburban activities (mowing lawns, puttering around, etc.). This might be one of the last nice weekend days we have until the gray ceiling clamps down on us like vise, so I'm happy I was able to enjoy most of it outdoors.

Exercise is Great, But...

Getting back into a workout routine after slacking for a year is, uh, difficult. I pushed myself today to restart my weekday weight lifting habit, and man did I pay--and I haven't even felt the effects of the second day soreness. I couldn't believe how tired I was after only 45 minutes of lifting weights! In a week or two I should be feeling somewhat better than a lazy 38 year old computer nerd, but right now I feel like a lazy 38 year old computer nerd.

Tomorrow, I will slip on my new running shoes and make an attempt to run around the island--or at least around the block. Btw, I LOVE the Internet for this reason. For procrastinators--who are also impatient--like me, it rocks that I can order pair of shoes a day before I decide to run, and get them the next day. I'll bet Al Gore is a total procrastinator. Didn't he invent the Internet? Just kidding, Al.

Alright...back to the computer nerding activities.

The Autumn Approach, Grapes, and the Power of the...

As I sit here typing and watching the sun creep through the marine layer, the twins are hard at work studying the art of potty power. Yep. They are--by request--watching a video titled "Potty Power"(thanks, Valdez!). As a result, I have been shuttling them to and from the potty room about every 15 minutes. Great fun!

The days are getting shorter here in the land of fresh, wild salmon, space needles, islands, and fleece formal wear--I jest about the fleece, though people do wear an excessive amount of it here (I have three fleece jackets myself). The trees are also beginning to show the signs of the seasonal shift. Fall is always nice around here, but it does signal the start of long gray days ahead bringing their mood crushing dreariness to weigh down on us Northwesterners. OK, it's not that bad--really.

Tonight, to celebrate the change of season, shell and I get well-deserved night out. We will be attending the annual "Grapes of Wrath" wine tasting party at our neighbors house. OK...going across the street to drink wine, while a neighbor girl babysits the twins isn't exactly the definition of a wild night out, but you take what you can get as a parent. This party is always a good time, so we are looking forward to it!

Kids are clawing at my legs for attention. Gotta run!

It Was One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today (China time), Rachelle, Chris, Vivienne and Olivia became a family. It's amazing to me that those once tiny girls--who could not get enough of the babbas full of formula--are now full-blown toddlers with a huge vocabulary and an affinity for apple juice, Elmo, stickers and bubbles. We ask them now, "how much does mommy[daddy] love you?". Their response--hands waving--"too much, too much.". Never too much!

Here is a recap of some of the funny things they say now.

"Too heavy!" (response to things heavier than stuffed animals)
"I go in there." (when they want to sleep in our room)
"Vivi dood it!" (Olivia's accusatory tone)
"Livi dood it!" (Vivi's answer)
"Bad news, mommy." (When something isn't good)
"What's up, bear?" (Their morning greeting to the old--and giant--Seattle FAQ Schwartz bear that lives at day care)
"My Sophia!" (Vivi's assertion about her bunny)
"My Katherine!" (Livi's assertion about her cat/purse)
"I sleep more!" (What they say after keeping us up at night wanting to "go in there")
"I pet the kitty" (Usually uttered before grabbing Ophelia's tail)
"That's mommy's juice[daddy's beer]." (Wine is juice--technically.)
"Where [insert name of stuffed animal or parent] go?" (constantly!)

This week they also entered the early pre-school class. This year has flown by--too fast, too fast.

Writing, Swimming, and Blue Cheese

I had a busy evening. I was trying to wrap up some work, and finish an essay I had due in a class I am taking. All this while making salads for dinner as Shell comforted the girls who were crankily trying to sleep in the heat. We had a heat wave today--it reached 83 or something like that! You non Northwesterners can laugh all you want. It was warm--really warm.

Anyway, as I was in the midst of wrapping up the essay formatting and assembling one of my signature salads, Shell made a quick call to uncle Cookie. Here we are multi-tasking our butts of, and what is uncle Cookie doing? Getting tipsy by the pool with some other friends, who shall remain anonymous (you know who you are!). I guess that's the life of an uncle of twin girls from China--chilling pool-side on a school night while the rest of are (gag) writing essays!

Have a drink for me, Cookie! I'm jealous. :)

Downward Dog

I am not entirely sure why the girls do this, but just before we left the beach each day, they both performed downward dog (Yoga move). Perhaps it is their Buddhist roots, or they may be trying to imitate mommy or daddy, I dunno. In any case, it is pretty comical. See for yourself...

