clamy clamy ding dong

This weekend we went clam digging at ocean shores. There was a low tide on Saturday evening, and then an early one Sunday morning. On the drive down we stopped at Cabela's for lunch and so Neil could get some boots. Cabela's is the Ikea of the outdoors, and with tons of ammo. I had an elk meat sandwich, which was pretty good.

On saturday evening we went clamming. The clams weren't really showing, but we ended up getting a few. Abe had a blast playing on the beach, as did the dood. Banjo even grabbed one of the clams that we dug up and pranced around with it in his mouth.

On Sunday morning we had a killing. We all got our limits within about half an hour. The clams were super easy to find. Now it's clam stir fry, fried clams, clam chowder, clam spaghetti (and maybe a few clam farts) for us!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!

Yesterday during the day time I spent St. Patrick's Day with Abe and my brother Scott. He came to our house so we could watch some NCAA action. He was pretty excited because he had a perfect bracket through the first half of the day. Then I made a nice Irish meal for dinner (corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes) and Emily picked up some yummy soda bread on the way home from work. Then Emily went to swimming while I put Abe to bed.

It may not be a traditional green, but it works.
Uncle Scott watching some NCAA action.
Abe has his green thanks to his Aunt Sarah.
Abe "pumping up" some enthusiasm for the days games.
Even the 'Dood gets in on the action.

Winthrop - 2006 & 2011

Abe, Emily and I went to Winthrop last weekend for a little R and R. Winthrop is in the central part of the state in the Cascade Mountains. We wanted to get a little cross-country skiing in while there was still a little snow. And Winthrop has a special place in our hearts - it's where I proposed to Emily 5 years ago (almost to the day).

Here we are eating our pre-ski meal. The white bear on the table is Abe's 'Baby Bear'. One day when Emily was trying to get Abe not to play with the hairdryer, she started hugging Baby Bear and giving him kisses. Then Abe started doing the same thing. Kids are so easy to manipulate.
Emily and Abe getting ready for our ski. We ended up skiing this trail system in Mazama, which is about 15 miles west of Winthrop.
Emily getting her skis on. Abe and Baby Bear are all set to go in the chariot.
Me pulling Abe. It was a lot of fun to be out in the snow again skiing. It was an overcast day, but great conditions. We ended up skiing about 9 miles in 2 hours.

Pulling a little extra weight makes for a good workout.

We found a guy using a parasail to ski. It was pretty cool. We'd never seen anything like it before. Check out the video.

Abe taking an after-ski break in his fleece suit. Trying fruitlessly to turn on the TV.
When we were eating lunch, two deer came to our deck. And they stayed there a long time. Maybe people around here feed them, but they were not at all scared by our presence.
We took Abe on the deck so he could get a firsthand look. He was a little apprehensive at first, but he really liked the deer towards after a while. Side note: Abe is wearing a new winter coat we just bought for him at REI. It's an Obermyer coat, which seems fitting since I wore a brown Obermyer coat for about 8 years in high-school and college. Abe is keeping the tradition alive.
The deer seem intrigued by Abe as well. Emily and I made good use of the hot tube during our two nights. After we put Abe down in his Pack 'n Play, we took the baby monitor outside so we could have a soak.
Abe loves those deer!

So our stay wasn't all fun and games. When we went out to get groceries for dinner on Saturday night, after we bought what we needed and went back to the car, it would not start (this has been a problem for almost a year now - no place we take it to can seem to fix it, or really knows what's wrong with it). So we ate some pizza for dinner at a nearby joint, because if you wait a while sometimes it starts again. It didn't, so we hitch-hiked a ride back to our place (only about a mile away) with this nice lady and her daughter, who happen to own the BBQ joint in town. In the morning I walked back to the car, and thankfully this time it started. We packed up our gear, and thankfully the car started a second time. But then we needed to fill up with gas. And when I tried to get turn the car on a third time after filling up with gas, it wouldn't start. But I tried a few more times, and thankfully it started. Needless to say, the next time I turned the engine off was in front of our house in Seattle. We stopped in Leavenworth so Emily and I could go Number 1, but we kept the engine on. Abe was a trooper the whole time - he stayed in his car seat for almost 5 and a half hours straight. And he had a cheery disposition almost the whole time (Emily was a huge help with that). Oh, and we got stuck in this nasty snow storm, skidded off the road and hit a snow bank, but just bounced off and were alright. We quickly turned around afterwards (b/c this was when we had turned off of US 2 to take 97 to I-90, so we decided to go back to US 2). It was a little nerve-wracking at time, but all in all it was a lot of fun.

Now we step in the way-back-machine. These are some pictures from the trip Emily and I took 5 years ago, in 2006.

My snow-pants were a little tight back then. I think they were the same ones from when I was in middle-school.

This was actually the first time I ever cross-country skiied.

Emily taking a little ski-break. Gotta love the snow!

Enjoying our time in the outdoors.

