Barry’s Daily Web News

A Clear Day in Seattle

This evening, we had clear skies to the eastern horizon in Seattle. I was impressed with the mountain view, which included snow-covered peaks. The group I am with went out to a good seafood restaurant, and the food was excellent. Like I mentioned yesterday, this would be a nice place to live if it wasn’t for the rain.

Work is going well here, but I can’t wait to get home to see the family.

Relaxed in Seattle

I arrived in Seattle last night without any problems. Today, it rained on the way into work, then had some teasing sun while I was inside during the day, then rained again on the way home. Rain is forecasted for the rest of the week.

My first impression of Seattle is that it would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the rain. At least I am enjoying the work I am doing here.

Cortney reports the car has been fixed, and so she at least has a car for the week.

A Broken Car

Cortney was telling Sean she could not go anywhere today because her car was broken. Sean heard this and rushed out to the garage to see it. I imagine he was thinking that the car was broken like a toy car that had been stepped on, and Sean was expecting to see pieces of car. I told Sean that the car was alright, it just wouldn’t start.

I will be leaving shortly for Redmond, Washington. I had enough time today to get some errands done and was still able to spend time with Sean and Ethan. I took them into the pool, as we may get 100 degree temperatures today. Sean had a great time jumping into the pool, but the water was too cold for Ethan. I’ll miss seeing Cortney, Sean and Ethan over the next five days.

A Late Dinner

We were all set to go out to dinner this evening, but we ran into a slight problem. The car would not start. After failing to start the car with the jumper cables, we had AAA towing come out. They confirmed that the starter motor was bad. Since the closest dealership was closed for the day, and closes gates around the lot, we decided to wait until Monday to have the car towed. The only problem is I leave town tomorrow, leaving Cortney to have to find help to get her car back.

We eventually made it out to dinner, cramming everyone in to my car. We arrived at the restaurant two hours later than we had planned. Sean and Ethan were not as hungry as they normally would be, probably because it was close to their bedtime. Ethan did polish off almost two apples. I think he might have a new favorite food. Still, it was worth going out to dinner, and hopefully Sean and Ethan will sleep late tomorrow morning after having stayed up later.

Friday the 13th

Today may have been Friday the 13th, but it was completely normal in all respects. Maybe even so normal it was a boring day. I had a good day at work, took Sean and Ethan to Burger King where they behaved well, and enjoyed a video with Cortney for the evening.

A Trip to the Dump

I took some time off of work today to go with Cortney and the kids for a tour of Glendale recycling plant, which was situated right next to the landfill. The tour was organized through the MOMS club. The recycling center really just sorts the materials so they can be shipped off to other process plants. Still, they had some neat machines, like the ones that turned cans and paper into big bales. I found the tour interesting, but I’m not sure if Sean or Ethan got much out of it, although they did seem to be fascinated by the machines. I think they might remember the smell though. I guess enough people throw food into the recycling bins, so by the time they make it to the plant, the recycling materials has quite an odor.

McDonalds Night

Despite the fact that it was a really pleasant evening, Cortney and I decided to take Sean and Ethan to McDonalds. Cortney had already taken Sean and Ethan to a friend’s house this afternoon to babysit their children, so she didn’t want to do anything fancy for dinner.

I guess Sean and Ethan were somewhat tired, as they preferred the video games to the play area. I didn’t mind, and I played video games along with them.

A Trip to the Park

The library does not have story time this month, so I took Sean and Ethan to the closet park to the house, which we call the dinosaur park. A soccer practice started just after we arrived, and some of the siblings of the soccer crowd joined Sean and Ethan on the playground.

Sean spent quite a bit of time watching the soccer practice. Sean said that he liked soccer. I asked him what he liked about it, and he said “I like the treats.” He was referring to the snacks that were given out of after the soccer games when he played. I asked Sean if he would like soccer without the treats, and he said “No.” I guess that’s why Sean is taking tumbling and not soccer.