Fun in the Sandbox

We had a really long day at the beach today, filled with lots of fun, sun, wind, sand, and more sand. I dug an even larger hole today, and proceeded to ring it with sand towers, a walled sand city of sorts. Digging in the sand is fun, and makes me feel like a kid again. The girls joined in as well, and we built the "bestest" sand Castleberry EVER!



Other things we did at what the girls insist on calling the "sandbox" (aka the beach)...stood in the water, ran around in circles, ate a lot of snacks (some covered in sand), and eventually got so pooped out that Vivienne passed out in the walled sand city. Unfortunately my camera was on the wrong setting, so most of today's pix were blown out and blurred. Damn shutter priority mode!!



We had fun.

Digging the Beach

We hung out at the beach again today, and this time we didn't see any bees. Nevertheless, Olivia's tummy was bothering her early on (they have both been fighting a nasty daycare bug) so we started off the second day wondering if we would be able to spend any quality time with the sand and surf. A little time passed and we were all enjoying ourselves, so things went well.

Mom and Vivienne (pictured) took a trip out to the water, while dad and Olivia chilled back at camp (~50 yards away). For some reason (bee aversion perhaps?), Olivia passed on visiting the surf today. She still had fun, and was later quite enthusiastic about constructing sand cakes with mommy and digging a giant hole with daddy. That's right, my big contribution of the day was digging a 3x3x2 (or similar dimensions) hole using only children's plastic shovels (and small shovels at that).



Here you see daddy and girls crouching in the hole. I later expanded the hole a bit and even built a sand slide which descended into the hole. The girls were totally hip to the slide.

Tomorrow...likely more beach time.

Oregon Beach and a Bee Sting

We are having a good time out here on the Oregon coast, where the girls have discovered a love for the beach. This is their first experience with the ocean (as far as we know) and they seem to love it. However, it didn't start out so great. Olivia's left foot had an unfortunate meeting with a bumble bee just 5 minutes after hitting the sand. We were walking through the tide and BLAMMO! OUCH!! She was OK after a few minutes, and now we know she isn't allergic to bee stings. I was stung by a bumble bee just the other day at home, so I know firsthand it hurt. I find it interesting that it was my first bumble bee sting ever (several honey bee stings as a kid), and then just a few days later Olivia met her first bumble bee sting. Oh well.

So, the girls are suited up and ready to conquer the beach again today! We will be bringing our heavy equipment (sand tractors) and doing some serious digging and perhaps attempting to make a castle. We'll see. Hopefully we don't meet up with any bees today.

Rainy Weekend for Two, in July?

The twins had their official 2nd birthday over the weekend, and boy did they have fun! They got to visit with Grammy, go to the aquarium (which involved the always popular ferry ride), eat cupcakes, play with their new doll strollers, and ride their cool retro trikes (with some assistance). What more could a toddler ask for? Oh yeah...two additional days off from school (aka daycare).

In addition to the fun and presents, the girls also got their wish that the sun would go away and be replaced by rain. Even in the Northwest rain in July is odd, especially the tropical variety we have been dealing with over the last several days. I guess Mother Nature was just trying to do her part to give the girls the best birthday a two year old could wish for. Or maybe it's global cooling that's to blame...

Piggies and the Evil Sun

The twins got their first pigtails on July 1st! They were quite thrilled with the process, and they affectionately referred to them as PIGGIES! They also call them PONIES! They now request them on a regular basis.

This picture shows the girls grumpily displaying their piggies. The grumpy facial expressions are the result of a run-in with their sworn enemy the SUN! I don't really understand why the girls dislike the sun so much. Anything, even a bright incandescent bulb, is annoyingly referred to as "SUN!". We asked the girls today, a bright, sunny and rare 95+ day, if they liked the rain or the sun. They quickly replied, "RAIN!". One of their favorite books is "Just a rainy day" which, by the way, is in need of replacing after MANY evening readings. I guess it was their destiny to end up in the Pacific Northwest.

In other news, rumor has it that Grammy (who lives in the phone, as far as the girls know) is coming for a visit from her new seaside home in San Diego next week. The girls are very excited!

