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On the evening of Superbowl Sunday I was joking around with my buddies at hockey saying that I’d be lucky to survive the week that was about to begin the following morning. At the time I was referring to the fact that I was going to be on-call at work all week, which is always crazy, and that combined with the coming snowstorm meant I was probably in for it. However I had no idea just how crazy things would actually turn out, or that my survival would actually become endangered.

As I got home from hockey that night and turned on the Superbowl (which I had recorded), snow was already coming down pretty hard. I watched the game, which was the most boring Superbowl I can remember, then woke up the following morning unsurprised by the snow that had accumulated. Since my on-call shift was to begin at 9:00am, I felt like I should drive to the office, even though it would have been perfectly acceptable for me to work from home.

I had just checked commute times on Waze and Google Maps – it didn’t look bad at all. So my thought was that as soon as I got out of our neighborhood and onto the main streets, the roads would be fine. I took my normal route over towards Highway 9, but just getting there was really sketchy. I saw a couple accidents on the way, but I figured I would just take it nice and easy. I was in my 2004 Acura TL, which has front wheel drive, and I guess it’s fair to say I had underestimated the conditions because by the time I reached Highway 9 I knew I was in trouble. People were having serious difficulty and were just sliding off the road.

I started out on Highway 9 heading south, and I probably only made it a quarter mile before I had to slow down to nearly a stop. Next thing I know, my car is sliding sideways toward the right shoulder of the road. I tried to drive out of it but it was pointless. Next thing I know, I’m stuck on the shoulder of the highway, and my tires do nothing but spin if I step on the gas. At this point it’s 6:45am and still dark out.

As I’m sitting there, a big black delivery van loses control and starts sliding toward me. I couldn’t move so I just had to sit there and wait to be hit. As it turned out, he literally missed me on the rear by 3 inches, no exaggeration! It was so close you wouldn’t believe it (see photo below). The driver got out and was amazed at how close we came, as was I.

Meanwhile I was still stuck there, and over the next couple hours the same thing happened to me with 4 more cars! They just kept losing control and sliding off the road, right at me, yet none of them ever actually contacted my car. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. My car ended up cornered and blocked by 4 or 5 other cars, many of whom ran into each other, but nothing ever even touched mine.

I spoke to a state patrol officer at the scene who told me they had called tow trucks, which would be here eventually, but in the meantime I had to wait with my car. I had been considering abandoning my car and walking home, but she said my car would be impounded if I did that. So there I sat for 2 hours, calling and texting people to share the details of my situation, as well as making friends with the other folks who were in the same situation as myself. Jessica ended up finding a post on one of her local Facebook groups urging people to avoid Highway 9, and you can actually see my car in the picture they posted!

Eventually the tow truck arrived and I had no choice but to pay him the $200 fee to tow me a whole 15 feet back into the middle of the road. I didn’t know who else to call or what else to do, so I felt like this was my only option. Honestly I was just thankful that my car hadn’t endured so much as a scrape, and that I was able to just go home. So it was a 3 hour ordeal where I went 5 miles roundtrip, and it cost me $200, but I was home safe and sound with nothing else to worry about.

I worked from home the rest of the day, then did the same on Tuesday. Wednesday I decided to drive into work, but stayed on major roads and freeways the entire time. It ended up taking 90 minutes to get there that morning, and another 2 hours to get home that night. Based on that experience, I decided to work from home again on Thursday.

By the time Friday morning came around I was at the tail end of what had turned out to be a very rough week on call. I won’t go into details, other than to say there were a lot of unexpected problems with the website that week, and it was one of the most difficult weeks I’ve ever had. The roads were in good shape that morning, but we knew another big storm was on the way. Meanwhile, I had to hold a meeting that day about some of the stuff that had come up during the week, and I felt it would be better if I was there in person.

I had no trouble driving to work Friday morning, but on the freeway they had warning saying a major storm was on the way, and that evening commutes would be bad. I held my meeting at 9:00am and everything was fine. I could have come home then, but I had another meeting from 1:00-2:00pm, and snow wasn’t supposed to get bad until 4:00 or 5:00pm, so I decided to stay at work, then come home at 2:00.

As it turned out, the storm came early, and at 1:00 I looked out the window to find the heaviest blizzard I’ve ever seen in person. It was coming down so hard I couldn’t believe it. I spoke with a few co-workers and we decided to cancel the meeting so we could all head home immediately. So I grabbed my stuff, went down to my car in the parking garage, then ended up spending 30 minutes just trying to get out of my work. Turned out everyone was doing the same thing as me, and the backup we all created was ridiculous.

I knew traffic was going to be horrible, so here’s where I made a really bad decision – I pulled up the Waze app on my phone looking for a shortcut. I wanted to get home to my family as quickly as possible, and didn’t consider how dangerous it would be driving on anything other than a major road or freeway. My thought was this – roads were perfectly fine this morning and it’s only been snowing for less than an hour. So I waited and waited to finally get off Microsoft campus, then ended up turning into a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with because that’s the way the app was taking me.

I drove slowly through the neighborhood, following a new white Honda Accord, which was 30 or 40 feet ahead of me. The Waze app told me to take the following left turn, which was the same way the car ahead of me was going. As I approached the turn I could tell I was coming up on a hill, but it wasn’t too steep at the top, so I just kept going slowly along. As I started to descend I could tell the hill was about to get much steeper, but the Accord ahead of me was doing fine inching their way down, so I attempted to do the same.

I don’t really know what happened other than my brakes locked up and suddenly I was sliding down the hill like a kid on a toboggan. It was a really heart sinking feeling because you have absolutely no control over the situation, and you know it’s going to end badly. The only question is how bad.

My first thought was “I hope I don’t slide into the car ahead of me” but instantly I could tell my trajectory wasn’t going toward them, it was going towards someone’s driveway off to the left. Unlike most accidents which take place in a split second, I got to enjoy a nice slow motion slide that went on for about 200 feet. The car was gaining speed the whole time, and I remember thinking at one point about pulling the emergency brake, since having my foot on the brake pedal was doing nothing besides causing my ABS to pump, but I opted not to do that because I was afraid it would put me in a spin, which would have been even more terrifying.

I could see that I was heading for some bushes and trees along the edge of the driveway, so my only hope was that I didn’t go head-first into a big tree. As it turned out, I ended up staying to the right of a big tree, only missing it by about 2 feet. I went through a rhododendron bush, then here’s where it got really scary – behind that bush was a rock wall with a 6 foot drop into the next house’s driveway. There was a truck and a small SUV parked in that driveway, but luckily they were parked all the way up at the top. Had they been parked closer to the garage, I may not be here today.

So I went through the bush, off the rock wall, and landed Dukes of Hazzard style in the next driveway! Obviously I was in shock and scared to death, so I immediately jumped out of the car. I didn’t even realize I had hit the parked truck, but as it turned out the damages (for them) were minimal – just a broken tail light and dented bumper. Meanwhile my car was toast. There was cosmetic damage all around, and I can only imagine how the undercarriage of the car had been affected.

I hadn’t even been out there a minute before a woman came running outside frantically checking to see if I was okay. We were both freaking out, but managed to calm each other down, and she invited me inside. Her name is Jean, and all I can say is that this woman is a saint. She is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines, and she told me that she saw the entire thing happen, and that instantly all her flight attendant training for emergencies kicked in. Allow me to tell the story from her perspective.

“I’m sitting there in my bathrobe on the couch in my living room, talking on the phone with a friend, and watching it snow. Suddenly I see a car start coming down the hill a little too quickly. I see it speeding up and realize it has lost control. I’m explaining this to my friend on the phone, then I see it come through the bushes, over my rock wall, and come crashing into my driveway. I scream to my friend that there’s been a serious accident and I gotta go! I ran to my room to put some clothes on, and all I can think is – Captain we have an emergency! Everyone put your oxygen masks on now!”

Next thing I know, I find myself inside Jean’s house trying to understand what just happened. I’m calling Jessica, and texting people, but I was in shock and not really sure what to do. I was pretty sure I wasn’t hurt, which was amazing, so Jean insisted that I have a seat and a cup of tea. It was all very surreal. One minute I’m driving home, then I’m in the scariest accident of my life, and now I’m in this nice woman’s living room sipping a cup of tea, watching it snow, and looking at my car crashed in her driveway.

I called my insurance company to file a claim, then got routed to roadside assistance to schedule a tow truck to come pull my car out of there. Long story short, I waited around for 2 hours at Jean’s house, before finally getting the inevitable news that no truck was coming, and that if it was okay with Jean, I needed to leave my car there and focus on getting home safely. Luckily she was fine with that, because as I write this on Monday morning, my car still hasn’t moved from her driveway, and probably won’t for a couple more days! We’ve gotten a lot more snow and Progressive is still unable to get a truck out there to pick it up.

Since I didn’t know what I was going to do, Jessica kinda took over for me. She told one of our neighbors at the bus stop about my accident, and they immediately offered to come get me in their nice new 4×4 truck. After a couple phone calls I was able to coordinate things with my neighbor Erik and he came to Jean’s house in Redmond to get me.

In order to stay safe, he kept his truck parked at the top of the hill (the same one I slid down), and we just collected all my things from the car, thanked Jean immensely for everything, and walked up that big ass hill to his truck. He got us home safe and sound, and I gave lots of big hugs to everyone who came near me. I hadn’t been very emotional about it so far, but seeing my kids after a brush with death definitely brought tears to my eyes. Obviously I know what it’s like to lose a father as a kid, although I was much older than my kids currently are, but even before my own wellbeing, I don’t want to put them through what I went through. Getting home to Jessica and the kids was the greatest relief in the world.

I don’t want to be too dramatic about it because the reality was I didn’t even get hurt. I woke up the following morning feeling 100% normal, however it could have been much different. Had I gone head first into a big tree I may not have survived it, or would have been seriously injured. Had I gone over the rock wall and crashed head first into that parked truck, it would have been really bad. I could have rolled the car, or caused an explosion. As it turned out I landed on all four wheels, meaning my car’s suspension and tires absorbed the entire impact. As I’ve said before, I don’t really believe in luck, but I don’t know what to attribute this to. There was a very narrow window/lane for me to safely go through all this, and I happened to be exactly within it. If that’s not pure luck, I don’t know what is, but I’m open to suggestions.

I’ve been joking that getting constantly roughed up while playing hockey is the reason why I wasn’t hurt from the accident, but I don’t know. All I can say is that I feel so fortunate on a number of different levels – I’m thankful that I wasn’t hurt or killed (for my family’s sake as well as my own), I’m thankful that I had such a kind and helpful person awaiting me on the other end of the crash, and I’m thankful that I didn’t cause more damage. If buying a new car is the only inconvenience I get out of this whole ordeal, then I’d say that’s a very small price to pay.

Regarding my car, I’m almost positive it’s going to be considered a total loss. It’s a 2004, but only has 78,000 miles. I’ve taken great care of it, but as with most older used cars, it’s worth more to me than it’s worth on paper. It’s too bad too because I just paid it off 11 months ago. Repairing the cosmetic damage alone would probably cost more than the value of the car, and who knows how bad the undercarriage is? Honestly I don’t want it back anyway, because there are known issues with airbags from that generation of TL’s, and my airbag didn’t go off in the crash!

Buying another new car definitely wasn’t the plan for us considering we just bought a top-of-the-line Honda Odyssey in October, but again, I’m so lucky that this is all I have to deal with. I’ve been researching cars all weekend and although we are unlikely to get snow like this again soon, I’m still almost dead set on buying something with All Wheel Drive. I figure even in the rain AWD will be better, so at this point I’m looking seriously at Audi’s and Subaru’s.

The reality is that Ava will be old enough to drive in less than 9 years, and we already knew we weren’t going to buy each kid their own car. We’re going to provide one car for them to share, so I’m starting to think about buying a car now that I can drive for the next 8 or 9 years, then pass along to the kids. Obviously there’s no guarantee it will work out that way, but that’s what I’m thinking at the moment. With that in mind, I want something safe, reliable, and fuel friendly, so we’ll see how it all turns out.

At this point, although we have rental coverage, I haven’t even been able to pickup a rental car due to the snowy conditions, and my car still hasn’t moved from the original crash location. I can see how based on the events from this week one would think I’m a terrible driver, but the fact is that before this week, I’ve never lost control of a car in any situation, and I’ve been driving for 22 years. I’ve never caused an accident before this, so this is all very new to me. Although I’m not worried about how I may be perceived as a driver, I am being sure to use this as a learning lesson, and I’m determined to not let anything like this ever happen again.

