Halfbrown

Ah yes… he’s definitely my boy.

We took my mom and the boys to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (& Aquarium is important, apparently) in Tacoma today and it was really nice. I had never been there before but was, in my opinion, much better than the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. PDZA was cleaner, the exhibits were much more natural looking, and even the grounds were in better shape.

We got there just as the park was opening, and there weren’t too many people there. I figured that it was because it was a slightly overcast day, but it never rained. Not bad, at least, and only near the end of our day at the zoo. I love how they had peacocks walking all over the grounds, which was especially nice for the boys since it was one animal they could get kind of close to.

First we went to the aquarium side of the zoo, and the boys got to play in the play-tidal pools and touch starfish, sea cucumbers, and sand dollars.

I was surprised at the size and number of sharks they had in their aquarium. And the tropical island exhibits looked awesome. It looked and felt like a real tropical setting; humidity and all.

One of the highlights for Evan and Bryce were the Asian elephants. That is, once Bryce noticed them.

Near the end of the day, however, the boys were getting tired and hungry, so we took a little break at the one decent snack shop that they had open (my only complaint about the zoo at the time) and then we hit the petting zoo and playland area of the zoo. They had a great time on the slides and feeding goats.

After about 4 hours of elephants, penguins, sharks, and goats we packed everyone up and headed home, but it was a great trip and one I am sure we’ll do again.

Today our youngest turned 1 year old. In typical fashion for a 1 year old, he could have cared less about the whole affair, but it was more for us than for him at this point. He did, however, have fun with smearing cake everywhere, so the evening wasn’t an entire loss for him.

Today Evan turned 4 and, as requested, we took him to the Chuck E. Cheese (CEC) in Tacoma and he had a great time! We spent about 4 hours there, from the custom pizza party to the $30.00 in game tokens, and he was all lit up like a firework the whole time… it was great!

Spending so long there, however, made me realize that it’s so true that the the more things change, the more they stay the same. Back when I went to CEC it was often with a group of friends. We’d each have about $10.00 in quarters on us and our pockets would sing a jingly tune as we furiously pedaled our way to feast on greasy pizza and play video games like Gauntlet for hours by the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach. We’d just head out on our own and most of the time our parents didn’t know we were; they probably assumed we were just at a friends house.

The Tacoma CEC had some things that the ones I went to never did when I was growing up, like blacklight-reactive numeric identification (placed on hands, stickers, etc.) for children and their parents, mandatory supervision for teens, and an armed police officer watching the floor from the salad bar. There certainly weren’t any cops watching over the CEC I went to when I was younger.

I guess it’s better to have the added security, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of message an armed guard sends to the kids as they feast on their greasy pizza and play their video games.

The morning started off really nice because I got to sleep in until about 10:30AM, which almost never happens any more. After some tasty Eggo waffles we headed over to Kimberly’s parents house so she could drop off a card to her dad and visit for a little bit. We ended up taking a little bit of an in-county road trip from there.

Our first stop was Indianola, where we drove past the house where we first fell in love, and then got some sandwiches from the country store where we used to get movies and snacks from all the time. We headed on over to Kingston and ate a mini-picnic lunch at Arness Roadside Park and watched the water traffic go by and then played on the beach for a little while. Evan had a great time throwing rocks and shells in the water, which is a favorite past time of his these days.
Fathers Day at Arness Park

After that we drove all around Kingston, mostly because I almost turned down a one-way street right in front of a bike cop and didn’t want to have to drive past a cranky cop again. We headed out to Point No Point and saw where the lighthouse was, and then we popped on over to Port Gamble and had ice cream at the general store. A word of warning: if you ever stop there and decide to get ice cream, be sure you want a lot of ice cream! These people don’t fool around with their portions… Kimberly and I both had problems finishing our waffle cones, and Evan had to throw away half of his.

After that we headed back home, but it was a nice, relaxing day spent with the family, just like it should have been.

Several big things happened today around our house:

• Bryce rolled over all by himself,
• Some neighbor kids (Kyle and Sarah) stopped by our house to ask if Evan could come out and play, and
• I finished our fence.

OK… the last one isn’t that big of a deal, and it’s taken me long e-damn-nough to finish the fence. But the rolling over and having kids asking if Evan can play; that’s big news.

Ah… there’s nothing like a smiling baby in your arms. Or in this case, your wife’s arms.

Valentine’s day came early in our house since it falls on a Monday and it’s tough to get out early on a Monday at work. Luckily for us my mom volunteered to watch the boys so we could go out and do the dinner and a movie thing.

We decided to see Phantom of the Opera, which was much better than I thought it was going to be (I give it a 7.5 out of 10); and then we had some Red Lobster action, which was OK but our waitress was less than impressive. She said about a dozen words to us until it came time for the check and then she was all cheery. Like the tip meter is going to rise with post-meal cheer.

It was a lovely evening and it marked the first night that we both were away from Bryce at the same time since we left the hospital, so it was fun but a little nerve wracking. It always is when you leave your child in someone else’s care, even it it’s your own mother.

sigh

The last day of my “vacation” (sadly my employer doesn’t offer paternity leave) is today and I’m a bit sad. Sad that not only do I have to head back to work tomorrow, but that I’ve been a bit spoiled what with being a pseudo-at home dad for close to a month now.

It was really nice having basically all day to hang out and play with the boys (and of course with Kimberly). That extra week really helped make the vacation feel more like an actual vacation, even though there was that whole “birth of our new child” thing happening (and we haven’t had much sleep at all).

Today the latest addition to our family, Bryce, was born at 11:38AM via emergency cesarean section. Apparently Bryce not only turned himself upside down in the last few days, but his cord was wrapped around his neck… twice. Dr. B. gave 2 options:

1. Have her get up in there and try to turn him around and unwrap the cord (a painful and not 100% guaranteed proposition), or
2. Emergency cesarean section.

Weighing all of the pro’s and con’s of each, we decided upon the C-section. From there, the doctor took over like a General on a battlefield, and it was quite impressive. The one downside is that unfortunately the anesthetic didn’t quite kick in 100%, so Kimberly felt it. But all is well now.

Bryce weighted in at 9lb 2 oz and is as healthy as can be. Welcome to the world, Bryce! Here’s a few pix for the folks at home who haven’t met him yet.