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Toni getting dinner ready for the kids one night, May 1st, our wedding anniversary. Later that night we had a fantastic dinner in downtown Bellevue and then caught a movie. It was a really nice day and night out.

I thought I had written about our anniversary earlier, but apparently I only thought about doing so. I've been writing entries all day today, trying to catch up a bit, so I'll keep this one a little short.

What sticks out about dinner (other than a small spat that we had early in the meal) was the vegetable dishes that we ordered along with our main plates: rosemary-ed fiddle-head ferns and stinging nettles. They were both very interesting. The ferns were tender and crunchy, but filled with a somewhat sticky juice (a little like okra). The juice made our tongues fill a bit funny - almost numb. The nettles were really tasty. They were dark green, cooked in a cream sauce in which mushrooms had been cooked, giving them a nice, woodsy flavor along with the sweetness of the cream. The nettles themselves had little flavor, but their texture was very thin and papery.

After we got over feeling guilty about arguing on our anniversary we noticed how the resteraunt was a little different than most. It was peopled by an older population - people with lots of money. They just had that demeanor.

We talked about an idea that I've been working on with my business partner, Kevin Yu. An idea for a new website, mixing the concepts of narrative and interconnectivity.

It was nice to get out of the house, away from the kids, and have an adult conversation with Toni. We've been doing that more regularly and our relationship has improved because of it. It's amazing how easily you can find yourselves distant in a marriage. With your focus on raising kids things slip a little further away each day.

Now that we've been going on more frequent date nights we find ourselves closing that gap a good bit each time. It's very nice...making our home feel a bit more cozy, which is what I like about this picture.

A Sunny Day Just Before Spring 2010

We got lucky in mid-March with some unseasonably nice weather. Like everyone else up here we went outside to take advantage of it. A few minutes from our house is a nice park on the side of the Sammamish Plateau where we've gone in the past to have nice, quiet picnics.

We parked in the parking lot of a new medical building near the top of the plateau then followed a small paved path down around the side facing the interstate. At that point we could've taken the long path winding it's way around and eventually to the spot where we usually picnic. Instead, we hopped the fence and made our way down the very steep hill-side for a bit of excitement (for Porter's and Fallon's sake).

Life is Better in Shades

We went to Bellevue Square the other day and stopped by Gap to pick up some new clothes for Porter and Fallon (oh, and for me). Porter found a new cap and a pair of sunglasses that he really liked (when the sun does shine in the PNW it's too bright for him).

It was great to see how excited he was about them - insisting on wearing them the rest of the day. I could tell that he felt really cool in them and that they allowed him to be a bit more extroverted than usual - which was really nice to see too, given my own tendency to be introverted.

He wore them while playing in the playground across the street from our house and all of the girls in the neighborhood told him how cool and handsome he looked in them. Toni said he was beaming with confidence.

I shot this photo of him in our house later that afternoon. He had been dancing around in the living room with Fallon to something on the TV. At one point he went right up close to the TV and looked over at me. I managed to snap the picture and unintentionally captured the reflection of whatever it was on TV in his shades - kind of a neat result.

Porter and Fallon are fairly introverted, but I'm hoping that they'll outgrow it to some degree as they grow older. I know how difficult it was for me, particularly in my teens, being so introverted; and it is something I regret not being able to escape until so much later in life, now that I'm able to look back from a distance.

They have a couple performances coming up this summer: one for their yearly school play and another for a recital from the dance classes that they've been taking. Though they do fine in practice, they both (Fallon especially) are very hesitant to go on stage. Hopefully all of the practice will help and they'll won't be as self-conscious.

...the things we worry about and hope for as parents...

A Big Event

It's nearing the end of May and yet it seems like Spring weather hasn't quite settled into Issaquah. The temperatures today were down in the 40's as a major storm system continues to make it's way through the Puget Sound area. Throughout the day the sky alternates from being bright and sunny to threateningly ominous and rainy.

Despite the unpredictable (and getting-to-be-frustrating) weather this year we did get to do one really nice thing today as a family.

A New Level of Immersion

Toni and I were able to get out by ourselves and have a date night last night. Our neighbor, Carole, agreed to come over after we put Porter and Fallon down to bed and watch them while we went out to see a movie.

We had been trying to see Avatar in 3D for the past couple weeks. Our attempt last weekend was unsuccessful after we discovered that the theater we had chosen here in Issaquah wasn't showing it in 3D. We were both really disappointed, but, since we had already bought our tickets, we decided to see another movie: The Book of Eli (which turned out to be a fairly good movie: great, really dramatic fight scenes and an interesting premise).

Last night we were deteremined to see Avatar in 3D. We drove to Bellevue in order to see the 9:00pm showing at Lincoln Square. Needless to say, we were both more than a little irate when, as we entered the packed underground parking garage, Toni noticed a sign stating that Avatar was sold out. We couldn't believe it. After all, the movie has already been showing for the last month or so.