Washington Summer- Mercer Island

We visited the Walthers on Thursday and Friday. We were lucky in that Nolan had a light schedule those days, so we had a chance to spend some time with him, as well as Telitha and the kiddos. They have a wonderful backyard with plenty of space to run around, dig holes, and collect pinecones. Despite the cold and wet weather, that is pretty much all Matthew, Melissa, and Isaac wanted to do. They were very, very muddy but happy kids. Mark and Isaac got along beautifully and played well together. I think they will be friends when they get older. Melissa and James kept things lively; they are both firecrackers. Matthew helped look after the youngest two. He's a pretty protective brother and cousin.

Matthew and James having fun in the dirt:

Melissa on the teeter-totter with Mark:
Thursday evening we went to dinner at the house of my best friend from high school. It was lovely seeing her again and to finally meet Greg! Also, we were introduced to some fantastic peach gelato. Thanks for dinner, dear, and for putting up with a cranky toddler!

Mercer Island also boasts of one terrific playground with chimes to play, a castle playground, rock wall, and a dragon!

Washington Summer- Walla Walla

Road trip!

The drive from Puyallup to Walla Walla seemed a bit shorter pre-children...go figure.

Monday while Jonathan had work in Seattle, I packed up the kids and we made the trip to see my Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins.

Here's a snapshot of Grandma and Grandpa.

You can see where we get part of our good looks. :)

I have wanted to visit them for some time since it'd been years since I was last there. It's about a 5 hour drive straight through to Walla Walla. It's a bit longer with small people, however. We made it, but not without checking out several scenic rest stops and McDonald's. Melissa is my "little miss tiny bladder." Surprisingly Isaac was pretty content most of the trip and even napped for several hours. Whew.

Isaac on one of Grandpa Sinden's old tractors. (I think he has 4?) I remember when I was a kid that he'd always take us out for a ride. Good times.


Grandma took us to the Fort Walla Walla Museum. Last time I was there I think I was about 10. They have really added some great exhibits and it is more kid friendly now. They have a nice wooden play ground which was the kids' favorite part. We checked out two early school houses, played in a tepee and saw lots and lots of old farm equipment. There was a full sized replica of a team of mules pulling a combine harvester that filled an entire room. Here's a picture of a mule pulled combine from the 1900s. It took 36 mules to pull, with one man at the reins, one man fueling the fire, two forking up the straw, a water barrel team, and several others doing jobs I can't remember. What hot, hard, dusty, dirty work that must have been! We live in a good age, folks.

This is just a bit before Grandma's time, but she remembered seeing other old equipment that was on display as a girl on her father's farm. Crazy!

Here is Matthew in an old piece of the state pen. (Which is still located near Walla Walla).

A very shady looking character indeed.

His accomplice in crime:


Matthew snapped a shot of Grandma and me in prison. We were framed, I tell you.

We saw guns, and arrows, dolls and dresses, buggies, and old cars; then Isaac had had enough so we called it a day.

Here's Matthew pushing his brother and sister in a wheelbarrow.



Regrettably we timed our visit poorly since cousins Amber and Amy still had school. Aunt Candy was a hit with Isaac though. I've never seen him warm up to another person so quickly. He's usually pretty wary of those he doesn't know, but "baby whisperer" Aunt Candy must speak his language. I can't believe how tall and beautiful Amber, Amy, and Aubrey now are. Last I saw them, they were still little girls. We didn't get to see the Sinden clan next door as much as I'd like, but next time we will stay a bit longer. Matthew in particular was disappointed we had to leave so soon. Alas, I didn't get any pictures of them!

Wednesday morning Grandma, Grandpa, the crew and I, stopped by the park to wear off little kid steam before the long car ride back. Grandpa literally had Matthew running a circuit around the park. He was more than happy to show Grandpa how fast he was.

Isaac enjoying the swings.

It's my Melissa Monkey!

After they were good and tired out we made the trek onward back to Puyallup. Somewhere past Issaquah the kids tired of the snacks, books, and movies I brought, so we sang songs. Matthew's composition went to the tune of the "Wheels on the bus."

The kids in the car are
Bored, bored, bored.
bored, bored, bored,
bored, bored, bored.

The kids in the car are
bored, bored, bored
all the way home!

This he sang with gusto. Despite terrible boredom, we made it! And in time for dinner too. Priorities, you know. ;)

Washington "Summer" Puyallup

Break out the parkas and umbrellas!

We recently returned from visiting Washington. We spent a few days in Puyallup, a couple in Walla Walla, and finished our visit on Mercer Island. It was quite the whirlwind trip!

