Sledding in the Cascades

They day after Thanksgiving we went sledding with our friends the Mahoney-Schaefers. The boys took their Sno Sliders and I captured a grainy video (from out digital camera) of Lochlan ripping up the slopes. It was fairly warm for late November and there were mud pits at the bottom of the hill (as evidenced by Liam's dirty but happy face). We had a great time and it was nice to play in the snow with so many energetic and enthusiastic kiddos.

Mycology in the City

Biking home along the Burke Gilman after dropping Lochlan off at school, I passed a woman who had just harvested a beautiful and shockingly large mushroom. I asked her about it, and she said "This is the most remarkable specimen I have ever collected." I followed up with "Do you know the name of the species?" Without missing a beat she said "Amanita muscaria." I love Seattle. :)

Lochlan's Weaning Weekend

In late September Lochlan had his weaning party and the next day he and I traveled down to Portland for a long weekend. The trip was similar in many respects to the trip Liam and I took to Portland for the same purpose three years ago--we stayed at the same hotel, we rode the same trains, went to the zoo, even went for a hike with Jen. However, my boys have very different personalities, and it was fascinating to observe these differences in an identical setting. We had a lot of fun, and the weather was fantastic. If we'd had a bit more time it would have been great to get out on the river, but we'll save that for next summer.

Lochlan did really well, not too much crying and he was a joy to be with the entire time. I'm hoping to continue the tradition of having entire weekends with each boy as they get older.

The Bountiful Garden

The garden really exploded this year--perhaps because this was the best summer any of us can remember? Plenty of sunny, warm days and the warmest nights I've ever experienced in Seattle. It really was remarkable. We also doubled the size and number of garden beds, and had fantastic crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, squash, chard, kale, beans, potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, spinach, peas, and hops. We had our best pepper crop ever (but still only about 10 peppers) but the broccoli, corn, basil, and other herbs were just mediocre. We definitely have more to learn in that department!

Best of all, the garden produced heavily all the way into early October.

Lochlan's 1st Day of Preschool

Lochlan is attending Fremont Community School again this year and he seemed much more confident and happy on the first day this time around. It's a great place for him and he's made several new friends. Unfortunately, he had a pretty serious crash at school last week and knocked out one of his front teeth! We took him to the pediatric dentist immediately, but they were not able to save it. So the microman will have a little Alfred E. Neuman vibe going on for the next, oh, 3 years or so. Sigh.