As usual, I’m hard on myself about it and keep thinking about how I could have prevented this. Since there’s nothing I can do to change what has already happened, I hope others can learn from my mistakes. I’m boiling it down to the following:

• Never look for a shortcut when conditions are dangerous. Always take the slow and safe route.
• Never take a route that looks even slightly dangerous just because an app is telling you to go that way, or because the car in front of you is going that way. Use your own judgement and never let anything cloud that judgement when it comes to safety.
• If you know there’s a good chance of dangerous conditions coming soon, don’t even leave the house in the first place.

I ended up taking today (Monday) off work to continue dealing with insurance and tow trucks. I was hoping the car would be out of Jean’s driveway by now, but it’s just not working out that way. So instead I’m enjoying more time with my family and thanking my lucky stars.

The rest of Snowmageddon has been fine for us. The kids haven’t had much school, so they’ve been enjoying playing outside with friends from the neighborhood. We like going for family walks and having snowball fights as well, but Jessica and I are getting a little stir crazy. We can’t go to the gym and are getting anxious to get back to our normal routine.

That’s basically it for now. Jessica is preparing for a busy week at work due to Valentine’s Day, so hopefully the weather is accomodating. The kids are each doing great, and again, I’m just so thankful that things turned out the way they did. Here are some photos from my week of adventure, including a video I took from the scene of the crash.

Before I go I also just want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to me over the past few days. There’s nothing like a brush with death to realize how loved and cared for you are, so thank you all.

Although we held his party yesterday at Chuck E. Cheese (for the second consecutive year), it was today that our big boy officially turned 4! We had a big weekend that also included a dance recital for Elise and a hockey game for Ava, so it’s been nice having Grandma Amy here to celebrate everything with us. Unfortunately Enzo has been a little under the weather these last couple days, but nothing was going to deter him from living his best life at the party and having fun with all his friends.

We weren’t really sure what we wanted to do for Enzo’s birthday this year, so we decided to ask him what his preference was. We almost felt guilty when he said he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese again, simply because it’s what we did last year, and it’s so easy for us, but we respected his wishes and made the decision that we would do something a little bigger the following year when he turns 5.

Elise and Ava were very excited to be going to a party, and used this an an opportunity to wear their favorite fancy dresses. They’re always looking for an excuse to dress up, so we told them to wear whatever they want. Elise wore a beautiful new dress from Grandma, and Ava wore her Easter dress, but punked it up a bit with a pair of black boots.

Part of the tradition in doing a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese is letting the guest of honor go into the ticket blaster, which is this big clear plastic tube filled with tickets. When they turn it on, a fan gets going and the tickets start blowing around everywhere. The goal is to grab as many tickets while you can, then use them later to cash in for prizes. Last year Enzo got the opportunity to go in there, and we expected him to love it, but as it turned out he was really freaked out. I remember getting a hilarious photo of him with his face pressed up against the glass screaming at the top of his lungs.

So this year when it came time to do the ticket blaster, they gave him the option of letting someone come in with him. When I asked him if he wanted to bring anybody, I was expecting him to choose one of his friends, but instead he said he wanted me to come in. Jessica was all for it, but required me to untie my hair so it would fly all around and look ridiculous while I was in there.

I stayed on my knees so we’d be on the same level, and did my best to get as many tickets as possible, but I didn’t figure out until nearly the end that I needed to lean forward in order to get the wind affect everyone wanted. Either way he loved it and it was very memorable. Overall it was a great day and we really appreciate everyone that was able to make it, as well as all the birthday presents of course. Again, next year we’ll be doing something bigger, but I’m glad he was able to have the day he wanted, and we always appreciate getting to spend time with everyone.

As far as today goes, it was a normal workday for me, but there was no school for the girls due to it being a “teacher work day”, so Grandma, Jessica, and the kiddos went to see Mary Poppins Returns at the movie theater. It’s kinda become a tradition for us to go out to a Mexican restaurant for Enzo’s birthday (I’ll never forget him wearing the sombrero on his first birthday), so after I got home from work we were able to all go out to our favorite spot.

Overall I hope Enzo had a very happy birthday and knows how much we all love him. He’s an incredible little boy that we are so super proud of.

As mentioned above, Saturday was a big day for both of our girls. That morning we attended Elise’s dance recital at a nearby middle school. While I wasn’t necessarily expecting to have an emotional reaction to it, seeing her run out on stage with so much natural joy and excitement instantly brought tears to my eyes. She just had the biggest smile and looked so happy – it was amazing, and it’s funny how your kids have the ability to tug at your emotional heartstrings in a way that nothing else ever could.

She made a point to sneak a little wave to us each time she exited the stage, and after the performance she was beaming. Jessica and I instantly felt bad that we didn’t have a bouquet of flowers to give her, but everyone (especially Ava) was showering her with compliments, and she just soaked that up. It was great to see her so genuinely happy, and as we’ve come to say, “living her best life”.

After Elise’s recital we had time to come home for only about 45 minutes, get a bite to eat, and then had to head back out for Ava’s hockey game. Over the past week Ava and I have been practicing shooting in the garage because she’s all about “elevating the puck” now. We’re currently using street hockey balls, which are easier to scoop under compared to a flat puck, and she’s really starting to get the hang of it. In much the same way that Elise showed so much natural joy from her performance, Ava gets that way when she sees herself improving at whatever she’s working on – and that stretches beyond athletics. Reading and math are also good examples of this, where Ava builds her own momentum and excitement when she starts improving at something.

We had a simple goal for this game, which was to just always be paying attention, always watching the puck whether we’re in the game, or sitting on the bench. She ended up doing awesome at this, and I can tell she’s starting to understand the game more. At this age their focus is on building athletic skill for the girls, rather than teach them the game of hockey, but it’s still good for her to always be engaged in what’s going on, and I’m so impressed with how she’s improving in that aspect.

She had a good game, but afterwards she admitted to mom and me about some trash talking she was doing on the ice. She knew it was wrong, which is why she told us, so we had to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her about how we treat people, and about letting our game do the talking. She was worried about us being mad, but we promised her we won’t be mad if it ends here. If it happens again, there will be consequences, but we were willing to make it into a learning lesson for now. At this point, the way I see it is that this is another thing you can add to the long list of life lessons and skills she’s already learning through hockey. Regardless of how far she goes with it, being part of a team at this age is teaching her so many things about life, teamwork, and discipline.

One more thing about Ava – we just found out from her teacher that, like Elise a couple months back when she was recognized for being respectful, Ava is going to be featured in a school assembly due to her scholastic improvements this year with reading and math. She has really turned a corner in these areas over the past couple months and her teacher wanted to make sure she received recognition. Obviously we were thrilled to hear this and are very proud of her!

Not much else has changed since my last post a couple weeks ago, so I’m keeping this one brief. Overall we’re doing great, and we couldn’t be more proud of each of the kids. They’re staying busy with all kinds of good stuff, and each one is growing up fast. Buon quarto compleanno Enzo! Ti voglio bene.

After an awesome holiday vacation in Colorado, it didn’t take long for all of us to get back into our normal routines, and in several cases, start taking on even more. While I plan on writing again very soon due to some exciting upcoming events, there’s already enough to dig into. Here’s how 2019 is taking off for us…

Since January is his birth month, we’ll start off with Enzo. Next week he will be turning 4, and I’ll be writing a post after his birthday celebration, but he’s been busy this month. As we’ve mentioned before, we felt like 2 days of pre-school per week, at 2 hours per day, wasn’t quite enough for him. Jessica did some research and ended up finding a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) focused pre-school that had just opened in our area. After checking it out, Enzo really liked it, so he now goes there on Wednesdays. During his first class they did an experiment showing kids how to make water boil at room temperature. Then the next week they built a robot and programmed it to do certain things. We can tell he enjoys it, and we think he’ll get a lot from the curriculum, so it’s been a nice addition.

We were having a hard time deciding what to do for Enzo’s 4th birthday, so we ended up asking him what he would like to do. Turns out he really wanted to do the same thing we did last year, which was go to Chuck E. Cheese. We decided to go along with his request because we know all the kids will have fun, and it’s easy for us. Grandma Martin will be coming out to stay with us and attend the party, so it should be a good week. We’ve already decided that next year we will do something bigger for his 5th, but I think this year will still be a lot of fun.

One other thing with Enzo – we all went ice skating as a family yesterday and he did amazing. He’s skating on his own now without balance bars, and I can tell he’s having a lot of fun. Check out the video below.

Next up will be Miss Elise. In addition to doing great at school and dance, she is now taking figure skating classes with Mom on Saturday mornings. They’re not in the same class, but they’re on the ice at the same time, just separated into different groups. She deserves a ton of credit because she has already been moved up from level 1 to level 2, she doesn’t need balance bars, and she can make her way around the rink on her own. I love seeing her out there skating on her own and having fun.

Elise is also continuing to attend weekly dance classes, and we’re excited to attend her upcoming recital on Saturday! Grandma will be able to attend with us, which is great, and I’m looking forward to write about her performance in my next post. Overall I’m just really proud of Elise – she has matured a lot over the past few months and is flourishing, both in school and in her activities. Dance and figure skating definitely compliment each other, and it’s nice to see her keeping busy with things she enjoys.

Miss Ava continues to stay busy with school and hockey. On the school side, her growth this year has been really impressive. She is reading better than ever, and really enjoys math. From a hockey perspective, I can tell the extra practice we’ve been doing has been paying off. She recently had her best couple of games, and there was a moment in an extra game against a team from Portland where she got out on a fast break, received a pass from a teammate (which is rare at this level), controlled it at full speed (which is really difficult), and scored her first goal of the season. I screamed out cheering for her, then realized I was totally ‘that guy’ taking a kids game super seriously. I didn’t care though – she had the biggest smile on her face, and all I could think of is all the hard work she keeps putting in. It was definitely a memorable moment.

The following week she was out there playing, and I had to explain to her that she wasn’t paying attention and wasn’t engaged in the game. She was just kinda out there skating on her own. She didn’t really like hearing it, but took the feedback and went out there with a vengeance. When she is mentally engaged in the game, she does amazing, but at this age losing focus is going to happen. One of her coaches just recently said to me “In terms of raw athletic talent, Ava is one of the best girls we have. The trick is keeping her paying attention.” I thought he was dead on – when I watch and try to make an impartial evaluation of everyone, I look at Ava and say she’s got raw athletic talent, size, and toughness, which are all intangibles that can’t be coached. Right now she struggles with paying attention, puck handling, and shooting, but that’s totally fine because those are all things that can be coached. Sometimes I have to remember she’s barely even 7, but overall she’s doing amazing and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

One more thing with Ava: she ended up losing another tooth this week! After Mom helped her get it nice and loose, Ava finished it off by pulling it herself. As you can expect, she was really excited about it, and the tooth fairy made sure to leave her some goodies later that night.

Jessica has been keeping very busy this month, most notably by switching from El Gaucho Bellevue back to El Gaucho Seattle. The Seattle store will always be home for both of us, so when she reached out to them asking if they’d consider having her back, they were like “Yes, you’re always welcome to come home”. Tonight will be her second shift back at Seattle, and I’m happy for her because I can tell she is happy about the change.

In addition to this change at work, she has recently taken up ice skating lessons, and is learning to play the piano! She and Elise are going to the rink together for skating lessons on Saturday mornings while Ava, Enzo, and I go to the gym. Since Ava didn’t have a game yesterday, we all met up with them at the rink for open skating. Overall it’s great to see Jessica trying out new things, as well as continuing with other creative activities like rock painting. Obviously music and skating are both close to my heart, so it’s awesome to see her enjoying them as well. At this point all 5 of us enjoy getting out on the ice, so it feels like it’s only a matter of time before I bite the bullet and get us our own fancy skate sharpening machine…

Earlier this month Jessica purchased plane tickets for her and Enzo to go back to Iowa for a family visit in early March. They’re going to stay at Grandpa Rick’s house and are looking forward to seeing everyone. It’s too bad we’ll be split up for a week, but it’s not really feasible for the girls and I to go, so I’m looking forward to taking advantage of that time by doing some special stuff with them. I’m definitely going to take them to dinner and a movie one night, and I’m sure we’ll get out for some ice skating as well.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of taking the kids to Monster Jam for the second consecutive year. I have to admit that I totally enjoy it as well, and I don’t care what that says about me. Unlike a normal sporting event where you’re supposed to take the sport somewhat seriously, this is purely just mindless entertainment, but I love it. It’s like “Whoa, did you see how much air it got!?” or “Look how long he’s balancing on 2 wheels!” It’s super loud, and they do all kinds of different events, but the freestyle event at the end is the best. Grave Digger ended up doing a backflip, which was the highlight of the show. Although Enzo is definitely the biggest fan of monster trucks in our house, there’s no question that we all have fun at these events, so I look forward to taking them again when the time comes.