This is the cabin we stayed in. We stayed at the same place in 2011 as in 2006 (I don't know if it was the EXACT same cabin, but it was the same place - River's Edge).

We took a balloon ride there 5 years ago. Here they are setting it up for our big ride.

I love how you can see the flame heating up the air to fill the balloon.

Here is our balloon operator Kirk. The funny thing is that Emily and Kirk had taken a wilderness first-aid class together a few years earlier. Emily took it so that she could be a Scramble Leader at Whitman.

Here is a shot of Winthrop while up in the air. The bridge that crosses the river leads you into the main downtown area.
More scenery from our ride.

This is right after I proposed to Emily. The newly engaged couple!!!

Two Bad Boys

So Abe has reached the age where he gets in very persistent in his pursuit of what he wants and becomes very grumpy if he doesn't get it. Last weekend when we were cooking Abe kept trying to grab the pots on the burners. When he wouldn't stop, we gave Abe his first time-out. Emily had him stand in the corner for a minute. He cried the whole time, but stayed where he was suppose to. A few days later he kept taking things out of the dishwasher when Emily told him not to. She gave him another time-out, but this time he didn't do to well. He had one of his super-cries and ended up passing out. Good thing Emily could tell he was about to pass out so she could pick him up before he passed out. Silly Buddy.

A few days later I was making dinner. I had chopped up all of the lamb and was about to start cooking it when Abe needed a change. When I got back from changing Abe's diaper and was about to start cooking the lamb, something seemed a little strange. Like I couldn't the lamb anywhere. I quickly deduced where the missing lamb was: in Banjo's stomach! I gave the 'Dood a good yell and put him in his kennel until Emily came home. Bad Banjo!

Every blog needs a few random pictures.

Abe wearing our head lamp. We used it to look at our fireplace. He was trying to do the same thing.
Banjo: pre-eating-one-pound-of-raw-lamb.
Last weekend we made two raised flower beds for our back yard. 10' x 4' and 12' x 4'. Here Abe is helping pull up some weird boarder that the last owners had. That weird double-cone behind Abe is one of our compost bin. We also buried the bottom half of that last weekend. That's the compost bin where we put Banjo's poops.
Abe playing with a friendly worm.
We made some grubbin' French Toast this weekend. We used Jewish Sabbath bread we had the night before.

bigger than 95 out of 100 kids

I guess Uncle Stuart was right. Maybe he does resemble Stewie a little. Today Abe had his 18 month visit. His head is in the 95th percentile. I guess that's why he always screams when you try to take his shirts on and off. At least it's in proportion. Abe is 70-90th for height and weight. Big boy, and it's no wonder. Tonight Abe literally had 5+ servings of pasta. I'm not joking when I say he ate more than me.

When the doctor asked about Abe's developmental milestones he wondered if Abe could throw a ball and stack things. Neil said that he could throw (how could he not? He's so in love with Banjo?), but not stack. When I got home from work today they'd been working on it, so now can stack his lovely blocks that Tessa made him. I guess he's just putting his large brain to use.

Super Abe Run!

One of the fun things about living so close to Seward Park is well, going to Seward Park. We normally go run there with Hannah and Nick (and of course Abe and Banjo) on Saturday mornings. And the Sunday before President's Day Emily, Abe, Banjo and I went for a walk. And what did we "run" into? Well, the 3rd annual Run With Abe 5K. We actually ran into one of Emily's old friends who ran in it, and it's a fund raiser for people who like to do Race for the Cure races. Anyways we thought it was pretty cool.

Check out the nifty picture of that other Abe.
Our walk ran over into Abe's nap-time. He's such a trooper.

Here is a little video of our walk around the loop.
While Emily and I enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee on the weekends, Abe enjoys his own drink. Emily warms up some milk for him in one of our mugs for him.
This is super shaggy-Banjo. He looks a little different now.

18 Months!!!

Hard to imagine but our little Abram SaanZai is 18 months old!!! Per our family tradition, here are some pictures of Abe with Banjo. Some a little before his half-birthday, some a few days after. Banjo might look a little different now, too. We gave him a haircut.

Abe likes to spend time with the 'Dood any way possible. Even chillin' and sharing a few laughs on the couch.
Abe giving his older bro a hug.
Abe rarely doles out kisses even to his parents, but he always has plenty for Banjo.
Look at us!

Seattle Aquarium

We went to the Seattle Aquarium on President's Day a few weeks back. We had some passes that we bought from Groupon. It was nice because there was a very long line to go in, but we bipassed all that because we had already bought our ticket. It was Octopus Week at the Aquarium so they had a giant Northwest Octopus in the 20 ft by 40ft tank in the entrance. It was pretty cool and I think Abe liked it.

Abe really enjoyed the hands-on tide pools. Here he is touching a sea anemone.
"Look at all the cool things in the water!"
Mom (posing) and Abe (engrossed) by the hands-on fun.
Abe loved watching the water.
Abe seems to have found a friendly otter friend!