our own island in a storm

After getting some terrible news earlier this week, I lost my job, we got to head out to Vashon Island in the Puget Sound for the Fourth of July weekend. It is an extravagant house right on the water where there will be a barge shooting off fireworks about 300 yards away. Finn is with Grandma and Papa for the Parade in Clatskanie with Touch a truck day coming tomorrow. We are each enjoying a nice weekend after a bit of a stressful week. I'm not sure that Finn has been that stressed but he knows that things are different. We have talked for a while about Kate and I trading off who was working out side the house and who was raising the boys and we have been talking about that a bit recently without knowing how we were going to manage the switch. As tough as this recent news is it has facilitated that switch for us. Right now Kate is in job search mode full time and I am in full time At home Dad mode. As most of you know that is the only job I really want so I am pretty excited. Kate is excited as well but also feels the weight of the world on her shoulders now. There will be plenty of time for stress and worry but this weekend we will live in the moment and enjoy the luxurious surroundings.

Life Guard on Duty

Mark and Kendra got in today and my mom and dad have been here since Saturday. It has been great having them here and the boys have been so great. Henry was a little unsure of Papa at first but has come around. He had no such problem with Grandma and loved her instantly. Finn has been a snuggler with everyone. Passing around the love to whoever will take it. We have gone to the beach more in the last couple of days then we had in the last couple of months. It's great having people to visit to help get you out of the house. We went to Sunset Beach on the North Shore on Tuesday and watched some big waves riders take on 15 ft waves. I had a sense being there that it was like being at Yankee Stadium or the Boston Garden. This is an epic spot where some of the best athletes in the world are preforming at such a high level. We have plans for Peral Harbor and snorkeling and all sorts of other activities so there should be some good pictures for those of you that are into that whole thing.

Fall Forward

Henry is trying to crawl, Jake is trying to walk, and Finn is trying to jump while running. There are breakthroughs afoot here in baby boy land and along with the season of visits there is real excitement in the air. We just said goodbye to Auntie Heather who despite her dislike of diapers was super helpful. She took on the kitchen as her domain and kept that thing spotless the whole time she was here taking a big load off of our plates. She also jumped into the favorite aunt lead with Finn. He loves his auntie Heather something fierce and still needs to have it explained to him where she is and why she can't take him to the Train store. Next up we have my parents coming with Mark and Kendra shortly behind. The boys will get spoiled and in turn Kate and I will get really spoiled as well. I can't even imagine what having four other kid loving people is going to look like, will I still have to change diapers? Will Finn still want me to read books to him? Will Jake still want to wrestle with me? We will see. After my family leaves we will take a trip to see Kate's parents in Indiana while Jake's Grandma Barbara looks after him. These boys are going to be impossible once we are all back together and the doting grandparents and aunts are gone home. I think we all need some doting though so Kate and I are more then willing to endure post visit breakdowns. Excitement is in the air.

Arizona

It is Friday already and because of our vacation in Arizona this has been a short week for me. After the whirl-wind weekend that just past that is a good thing, as is the slow weekend we have planned. We got the chance to visit family and friends in Arizona and Finn got to ride on an airplane with Papa. That might just be the greatest thing that has happened in his young life. When we hit turbulence or had a rough landing Finn clapped and said " One more time?" Neither Finn nor Henry were any trouble at all on the ride out or the ride back and whether you have good kids or not that is amazing.

We flew in early Thursday and went right to lunch with Mark and Kendra. We hadn't lubed Finn up with sunscreen yet and his sensitive skin was turning pinker and pinker by the minute. It was a nice change from the 40 degree rainy days we have been having here in Oregon. We then headed to my brothers house to watch Finn and Tyson run around while we basked in the warmth and napped. For me going to Arizona is like going back to your old neighborhood. Almost all of my friends moved to Arizona so it is a one stop shopping opportunity to catch up. We are all a little thicker now and have much more responsibilities but we still make fun of each other in ways no one else can and know the back ground stories that make current events so poignant.

