Category: Uncategorized (Page 8 of 207)

For Ben’s birthday he wanted to visit Seattle with the family. We had plans to go over his birthday weekend, but our airline had a meltdown of dysfunction, so we rebooked tickets for later. The time had come!

We had an easy and comfortable flight over via Delta. We took a car to the airport and settled into the hotel. The kids really enjoyed the breakfast buffet included in our stay.

Friday morning we went to Fremont to explore their weird sculptures and meet up with Ben’s old friend, Ant. He works nearby, so he took a short day and toured the area with us.

The kids and their friends enjoy a game that Ant helped to create, Astroneers. We saw their office displays and took home some freebies with download codes. It was a very cold morning with misty rain. We marveled at the street art and poked in a few shops (not much was open though).

Back in the main part of Seattle, Ben got chowder at Ivar’s on the waterfront (not pictured). Sam developed cold symptoms during the morning and was slow and chilly. I got him a souvenir hoodie to layer up, and we fueled him with french fries. Slightly energized, Sam was ready for us all to do an underground tour “Beneath the Streets.” It had some interesting facts about the city and its history. We certainly learned a lot, but it was a tad underwhelming and not as “cool” as we thought it might be. A solid “meh.” We went to a nearby cafe to warm up.

Next we went shopping. There was a cool toy store nearby where Sam got a folding cube (sounds lame but it’s a sweet fidgety thing). Then Ant drove us to the International district to browse Kinokuniya bookstore and Uwajimaya grocery store. I ate an amaaaaaazing taiyaki. When she passed it to me she said “Be sure to give your fish a name before you bite off its head.” You were delicious, Marissa.

That’s about it for the night. Sam was out of steam and we were all pretty chilly. We said see ya soon to Ant, and went back to the hotel to rest. The kids got boring Subway sandwiches, while Ben and I had some delicious dumplings from Dough Zone Dumpling House. We also gave Sam a covid test (negative).

Saturday was a social day. After hotel breakfast, we took a car down to the Fauntleroy ferry dock. Sam, feeling better but still sick, loooooved the ferry.

Ant and his family live on Vashon island. His wife and I have always hit it off well, and our kids our the same age and similarly well-matched. We were enchanted by the mossy, dense woods of Vashon. The kids were stoked to spend the day playing video games with other kids. I didn’t take many pictures. We had yummy teriyaki chicken for lunch, and they cooked up Japanese curry for our dinner. Then we took a chilly ferry ride back to the mainland.

One extra stop – I wanted to get vegan ice cream from Salt and Straw. Despite the cold rain, it was delicious.

Sunday was our touristy day. Our first destination was the Museum of Pop Culture. We thought it would be a brief visit, but there was so much to see!

Outside the museum was a climbing playground. Sam wanted to play a long time, we had to drag him away because the rest of us were cold and hungry. We also took some quick pics with the Space Needle. Lunch was in the Armory where a live band was playing in the food court.

We rode the monorail across town to meet our friends at Pike’s Place. Lots of fun shops to browse, lots of treats to fill our bellies, and a disgusting Gum Wall where Ben, Jack, and Sam all contributed to the public art installation.

Our bellies filled, we walked to the aquarium. It was on the pier and had a great mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits.

I made everyone visit the kitschy pier shops with me. I bought a Christmas ornament and the kids road the carousel next to a creepy animatronic shooting gallery.

Finally we went back to the International District for dinner. Ant showed us how to use the lightrail, and we passed the Seattle Art Museum (photo-op). Jack wanted ramen in town, so they brought us to Samurai Noodles. It was a hole-in-the-wall place that we never would have tried on our own, so we gladly took our friend’s direction. Jack said it was really really good. I was stuffed and ordered vegan gyoza to be polite, but ate it all because it was so good. We squeezed in last call at the Beanfish taiyaki stall. Finally it was time to say farewell.

We took our time getting to the airport and still had plenty of time to kill. Jack got a hoodie, after not finding any souvenirs prior in the trip. Ben had a final meal of fish and chowder. Our flight home was crowded but smooth. It was an easy end to a fun trip! Ben had a fantastic time soaking up the Seattle vibes and seeing his good friend again. I survived the chill and hardly ate for three days after because we had so much good food. Sam was feeling pretty healthy by the time we got home. Overall we had a great vacation!