The Beauty of Junk

I randomly came across some amazing photos today of my former home town, Rio Linda, CA. There is not much that is beautiful about the town, in my opinion anyway, but these photos capture a side of Rio Linda that could only appear beautiful on film, or in this case in pixels. Click here to see how Steve Shames made Rio Linda's reputation for yard-cars really shine in a different light, high-speed infrared film to be precise. I never though junk could look so good.

#1 Dad

Being the father of twin toddlers, I have little free time, so I am somewhat behind in my posts, picture and video editing, etc. I even forgot to post on my first Father's Day! So, let's pretend it is Father's Day again. If it were, I would have posted these cool photos the girls made for me at school (aka daycare). Apparently I am the #1 Dad, in their eyes anyway. Don't mind the grumpy looks on their faces. The sun was in their eyes, and they don't seem to like the sun much, which is great for them since we don't see it that often up here.

Sleeved

Stickers are THE RAGE in our house these days. The girls wear them with pride, as you can see here in this picture of Olivia displaying her "sleeved" look. She even has a little 'tude in her facial expression to accompany the look of a hard-core sticker girl. This look says, "Don't mess with me! I've got Hello Kitty watchin' my back, fool!" As you can see, we have a lot of fun around here with the little things.

Hey From the Bay

I am about to settle in for the night in my hotel room near the corporate hive in San Jose, and I realized I had not posted in a while. I am watching the local news cast on channel 2 (a former haunt on weekday nights), and here it what I have learned about what's happening in my former home region.

* The beaches in Santa Cruz are polluted
* An elderly woman was killed by a train in Oakland
* The 49'ers are trying to move to Santa Clara and still keep their team name
* An SF supervisor is being ousted because he lied about which neighborhood he lived in
* The SJ Mercury News is laying off more staff
* A 5 acre, uninhabited (and probably uninhabitable) island near the Richmond Bridge bought in the 1960s for $50k is up for sale for $10 million.

I didn't hear a single positive news story in the one hour broadcast. Not much has changed in the Bay Area. It makes me miss my beautiful Bainbridge Island, and my wonderful girls at home (mom, and twins).

Accountants

After writing the entry about the girls counting their green beans at dinner, I began to wonder if that was indicative of a tendency toward an Accounting career. After all, they were counting BEANS, so maybe they will be corporate bean counters some day?

I hope not...

Counting

We were pleasantly surprised yesterday when the girls began picking up the green beans we served with their dinner, and started to count them. They had a few of the numbers in the correct sequence, but just the fact that they understand the whole concept of counting, at less than two years old, amazed us.

Time Slice

I found a rare slice of time this evening, and I filled it with some photo editing. Take a peek at my Flickr page for some new and not so new pictures of the twins.

Fading fast, and feeling like I am about to come down with a "daycare cold". Hopefully I will find to write something interesting soon.

Happy Birthday Darth!

Wow! It has really been 30 years since the debut of my favorite movie of all time, Star Wars! Happy birthday to Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Lea, Chewbacca, C-3P0, R2-D2, the stormtroopers, etc.

To think of the hours I spent as a child playing with my SW action figures (which I STILL HAVE), the countless times I have seen the movies, and the dream to one day own a full stormtrooper costume...

38 Special

The title of this post has nothing to do with the revolver, nor does it refer in in any way to the Southern Rock band of the same name. The number 38 is my new age, and today is my special day.

Thirty eight years ago today, I entered the world having no idea what lay ahead. Nothing has changed, as I still have no idea what my future will hold. Well, I do know a few things about it, and who will be a part of it, but generally the future is a special mystery to me, to all of us really.

The future is special, today is special (for me anyway), and today I am 38.

Taylor

I received my birthday present early today (thanks, Shell!).

Ever since we brought the girls home, I have found it difficult to find time to get behind my drum set, so I needed a solution to keep my musical cravings satisfied. Drums are loud, pianos take up a lot of space (though I *really* want one soon), and I just don't have any current desire to learn any of the woodwinds or brass instruments. So...I asked for a guitar. I have a ukulele, and it's cool but sort of limited.

I bought a guitar a few years ago, but it was very *inexpensive*, and me being a drummer and naive about guitar quality, I hadn't realized it was going to be a piece of crap. Now I have a better idea of what a decent guitar should cost, thanks to my friend John who commutes to Fremont on the same van with me. Thanks, John.

Anyway, I had a nice day off playing my new Taylor acoustic guitar (after 4 hours of yard work). OK, the term "playing" is open to debate, but I did manage to learn a few chords.

