Raining

It seems maybe two months since it last rained. Temperature is cooler too. Fall is coming quickly! I go back to work Next Week. Wow. I'll be busy today.

We took full advantage of yesterday's sunshine. We went to Oak's Park and went on rides and walked along the river. Mali and Andrew did one called the Screaming Eagle, which spun them around and lifted them upside-down at tree-top level. They did it again with Susy after a couple of other rides, and then Mali didn't feel too well for awhile. She recovered nicely once Andrew and I finished with the big roller coaster, and we did a nice variety of other rides.

We came home after an ice-cream stop, picked up Hannah to play with Mali, Susy took a nap and Andrew and I went to the pool for a quick workout. Then we returned Hannah and stayed for dinner on Paul and Nancy's beautiful patio.

Home from Washington.

We're home! We had a good time in Washington. Andrew and I fished, hiked and played poker with Andrew's uncles and Grandpa, and Mali hung out with Grandma.
Andrew caught a 5 lb. salmon that we ate tonight for dinner with Anayas, Alana, and Paul.
More on the trip:
David joined us Monday morning for the lonnnnggg drive up to Sekiu - made an hour longer because the Hood River bridge was closed for an upgrade. Grandpa did all the driving, since he had his boat attached. Andrew did his sudoku puzzles all the way there.
We waited awhile in Sekiu for John to arrive, then went out on the boat without him. Dave's cell phone didn't work in Sekiu because he just switched to Singular from Verizon (we think), and I left mine in the van at G&G's house. John tried calling Grandpa's cell phone only to hear it ringing in the truck, parked in front of the cabin.
Verizon coverage was good even out on the water, so John and Denny could talk all they wanted.
John brought bacon and homegrown tomatos, and cooked up a storm of BLTs. Andrew and David had Bacon and cheese sandwiches instead, which John also happily cooked.

It is very beautiful out there, I love being out in the Olympics. Tuesday, Andrew and I slept in (until 10:00!) while Grandpa, John, and Dave fished. Andrew, Grandpa and I fished for awhile with little success, the mornings were definitely better. Grandpa trained Dave on the boat so he and John could go out then while Grandpa took Andrew and I hiking up past Neah Bay on the Cape Flattery Trail.
Wednesday was similar, except John left for home after the morning fish, and then Dave came with us on the Lake Ozette trail. Grandpa did the boardwalk hike and then returned to the truck for a nap. Dave, Andrew and I walked the 3 miles on the beach, but missed the petroglyphs as the tide was in a bit. Hiking around the headlands was steep enough to make Andrew nervous, but there were ropes to hang on to while going up and down. Luckily it was not wet or it would have been a little dangerous. Andrew was a little tired for the last three miles of boardwalk. The beach is beautiful, but the walking was hard, especially after being spoiled by the boardwalk. I want to get a kayak there somehow on a decent day and go investigate all the rocks poking out of the water.

Another trip!

We leave soon today for Washington again, this time for 4 days. Mali and Grandma will hang out together while Andrew and I go fishing with Grandpa and the uncles.

We're home!

What a fun trip! It was great to see everyone at the Kirk picnic. Mali went kayaking with Dana and got a big medal from one of the sister's old events. Dana and Tara also handed out several cool athletic bags with logos from past meets and the 2004 Olympics, and gave Andrew and Mali some swim caps that say Kirk and have the American flag on them.

We left from there to catch a ferry with Dave, Susan, Dalton, and Rylin, and then spent Monday with them. Andrew, Dave, and I played Puerto Rico one time on Sunday night to accomodate Andrew, who wasn't as exhausted as Dave or me. We played 5 or 6 times Monday, and Mali played Settlers with us once. Susan took Mali shopping with Rylin and took her to Claire's, then came home and fixed her hair up all fancy. Meanwhile the boys all went on a hike through the nearby Watershed. We finished up by having dinner at Cucina Cucina at the Redmond Town Center.

Tuesday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's, which the kids always love. Wednesday I played golf with Dad, Denny, and John, which was great fun as always, though Denny and I lost after being waaayyy ahead.

It is nice to be home, but it was a great trip. Sunday we leave again for the big fishing expedition! Mali is going to stay with Grandma and help her watch Connor.

We're off!

soon to be off the homestead, not like sour milk.

We are leaving today for the big Kirk picnic in Bremerton! Then we head to Dave and Susan's for two nights, then to Grandma and Grandpa's for one (Tuesday.) Home Wednesday to get Andrew his allergy shot (I need a string on my finger or something.)

Last night we went and got our passport photos for our Thanksgiving cruise to Mexico. Afterwards we all went to dinner at Beaches to celebrate Andrew and Mali's performances at the swim meet.