Lately I’ve been feeling like I need to add a little more hockey to my schedule, because only playing on Sundays with the beginners group hasn’t been feeling like enough of a challenge. I’ve been with this group for 2 years, and at this point I’m one of the most advanced players. While I enjoy that status within the group, I realize that the only way to get better is to play with people who are better than you. Most people from our group use it to learn the fundamentals, then go join a team in a league, and that was my initial plan as well, but the variable nature of game times in leagues doesn’t really work for me. I simply can’t go and play a game at 11:00pm in Kent on a weeknight, so I’ve been looking for a new drop-in game to play where I can advance my skills, and have a consistent game time to rely on.

Last night I played in the drop-in game at the Highland rink for the first time, and it was definitely the most advanced game I’ve played in. The reality was that I was the 2nd weakest player on the ice, and it was intimidating, but I stuck in there for the entire 90 minutes, and managed to score 2 goals in the game. These guys are all much more advanced than me when it comes to shooting, stick handling, and overall gameplay, but I’m able to stick with them because I have good cardio conditioning and I’m a pretty strong skater. Regardless of the sport you’re playing, it’s always going to be intimidating to step up a level (or 2 in this case), but that’s how you elevate your own game. I’m already planning on going back next weekend.

That’s pretty much it for now. It’s good to be back in the flow of things, and exciting to see us taking on new challenges. Enzo’s birthday and Elise’s recital are the two most notable upcoming events for us, so I look forward to writing about them. While it’s hard to believe we’ve reached the final year of the decade, I expect it to be a very good one, and for us to finish strong.

Hey there, how are you? I feel like it’s been a while. I’m sorry about that – I came into November expecting to write two posts, but as it’s becoming increasingly more common in our world, life gets in the way. I don’t mean that as an excuse though, things have been great and there’s a lot for us to catch up on. So grab yourself a cup of coffee and let’s jump on in. First and foremost, the week that was Thanksgiving and Miss Ava’s 7th birthday.

Throughout the year, Ava has built up a little tradition of calling Nana on the way to or from hockey (and frequently both). She loves talking with her, and speaks to her more like a girlfriend than a grandmother. For quite a while now, Ava has been asking Nana to come visit us for her birthday. So, as a surprise, Nana flew up from Vegas on Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving and Ava’s birthday with us. The kids were shocked, to say the least, when she arrived unannounced. Obviously Jessica and I knew she was coming, but we wanted it to be a surprise for the kids. Ava keeps saying “It was just a normal day, and then Nana showed up.”

On Wednesday morning, I decided to give Ava a little dose of reality based on a statement she’s been making lately, which is that she wants to play hockey in the Olympics one day. To give a little more context, earlier this year Ava met Lyndsey Fry, who was a silver medalist on the 2014 USA team in Sochi. They lost a heartbreaker to Canada, which was avenged this year when the US women beat Canada in a shootout to take the gold. Lyndsey told an inspiring story about her journey becoming an Olympian, then took time to meet all the girls for photos. Ava was, and continues to be, very inspired by this.

Moving into her first season on a team, she played her first game ever at goalie (due to the rotation landing on her for week 1), but then in the next game (which was her first game as a normal player), she was voted by the coaches MVP for the game! I feel like I need to say that again: her first game ever as a normal player and she wins MVP. The coaches couldn’t believe she was already passing the puck and playing tough defense.

Now back to Wednesday morning. I had taken that day off work because my Mom was here, so I figured it would be the perfect day to take Ava out for an early morning stick and puck session (which is just open ice time for hockey players). Without telling her the night before, I got all our stuff packed in the car, then that morning I was up at 5:25. The first thing I do every morning before I even get out of bed is update my podcast feed. I listen to a variety of shows on all kinds of different topics. Some are daily episodes, some are weekly, and some are just whenever. Well, due to the holiday this week, ESPN On Ice (their hockey podcast) came out a day early, and their guest was Lyndsey Fry! Immediately I realized the irony and significance of her showing up in my feed on this exact morning. It was definitely one of those “is life really random?” moments.

So I pulled Ava out of bed and she was confused at first. She said “Dad, this doesn’t make sense. My friends won’t be there playing hockey in the middle of the night”. “That’s exactly right Ava, they won’t be there, but you and I will be” I replied. “Okay” she said, “but I’m going to sleep all the way there and all the way home”. As it turned out, she didn’t sleep going to or from our practice. She was excited about it the whole way there, and by the time I was getting her dressed at the rink she was saying “Dad hurry up! The sun’s almost up!”

I ran her through various drills for about 40 minutes. It was great because, although it’s hard to believe, this was literally the first time Ava and I ever played hockey on ice together. It’s normally me on the sidelines watching, or her occasionally watching me. If we’re skating together, it’s always at an open skate session, but that’s all going to change now. She did awesome, and I told her I’d give her a grade after each practice. She got an A+ for her first “dawn patrol” session, then we enjoyed listening to Lyndsey’s interview on the podcast during the drive home.

The rest of the family was there waiting for us when we got back, and Ava was excited to tell everyone how much fun she’d had. She again announced to us that she wants to play hockey in the Olympics and wants to keep doing early morning practices with Daddy. Jessica was surprised but excited, and said we would do our best to give her every opportunity, but if she stops having fun, she has to tell us. In the meantime, we’re willing to sacrifice as necessary to give her every opportunity to chase her dream.

The girls had a half day at school that day, so Nana joined us at the bus stop in the morning, then later on she and Enzo went to school to have lunch with them. The rest of our day was spent making dishes for Thanksgiving. I did the same mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and crispy prosciutto that I made last year, and my Mom made our family’s stuffing, which has always been my favorite part of Thanksgiving. She also made creamed peas, which is another family Thanksgiving tradition of ours.

Later that evening we all headed out to a cinema in Woodinville to see “Ralph Breaks the Internet”. It’s a movie we’ve been looking forward to for a while, and we knew it would be coming out right around Ava’s birthday, so it was fun. As expected, the kids loved it, but all of us adults enjoyed it too.

Thanksgiving day was great, but also memorable for something stupid. If last year (when I undercooked the turkey) was ‘Turkeygate’, then this year would have to be ‘Stuffinggate’. Basically we all drove an hour down to Kristy’s house, we start unloading the van, and I instantly realize we left the stuffing at home! I was so pissed because we had all worked hard the previous day making these dishes, and as I mentioned above, our family stuffing is my favorite. I was ready to get in the van and drive home to get it, but Jessica could see how distraught I was, so she insisted on going instead. So she ended up driving all the way home, then back, just so we could have stuffing with our Thanksgiving meal. The ultimate irony struck later when we were dishing out leftovers to send home with everyone – somehow we ended up with no stuffing, so we only had it during the actual Thanksgiving meal.

Other than the stuffing incident, Thanksgiving was great. It was nice to get so much quality time with Kristy, Madi, Jim, and Brenda. Enzo in particular was having so much fun playing with Uncle Jim, so I’m glad they got all that time together. It’s also been great for my Mom to get time with them, but I guess that’s what the holidays are all about. I’m just thankful of my Mom for making the trip up and getting so much quality time with everybody, especially the kids.

Black Friday started with another dawn patrol practice session for Ava and I. We were there at 6:40, but my buddy Reed and his son were already out there. We warmed up on our own for a bit, then played a little 2 on 2 game with them, and as always, Ava had a lot of fun. She even reiterated to that she likes “dawn patrol” and wants to keep doing it.

The rest of the day was spent at home doing different crafts and projects with Nana. We figured it would be crazy out, so this was a good day to stay in and make stuff with Nana. With the kids occupied, Jessica and I were able to run errands, get ready for the party, and get our Christmas lights put up. Then that evening we all relaxed and watched one of my favorite holiday movies: Home Alone.

On Saturday Nana and I took the kids to downtown Snohomish for a few hours to checkout the Christmas shops, listen to the carolers, and have lunch. It’s such a nostalgic little town so we all had fun walking around and taking in all the holiday sights and sounds. Meanwhile Jessica was hard at work getting the house ready for Ava’s party. That evening we chilled out and watched a couple more holiday classics: A Christmas Story, and Elf.

Sunday, which was Ava’s actual birthday, was also the day of the party. It was a “Dragons Love Tacos” theme, based on our favorite family book. Mom did and awesome job decorating the house with all kinds of dragons and tacos, while Dad focused on making a taco feast with all the trimmings. It was a very full house, with not just family and close family friends, but also some friends of Ava’s from school and hockey.

We were able to send all the kids upstairs to play, leaving the downstairs for the adults to eat and mingle. Before cake and presents, I sat down with Ava to read “Dragons Love Tacos” for our guests, with a little help from the kiddos, of course. Overall it was a great day and we appreciate everyone who came out. In terms of family we had Nana, Jim, Brenda, Kristy, Madi, Dana & Brad, and Butch & Carol. Then our good friends the Palmers and O’Hair’s were there, plus our neighbors the Browns, and the Congdon’s, whom we’ve become friends with at hockey. Our old family friend Paul Harper even stopped by to say hello, which was great.

Overall it was just a really good day, and I know how appreciative Ava is for everything. She has grown up a lot lately and it was great seeing her have her special day. It’s also been great having my Mom here all week, and I hope she knows how much it means to all of us. The kids love their time with her, and she is always helpful to Jessica and I around the house. Overall it’s been exactly how the holidays should be (movies, projects, food, presents), and again I just appreciate Nana coming up to spend them with us. This will be one to remember for sure.

Okay we’ve already gone through an entire post’s worth of stuff, but we’ve only covered the week of Thanksgiving. So yeah, there’s still a lot of other stuff to go over. How about we call this intermission? Then on the flip side we can get caught up on everything else.

Welcome back – let’s start with Miss Elise, who is loving her first year of school and has recently enrolled in a new dance class. We just had our first parent teacher conference regarding her, and her Kindergarten teacher (who is also our friend) Mrs Johnson couldn’t stop talking about how good she is doing in class, how well she interacts with her peers, and how much of a sweetheart she is. It wasn’t surprising, but still great to hear.

Her new dance class is going well and she is having a lot of fun. We wanted to get her into a new class, but unlike last time where it was solely ballet, this time we went for something a little more well rounded. We wanted her to have the opportunity to learn different types of dance, so we found a class that does jazz, tap, and ballet, plus a little acting as well. It seems like the perfect fit for her right now.

I keep telling Elise that she is a natural performer at heart, and that she might as well get used to being on stage because it’s in her future. While she may come off a little shy at first, trust me when I say that sweet shyness melts away quickly, resulting in a naturally outgoing and talented little entertainer. She actually wants to start ice skating with us more often, so I’m considering putting her in a skating class like the one Ava started out with. I figured ice skating as a talent would compliment her skills with dance. Ultimately I just want her to have fun and stay busy, bit it’s awesome to see her beginning to flourish.

Mr Enzo recently had a big milestone worth sharing: last Sunday he voluntarily threw his remaining bottles in the garbage. It was actually very similar to the ceremonious trashing of his binky a while back. It’s something we’ve been talking with him recently about, and together we had agreed that he would be done with bottles before turning 4, but we were still caught a little off guard that Sunday morning when he informed us that he was officially done with bottles. It’s really just another sign of the maturity he has recently been showing. Our little boy is growing up, and this was another example of that.

Here’s another update for Enzo that has Daddy smiling ear-to-ear: he has been showing a lot of interest in hockey lately, and according to Jessica, someone recently asked him if he plays hockey and his response was “Not yet”. So, a couple weekends ago we took the kids out to a “Try hockey for free” event in Everett, and he had a blast. We actually tried this event last year and he got most of the gear on, but then got a little freaked out and decided not to go on the ice. It was actually looking like the same thing was going to happen this year, but Mom was able to talk him into it. Thank goodness for that too, because he had a lot of fun once he got out there. He can’t really skate on his own yet, so there were little hockey player kids volunteering at the event who helped him a lot. By the end of the event he was able to shuffle his way back to the bench from the center of the ice without assistance. He now says he is ready to get his own hockey gear and learn to skate, so I’m ready to teach him. I’m sure Ava will help a lot as well.

