Bon Voyage Party

Album | Slideshow

As the time for our departure drew near we knew we wouldn't have time to say goodbye to all of our friends individually. The obvious solution was to have a big party and see them all at once. So today we had our own Bon Voyage Party from 2:00-8:00.

The weather was fantastic and a large crowd of good friends came by. I didn't keep track but probably more than 50 people dropped in. Here's a sampling in the order my memory was jogged by photos. If I left you out, please don't be offended!

• My whole family: Kay and Doug and my sisters Elizabeth and Tricia and Tricia's husband Frank (who framed the garage, built gates for us, helped me replace a door and who is a wonderful and generous man).
  


• Carol's parents Dennis and Mary and her brother Bob, his wife Torii and their son Alex. My personal goal was to throw a party as good as Bob and Torii's events. I think we came close! By the way, all of the photos were taken by Bob.
  


• Team Mango: Erik, Jason, John and Scott and their families. These guys are my main "crew." We email each other every day about all kinds of nonsense. Fortunately, there is email in Boston, too.
  


• Former coworkers of mine Jim (coworker 1986-1989), Paul & Renee, Steve & Jane (coworkers 2002-2005), Blake & Erica and Sean (coworkers in 2005) and all of their families.
  


• Carol's friend Wendy and her kids - Carol and Wendy have known each other since they were 5.
  


• Our dear friends Britt and Ken. As with many of my Seattle friends I met Britt through Kathy Beahn (in 1999). I met Ken through climbing and Carol and I introduced Britt and Ken. Their son Ian is two weeks younger than Audrey. Carol and Britt bonded while they were pregnant.
  


• Other friends we met through climbing (which, by the way, I got into because of Kathy): Matt and Jeana and their kids Andrew and Laura.
  


• Eastgate Cycling Club members Scottie (and his son Evan), Sylvia, Jeremy, Bryce and Lisa. I'll wear my Eastgate gear with pride in Boston!
  


• Our former neighbor and sometime babysitter Amy stopped by.
  


• Mary Orvis (Jane's mom and partner), our friend and real estate agent through whom we both bought and sold this house.
  


• Yet more friends I met through Kathy: Scott and Heidi and their kids Logan, Emma and Fina.
  


• Last but not least my oldest Seattle friends Barry and Rabih. I worked with Barry at Boeing from 1983-1986. They have been through it all with me.
  

We probably would have had a big crew from pre-school, but this was the only weekend we could have the party and it was the same weekend as a pre-school family camping trip. We missed you PNPC families! We hope you had fun camping!

Thank you all for a great party and a warm and wonderful sendoff. We will miss you all.

Our plan is to come back for an extended stay each summer. We'll throw a party each year so we can check in with you all.

Au Revoir, Seattle!

P.S. Remember that you can subscribe to this blog so you get notified whenever we post something. See the "Subscribe" button up there in the upper left? Click it! You have the choice of RSS or email.

Ocean Shores, Again

Album | Slideshow

We squeezed in one last weekend camping trip before our departure. We were joined by our friends Scott and Susana and their daughter Sophia, and our mutual friend Erik and his son Sam (Sam's mom Kim was off visiting family). We decided to go to Ocean Shores again because the girls really wanted to fly kites again and the winds are pretty reliable there.

We stayed at Ocean City State Park again but this time we got there during daylight and got to explore it. The weather was forecast to be cool but it was very pleasant and we had fun relaxing on the beach. Audrey got to explore the dunes with me. We built a camp fire and roasted marshmallows, of course. I was the paranoid parent keeping kids away from the fire. Our fellow campers included a lot of teenagers; I got the impression they were celebrating the end of school with camping trips. It seemed like it might be a loud night but by 10:00 the campground was quiet and we slept well.

Sunday we headed to the beach adjacent to Ocean Shores (a couple of miles from the state park) and we all flew kites. There were a zillion other kites on the beach, including some incredibly large ones (as big as a small RV). In early afternoon we got on the road home, stopping at my sister Tricia's house for another feast and family visit.

Carol and I are very happy about our camper van purchase. We really stumbled across a winner. The van is running really well and we've made some improvements in preparation for our cross-country trip. We've preemptively fixed a few things that are known to break and we've added some comfort items like screens for the windows and the sliding door opening. We also got a bunch of small things repaired like the armrests and the accelerator cable (it felt funny - turns out it was just about to break) and new shocks. And Carol did a bunch of research online and has found the perfect organizers to keep things sane on a long trip. We bought the van to build memories with the girls and we are already doing that very successfully. Thanks, Lisa!