Jack got an electric violin for Christmas. He will be turning in his rented violin for a cello (when they get them restocked) so it will be great for him to still have a violin for fun.

Sam’s class at school got to work with Makey Makey kits, having a lot of fun creating circuits to play games and make music. He was excited to get his own kit for Christmas.

We didn’t get to go to Seattle, so instead we celebrated a quiet 42nd birthday at home. Presents and cake, a classic combo.

There’s a Japanese bakery in Broomfield that makes Osechi, the traditional New Year’s meal eaten in Japan. I surprised Ben with a full osechi, to be eaten for 3 days at the New Year “so you don’t anger the gods by working in the kitchen.” Each element of the meal is highly symbolic and full of flavors that I hate, so Ben rarely gets to enjoy them! Fish, soy, mushrooms, burdock, blech. But he absolutely loved it. He told his penpals in Japan and they were shocked that he had an osechi, let alone that we even knew about them! Ben says his two penpals both eat a quick, small version of osechi for the holiday when they have the chance. It was so cool to share that with them, plus Ben really loved the food.

I made his favorite cake three years in row now – “Italian Cream Cake” with pecans and coconut.

Happy 42 years, Ben!

December was a busy, festive month!

As you saw, we had heating problems. A serviceman reset the flame roll-out switch, saying it was tripped on a false alarm and should be safe and good now. It worked for another week, lasting through the deep freeze that blanketed the country. Then at 5pm on Christmas Eve the boiler stopped working again. I spent hours trying to get a technician, but no one could come out sooner than Monday after Christmas. I started a roaring fire and Ben rummaged the open stores for some space heaters.

We finally got the boiler repaired the next week. It turns out the other company didn’t really do anything to address the problem that tripped the switch. The boiler had to be taken apart, mineral build up cleaned out, and the expansion tank system replaced. Also he discovered the flue had rusty cracks, so it was replaced too. Also the regulator for the upstairs thermostat wasn’t working, so that was replaced too. After all that work we have a heating system that works better than it has in years. But it was quite stressful to have so many problems needing repair, and it was a terrible time for it all to break down.

We had also been planning a trip to Seattle to celebrate Ben’s birthday. There was a winter storm that Southwest Airlines completely failed to manage. Our flights were canceled and we had to reschedule our trip for later in January. I’m actually happy that we moved the trip, but it was another huge source of stress the week of Christmas, wondering if we were going to travel or not.

All that aside, Christmas was bright and jolly and fun for all. Andy was cat-sitting for Amanda. It was so nice to have him join us for Christmas dinner, as well as a couple other visits. We watched Glass Onion together and played a board game (after I solved the mystery of the locked garage and freed his car).

Just a fun piece of writing that Sam brought home from school.

Sam participated in the spelling bee today. A pre-test determined the top two spellers from each class and he made the cut. He did great today!

Sam made it to the third round before messing up. He correctly spelled “chunks” and “waist” before erring with “bossiness.” We laughed it off together because he said this was the same word he missed on the pre-test in the same way: with a y in place of the i.

Boy, I hate the spelling bee. So much anxiety, so much emotion! I was glad I didn’t have to stay to the end, and extra happy that Sam had a good attitude about it! He genuinely only wanted to do it for fun and was happy with his participation ribbon. He’s a total champ to me!

Jack was very excited to play one of the boom-whackers at the in-school holiday concert. This holiday card from the teacher has a video of the performance. Jack was front and center, so enjoy!

Click the link, click “Read Now” and then open the card to play the video in the holiday card.

In case the card link expires, I also swiped the video directly:

Sam’s fourth grade class learns about a different fungus every Friday. While I was there volunteering last month (sorting take-home papers), the teacher asked the class “Should we sing our song for Sam’s mom?” They broke into joyful chorus. I barely got my camera out in time to catch any of it:

Apparently Sam is so skilled at reading aloud the mushroom facts, including scientific names, that he became the official mushroom reader. One day his friend sang the Muffin Man song as joke, and it took off amongst the students. Now they sing this song every week before learning about the featured fungus.

Our music school hosted a recital at a local retirement community. This was Sam’s first piano recital. The boys played a duet together, the Carol of the Bells. They did so well!

At home they performed again for my parents, who recorded this video.

They worked hard on this song all week, especially Sam. He hasn’t been playing for even a year yet! This was a difficult piece and he did splendidly.