Swim Meet Results

Mali did great as the freestyle anchor in the medley relay, but her team did not place. They got third in their heat, Mali swimming hard to keep ahead of a very fast swimmer on another team. She also swam the freestyle and butterfly individual races, and looked good!
Andrew got second in the Backstroke, Freestyle, freestyle relay, and 2 different medley relays (one with older kids.) He got third in the individual 50 yd Butterfly.

Afterwards everyone pushed the coaches in the pool along with everyone else they could find. We went to Subway for a very late lunch, and now we're all sitting around in the blissful air-conditioning.

Oh, we stopped at a garage sale and bought Andrew a desk, which we've wrestled into the house. Andrew is preparing to rearrange his room, and then we'll haul it upstairs.

Swim Meet!

Today is the big Championship swim meet! Happily, Andrew appears completely cured and is very eager to swim. Mali is ready too, and woke us up already dressed in her swimsuit and T-shirt.

The week has been a blur. I'll post more later.

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Monday - back to normal

Andrew seems fine now, though VERY skinny. He has a slight cough, but even that seems mostly gone already. We went to the pool yesterday (his idea, apparently his ultimate desire) and he seemed quite normal, for a normal kid. Which means he didn't swim 20 laps in between games of sharks and minnows like he usually does, but he played, and I think he swam a couple when no one was paying attention. He is going to try swim team today, since the other older kids won't be there and he can have a lane to himself and just see how he does.

We went with Pablo, Matias, Paul, Zoe, and Hannah. We swam a lot, then the guys all sat around and played UpWords and had a beer (Matias had a coke. Andrew water.) while the girls played some more. A very nice afternoon. It was HOT, so the pool was the perfect activity.

Paul invited us over for brunch yesterday morning, out on the beautiful back porch he shares with the local hummingbirds.
Happily we had even had something to offer, because I couldn't sleep and got up at 5:00 and made three of Andrew's favorite coffeecakes in an attempt to put some weight back on him. He's lost about 8 pounds since he got sick. He ate nearly a whole one yesterday, and there's one waiting for him this morning.

Recovery, continued

Andrew never had a fever yesterday! I took him out with Mali and Matias to check out some local garage sales. Not too exciting, but his first excursion since his last trip to the doctor. He is eating more, but looks awfully skinny.

Mali had her first soccer practice yesterday, in the ninety(+) degree heat. We had lots of water breaks. Five new players on the team, since we go to 11v11 on a full field this year. Mali did great, and even tried a stint as goalie. Before practice she was very nice to help me pump up the 14 new soccer balls we got for each player from the club.

And Also:
All of us are going on a cruise!
Irene and Melissa are coming too!
For ten days over Thanksgiving we will cruise to Mexico from San Francisco and back, with stops in:
Catalina Island
Puerto Vallarta
Mazatlan
Cabo San Lucas
San Diego

Should be a great time! Andrew's cross country will be in full swing, hopefully we can work around it. His regional meet in Seattle will be the day before we leave (Saturday, November 19) and the National meet (if we go) in Rhode Island is shortly after we return.

Andrew's recovery.

Andrew is doing MUCH better now! He has not had a fever all day, and he was able to lose at Uno tonight to his mother.

I took Mali to the pool after swim practice so she could see her friends and collect her ribbons from Saturday's meet. She got:
2nd in the Freestyle Relay,
5th in the Butterfly, and
8th in the Freestyle.
Very Good! We are all very proud of her.

After Mali played in the pool while I sat in the hot tub, we came home and ate, then Mali had Zoe over. They watched "Are We There Yet." They also took pictures of each other, and I showed them how to load them on the PC, and they cropped them.
It was too hot to do much outside. Andrew and I played Halo. (He was not too sick to demolish me, as usual.)

Pneumonia!

Andrew has Pneumonia. He wasn't coughing much at all on our first trip to the doctor. On his second trip he had an X-ray and the infection was discovered. He is recovering now that he has some antibiotics in him. This morning he woke up without a fever for the first time in 9 days. He is coughing a lot more now, but he has a lot more energy than he did.

Mali and I returned last night from our three-night stay at Pacific Beach with: Grandma and Grandpa; Amy and Mary and Jim; David, Susan, Dalton, and Rylin; Mike, Anna, and Ashley. Denny, Wendy and Connor came over for Tuesday. Lot's of fun. Rylin finally said my name: "Go away, Uncle Darrin!" Very cute. She is a tough nut to crack.

Day Six, still feverish.

Andrew is at 102 degrees again this morning. He will be staying home with Susy while Mali and I head up to Pacific Beach to see everyone. Poor guy.

No further improvement

Andrew is still sick! Unless he is better tomorrow he will be staying home with Susy, and Mali and I will be the only ones to make it to Pacific Beach.

If he's better tomorrow, we will probably wait until Monday morning to travel.

Still Feverish, but getting better.