We stayed with my parents while in Puyallup and they took the older two to Northwest Trek. Northwest Trek is different from a typical zoo in that they only feature animals from the great North West. It's perfect for young kids since it is not too big. While we were there, Isaac "napped" at home with Daddy. It was a drizzly day and school was not yet out for the summer there, so we pretty much had the park to ourselves. It was a perfect day for an outing. Matthew got a kick out of the 45 minute tram ride through the wildlife refuge park where the animals roam freely. We saw bison, dear, elk, moose, goats, and swans. Poor Melissa mostly squirmed, "I gotta go potty!" After the tram ride and a dash to the bathrooms, we checked out the rest of the park. Matthew and Melissa had been before several years ago, but I think they got much more out of it this time, and had more fun. Matthew was a none-stop fountain of questions, as usual.

We saw a beaver that was intensely interested in Matthew and Melissa. It would back flip dive down only to resurface to watch the kids. The beaver did this over and over. I think the beaver was as interested in the children as they were in it!

Once again I forgot to bring a decent camera so most of the pictures I took did not turn out well. Darn it!

A park ranger, Steve, came by as we were checking out the bear exhibit. He was preparing to put the bears in for the night and asked if we'd like to watch. Oh yes, please! He took us to the back and let us watch the nightly routine. Melissa was a bit apprehensive after Grandpa teased her that bears liked to eat little girls, but her curiosity won out in the end. She was thoroughly engrossed. The ranger first prepared the grizzly bears dinner of fresh veggies. Then he collected them separately into their pens for the night. We were about three feet away and got a very good look at their impressive claws and teeth.

Next he opened the back cages for the black bears and they ambled on in. We were able to be a bit closer up to the black bears since they are less aggressive. The two black bears at Northwest Trek are geriatric bears and need supplements to stay healthy. Here he is preparing their nightly meds.

The pills are popped into fresh raspberries and coated in honey. The bears licked it up right from his hands. Yum!

Steve, the ranger, clearly enjoyed his job and answered our questions threw out interesting bear facts. Thanks Steve!

The sun did come out for half a day and so Grandpa took the kids on tractor rides.


Melissa really liked the cows. The twin calves have certainly grown! They were born about the same time as Isaac.

We stayed in Puyallup until Monday then left for Walla Walla.

Pumpkin Development

Isaac is starting to talk! He's been saying mama and dadda for a while now, but nothing else. We were beginning to get concerned, but just in the last few weeks words have popped out amid the baby chatter. Perhaps he is saying other things that we are missing, but the following words are unmistakable.

"DA!" is dog.

"NO!" Usually accompanied by vigorous head shaking. Funny how this was an early word for M&M too.

"Dan 'ou" is thank you.

"Uh oh!" This is perhaps his favorite word. He finds many opportunities during the day to use it, and is more often than not the cause of the uh oh. Busy boy.

"Air eh ehs!" or There it is! Usually said with a squeal after finding something.

"Aw eva" is au revoir? This last one we're not certain...

His words are very tonal, almost how I imagine Chinese babies sounding. In addition to words, Isaac likes to make car sounds whenever he is pushing a toy car with his hand. He also "roars" when he's pretending to be an animal on all fours.

We've known for a long time that he understands a lot of what we are saying to him, so we knew the that language was getting in; it was just a matter of him being able to get it out. I even started signing a few signs with him belatedly in hopes he would be able to communicate at least that way. He can sign "more" and "milk" and I wish I'd started much sooner. French, English, ASL, we didn't care which he chose, just communicate kiddo!

Recently he's grasped the difference between "mine" and "yours" in the game, "Where's my nose; where's your nose?" His favorite body part is the belly button.

Peanuts

• I shaved the back of my neck myself, this time. I showed my work to Rachel: "How did I do?" She gasped. Guess I won't be trying that again.
  
• Rachel: "The new couple in the ward is really young. He started college in 2001." Me: "Maybe we should invite the other new couple over then, the ones pushing 40." Rachel: "Well, that _is_ closer to your age than 27."
  
• I told one friend at church about starting my own company, and now the whole ward knows. Which is fine, it's not a secret, but Rachel has had a lot of women ask her, with concern, if we're all right: "I heard your husband's self-employed now." Apparently they think starting a company is a euphemism for "hasn't found a job yet."
  
• Getting Matthew to do a chore was three times as much work as doing it myself, when he was five. With Melissa, it's about ten times. Starting with calling her name five or six times to snap her out of what Rachel calls "Melissa la-la land."
  
• Rachel: "Matthew's pretty smart. He gets his mechanical ability from his mother."
  