Regarding the “Try hockey for free” event, Elise deserves a ton of credit for getting out there and participating. Since Ava and Enzo were going, she decided to give it a shot. She put on full hockey gear, and got out on the ice without bars for the first time ever. Later she told me she likes ice skating more than hockey, and I think that’s great. I would love it if she started taking lessons, and I look forward to working with her and Enzo on learning to skate.

Jessica has been as busy as ever lately. It’s the busy season at El Gaucho, so she’s been taking advantage of that and working extra shifts whenever possible. She has also been doing a bunch of volunteering at the kids schools. She is officially now the Art Docent for Ava’s class, and she loves it! She has a natural talent for working with kids, and she loves art, so it’s a perfect fit. She has also been staying busy at home painting. Over the past few weeks she has been touching up walls, hallways, and doing trim work.

Jessica has also now become a full blown “Hockey Mom”. I was recently watching her get Ava dressed for practice, and I couldn’t believe it. She knew exactly which order to put the gear on, she knew how to tape the socks, tie the skates, etc. It might sound simple, but trust me, there’s a lot of gear associated with playing hockey, and you have to put it on in the correct order. Considering the fact that she didn’t grow up around it, and doesn’t play it, I think she deserve a lot of credit for picking it all up so quickly.

Overall I feel like this year has been really good to us, and at least in her case, it shows. Last year we were both dealing with surgeries and physical therapy, so this year has been a bit of a transformational time for us. We love going to the gym now and push each other along well. She just chopped her hair, which looks great, and she now enjoys giving me a hard time for having longer hair than she does.

Things have been going great for me too, just busy as usual. In one of my recent posts I mentioned a new work project I was placed on – well, that project recently went live, which was very exciting for everyone involved. It’s called the Azure Bot, and it’s basically a Q&A bot you can interact with on our website in order to learn more about Azure products and services. You just click the blue tab saying “Have a question?” and a larger window will appear, allowing you to type in questions or statements. You can say something like “How much does App Service cost?” or “Tell me about Virtual Machines” and it will analyze your statement (known as an utterance) using LUIS (Language Understanding Intelligence Service), then invoke the appropriate “dialog” to fetch the data needed for your request. It was really interesting for me because this was my first experience programming anything related to AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning). I’ve been working closely with my manager, as well as a few developers down in Argentina, for several weeks on this, so seeing it go live was a big deal for us. It’s far from perfect, and we will continue to improve it, but I think we’re off to a good start.

Speaking of work, I remember in my last post mentioning the charity hockey/ice skating event I participated in as part of our Giving Campaign. For those who aren’t familiar, Microsoft is really big on doing charitable work and making donations. It’s something that goes on all year, but it gets really heavy in October, which is our Giving month. The event I attended was one of literally hundreds that went on throughout the month. After all the donations were counted we found out that our little 2 hour event ended up raising over $8,300 for 23 different charities!

A week or so later I participated in a different type of charity event – this time instead of an activity where you would make a donation in order to be able to participate, I was able to donate my time building meal packs for food insecure families in the area. In addition to the work I do, Microsoft pays the charity for my time, at I think $20 per hour. I actually got slightly choked up filling up the bags with food for people, knowing that there are people all around us who really need this. It definitely felt great to lend a helping hand, and this is just another example of why I love Microsoft and am so proud to work there. We recently received the final numbers for all the charitable events in October, and I was blown away to see that the Cloud + AI organization within Microsoft raised over $32 million in the month of October! That’s not for all of Microsoft either, that’s just for our organization within Microsoft, and it’s a combination of employee/personal donations, Microsoft matching our donations, the work we do for different charities, and the amount Microsoft pays to these companies for our time. It’s mind boggling and humbling to even be a small part of.

I know I haven’t mentioned this in a post for quite a while, but I recently crossed the 6 month mark doing daily Italian lessons on Duolingo. I continue to do 10-15 minutes a day, and as one might expect, I’ve learned a lot. I’m now finding myself supplementing my studies by watching Italian cartoons, and subscribing to various channels on YouTube that teach you Italian. Most exciting of all, I’ve become friends with the father of one of Ava’s teammates, who was born and raised in Milan. He’s obviously fluent, so whenever I see him we spend a few minutes conversing in Italian. I also frequently text him asking him the appropriate way to say this or that. I’m still far from fluent, but I find that I understand a lot more than I am able to speak. It’s pretty hard putting entire sentences together without some form of help, yet when I’m listening to someone else speak I’m generally able to follow along pretty well. I have no agenda with this other than enjoying the challenge, trying to make myself that much more well-rounded, and most importantly of all, passing it down to my kids. It’s working too because they’re constantly asking me how to say this or that in Italian. I don’t always know, so then we get to look it up together. They’re already retaining it so well, and it’s become a fun activity for all of us to participate in, so I’ll definitely be continuing with my studies. I’m proud to not have missed a day in 6 months, but there’s a long way to go.

Besides playing my guitar whenever possible, I’ve been staying as busy as possible with hockey. I just recently treated myself to a nice new pair of skates, and it just so happens that I’ve scored at least one goal in every game I’ve played in them, so they’re obviously now my lucky skates. It’s funny to me how this sport has become such a big part of our lives, and it’s only going to get bigger as time goes on. It’s become my social circle, it’s what I “train” for at the gym, and it’s the only sport on TV that holds my attention.

I also recently realized that hockey is the only team sport I’ve played as an adult. As a kid I did team sports like baseball, basketball, and soccer, but as an adult it was always martial arts, surfing, and snowboarding. It took me a while to realize this, and it might sound a little funny, but I like the person I’ve become in the context of being involved with team sports. I’m so much more social at hockey (my own or Ava’s) than I am anywhere else. This wasn’t the type of benefit I was expecting to get from playing hockey, but has been a nice surprise. I find myself getting so excited to play every chance I get, and I keep getting better and better at it, which then makes it that much more fun. While I’m a little surprised at the role hockey has taken in our lives, I’m thankful for it more than anything.

In addition to each of us having exciting updates, our house needs to be included as well. Back in the Summer we hired a contractor to build a new front porch on our house, but one thing that wasn’t done was the railing. We ended up having to hold off on that for a little bit, but no more! Last Sunday I teamed up with 2 of my neighbors, and with their guidance, we were able to put up a nice new railing on the porch. It involved a fair bit of engineering because some rails were being attached to railing posts, while others were being attached to house posts. It went really smoothly though, and we lucked out with clear sunny weather, so it was actually a lot of fun. Most importantly, we no longer have to worry about any kids falling off the porch.

Going back slightly further, we were recently joined by Grandma and Grandpa Martin for a Halloween visit. They drove the bus up from Colorado and spent about a week with us. As usual everyone kept busy with various pumpkin-related activities, including trips to the pumpkin patch, lots of trick-or-treating, and a neighborhood pumpkin carving party with all our friends. Unfortunately I was on call at work that week, so I didn’t get a ton of time to spend with everyone, but that’s not a big deal. I’m just glad the kids got so much quality time with them. Halloween was also my Mom’s birthday, and it was a bummer that we couldn’t be with her, but that was all made up for based on her surprise visit a few weeks later for Ava’s birthday and Thanksgiving.

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it’s pretty much full steam ahead for Christmas. We’ll be traveling to Colorado this year, and a winter wonderland filled with holiday activities awaits us. There’s a bunch of people coming so it’s going to be a packed house. I expect this to be my first Colorado trip where I don’t go snowboarding. It’s not that I’m against it, there’s just too much other fun stuff to do and I’ve done that so many times. I’ll be bringing our ice skates and am especially excited to do some outdoor pond skating with everyone. In addition to that, we’ll be snowshoeing, riding snowmobiles, and doing all kinds of holiday stuff. It should be a lot of fun, and obviously I’ll have plenty to write about when we get home.

Before I go I just want to say again how proud I am of Miss Ava. I can’t believe you’re 7 now! You’ll understand when you’re older how fast this time flies by, but at the same time, I think I’m loving this stage for you more than any other. You’re doing great learning to read, your dedication to hockey blows me away, and you’re just an all-around awesome kid. Like Elise and Enzo, I’m so proud to be your Daddy, and very excited for all the adventures yet to come. Thank you for helping make us the parents we are, and for literally reshaping the course of our lives. Ti amo tantissimo Ava. Sei la mia bambina. Sono fiero di te!

Ava’s 1st grade photo (Elise did retakes so we don’t have hers quite yet)

We love painting

Enzo was not happy about sharing this mouse

Good times at the patch

Grandma Amy and the kiddos ready to trick or treat

Elise and a friend at the school fun run

She loved this wagon wheel at the antique store

Enzo’s first time getting out on the ice in hockey gear

True hockey parents

Our little MVP

Enzo getting in the holiday spirit

Disney on Ice has become a favorite annual tradition for us. Elise already sees herself one day performing with them.

I’m not sure if her pose is more 60’s (peace sign), or 70’s (disco move).

Cracking up the kiddos with funny voices as we read a new book

The new railing on our new front porch. Our house has never looked better!

Showing Nana around downtown Snohomish. Thank you Ava for being our photographer all day.

A little gingerbread house action with Nana

Mom and Ava ready to get this party started

Ava and Miles have always been best buds

Happy bday sis

Buon compleanno Ava!

Today was a really big day for Ava, and for all of us to some degree, as we watched and cheered for her in her first real ice hockey game. We were actually thrown for a loop that we never could have seen coming because each week the goalie position is assigned to a different player, and Ava was one of the girls selected to play goalie in game 1. She was actually a little upset about it at first, but Jessica and I both spoke with her about having a good attitude, trying new things, and doing what the team needs her to do. Not surprisingly she ended up having fun and making the best of it, and for the rest of us it was so fun to watch.

I think it’s fair to say Ava is more cut out to be a skater than a goalie, and right after the game she said she had fun, but was looking forward to being a “normal player” again soon. Other than the coaching she got last night at practice, she had never done any goaltending before, or had to wear so much gear, so I’m really proud of how she handled it. It’s definitely going to be memorable for us that Ava’s first game (hopefully of many) was spent playing goalie.

I was actually a bit of a nervous wreck going into the game. I couldn’t help but think about what already feels like countless practice hours we’ve put in. I thought about her stepping on the ice for the first time back in early January, 2017, then getting into her first skating class later that same month. I thought about when she switched from figure skates to hockey skates, and being the only kid (in any of the classes) wearing hockey skates. I thought about how hard that transition was for her, and how upset she got the first time she had to put all her hockey gear on. I thought about her dropping down and making “ice angels” in the middle of her first hockey class in Everett. I thought about the whole year of hockey classes she attended last year, never missing a day, never coming off the ice. I thought about her last 3 on 3 session this summer when she got the puck, took off on a fast break with other girls chasing her, controlled the puck all the way down the rink, got the shot off on goal, and scored. Didn’t matter that there was no goalie and she scored on her own goal, it was still an awesome way to end the year, and a difficult thing to do. Then I thought about how it all boiled down to this first game, and here she was chomping at the bit to get out there with her team. I thought about how funny it was seeing her in goalie gear, and most of all, I thought about how proud I was of her.

It’s funny how hockey has become such a big part of our lives in such a short time, but between the people I’ve met with my Sunday group, and all the people I’m meeting through Washington Wild, it really has become a big thing for us. In fact, earlier this week I got to do something hockey-related that felt really good – since October is giving month at Microsoft, I signed up to participate in a charity pickup hockey game, with all proceeds going to charity. It was actually a two-part event because there was a 5k skate first, then the hockey game after.

There must have been 30-40 people participating in the 5k skate, many of whom had never ice skated before (love that), but there were only 5 of us there for the game, two of which being myself and a guy I invited. Anyone was welcome for either event, and the registration requirements were simple: donate $50 either to a charity of your choice, or to the Ronald McDonald House, and make the donation through the Microsoft Giving website because they are matching everyone’s donation by 100%. So for this two hour event we were able to raise about $5,000 for charity, which for me felt awesome to be a small part of.