Gold Rush Town

We are up here in gold rush country for a wedding. The town is Nevada City, the wedding is of our friends Heather and Steven.

We rented a whimsical house which happens to have Internet access; hence my ability to make this post. We are here with auntie Kimmy, uncle Corey and uncle Bern who the girls have affectionately nicknamed "Cookie and Bum".

The girls are hanging out with Grammy and Gong Gong down in the valley. This their first time apart from mom and dad since we brought them home. I miss them, as does shell. They are having a great time though. Grammy has a lot of toys for them, and Elmo videos!

The other ladies are busy readying themselves for the ceremony this evening. I might grab a short nap or go read a book.

Later...

Evening in SJ

After the onslaught of the latest Twinami, I finally found time to do a blog entry. I am typing this entry all bleary-eyed (up since 3:45 PST on Bainbridge today) in downtown San Jose waiting for my room service (Sashimi, and a glass of Pinot).

I am here for a work related conference (officially branded as an "un-conference"), which should prove interesting for a computer nerd such as myself. I just found out today that the creator of JavaScript will be giving us a little chat, so that makes the trip even better. Whoo hoo!

My girls are safely in the care of my right-hand lady, their mother. This is the first time I have been away from them since we brought them home so not only am I missing my buddy, but I miss my little buddies, too! Vivienne said hello to me on the phone this evening. Olivia was too busy watching Elmo's World. LOL!

It is nice to have a few moments to myself, and let me tell you I spent it wisely. After a long day traveling and meeting with colleagues, I relaxed with a nice dry martini and a couple chapters of the Java programming series from Sun Microsystems.

So, back to the PNW tomorrow night after a day of scripting pow wows, a couple of days to rest, then it's back to Cali for a friend's wedding over the weekend.

Brain tired, food arrived...gotta go. Better post next time.

Twinami

We've been getting hit by natural disasters nearly every day here on the Island, or at least in *our* home. Don't worry, no one has been injured, and the house has held up well.

Similar in effect to the dreaded (and far more dangerous) Tsunami, we have been subjected to countless Twinamis over the last 7 months. Today, I managed to snap a photo just after one hit. Just *look* at the damage!

Clean up is usually quick.

Twins Version 1.20

We installed an update today to Twins version 1.20. It is amazing to think that the girls have been with us for a mere 7 months, yet it feels like we have been together since version 0 and above.

Version 1.20 is full of new features. Their mess making features are top-notch as are their language skills! I actually read a magazine article today that endorsed learning to live with toddler messes, and that making messes is a good thing for kids. Where was that article when I was growing up? It could have explained a lot to my parents. :)

Anyway, the kids are becoming little clowns (especially Olivia). We are having loads of fun!

Dr. Jones

I've been hearing rumors about this for years, and now they have been validated. In 2008, Dr. Indiana Jones is back!

Check it out by clicking here.

Now if they would only announce there will be another Star Wars trilogy...

A Moment of Irony

While working from home today, and listening to my music collection via iTunes, I got distracted from my work for a moment by a song that began skipping. Some of the CDs I transferred to the PC didn't come across entirely intact, thus they skip a bit. I keep telling myself I need to make a list of these songs, and then one day I will fix them.

Anyway, I found it a little ironic that the song that diverted my attention was in fact a Garbage song called "Fix me now".

Back to work...

Wonder Twin Powers...

Activate!

Form of...recent pics of the twins on my Flickr site.

You would most likely have to be a GenXer to recall that reference. Interestingly enough, our wonder twins can shape shift from happy toddlers to fit-throwing monsters with their magic twin power rings, although I've never *actually* seen the rings.

Most of the time they are really sweet, happy girls. I spent some good "dad" time with the kids today while momma was out with one of her pals who was also getting in some adult time away from her chilluns'.

We messed the house up, and ate a ton of cookies. It was great!

OK...we each had our two cookie limit, but we did mess the house up.

Well...it be late, I'm sleepy, and I need to get as much rest as possible before the girls sound the wake up call at 6 am. Ugh...

iPotty

Warning, this entry is all about potty training, so you can skip it if that subject makes you cringe.

For those of you that are down with PT, read on...

The girls are 19 months now, and for the past couple of months they have been notifying us that they need diaper changes, sometimes prior to actually needing one. So, we decided it was time they started getting acquainted with the potty.