• Ah, Saturday. Nothing like being "encouraged" to get up by your wife squirting you with a spray bottle.
  
• Me: "What's Isaac eating?" Rachel: "Marshmallow." Me: "_Marshmallow_!?" Rachel: "Well, you said he ate breakfast." Isaac: "Om nom nom."
  
• Left my gaming mouse down. Isaac ate the mousewheel off. (But, I did achieve Gold division in Starcraft II before they closed the beta.)
  
• Me: "We're guys. We laugh at each others' facebook jokes. We don't call each other and say, 'I was thinking of you.'"
  
• Upside of taking a shared shuttle to Denver airport: $30 instead of $90 for a taxi. Downside: worst shocks I've felt in a long time. Extra downside: driver's credit card machine went down as I was handing him my card, so I put my card on the seat and handed him cash instead. Then I left my card in the car when I arrived at the airport.
  
• Rachel: "Matthew had the perfect virus today. It was enough to take his orneriness out, but not enough to make him whiny."
  
• Girl: "I have a phone. Do you have one?" Matthew: "No. How old are you?" "Six." "I'm seven. And I'm turning eight this year." I think it's a tie. (Note: she really did have her own cell phone.)
  

The unavoidable conclusion is that they LIKE arguing

If Matthew and Melissa have nothing to argue about, they will invent something. Here they are in the car earlier:

Matthew: I'm diamond.
Melissa: I'm diamond too!
Matthew: No, you're metal. Diamond is stronger than metal, so I can break you.
Melissa: Noooo! I want to be diamond!
Matthew: Okay, you're diamond. I'm [thinks] everything in the world.
Melissa: I'm diamond!
Matthew: Yes, but since I'm everything I squash you.
...

California dreaming

Today I got back from 4 days in the San Fransisco bay area. It was a good trip for Riptano, but a long time away from Rachel and the kids.

Both customers and clients kept telling us that we should move to the bay if we're serious about this company. They have a point: we have about as many clients there, as everywhere else combined. But I had to explain that moving to the bay is not an option for me; Rachel's reaction ranges from "No" to "Hell, no." Probably we will either hire people there, or Matt will move.

We did several pitches to VCs, talked to a lot of clients, potential clients, advisors, and other users of Cassandra, and Friday I did a full day of training. (145 slides, a ton of whiteboarding, some live demos, eight hours to the minute.) I had very little time to type, so I'm terribly behind on code and reviews, but on the bright side my wrists feel terrific.

We're definitely at the point in our pitching that our slide deck is more a hindrance than a help. It would flow better to just whiteboard for an hour. Or, I suppose we could redo the deck but the time to do that has been in short supply. Still, I think it went well on balance, although as Josh said, "Until they give you a term sheet, it's all up to them. You're the girl, and you are waiting to be asked to the dance."

I got some good stories out of this trip, too. Like the lunch with a hotshot 27-year-old executive I will call S:

S: We totally got lucky hiring P. His old boss even called to congratulate me. P is awesome, even if he's kind of reached a plateau in his career. You know, married, kids, goes home at five every day...
Me: Yeah, he's probably in his thirties.
S: Yes, I think he is.

After pitching VC X one morning, we had VC Y scheduled later in the day. We hadn't realized they had offices in the same compound, but I had to deal with a client while Matt took the VC Y meeting, so I went to the lobby in the first building to plug in. While I was there, one of the partners from VC X came down the stairs on his way out (it was past 5:00) and saw me. "You're back?" "Well, Matt had a ... meeting, so I came over here while he did that." Awkward.

After another pitch, Matt wanted to talk in the car on the way to our next appointment:

Matt: Dude, the women in that office were smokin'.
Me: What are you talking about? They've all been hot.
Matt: Yes, but these were especially hot. The blonde in particular.
Me: I guess now that I'm married I don't pay attention to the fine distinctions the way I used to.

Finally, we had a dinner with the Riptano team last night.

Matt: You know, I don't think I've ever seen anyone argue with Ellis as much as Ben does. It's kind of fun to watch.
Matt D: Jonathan has a lot of strong opinions. Some of them are bound to be wrong.
Paul: Jonathan? Opinionated? I've never heard that before.

A Biologist's Mother's Day Song

This is awesome! I adore geeky science stuff like this.

Thoughts on Mother's Day

Saturday Jonathan took the older two out for a movie so Isaac and I had the house to ourselves. It was a golden opportunity to tidy up the homestead. I busied myself in my tasks while Isaac shadowed me from place to place. As I began to sweep up the millions of crumbs and assorted debris under the kitchen table, Isaac grabbed my broom. The broom is much too big and awkward for him handle and I was feeling impatient. Then I remembered the toy broom, found it, and traded him. He happily started swinging the broom around and scattering crumbs to the far corners of the dining room. I got out the dust pan, and showed him that the whole point of the exercise was to get the crumbs off of the floor and into the pan. Isaac crouched down and started picking up the crumbs one by one and placing them into the pan. He was so pleased to be "helping." Together we finished floor.