Since there were so few people there to play hockey, we ended up with a rink to ourselves for an entire hour. That alone was worth the $50 to me. We played 2 on 2 for a bit, then 3 on 2 after that. The best part for me, from a playing perspective, was that I had a hat trick in the first game before the other team had a single goal. More importantly, I met some cool new Microsoft people that I share a common interest with, and had a blast playing with them. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday afternoon.

Overall work has been going well for me lately, but it’s always nice to have the flexibility to step away and participate in things like this. Throughout the month of October there are tons of different charity events and volunteering opportunities, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to do some more. They’re also bringing a wide variety of people in this fall for this internal TV show we do called Outside In. It’s basically a talk show format where people from all walks of life come in to talk about whatever they like. Sally Field will be coming this month, and Jessica is coming to join me the following week because Chelsea Clinton will be there.

There was a little stretch there at the end of this summer where I was feeling like I may have reached a professional crossroads, and found myself examining a few opportunities, both internal and external, but in the end, sometimes no move is the right move. I realised through the process that I’m already in the best place for me to be in, but sometimes it takes a real look at some other potential situations in order to have the most possible appreciation for the one you already have. As if to solidify that, I was just selected for a really cool new project at work that a bunch of us were volunteering for. My manager selected me for it, which was super flattering, and I now find myself working on some pretty cutting edge stuff. Like every big project, it’s an opportunity to learn new things, and deliver big results for the team. I can’t say more than that for now, but look forward to sharing details once it goes live.

Jessica also had something fun and out of the ordinary this week – she got to join our friend Solana (and a couple of her friends) for the Beyonce/Jay Z concert at Centurylink Field. It was a huge show, and she never gets out to do stuff like this, so she had a really good time. She’s been working more than normal lately and definitely deserved it, but obviously it was extremely generous of Solana to bring her. I’m glad they had a fun night, and apparently it was a great show.

Elise is cruising right along with Kindergarten and things are going well. She loves being in Mrs. Johnson’s class, and it’s perfect having Ava’s class be just two doors down. She fell into a routine pretty much immediately, and is making plenty of friends. There was a school fundraiser at the Everett Skate Deck earlier this week, so we all attended. The girls were thrilled to see all their friends at a social event, and Ava didn’t mind showing off her skating skills. Elise is still using the walker bars while skating, but she’s starting to get really good, and I don’t think she really needs them. She was actually spending a bunch of time skating with a boy from her class – not quite sure how I feel about that.

Ava, on the other hand was flying around the rink. She participated in a race with other girls in her age bracket, and not surprisingly, she took first place. Then Enzo was enjoying getting out there as well. He and I were doing this thing where I held his hands and skated backwards, so we could face each other. We’d get going pretty quickly, and he loved that. I think I only ran into two or three kids that entire time I was skating backwards 😉

Speaking of our little Zoey, he’s doing so good. He loves going to pre-school, and Jessica has been keeping him busy with other activities as well. For example on Mondays she takes him swimming at our gym because the pool is always empty. Even though he’s young, he’s already ready for more than just two hours of class twice a week, so it’s good that Jessica is able to provide a little more activity and stimulation for him.

Oh yeah, and before I go, I should probably mention that we recently ended up purchasing a brand new family vehicle, and when I say brand new, I literally mean brand new! It’s a 2019 Honda Odyssey Elite, which is Honda’s top-of-the-line minivan. It’s easily the nicest car either of us has ever owned, and we’re absolutely in love with it. My favorite part about it is all the technology it has; we’ve never even owned a car with a backup camera or a nav system, and this goes WAY beyond that stuff. The kids love it for the rear entertainment system, but now they want to watch a movie every time we get in the car, regardless of how far we’re going. We’re like a commercial because the kids all have their headphones on in the back, watching the movie, then we’re up front enjoying a little music (and their silence). When we need to speak to them, we just hit the “Cabin Talk” button and it gives us an intercom straight into their headphones. Or if we think they’re up to something, we can turn on the “Cabin Watch” camera, and keep a closer eye on them. It really is incredible.

Strangely enough, the kids were super sad to see our old van, affectionately named by them “Radar”, go out to pasture. They were hugging and kissing it, but my favorite part was when we pulled up in the Honda dealership and saw our shiny new van waiting for us. Ava unbuckled her seatbelt, popped up and said “Well, I guess this is goodbye Radar”, and went running off to the new van.

The old van was so beat up it was embarrassing to be trading it in. The air conditioning hadn’t worked for years, the drivers side sliding door didn’t open, and there was cosmetic damage everywhere. They probably chuckled seeing us roll up in that hooptie, most likely made worse by the fact that I was wearing a heavy metal (Megadeth) t-shirt, but we still managed to walk out with the nicest car they sell. From my perspective it felt so good to be helping to provide my family with such a nice, safe car with all the bells and whistles. Especially since they have already earned it many times over.

Now we’re rolling in style. The day after we picked it up we drove out to Leavenworth, and ended up having the kind of experience we’d been hoping for a couple years ago when we went there for the tree lighting ceremony. On our way out there we stopped at Steven’s Pass for a mini hike, then enjoyed a nice lunch, shopping at candy stores, and enjoying all there is to see in Leavenworth.

As of today we’ve already put 1,300 miles on the van, but we’re taking such good care of it, you’d think we just took it home from the lot. Since it has a built-in vacuum, Jessica is constantly cleaning up, and she and Enzo have already hand washed it three times.

Later this month we’ll be getting a Halloween visit from Grandma and Grandpa Martin, then after that the holidays will be in full effect. Where has this year gone? It’s hard to keep up with, but as always, Jessica and I are beyond thankful for all that we have, all that we get to do, and the awesome lives we’ve carved out together. This month marks 11 years together, and it just keeps getting better. Here’s some recent pics.

Ready to go

First day of preschool for Mr. Enzo

Elise always dresses for the occasion

Goodbye Radar – you treated us well!

And hello there…

My favorite goalie, even if only for one game.

Today was an exciting day for us, as Elise ventured off for her first day of Kindergarten. She was totally excited and ready to go – Jessica and I not so much. Of course we were excited and happy to see her go off to school for the first time, but couldn’t help but feel a little sad knowing our sweet little girl is now venturing beyond the nest. At dinner the other night Elise said some very cute and sweet Elise thing, then Jessica put it best by saying “I’m going to miss her”. I knew exactly what she meant.

I have to admit that Elise’s entry into Kindergarten has been a little more emotional for us than it was last year when Ava entered Kindergarten, and I certainly mean no disrespect to Ava by saying that. It just comes down to the differences in their personalities. Ava is so headstrong and enthusiastic about everything; it’s like her wheels were spinning 100mph and as soon as you set her on the ground she was off and running. There was almost no time to react. It was the other kids you had to be worried about.

With Elise it’s a little different because she likes to take things slowly, and has carved out this role in our family as the sweet one (even though sometimes she’s quite a little troublemaker). She’s also a little more on the sensitive side, and all of that ends up influencing our emotions in it’s own way. So even though I’m very happy to see her taking this big step, and there is no doubt she’s ready, it was still hard to keep my lip from quivering just a bit as she headed up to that bus.

Luckily she has her big sis Ava there to keep an eye on her. Ava started first grade on Wednesday of last week and was very excited to have Elise now going to school with her. It’s crazy to think that they’ll be going to school together for at least the next 11 years, and it officially got going today. It’s definitely a big deal for us.

Not surprisingly, Elise ended up having a great first day at school. Like Ava, she’s in Mrs Johnson’s class, which we’re thrilled about. Not only are the Johnson’s personal friends (and former neighbors) of ours, but Mrs Johnson is an excellent teacher. We know Elise will thrive in her class, and with Ava’s class just two doors down, it seems like a perfect fit. She’s already excited to go back tomorrow, so I expect she will adjust to her new routine nicely.

In addition to school starting for the girls, Mr. Enzo officially starts pre-school tomorrow, which is something we’re also very excited about. Even though he’s only 3, we’re actually bummed that we can’t get him into a slightly more intensive program. As it stands he’ll be doing 2 hours, 2 days a week, but we can tell he’s ready for more than that, so we’re looking for some other avenues to explore in terms of keeping him active and busy.

Then we also have Ava’s hockey team getting started this Thursday, so this is quite a week for us. Ava will now have hockey Thursday night, Friday night (both practices), then a game on Saturday afternoon. This goes on basically every weekend until April I believe. I’m just starting to get a glimpse of how busy Jessica and I are going to be once all 3 kids are in full swing with their activities. It’s going to be insane.

With the kids all back in school, regardless of what the calendar says, Summer for us is officially over. But what a Summer it was! We kicked things off with a great trip to Nana’s house in Las Vegas, had a great 4th of July, threw a killer 5th birthday party for Weese, spent a fun weekend with the O’Hair’s at the cabin, got to spend a long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, and got to spend a day at the fair. Plus we spent a ton of time at the pool. Compared to last Summer, which started out with Jessica having neck surgery, followed by my whole elbow(s) debacle, this Summer has been ah-mazing.

As just briefly mentioned, we got to finish things off with a long weekend with Grandpa Rick and Grandma Chris, who were here visiting over Labor Day weekend. I was really busy with work while they were here, so I didn’t get to participate in as many activities as everyone else, but they kept busy each day with fun outings, hikes, and lots of treats for the kiddos. One day we all took a ferry out to Kingston and had a nice afternoon walking around, shopping, and having lunch. We took the kids to a really cool little candy store, and they were like… wait for it … kids in a candy store! They couldn’t make up their minds! Too many options to choose from. Enzo must have changed his mind 6 times before he ended up with an oversized colorful sucker.

Then on the same day Grandma and Grandpa were flying home, we met up with our good friends the Palmers, for a full day at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. This was our second year in a row attending the fair, and it did not disappoint. It was the perfect combination of rides, food, people watching, excessive sun exposure, various adolescent meltdowns, various parental meltdowns, ring tosses, waiting in lines, public restrooms, overpaying, dust, needing to be carried, watch where you step because there might be horse shit. It was perfect.

Now it’s all over and we’re back to business, but as usual, we have some exciting things to look forward to in the near future. First of all, we’re going to be getting a new family vehicle this month. Our van (affectionately dubbed “Radar” by the kiddos) has done us well, but it’s been beaten to a pulp and needs to be sent out to pasture. We’ll have to tell the kids Radar went to a farm where they take care of him and get everything working again. We love the Honda Odyssey though, and the plan is to get a nice new one, although you can never be sure until the ink is dry.

I believe we’ll be getting a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Martin for Halloween this year, which should be a lot of fun. We have also made our travel arrangements for Christmas at their house this year. We’re looking forward to a beautiful white Christmas in the mountains, and this will actually be our first time seeing their new house. It’s going to be a big family gathering this year, so hopefully we can all get our Griswold on and make holiday asses of ourselves. I know that’s what Amy will want for her birthday.

Finally, a bit further out on the horizon, but really worth looking forward to, is a trip I’ll be taking with Devin, his brother Brian, and potentially one or two other friends. Let’s just say we’re calling it Japantourage because because Devin’s a tech rockstar who always felt like taking his buddies to party in Tokyo and hike Mount Fuji. Yep. May 2019 it’s on. Already got my passport renewed and everythang.

In all seriousness though, Devin messaged me on my birthday saying he wanted to put together a guys trip to Japan in May and was taking care of travel accommodations, and invited me to join. I was blown away, sent a copy of the text to Jessica, who then instantly replied saying “Are you freaking kidding me!? Japan!! You’ve got to go!!!” So I immediately replied and was like, yeah, you can count me in. Talk about a once in a lifetime opportunity, as well as such a culturally enriching experience that I’ll get to share with my family. I’m still so humbled by his generosity in including me for this, and am so ready for this trip of a lifetime. We don’t even have specific dates picked out quite yet, so there’s still a lot of planning to do, but that’s going to be fun as well. Lots of updates to come on this.

So yeah, life is awesome for us; I just wish it could slow down for a minute. Summer’s over. I’m already cooking more, and I actually smiled when I saw it was raining this morning. I’ll have the crockpot out in no time. Jessica and I have started getting more into coffee lately, and we now subscribe to a delivery coffee service where they send you different blends that they roast for you, then you provide feedback on their website in order to build a taste profile, which further dictates which coffee they select for you. After four solid years with our Keurig machine, which was a housewarming present from my Mom actually, we felt like it was time to change up our coffee game. This has been fun and we’re starting to nerd out on it together. I’ll be trying some exotic new roast in the morning. Enjoy the latest pics.