This weekend was monumental in a way. Shell jammed out to Silverdale and picked up a hip potty for the kids, and on the same day Olivia happily broke it in on the first try. Her reward was a sticker. Vivienne was a tad gun-shy, but she eventually did her duty on the following day. She was also quite pleased with herself, and her sticker. We still have a long process to endure before we can cut them loose from the Huggies, but we had good progress early on, so there is hope that it will happen quickly.

That hip potty kinda reminded me of an iMac, so I think it should be aptly named the iPotty.

PDX

Our trip to Portland (PDX) last weekend was fun, disappointing, refreshing, challenging, and so on. We went there to scout the PDX scene for what we were hoping would be a restored or solid Craftsman home (PDX is full of bungalows) at a price that would allow us to sell our new bungalow on the island, and live comfortably on my income alone. This would have allowed shell to stay home with the kids full-time, and spend some time exploring other goals she has.

Well...we did see some nice homes, and some of the neighborhoods are wonderful. We even found a great house with enough space for all of us, a home office, an extra room, and a huge basement where I could set up a music room. The trouble was, the homes in the neighborhoods we wanted to live in (safe, close to cool stuff, good for the kids) were overpriced, and the home we fell in love with was in the ghetto.

That's the trouble with PDX right now. There is really no great job market to support the prices, but Seattle is close, so the prices up here tend to have an effect on the prices in PDX. That's my theory anyway. I have noticed that many of the asking prices have been consistently falling there, so I am keeping my eyes peeled in case something interesting comes up.

In the meantime, and probably the foreseeable future, we will stay put here on the island.

As for the island, and our house, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, that was a heavy influence on our decision *not* to aggressively pursue PDX, because in order to replace what we have here, it would take a very special house and neighborhood.

The challenging part of the trip was trying to keep our twins from kicking our a$$#@ for dragging them around in the car for three days. They had *some* fun, and we actually got to eat a nice dinner alone one night since the hotel hooked us up with a great baby sitter. The girls also got to enjoy some fine room service as you can see in this picture.

So...Bainbridge is still home.

What Happened?

I got busy and forgot I had a blog, that's what happened!

Anyway, where was I...

Oh yeah, the girls are growing like weeds, and beginning to enter the phase known as "NO!". They are almost 19 months old now!

We went on our first plane trip since returning from China, and it went pretty smoothly. OK, there was a snag in the form of Alaska Airlines delaying the flight to the point where we arrived at Grammy and Gong Gong's house at 1:30 am, cranky kids in tow. That sucked but the rest of the trip was fine. The girls are pictured here with Grammy and Gong Gong.

The girls got to see both sets of grandparents and they even got to meet one of their great grandmothers. They also met some great aunts, uncles, and great great uncle Raymundo (aka uncle Ray).

We have been busy working, and following our daily routine since then, and are just now coming up for air. I had the distinct pleasure of being solo dad for a week while Rachelle was out of town. The girls and I had lots of fun, and I now have a new appreciation for the benefits of daycare. I worked from home the entire week so I could be close to daycare in case I needed to fetch a sick kid or something. I actually accomplished more in that week than I have in a while, probably due to an extra 3 hours per day I didn't spend commuting.

This weekend, we are heading down to P-Town, PDX, Stump town, or as most people know it, Portland, Oregon. We are going to explore the neighborhoods a bit, take the girls to the Chinese Gardens, and contemplate what Portland might mean for us in the near future.

And with that, Happy Chinese New Year to all. Eat your pork because it's the year of the pig!

Overseas Adoptions Increasing

According to the available data, more and more people in the states have been adopting children from other countries, including China. As a result, China has recently tightened their requirements for screening prospective parents. Personally, I think this is a great thing because these children deserve the best possible parents they can have after the rough start they got in life. The new requirements may seem callous to some, but in my opinion China has the right to make any rules they wish. The rules are only meant to protect the kids.

Anyway, it is really no surprise to us that international adoption is becoming an increasingly popular option since we obviously just completed an international adoption ourselves. We had the fortune of telling our adoption story to the Associated Press back in December. Here is the link to the article.

Happy New Year!

We rang in2007 at lake Quinault Lodge in, where else, lake Quinault, WA.

Spending time there as we did a couple of years ago was really relaxing despite being sick (all four of us!). This year we had the extra added pleasure of having our two lovely kids, their grammy, gong gong, uncle Greg, and aunt Debbie.

The only bad part was the lack of sleep since the kids were not feeling well. Other than that, we had a great time. It just went too fast!

I hope this year brings good fortune to all.