Andrew's fever has dropped to 100 degrees! It was at 103 yesterday. This is with no medication, so hopefully he is on the mend. He still feels pretty crummy, but he seems perkier than yesterday's disturbing listlessness.

Mali just got back from swim team, and is going to the county fair with Nancy, Zoe, and Hannah. This is good, as she was prettttty bored yesterday.

Andrew is sick!

Andrew has a fever! He suddenly turned into a hot puddle of goo last night, and this morning doesn't seem any better. He did have a hard workout yesterday morning at swim practice, but he seemed fine all day. I came home from my soccer coaches meeting at 8:00 to find him burning up on the couch watching TV with Susy and Mali.

We have unhappily cancelled our trip up to Redmond today so we don't get Rylin or Dalton or their parents sick. Hopefully Andrew will be recovered by Sunday for the beach trip, and no one else will get it!

Vacation

Aaaahhhhh! Today FINALLY felt like a vacation day. This morning I found the loose wire on my sprinkler system that was causing me to spend wayyyy too much time manually watering my lawn. Then I delt with the ever-renewing mole holes in the backyard, mowed the lawn, fixed the backwards sprinkler head in the new garden, rearranged Mali's bedroom furniture, AND THEN took Mali to meet up with Andrew and his new pal Kyle at the pool, where I took a nice little nap in the sun.

Andrew spent last night at Kyle's house, then rode his bike down to A&W for lunch with Kyle's family before spending the hottest part of the day inside on the computer playing Runescape. They then went to the pool, and Mali and I joined them a little later.

A wonderful day. Hopefully tomorrow will be as productive and relaxing. Wednesday I am taking the kids to David and Susan's for a visit while Susy works like crazy so she can take next week off for the camping trip. We'll come home Friday so the kids can sleep before Saturday's swim meet, and I can prepare for another long drive on Sunday.

Weekend Update

I've been toooo busy to post. Sorry. Here's a quick update:

Friday night we took the kids to see Suzanne Vega and Mark Cohn at the Zoo. Marc Cohn was better than I expected - very bluesy. The music was great, but the kids weren't as thrilled to be there as we were. They did like "The Soldier and the Queen" song by Suzanne Vega, they sing that one at home sometimes. Otherwise the kids seemed kind of bored, though much better than at the Blues Festival a couple of weeks ago. It helped that we had a big picnic dinner, and Andrew brought his book. Mali got lost on the way back from the bathroom when she ran ahead of me and then stopped at a kiosk to shop. I returned to our blanket to accusations of losing my daughter. Smartly, she had the presence to troop to security and ask if they'd seen me (a guy in a yellow shirt), which was where I was headed.

Saturday morning was their first swim meet of the year. They did great, and are both determined to practice hard this week for the next one. I've found my calling: In the bullpen, calling out the kids for each heat.

Saturday night we had a BIG barbecue with all the neighbors. Pablo made his chimichurri, which was delicious as always with italian sausage and tomatoes on baguette. I made burgers for the kids. Gayle made an incredible dessert - a huge flan with all fresh picked fruit. Delicious and beautiful! Pablo also made his spinach dip, by special request from Mali. The girls (Mali, Zoe, Hannah, Kelsey) grabbed a bunch of the dip to eat in their playhouse hideout (no boys allowed!), and there was a lot of running and racing around by all the kids.

This morning Susy had to go to work, but wasn't in a big hurry to get there, so instead we all went to see the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. We all loved it! I was pleasantly surprised, since the first one with Gene Wilder is one of my all time favorites. It was a marvelous new adaption of the book, with many different scenes and a nice updated feel to it.

In local news...

Matias discovered this on his way home from Alana's, so we all trooped up the street to check it out.

A little old lady was driving, and told Pablo "I just took my eyes off the road for a moment." She is fine, and could even open her door to get out.
You might note that the speed limit sign does say "AT ALL TIMES."

That's Pablo, Rocio (hidden), Matias, Mali, and Andrew, gawking.

Tennis Tuesday

Mornings are always busy here, with swim team from 9:00 to 10:00 every weekday:
Mali MWF,
Andrew M-F.
We all walked down together today (T), and Mali and I brought our tennis rackets and played on the courts near the pool. We took a short break and watched a foursome of older ladies play doubles. They played well. Mali quickly figured out their names.
Mali has gotten much better since we last tried the tennis courts a month ago. In the meantime we've been playing against the wall at the school, which seems more helpful as there is less chasing the ball around and more actual contact with the ball.
Meanwhile, Andrew swam over a kilometer - they really work them at the beginning of the week.

Disturbing news this evening: Andrew has lost two pounds! He thinks maybe he should eat more often, especially with all this swimming.

For dinner I made burritos. Yesterday's BLT's were a bigger hit. (Andrew had BLs) Very good on such a hot day - 90's yesterday. Cooler today, only 80's.