Friday night we went to a John Mark McMillian concert and got to have some time with my sister Zonda and her husband James. They are doing great and it was so much fun to have that one on one time with just them. We told stories and laughed over Ice Cream and Cheese Cake while Grandma and Papa took care of the 5 kids. Their kids are better behaved then your kids will ever be. I am not sure what they do but it's working, those kids are wonderful.

Saturday we played some golf in the desert heat and I got to ride around and talk to Kyle a bunch. Then Mark and Bing challenged us on the back 9 to a best ball two-some battle which was comparable to the Atlanta-Boston series with Kyle and Playing Atlanta. We held our own out there and only lost on the last hole. James gave away the Laker's score on the way home so I passed on the game and opted to get some much needed rest instead. It is a tough pace those AZ folks maintain and for the last year or so we have been moving at a much slower stride.

Sunday we went to church then off to the Farm for some lunch. Finn played with whoever came around him and Henry was content to be held by all but mostly Lyric. Lyric is his cousin, James and Zonda's daughter, and she held Henry when ever she could. She was great with him and it was great to see our kids together. We went down to Scottsdale for stay at resort and sat around the patio playing cards and eating snacks while the sun went down. That night Grandma and Papa had the kids while Kate and I got to go out with Mark and Kendra and Melissa and Kyle. We went to this bar that had a crazy old coot tending bar. He looked like a dead-head and had us laughing hysterically by the end of the night. While telling us about the Lavosh pizza I asked if they invented it and he said "Well not the cracker, that been around hundreds of year, but we made up the pizza." Yeah, thanks for clearing that up. Kate got his special Mai Tai that he apparently flashes and we all told honeymoon stories and basked in a night free of kids.

Monday was a nice lazy morning around the pool and some naps to recharge. We toured the model homes in Verrado and played basketball with the boys. I thought I was going to die after about 2 points but made a point to run up and down the court on every change of possession. We watched the Lakers finish off Denver and had some great Cilantro Lime chicken with mango salsa.

long winter alone. It is nice to be back home though, the pace of life for those folks is fast and atIt was a great weekend and the sun and people brightened our times ran us over. maybe it's the desert air that gives them all that energy. They helped re-charge us and we are thankful for that.

Spring Fever

Henry is getting way more smiley lately. We can all get him to smile but what really gets me is watching Finn try to do it. Henry starts to smile and then gets this wide eyed look of fear on his face as this blond bulb head is coming in for a kiss. He goes from joy to “Holy Crap!” in two seconds flat. Finn has gotten better about driving his bulltruck over Henry and Henry has gotten more OK with it. I know that they are going to have a lot of fun with each other as they get bigger and I think Finn is anxious for that to start.

We are a little more then a week away from a trip to AZ for an extended weekend. After a couple of days of nice weather here in Portland we are back to the cold dreary spring that we have yet to grow to love. The warm desert days are looking better and better. I’m pretty excited to see my brother and sister in law as well as my sister and her family. Basically all the boys I grew up with relocated to AZ so it will be a nice family reunion. I’m excited for them all to get to see Finn again and meet Henry. There is a gang of kids that Finn will get to play with and since Grandma and Papa are coming with us too, a gang of people that Kate and I will get to play with. It’s spring break right, we can get our party on.

On the Road

We left Wednesday night to go to the East coast for a wedding. Kate's friend Lisa is getting married and Kate is part of the festivities. Since Finn has a 6 hour traveling tolerance we thought leaving later in the evening and driving while he slept would be a good idea but Finn didn't sleep. After we stopped and checked into a hotel he still didn't sleep. He was like chipmunk on uppers he was so hyper. Like he chased his espresso with some redbull. He was throwing himself around the bed, getting up on his knees and waving his arms like crazy and then throwing himself down again. We put him in his crib and he screamed for 30 minutes, which is OK at home where we can hide him away in his room, but in a hotel room it really sucks. Not much sleep was had that night but he was a happy baby for the rest of the trip. We arrived in Sparta, NJ at 8:00 PM Thursday and today Kate is off with Lisa, Finn is with Grandma Kris and Heather to the Jersey Shore, and I am left to read in the shade on the back porch. I think we are all pretty happy with our respective days. Since there are no pictures taken left I give you Finn offering scout a drink from his sippy cup.