A Chaotic Evening

I arrived home from work to find Sean and Ethan full of energy. It took a few time-outs to get their energy focused in the right direction. Somehow, I was able to cook dinner (Cortney and I had barbecued chicken) and make it through dinner. I can barely imagine the day Cortney must have had. Just before we left for Sean’s gym class, Sean and Ethan finally calmed down. Sean had fun at the gym.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sean and Ethan bought flowers and chocolate over the internet (with my help, of course) for a gift for Cortney for Mother’s Day. They also made a card for her as well.

We had plans to go out for dinner tonight, but the restaurant Cortney wanted to go to had an hour wait, and Sean and Ethan were restless. So we settled for pizza for Cortney at home, and Sean, Ethan, and I went to McDonalds.

I haven’t taken Ethan to McDonalds in a while. Ethan can now climb the towers in the play area. I noticed Ethan enjoys the play area more now that he can full use it.

Spring Picnic

Today was the company spring picnic, a trip to the waterpark. It’s a good deal; we get free admission, food and drinks for the day. Sean and Ethan have been talking about going for the past week. The only problem was that it was a bit chilly for a day at the waterpark. The high was only in the mid 80’s, with frequent breezes.

Still, we had quite a bit of fun. Sean and I went down the tube slides several times. Sean wasn’t quite big enough to go last year, so this is the first time he has done this. I also took both Sean and Ethan in the wave pool with me, and they both had fun.

Both Sean and Ethan had fun in the children’s play area. They have quite a few small slides in this area, which they both enjoyed, especially Ethan. Even though he was shivering, he still did not want to leave the water.

We did not stay too late, leaving only because both Sean and Ethan were cold and tired. We just relaxed after arriving home.

The Toy Store

We made our usual trip to the Burger King play area, but since Sean did not have his afternoon swim lessons, we arrived much earlier. So, we did not stay as long as we usually do, and we ended up making a side trip to Toys R Us to have Sean and Ethan play at the train table on display.

Sean actually started to tire of the trains, and started looking around the shelves, occasionally saying “Daddy, I want this.” His tastes seem to center around the higher priced merchandise. At least he thinks big.

Ethan played with the trains the entire time, and I had to pry him away from the table when it was time to leave. He cried on the way home, and even cried after I put him to bed. Cortney thinks he might not be feeling well, so it may be more than just the trains. I just hope he gets a good night’s sleep.

Working at the Office

Today was the first day of my career spent working in an actual office, as opposed to a cubicle. The office is actually smaller than the cubicle space I used to have, but at least I have a room with a door which I can close if I need privacy. I had three teleconferences today, and it was nice to use the speaker phone instead of holding the handset to my ear. I am now working in a different facility, which adds another three miles to my commute, but doesn’t change my commute time much.

Sean’s New Sandals

The new sandals that Sean got just a few months ago had the fabric on the top of one of the shoes tear, creating an ugly looking shoe that was otherwise functional. Cortney decided to take them back, and get another model. She ended up getting a pair of Teva’s.

This morning, she showed Sean the shoes, and he said he did not like them. He did not want to even try them on. A bit later, I got into the act, looked at the shoes, and then showed Sean the tread on the bottom of the shoes.

On Monday, the parking lot was full at the gym, so we parked in the next lot over. We had to cross a deep ditch to get to the gym. Sean tripped and fell while trying to climb out of the ditch. He scraped up his knee, so I know he was not happy about it.

So, I pointed out to Sean that with a tread like the one on the new Teva’s, Sean would not trip while climbing out of the ditch. Sean caught on right away, and became excited about the new sandals. At this point, he was happy to wear them to school, even taking off the shoes and socks he already had on to wear the sandals.

I had a problem with Sean’s sandals at McDonalds this evening. Sean refused to take them off in the play area. He liked the tread so much, he was using the shoes to climb up the tube slides. I decided to look the other way this time, and just let Sean have fun.

I was happy when my car made it home from McDonalds without any problems.

Beach Night at the Library

The theme for story time at the library this evening was the beach. I told Sean he would go to the beach when he goes to Florida in June. Sean and Ethan were well behaved at the library, in contrast to a group of girls who just would not sit still during the stories. No more story time until the end of the month, so we will have to find another activity for Tuesday nights.