Miss Elise is ready to go

With big sis Ava leading the way

And the little man holding it down at home with Mom

Ava had her team tryouts and is ready to join her first hockey team

No PB&J is too big for Elise

Zoey’s future’s so bright… and inverted

This captures Ava so well. Bellissima

All smiles after Elise’s first day of school

After so much deliberation, it was this sucker he chose at the candy store.

We’re always down for a ferry ride

Elise giving Ava a little first-day pep talk on Wednesday

He’ll ride anything

Straight up pure fair joy

Mom and Enzo are going to get a lot of time together now

Grandpa loves his kiddos

Ready to take my big girl to the bus

Mommy trying to hold it together as we headed out

Ava ready to take her on the bus

Here comes the bus!

A summer to remember

Its the last few weeks of summer for us and we have really tried our best to get out and take advantage of our free time. Some of the highlights have been bike riding, our annual cabin trip and lots of swimming. Here’s a recap since Elise’s birthday.

Michael celebrated a quiet 38th birthday at the end of July, nearly the entire weekend before he spent playing and learning hockey, we did manage to get in some family time with Kristy and Madi at our favorite summer hang out. We took them to the outdoor pool at our gym for a Saturday swim and Michael met us all there later in the afternoon after he finished with hockey. The pool was practically empty except for us and it was a nice day out so we swam for several hours before heading home for a salmon dinner, courtesy of Michael. It was a fun Saturday for us all and I think we were all pretty exhausted at the end of the day. The night of his actual birthday was the following Monday, so that night after work we all went out to dinner at our local Mexican restaurant and then we went home for homemade (by the kids and I) birthday cake. Strangely enough it was the day after his birthday that was the real gift. I don’t remember exactly why she asked but Elise had mentioned an interest in wanting to take the training wheels off her bike. We didn’t have anything going on that night because Michael had decided to cancel his band practice and stay home with us all, so we figured why not seize the moment and go for it. She has been zooming down the street on her balance bike now for three years, both Michael and I were confident she was more than ready to give it a try. Sure enough with barely any help from Dad she took off up the street with everyone following around her. She never doubted herself for a minute, which is a big deal for Elise, she just kept riding with a giant smile on her face. It took her less than 5 minutes before she was looking like every other kid on the street, like she’d been riding a bike for years. It was incredible and we were all feeling super pumped up about it, Enzo got so caught up in the excitement that he decided he was also ready to take the training wheels off his bike. I was not so enthusiastic about this idea, but Michael wanted to let him give it a try and assured me he would stay right next to him. So we took his training wheels off and put him at the bottom of the cul de sac, he had a little difficulty getting started because his bike was a bit too tall for him and he could just barely touch the ground with the very tips of his toes. He was determined to get it going though so Michael stood next to him for a short bit and before we knew it he was literally riding circles around us all in the street. It was so awesome, just like Elise, he had a huge smile on his face and he was so very proud of himself. I couldn’t believe how quickly he took to it, he struggled getting on to the bike (because it was too tall) but once he got up he had no problems speeding off. He did have some issues with stopping it and getting off because get couldn’t get his feet to the ground before losing his balance. I decided after watching him jump off his moving bike a few times that we were going to be looking for something a little shorter the next day. It was very unsettling to watch him leap off a moving bicycle on to the pavement. We were able to find him a really cool, used Ninja Turtles bike the next day and he has been zipping around the street daily ever since.

There is a long list of things that have been filling up our time this summer. We’ve visited a few story walks, a new thing around here encouraging kids to get outside and explore new areas while reading a book along the way. They have a route to follow and nice signs for each book page. It’s a really cute activity and the books are all tailored to a younger crowd and available to purchase. We s=attended an outdoor play at the Everett Theatre, a middle school and high school troupe preformed Suessical. The kids loved it and learned the characters of the Horton and his Who friends, a new story to us. We visited the Children’s Museum for one long afternoon; We did not leave a single inch of that place undiscovered. We hadn’t all been there together since Enzo could walk so it had been a long time and we had a ton of fun playing with everything. I think that most popular attractions were the airplane you can play inside and the farm. We visited Funko one afternoon and then went out for lunch. Ava had never been to the Funko store before and she was totally blown away by all the larger than life sized characters. The kids have had some great play time with all the neighbors this summer, we’ve had a few play dates with school friends and some birthday parties as well. We explored a few new beaches in the Edmonds/ Shoreline area with our adventurous friends the O’Hairs. The kids have created some massive blanket forts to stay out of the afternoon sun. They love using our new (rail-less at the moment) deck as a stage for dance offs and karaoke with Alexa. We have captured a tree frog, slug, snail and nearly a baby bunny all in our yard, each time they bring it inside and ask to keep it. I may have said yes to the extremely cute bunny, but it was too quick for them. We have logged more hours at the pool this summer than any other members, I am confident this is true because our favorite front desk guy confirmed it. The kids have all become so much more comfortable in the water. It feels really good to see them all making progress, so much so that we decided we also wanted to enroll them all in a two week intensive program.

They each had class at the same time but in different parts of the pool with their own class. Enzo only had one other swimmer in his class and he loved all the one on one attention. He did get frustrated when it was his turn to wait because he does not enjoy just sitting on the stairs in the pool. He’d rather be testing his limits and doing his own thing. He finished out strong and showed a huge improvement in knowing how to get to your safe spot in the water. He’s got a long ways to go before we could ever leave him near a pool unattended but I like that he enjoys being in the water and genuinely wants to learn how to swim. Elise was much different in her class, she is more reserved and timid. She needed to be reassured a lot that she could do something new and she was a little hard on herself when she couldn’t do something correctly. She loved being in class and made a cute little buddy on the second day, who she looked forward to seeing every day. After the two weeks Elise showed big improvements in her willingness to try new things and she had no fear of the water. Ava showed the most improvement with actual swimming. In her class they worked more on learning the different strokes and getting correct form. By the end of the session, Ava was swimming unassisted and able to switch from one stroke to the next, now she just needs to work on her confidence and distance. They all did really well and each want to start again next session, but we have decided to wait and get settled into our school routine first.

Last weekend was our annual trip to the O’Hair’s cabin on Hood Head Island, this was our third year going and the first year that we had another family join us as well. We packed up and headed out after swim lessons on Friday morning, we got on the road as soon as we could but unfortunately it did nothing to help with the ferry wait time. It was a rough three hour trip getting over to Port Gamble. We originally hoped to have time to get lunch and explore but that was not the case. The only thing we had time for was Subway and a stop for ice, before we headed to the cabin. You have to take a boat over to the island so and its just across a small channel, so you are at the mercy of the tides and the captain. In this case the water was just right but, Josh, our captain, hadn’t arrived yet with the boat. He was coming from the same area that we were but it a nice, short 45 minute boat ride for him. It worked out great though we had time to say “hello” to Solana and Ronan who had just arrived and we dipping their toes in the water, and as soon as we were finished unloading the two vans, Josh sailed in to greet us. Josh and Solana are the most gracious and laid back hosts you’ll meet. As soon as the hugs went around, we cracked open some drinks and got busy getting everyone over to the beach in front of the cabin. We spent most of the rest of the evening hanging out on the beach and enjoying a spaghetti dinner, Michael made for us all. It was a little chilly as the day went on but it was really beautiful out and we were all soaking it up in our own way on a perfect little slice of NW beach. Because it was becoming such a picturesque evening, Josh decided to take us all out for a sunset cruise in the boat. We hurried to get the kids all in dry PJs for the night and got life jackets on everyone and rushed down to the boat, we wanted to get out before it got too dark. The boat that he had this year is one that was new to us. It has a sleeping cabin underneath that the kids all thought was amazing and they all spent the boat ride bouncing around the bed. We went in for the night just as it was getting dark and everyone got their beds settled before we all sat around together for a bit and talked. It didn’t take long before everyone was starting to get glassy eyed and some were even drifting off right in the middle of everything. Josh had to give us all one final laugh for the night (or so I thought) and caused a big commotion when Sully, their dog peed all over his and Finny’s bed. It shouldn’t have been funny but I had a front row seat to it all and I was crying from laughter, Josh has a way of making everything funny. I got my payback later when I was awoken by a swooshing sound. At first, I figured it was likely a bug in the house, or maybe even something outside. The room Michael and I sleep in is like a loft above the house and its nearly all windows so I could hear noises outside all night long. This noise, I was pretty certain was coming from inside though and it sounded big. I laid there contemplating all the thing that it could be and all the things that it could do to me, after what felt like eternity (probably more like 30 minutes) I woke up Michaela and told him I thought there was a bat in the house. He was not in the least bit concerned and barely bother to wake up, stating the obvious that there was nothing he could do about it. No way, was I going to be able to sleep thinking that a bat could land on me, or worse, the poor sleeping kids downstairs, at any moment. Thankfully as I was about to scream out for help I heard someone awake downstairs. I could tell it was an adult just by the heavy sound on the floor, so I called out “Theres a bat in the house”! It was Solana and she was up and awake because she heard it too and neither of us was willing to sleep in the house with a bat! Josh woke up to save us all and with the help of Solana, swatted it out of the house with a broom. It took me forever to fall asleep that night because I just felt all creepy crawly and kept hearing noises. It seemed liked the kids woke us up 45 minutes after I went to sleep. Three years and two bats is not good odds.

Enzo was the first to wake up on Saturday, Ava and Elise were soon to follow, I somehow managed to keep them all quite for nearly an hour before another adult got out of bed. Solana was kind enough to cook us all french toast and bacon for breakfast and we didn’t waste anytime after eating before heading back down to the beach. It was just before 9:00 by the time we all made it down to the water for the day. Normally we would decide which direction we wanted to head off to explore but today we were staying at the cabin because Mark, Laurel and Sadie were coming over for the day. The three of them have never visited the Cabin and weren’t up for sleeping over but they wanted to make a day trip out of it and were able to join us about 11:30. Because of the tide schedule they had to walk over and its a muddy journey. Thankfully even though there were a few falls everyone made it over safely and just had a bit of mud and wetness to deal with. We hung out at the beach for most of the day, we manage to squeeze in some time on the zip line they have set up on the neighboring property and the kids got a chance to fish for the first time. Enzo was really into fishing, and was watching Josh and trying his best to copy him. Michael showed how to cast a few times and then he got to reel in a fish that had bit another line. It was a small little Bullhead fish, but Enzo was so proud of it and everyone made a big deal about it. After the big catch the girls started taking a interest and soon everyone wanted a fishing pole, soon all the kids were spread out along the beach, each with their own pole. It was pretty adorable to watch them all concentrate on a new task. The weather wasn’t very good most of the day, it forced us inside a few times for just a quick stint. In all honesty we could have stayed out in the rain but it was chilly out as well and all the adults were trying to stay as dry as possible, the kids on the other hand were wet for the whole day. For the most part they didn’t complain about being cold or wet. Enzo struggled all weekend with having wet, dirty feet, something he is very sensitive to but that was our worst battle for the weekend, other than the bat of course.

Saturday night Josh and Solana hooked us up with a crab boil and we ate it out on a floating dock. The kids had the dock to themselves first while they all inhaled some homemade mac and cheese that Solana made. After they were almost finished the adults and Sadie joined them for our turn to sit at the one picnic table and enjoy our sunset dinner. The food was delicious, the scenery was beautiful, and kids were all mostly behaving and everyone was grubbing when, CRASH! The picnic bench and the table busted, right from underneath Josh. I happened to be standing closest to him and instinctively grabbed him and tried to lift him up because it looked as if there was a large nail poking the side of his calf. Thankfully it had not punctured the skin, since it was a old rusted nail and we would have definitely been making an ER run. He pulled himself out untouched but the table and bench are no longer useable, I have no idea how you go about getting a new one and deposing of the old when you’re on an island.