While he was doing that, I couldn't help but think how like toddlers we must be to God. Our "help" is so small for One who can order the cosmos. And yet I imagine He is pleased when we try to do his work, however imperfectly.

'Course life is messy and not always filled with those sweet moments...

Later that night, Melissa came downstairs complaining that her tummy wasn't feeling good. I thought she might be hungry since we had an early picnic dinner in the park. "Go have a slice of bread, then go back to bed." Next thing thing I heard was a loud and long SPLAT! It sounded like someone poured a full pitcher of water on the tile floor. Uh oh. I walked into the kitchen and saw Melissa surrounded by a huge puddle of vomit and still going strong. Once her tummy settled down for a moment, I scooped her up and carried her to the bathtub. My husband, oh darling, sainted man, offered to clean up the floor while I took care of Melissa. I asked if he was 'sure' once...but I didn't ask twice! I cleaned Melissa up, re-jammied her, gave her some sprite to sip, rocked her and put her back to bed with a big bowl, just in case.

The next day she seemed to be feeling fine, but Jonathan stayed home with her while I took the guys to church. As is tradition, the primary kids sang their songs about mothers during sacrament meeting. (Am I the only mother that gets a bit nervous when her kid is up on the stand? I'm just hoping my offspring isn't the one making funny faces or picking his/her nose!) Matthew fortunately didn't make me squirm, and he mostly sang. Good job, Matthew.

Isaac is having a tough adjustment to nursery, so either Jonathan or I usually stay with him. It doesn't help that nursery is smack dab during nap time. He got tired of nursery right after singing time, so I nursed him and he conked out and slept peacefully all through Relief Society. I got to hear the entire lesson. Thanks, Isaac!

After we got home the kids were bouncing off of the walls. Melissa was clearly feeling better. We went for a family hike up Comanche Lookout Point (fourth highest hill in Bexar county!) to get them out of the house. Once again, I forgot my good camera.

Kind of blurry: darn two-bit camera on my cell phone. Still you can see how lush it it here in San Antonio.

Tired baby. He crashed a few minutes later and slept until I put him in the car.

Melissa was so excited to give me her present that she opened it for me as soon as she got home from preschool. "Look what I made you!" I wore I all day and on Mother's day too. I totally rock this look.

Home Depot has free kid's workshops on the first Saturday of the month. They are great! It's prime Daddy/offspring time. Matthew made this for me, with a potted zinnia. I love zinnias. Melissa made one too, but she decided it was for her.

Matthew also gave me this. "And you don't have to water it, and it won't die, Mom!" Good thinking Matthew.

Jonathan gave me a gorgeous canvas print of this:

I can't wait to get it framed and hang it on the wall.

The presents were lovely, gang, but here are my treasures.

At the Park

Last week the temperatures were in the 80s and 90s and a bit muggy, but Saturday the weather was glorious. It was overcast and cooler- perfect for a picnic in the park. I only had my cell phone so I couldn't get any pictures of the boys- they were running around too fast for the mediocre camera on the phone.

Melissa baked a birthday cake in the baseball field.

Matthew had a busy game of tag going with some kids, then the rest of us joined him on the playground for tag. That kid is fast! The game ended prematurely when another kid ran into a pole. Ouch. (He was okay.) Isaac climbed, ran, slid, dug, squealed, and just enjoyed himself.

When we got home it was bath time.

Melissa is 5

Our merry little sprite is now 5. Every day for the last 2 months she has asked us, "how many more days until my birthday?" After we'd answer, she'd complain, "this is taking way too long!"

No, my dear, it is going way too fast...

Happy birthday to my spunky, determined, loyal, free-spirited, cheerful, loving, gentle, lively, charming, strong, funny little girl who makes me laugh and gives me gray hairs.

05/06/05
8 lbs 3 oz with a healthy set of lungs
I wrote about her birth here.

One week old and eating daddy's finger, num, num!

Five months old and flashing a gummy grin.

05/06/06
First birthday!

Summer in Washington

05/06/07
Second birthday!

Fruit loop fun!

Two and a half.

05/06/08
Third birthday!

My little warrior.

Dancing with Dad.

05/06/09
Fourth birthday!

At the fire station.

Styling in the kitchen.

05/06/10
Five Years old!