My brother Mark arrived yesterday to spend the week with us. The kids are super excited to have him and enjoy the attention he gives them. Last night Mark and I enjoyed drinks at Bastille in Ballard where Mark knew the bartender serving in the back room. Every time he visits he shows me some …

The 19th Annual Seattle Rhythm was held this weekend at the Seattle Center. We took the opportunity to hear some of the drumming after our morning swim. We went down for the Scottish drum corps but they cancelled at the last minute. Nonetheless, we enjoyed hearing drumming and watching dances from various cultures. The kids …

This morning we headed over to Alki Beach in West Seattle to meet up with our good friend Don. We’ve been to West Seattle (25 minute drive south of us) a couple times but this was our first visit to Alki Beach. Don suggested the location and it was well worth it. It offered great …

With the sun shining a bit more than usual, and the temperatures staying above 55 a tad longer, the family is more inclined to hit the trail more frequently. On a favorable hiking day, we tend to do 2-4 mile hikes with the kids. Those miles don’t always work well in the winter or rainy …

Laura and I took two well-deserved days away from the kids, work, and normal routine of life to visit the Olympic Coast. Having lived in the Seattle area for two years, we have never spent quality time on the Coast. We chose to visit in October because we knew the leaves would be changing colors …

Sorry Christmas tree farms, you don’t have a thing on today’s pumpkin patch. Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas and will always select my Christmas tree from a tree farm or a national forest, but it’s kind of a boring experience to go and cut a tree. I agree that just selecting a pumpkin …

What a great weekend to be out and about in the Seattle area. The weather was just splendid and the kids (and parents) in excellent moods! On Saturday we headed north to meet up with my coworker Bryan and his family Annie, Lucy, and Luke for a visit to Jetty Island. Jetty Island is a …

“That banana slug has antlers!” Our little naturalist has a great view of the natural world and he calls it as he sees it. It’s our job to encourage his curiosity and his sense of wonder and if that means he sees antlers, then they’re…well, we’ll help him out and let him know that they’re …

Alaska in August is what I’m talking about. Fire season has died down a bit. The sun is shining. Wildlife is roaming. Next week, I’m in Kodiak for two days for an earthquake training and meetings with the City. This will be followed up with meetings with the State of Alaska Emergency Management and the …

Did you grab the camera? Shoot, forgot it. Did you bring our iPod for the drive? Nope. Boy those kids are eating a lot on this drive to the trailhead. Do we have extra food? No. Ugh, my pants are too tight. Why didn’t I wear others?!? Hey, did you grab the Northwest Forest Pass before …

There’s cheese and then there’s Tillamook Cheese. In our household we only support Tillamook Cheese because, really, all other cheese are inferior to the baby loaf.  In our visit to Oregon last weekend, we decided to show our Tillamook support and take a visit/tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The factory is a tourist destination …

A quick 6am stop by Countryside Donut House (our favorite) and we were heading east to Yakima to visit our good friends Phil, Jessica, and Evan. We made good time arriving in Yakima around 9am. A quick bathroom break for everyone and off to Cowiche Canyon for a Father’s Day morning hike. Before we go …

We rarely hike without Ethan. Actually, this was only our second time hiking without him since he was born. Ethan is with his Grandma and Grandpa in Oregon this weekend. But it was our first time hiking with just Autumn and we did our best to engage her fully while making good time (something we …

A good friend of Laura’s recommended visiting Seattle’s Carkeek Park a couple months ago. After her first visit with the kids during one of her weekday outtings, she came home and told me that I’ve got to see this park. It’s fantastic! We’ve since been to this great park in north Seattle four times. It …

We took our first visit to Seattle’s Museum of Flight a couple weeks ago when Laura’s sister Marylynn came up for the weekend. Since Boeing has its headquarters in the Seattle area, we hear a lot about what’s going in the aviation world. It only seemed fitting to visit this museum to learn more about aviation history. …