After dinner, Laurel and family had to head for home and the rest of us were ready to start packing things up for the night as well. You loose track of time when you’re at the cabin, the day seemed to fly by and we were all exhausted by the time the sun went down. We set the kids up inside with a movie but they never got to finish it because everyone was falling asleep. Nothing went bump in the night and no one got peed on and we were all up and feeling rested early the next morning. Michael and I had a lot to get done at home and he’s been very busy lately studying so we decided that if possible we would try and take advantage of the early morning tide and head home. This way we would also beat the ferry lines and get some good time at home together. It worked out perfectly, Josh and Solana were very gracious in seeing us off, even though it felt like we were escaping before dawn (it was very early and quiet out). We drove right up to the ferry gate and only had a 5 minute wait before getting onto a ferry. At this point we were feeling really good about out decision to get up and get going and looking forward to an uneventful Sunday together at home. We got exactly what we wanted that night, and it truly was a great weekend all around. The O’Hair’s never let us down, our weekends at the cabin are ones we’ll always remember.

I took the girls each out separately for some back to school shopping. I took them each to Target with a main mission of getting a back pack, lunch box and water bottle. We were also hoping to find some clothes for each girl but those were secondary. They both really enjoyed getting some alone time with Mom and they were both thrilled at the idea of getting some things for school. Elise knew which bag and lunch box she wanted right away. She walked in saying that she was hoping to find a unicorn or cat backpack but as soon as she walked down the aisle she stopped in front of an Elsa and Anna bag and made up her mind without a doubt. Then she walked over to the lunch boxes and picked up a wonder woman lunch box and was set. She didn’t even need or want to look at everything because she was perfectly secure in her decision. she quickly selected a shopkins water bottle and we were off to look at the shoes and clothes. She didn’t find a whole lot of practical things in the clothing department but she did manage to talk me into on a completely over the top sequence dress and and two more subdued cotton dresses. After with finished shopping we headed over to Panera for some lunch and then over to a birthday party at the gymnastics academy. It was a fun afternoon and I loved having some one on one time with my sweet girl. She is so excited about the new year but also nervous about all of the firsts she about to experience. She usually takes a while to warm up to new people and new situations so her initial experience with kindergarten will be very different from Ava’s.

Ava and I also got to get away for a little one on one back to school shopping. She and I headed out one evening after Michael got home from work. I took her to Target as well and went about things the same way I had with Elise. Ava took much longer to decide on her back pack and lunchbox. She even went so far as to decide, ask me to take her picture with her new items then while exiting the aisle she changed her mind. She was hilarious in the store because she is filled with so much energy and enthusiasm, she’s bouncing around and twirling in the aisle. After deciding on her bag, lunch box and water bottle we found a pair of running shoes she approved of, a few hair bows and then some athletic wear. She didn’t find any dresses or formal wear but she did argue for a ridiculous jacket and purse that she didn’t get and she pouted about not getting any toys more times than I could count. We did mange to still have a really nice time and we talked all about the upcoming year as we took the long, scenic way home. She is very much looking forward to being reunited with her BFFs from last year. We have tried to warn her that it is not likely they will be in the same class again, but she is still excited to see them. After just one year of school it is hard to go too many places around town without running into someone that Ava knows. She’s always sure to say hello and then talk excitedly about them for the next 20 minutes. She’s a social butterfly and super excited about all the social things about school, she is nervous about continuing to learn how to read and does not enjoy writing but she is a hard worker and knows that school is important and hard work even more so.

And now we’re trying to slowly switch over to school mode. We’ve picked up our school year habit of having Ava read a book out loud each night and more time working in the school workbooks each day. We’re trying to get to bed a little earlier and not sleep in too late. We are hoping to get a few last minute things checked off our summer bucket list like a trip to the water park, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Rudd, one more all day pool day and a family day at the Evergreen Fair.

Taking in the sights on the ferry ride over

Ahoy matey’s

Hunting for treasures

An evening cruise on our first night

All smiles

And a private performance

Enzo caught a fish this big!!!

Not as much luck for Aves and Weese

Michael’s first time fishing since he was a kid

Our happy place

Yesterday our sweet Elise turned 5, so I wanted to write a quick post describing her special day. We lucked out with beautiful weather all weekend, and we’re glad to have Grandma Amy here to celebrate with us.

We started things off Friday night with a trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant. After obliterating every tortilla chip and bowl of bean dip in site, the kids each did well eating their dinner, so we all got to share an order of fried ice cream for dessert. You can imagine who got the lion’s share of that course.

After dinner we came home and Grandma took the kids for a short walk in the neighborhood. We decided to let Elise have a present, and we actually had one for Ava as well, so we gave them both a Hatchimal. Both of them have been asking for one of these dolls for several months, and Ava actually had a deal with us that if she learned all her kindergarten words, then she would get one. Well, Ava learned her words, and we felt like Elise deserved one for her birthday, so they got home from their walk and found the Hatchimals waiting for them. It was a big deal for both of them and they were super excited. The girls spent the rest of their night playing with their new dolls and getting excited for the big day to come.

Saturday morning the girls were up early, excited to open presents. Even though it’s Elise’s birthday, Ava was really charged up to see what all the presents were. Elise, being as sweet as she is, has been promising Ava for a while that she would give her one of her birthday presents. That just goes to show you what kind of kid she is, but then Ava has to try to manipulate things more in her favor by asking if she can pick the toy, or finding other more subtle ways to gain an advantage. Such a little deal maker that one is.

We were able to hold them off for a little bit, in order to get some more sleep, but soon enough it was presents time. I’m not up to speed on all the different dolls and characters they’re into, but I know we got the Hatchimals, and I know they’re really into LOL dolls, Pinky Pie Mermaid dolls, and Fingerlings. I feel ridiculous even talking about all this stuff but this is a good example of how becoming a parent changes you.

After doing presents we loaded up in the van and headed out to a home & garden store in Woodinville who was hosting a kids carnival as part of a fundraiser for the local YMCA. We played all kinds of games, bounced in the bouncy house, got arm paintings, specialty balloons, silly photos, and even got to enjoy some live music. It probably comes as no surprise that Elise LaFleur loves flowers, and this store had a ton of them, so she was just as happy to walk around comparing and smelling them.

It was Jessica’s idea to do something low key like this for the morning, then go home for some relaxing down time, because we knew we were in for a long night at the ballgame. The kids carnival ended up being the perfect way to spend our morning.

On Saturday evening, shortly after 5:00, we headed down to Everett Memorial stadium for the AquaSox game. Jessica did a good job coordinating so we were able to meet most of our group in the parking lot before heading into the ballpark. Uncle Butch and Aunt Carol were there waiting as we pulled up, the Palmer’s were already in line to enter, then Dana and family pulled up right as we were pulling our sleeping children out of the van.

We had a pretty good sized group for the event. For friends there were the Palmers (Jodi, Leon, & Miles), the O’Hairs (Solana, Josh, Ronin, & Finn), and the Weissmans (Laurel, Mark, & Sadie – happy birthday to Laurel as well). Then for family we had Kristy, Madi, and Gilberto, Butch and Carol, Dana & Brad, and my nephew and niece, Kallan and Anna.

We had access to a covered pavilion area before the game, which included unlimited food, so most of us were hanging around there to start. The kids, however, all had unlimited bouncy house access, so they were pretty much all down in that area jumping away to their heart’s content.

One of the most exciting parts of the evening for Elise was the fact that she got to throw out a pitch before the game. She didn’t really want to go out on the field alone, so I ran out with her as they announced “Celebrating her 5th birthday, Elise Pellegrini”. She threw a pitch that actually made it to the catcher, which was all I was hoping for. We’d been working on it in the yard leading up to this, so I was confident in her.

After throwing the pitch we got to pose for a quick photo with the catcher, while the announcer said “Nice job Elise”. It was a super cute moment and she was so happy, then she got to give one of the coaches a high five as we headed away. I don’t have the photo taken by their photographer yet, but will share it once I do.

Once the game got going we met up with our group and just hung out. It was a picture perfect evening with mountains in the backdrop. Everyone was enjoying the atmosphere, pulling for the AquaSox (who ended up winning 8-2 I think), and just having a good time. We had a group of seats that spanned 4 or 5 rows, so it was easy for people to bounce around to different seats and mingle.

It’s become a family tradition for us to go to these games every Summer. The kids love seeing Webbly (the mascot), and the whole atmosphere is really family friendly. Honestly, if I’m taking my family to a baseball game, I’ll take this over a Mariners game. It’s too much of a production when you have 3 little kids, so going to see the AquaSox is perfect for us, and it was actually Elise’s idea that we do this for her birthday. I wish Jessica or I could take credit for it, but we honestly can’t.

We lucked out because not only was the baseball game on Elise’s actual birthday, but it was also fireworks night, which is something they only do a few times per season. So after the Sox won the game, we all headed out to a field behind the stadium, laid on blankets in the grass, and watched a cool fireworks show. The kids were loving it and running around, rolling down grassy hills and freaking out over the biggest explosions. It was pretty much the perfect summer night.

We thought the kids would pass out on the way home because it was late by the time the fireworks were over, but no, they were too motivated to go home and open a present. So we did just that, one present, then had to basically force everyone into bed. Overall it was such a memorable day and Elise couldn’t have been sweeter or more gracious. She really is an awesome kid and we loved seeing her enjoy her special day. This is a big turning point for her because she’ll be entering Kindergarten soon. I feel like that’s the point where they start changing, maturing, and as a parent you have to accept the fact that they are not solely within your influence anymore. Now there are all these other outside influences coming in, but not quite yet. Not for a little bit longer. She’s still (and always will be) our thoughtful sweet girl that’s always looking out for her siblings, loves her family, and enjoys making people smile. Happy 5th birthday sweetheart, we love you more than you will ever know.

As it turned out, her birthday celebration had to spill into the next day because she was so fortunate to receive so many gifts that there would be no way to open them all after the game. So once again, the girls were up early, all charged up and ready to dig into all the beautiful pink party bags on our kitchen table.

All I can say is that everyone is far too generous and she was overwhelmed with all of the things she loved. Literally everything she said she wanted for her birthday had been accounted for, so we are obviously most appreciative of everyone’s kindness and generosity. Elise, Ava and Enzo have been playing together all day with all the new toys, and now they’re the cool kids on the block, as several of the neighbor kids were really excited to see all the new stuff.

We wanted to make sure they got some activity in, so this morning we all went to the outdoor pool at our gym for a couple hours. Grandma got in and had fun with the kids, and everyone had a blast. Even though it was pretty early, it was still 85 degrees out, so having access to the pool was perfect.

Now it’s time for the birthday weekend to come to an end, yet we’ve still got one more full day with Grandma Amy before she heads out of town. Once again, thank you so much to all of our friends and family who helped to make this such a special and memorable day for Elise. We appreciate it so much, and loved seeing her soaking it all up on her special day.

Here are a few of our favorite pics.

Starting things off right, with a flower balloon at the kids carnival

Enzo enjoying his dragonfly balloon, before popping it.

And Ava was our little Musketeer

We decided to make use of our new hair chalk before the game. Enzo was pissed about something.

Enjoying the pre-game festivities

Getting ready to throw out the pitch. These two are something else.

Madi was in her happy place holding and feeding baby Sadie

Of course we had to get a photo with our friend Webbly. Right after this Enzo punched him in the nuts.

I think he had finally recovered from Enzo’s attack, but was still getting laughed at by Kristy and co.

Elise was still going strong even at the end of the game

One of the better shots I got during the fireworks show

Happy 5th birthday Elise, we love you to the moon!!!

Today we returned from a very fun week at Nana’s house in Las Vegas. We did a bunch of cool stuff and there’s so much to talk about, so let’s jump right in!

We arrived on Monday, June 25, and immediately got our first dose of desert Summer heat. It was about 105 degrees, and pretty much remained that way the whole time we were there. Mom and Uncle Bob came and picked us up. We needed both of them because my Mom’s car is only big enough to hold all of us, but not our luggage.

We wanted to have a relaxing first day since it was a long morning getting there, so we all went to the pool in Mom’s neighborhood and hung out for a bit. After our swim we were back at the house and Ava started wiggling her one remaining front tooth (I had pulled the other one very recently). For months now Ava has been saying she wanted Nana to pull her tooth when we got to her house. We tried to explain you can’t really plan something like that, but she was dead set on it.

Well, as luck would have it, her tooth was so loose it was hanging on by a thread, so Nana had no troubles pulling it. Of course Ava was so excited, and it was a fun way to start the trip. Elise and Enzo were a little jealous that they weren’t going to get anything from the tooth fairy, but we assured them that the vacation tooth fairy brings gifts for everyone. As it turned out, Elise and Enzo both got a small glass diamond, a poker chip, and a piece of candy. Ava was lucky enough to receive a large glass diamond, a poker chip, and a total of $11, which she was quite eager to spend.

Tuesday morning we got up and out of the house and headed for SeaQuest. We had so much fun feeding stingrays and sharks, petting lizards, and playing with sand. This ended up being a big highlight of the trip for the kids. When Nana asked them what their favorite part of the trip was, Ava quickly exclaimed “Feeding the stingrays!”

After SeaQuest we were all hungry, so I got on my phone and found a very highly rated Italian deli nearby called Cugino’s. We walked in and the place was packed, which is always a good sign. A bunch of people were watching the Argentina World Cup soccer game, and the place felt like the most authentic New York Italian deli I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Elise and Enzo had pizza, Jessica had a caprese sandwich, Nana had a meatball sandwich, I had the veal parmesan sandwich, and Ava devoured a side of meatballs. Everything we had was absolutely delicious, and since the kids ate so well, I decided to treat them to the homemade cannoli for dessert. Obviously that was a big hit. During our dessert Argentina scored a last minute goal to win their game, and the whole place erupted. It was a cool thing to be a part of and ended up being really memorable. We really loved Cugino’s and would love to go back for lunch next time we’re in town.

After lunch we went back to Nana’s house for a couple hours of down time, then we all headed down to the Orleans to see The Incredibles 2 in 3D. Everyone enjoyed the movie, and we thought about calling it a day after that, but then made a spur of the moment decision to take the kids downtown to Fremont street so they could see the light show.

On our way there I decided we should cruise the strip, which ended up being a huge hit with the kids. They absolutely loved all the scenery, especially the Eiffel Tower at Paris and the erupting volcano outside of the Mirage. Fremont street ended up being quite interesting. Honestly it was probably a little bit too crazy for young kids, but we did our best to shield them from the things they shouldn’t see. The kids loved the live performance by an 80’s cover band called Spandex Nation, and Elise was a bit infatuated by the showgirls with the pretty outfits.

After making our way up and down Fremont street and seeing a bit of the light show, we decided to head home and call it a day. Although we had many fun days on the trip, Tuesday was definitely a great day for everyone.

Wednesday was a day Jessica and I have been looking forward to for months – Cabana Day! Basically we rented a cabana at the Red Rocks pool and hung out there all day. I’ve never done this before but believe me, it’s an amazing experience. The cabana has curtains that can be closed completely, a fan with a mister, a safe to keep your valuables in, a tv, and plenty of seating. You also get a table and chairs with a sun shade, plus some sun tanning chairs to relax in.

Even though it’s really hot out, you wouldn’t believe how comfortable it is inside the cabana. When we first got there Nana and Enzo just hung out in the cabana while the rest of us went swimming. The whole pool area is gorgeous, with lots of pools and jacuzzis to choose from. It was paradise, basically.

After a while Nana decided to take the kids out for a bit so Jessica and I could get some relaxing quiet time at the pool. She took them to Costco to grab a few things, then they went out for ice cream. While they were away Jessica and I sat in the pool sipping on daiquiris, talking about how lucky we are, and enjoyed some epic people watching.

Later in the afternoon my good friend Devin arrived and ended up hanging out with us for several hours. He couldn’t believe how comfortable and relaxing it was to have your own cabana, so he has already rented one for himself and friends next week. It’s pretty much the best way to spend a day in Vegas.

A bit later Nana and the kids returned. We could tell she was a bit frazzled – the first thing she said was “You guys deserve a medal. I can’t believe you do this everyday.” We told her to go relax, then we all went swimming. She ended up joining us in the pool later and we all had a blast playing in the water.

As you can probably imagine, the kids were exhausted by the time we left, so we got home and put them in the bath, fed them dinner, and got them settled in Nana’s bed with a movie. Once the coast was clear Jessica and I headed to one of my favorite places – Paymon’s Hookah Lounge. We met up with Devin and our other good friend Tiko, for a hookah and some excellent Mediterranean food. Although every day of the trip was a blast, if I had to pick a single favorite day it would have to be either Cabana Day, or Saturday, which I’ll get to shortly.

Thursday morning started off fine, but things quickly started to unravel. We went downtown to the Container Park to let the kids run around. We had fun for a while, but it was too hot to be outside for long. We decided to take the kids to the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace with hopes of seeing the talking statue show.

Unfortunately the kids were all burnt out (probably a hangover from the long day at the pool the previous day) and they all started having emotional meltdowns. So we ended up going back to Nana’s house to relax. They ended up having fun doing arts and crafts projects with Nana, so it worked out fine. That night I ended up going out and playing a poker tournament with Uncle Bob. Unfortunately things didn’t go our way and neither of us won any money, but we still had a great time. I really love Bob and always have a good time with him, so I’m glad we were able to get out together.

Friday was another nice chill day for us. We hung around the house during the day, then I got to experience my first swap meet. We went to an indoor one and wondered around for a bit. We needed a new suitcase and ended up finding a good one there, plus we let Ava spend her money from the Tooth Fairy. Each of the kids got a toy and a keychain, so they were pretty happy overall.

Later that night we all went over to Tiko and Tina’s house to play with their daughter Helen. Devin brought pizzas for everyone and we all had a nice time hanging out. Afterwards, Jessica and I went back to Red Rocks Hotel, bought ice cream cones from the Ben and Jerry’s stand, and just enjoyed walking around for a bit and taking it all in.

Saturday was our last full day in town so we wanted to make the most of it. Like myself, Devin and Tiko are hockey players (which makes sense considering they are both from Montana), so we all met up to go ice skating at City National Arena, which is where the Vegas Golden Knights practice. Tiko’s daughter Helen, who just turned 3, had never ice skated before, so it was great to be there for her first time. Enzo and Elise both did a great job skating, and of course Ava was out there with us showing everyone how it’s done. This was also my first time skating with my buddies so it was very memorable.

Bob and Sandy came to watch us skate, which was great, and Nana took lots of pictures of everyone out on the ice. After wrapping up the skating we all headed over to the Knights shop where we proceeded to buy various shirts, hats, pucks, and keychains.

Saturday night was something that Jessica and I had been looking forward to for a while. Basically Devin wanted to take us, as well as Tiko and Tina, out to a nice dinner to celebrate some exciting things going on with his company. So we picked him up and headed down to Aria, which is a very cool modern hotel on the strip. We got there early so we could walk around and have a drink. It was during this walk that we noticed this very exotic looking woman walking towards us. Then I noticed who she was with – it was NY Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Totally random but awesome.

We had dinner at Carbone and it was literally one of the top 5 meals of my life. The only Italian meal I’ve had that I would place ahead of this was the one my relatives made for Mom and me at their home in Italy, but as far as Italian restaurants go, this was the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty.

The original Carbone is in New York, so this was a faithful replica. You walk in and immediately feel like you’ve gone through a time warp. The decor and music is all 1950’s New York. There’s a beautiful bar front and center, and the front waiters are all wearing these really cool red suits. The food is meant to be served family style, so that’s exactly how we ordered.

Our server was telling us about the menu and said the beef carpaccio appetizer would be his dying meal if he had to choose. We were already considering getting it, so we were sold. We ended up getting the carpaccio (which was easily the best any of us had ever had), fois gras (also outstanding), prosciutto with mozzarella (amazing), and tableside Caesar salad. The Caesar was great but it was the croutons that put it over the top. They were these large sesame bread croutons that were crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. The whole first course was simply ridiculous.

Next up was the pasta course. We had heard great things about the homemade rigatoni with spicy vodka sauce, so we had to get that, and Tina loves lobster, so we also got the lobster ravioli. I can’t decide which was better. The lobster ravioli was absolutely decadent, and I loved how they used black pasta to make the ravioli. Then there was the rigatoni, which was so simple yet so incredibly delicious. The sauce had just the right amount of spice, and the rigatoni was cooked perfectly al dente.

After pasta we moved onto the meat course, and this is where things went to the next level. When our server was describing the menu, he said the meat dish they are most known for is the veal parmesan. He said “If you consider yourself a connoisseur of veal parmesan, I promise you this will be the best you’ve ever had. You’re going to end up coming back here just for that.”

I seriously thought he was talking directly to me because I feel like I love veal more than anyone. When I lived in Vegas, Devin and I would go out all the time, and we would frequently end up finishing the night at a place called Carmine’s with a plate of veal parm, so we knew we had to get it.

Our server also told us about their 60 day dry aged porterhouse, which made our jaws drop. For comparison’s sake, the steaks at El Gaucho are 28 day dry aged, and they are phenomenal, so we had to see what the 60 day dry aging was all about. He didn’t even bother to ask for a temperature on the steak, but it came out so perfectly cooked and sliced up to share. It was easily one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.

Then there was the veal. This was my first time having bone-in veal parm. They sliced it up tableside, then asked who should get the bone. Devin immediately pointed at me. So before I even took a bite of the veal, I found myself gnawing on the bone, which was amazing. It was so good that everyone had to try it, so here we are passing around this big veal bone, and everyone was blown away. That’s how you know you’re good friends, when everyone is totally willing to take turns chewing on a veal bone. It was primal, and it was amazing.

After handing off the veal bone I dug into the veal parm, and as you can imagine, it was ridiculously good. Easily the best I’ve ever had, and again, I’ve had this dish countless times at countless places. Ultimately our server was right because there’s a very good chance we’ll be going back there for beef carpaccio and veal parm.

Next up was dessert, and although we were all getting full, there would be no early exits. We had espresso, carrot cake (which I normally don’t like, but this was amazing), lemon cheesecake (my favorite of the deserts), and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label champagne. What a way to finish off the meal!

As good as the food was, the company we shared may have been even better. Jessica and I both really love everyone we were with and it was such a pleasure to be able to celebrate with them. Tina is 8.5 months pregnant, so it was awesome to be able to share this special time with her and Tiko. Devin is like a brother to me and I have always loved him. Even though I only lived in Vegas for 18 months, we ended up forming a friendship that will last a lifetime. I can’t thank him enough for treating us this way, and as I said at dinner, it was an experience that we will cherish forever.

After dinner Tiko and Tina headed home, so then Devin, Jessica, and I walked around for a couple hours. We visited Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, and Caesars. Due to his diamond platinum status, we could have skipped the 3 hour line and walked straight into Omnia to see Zedd play (assuming we were okay with the $100 per guy $40 per girl cover charge), but it was 11:30 and Zedd didn’t go on until 1:00am, so we decided to pass. Ultimately it was an epic night, and again, I can’t thank Devin enough for making it all happen.

So then it was Sunday, and in all honesty, it was tough to leave. Ava especially had a hard time with it. She has a very special bond with her Nana, and she literally cried from the point where Nana dropped us off, all the way to the gate. Nana was very sad too, and I was wishing we could stay a few more days. It was such a fun trip and we just weren’t quite ready for it to end. Like all good trips, it was over in the blink of an eye.

Obviously we owe my Mom and Uncle Terry a huge thanks for having us out to stay with them. We always have a great time when we go there, and I wish we did it more often. There’s always so much fun stuff going on in Vegas, so there’s never really a bad time to go.

By the time we got home everyone was pretty exhausted, so we had a nice relaxing Sunday at home. I made spaghetti for dinner, we watched movies, and talked about all the fun we had on our trip. I won’t be going back to work until Thursday, so we’ve still got a few days to hang out together at home. Kristy and Madi will be coming over to spend the 4th of July with us, so that will be a nice way to end my vacation.

To all our family and friends in Vegas, thank you for making this such a fun and memorable trip. We look forward to doing it again soon. Here are a few of our favorite photos from the trip.

Enzo and I working on our water acrobatics

Getting in the shark’s mouth at SeaQuest

Nana and Enzo feeding the stingrays

Elise was so excited to meet a mermaid

Enzo doing work at Cugino’s

Ready for the movie!

Ava loved playing with masks and fake hair

Up close with sweet Elise

Classic Enzo

Cabana Day at Red Rocks. Jessica is bringing sexy back.

We all loved the pool fountain

Devin and I helping Enzo on the ice

In back – Enzo, Jessica, and Helen
In front – Michael, Devin, Ava, and Tiko

Enzo hanging with his good buddy Uncle Bob

Hanging out at the Golden Knights shop

Devin, Michael, Jessica, Tina, and Tiko at Carbone

After dinner we saw a poster for Carbone featuring the veal parmesan we’d just had. This is how we felt about it.

Ava working on that toothless grin

This one speaks for itself