Audrey Graduation

Album | Slideshow

Our friends Kathy and Mark had their first child a couple of years before we had Audrey. They went to a co-op preschool and it always sounded cool but kind of a mystery. But Carol checked it out and ended up getting into the Phinney Neighborhood Co-op Preschool when Audrey was an infant. That was five years ago. Charlotte started when she was a year old and went for two years. This preschool was a fantastic experience.

If you're not familiar with the concept, at a co-op preschool the parents help "teach" the school. There is a paid teacher for each class (Infant, Toddlers, Tow's, Three's and Pre-Kindergarten). As the kids get older they attend more days and the parents work less. This year Carol worked one of the four days that Audrey attended per week and one of the two days Charlotte attended per week. On Tuesday mornings Carol got a few hours to herself with no kids.

The fellow parents (it's mostly the moms who work) have been great. Carol made some wonderful friends and so did the girls. Everyone there has similar values to ours and the approach is very casual. It was a wonderful fit for us. A few of the other families are talking about house swapping with us next Summer so we can have an extended visit to Seattle.

At the end of the year celebration Audrey's class sang some songs for the audience. Then each child in her class got a certificate and a beanstalk from Teacher Trina to symbolize that the kids are like beanstalks: they have everything they need to grow and they are perfect just the way they are.

Thanks, PNPC! Kindergarten, here we come!

Last Days in Seattle

Album | Slideshow

Seattle has been giving us a fantastic sendoff. Usually the weather in late May and June can be depressing because it can be wet when you want Summer to start. This year the weather during that period has been fantastic. We've had a lot of good times outdoors.

On May 23 the Eastgate Cycling Club held a farewell ride in my honor. It turned out to be a short ride but then we all went to the Islander Restaurant on Mercer Island, which is owned by fellow Eastgate member Brian Patton. We had a great time hanging out in the sun. Bryce was even kind enough to go get donuts for Audrey & Charlotte.

I've written a lot about cycling exploits with members of the Eastgate club. I've been riding with them since 2002 and I have really, really loved it. Faster riders have joined and transformed the club since I first joined, and I have learned a lot and really expanded the limits of my conditioning by riding with them. Thanks especially to Scott Sensenbrenner for holding the club together all these years (for at least 10 years before I showed up). I'll miss you all.

On a different day we had Britt, Ken, Ian and Kaia over for breakfast. We hiked down to Alki Beach midday and the kids got to play in the forest and at the beach. Then we came back home and the kids were having such a great time that everybody stayed for lunch and then dinner. A very fun day. We'll miss them, too!

Our families have been wonderful babysitters and Audrey and Charlotte love to be with all of the aunts, uncles and grandparents. Aunt Betsy got in the habit of taking the girls for a few hours every Friday evening so Carol and I have had very regular date nights. We are really going to miss that.

Our Boston Home

Album | Slideshow

From May 12-18 Carol and I traveled to Boston to try to find a new home. Let me tell you, trying to find a buy a house in 6 days is a very weird experience.

Carol and I have very similar tastes and we're also decisive. So we knew if we saw what we liked we'd be ready to commit. That helps.

Way back in November when we started contemplating the move we had identified West Roxbury as our target neighborhood. It has a couple of good public elementary schools, is a pleasant area and is a great commute for me. And on day 1 of our trip we found several potential houses there and one obvious winner. In Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood it would be sort of a dream house for us. The second day we made a low offer on it.

As the negotiations proceeded we also checked more carefully into schools. The Boston school district won't tell you anything about getting into schools until you have an address to work with. Well, it turned out schools just weren't going to work. Kindergarten (Audrey will go in September) is the key time at which you have a shot to get into a school you want, and we would be last to register. There was almost zero chance Audrey was going to get into one of the nearby decent schools, and the other public school options were farther away and very, very poor schools. We briefly considered a nearby Catholic school, but we'd be committing to that expense for 6 years most likely, and maybe for Charlotte as well.

Hmm, back to square one.

Our agent lives in Melrose, which is slightly farther from work in the opposite direction: north of Boston. The house prices were very similar. Melrose is a small town - only 4 square miles - and it has five elementary schools all of which are decent. So we looked at several houses in Melrose and decided on 35 Dyer Ave., a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath "colonial" built in 1900. It's not perfect, but it's a very sweet house and we can envision being happy there.

We came to agreement on a price and I stayed an extra day to accompany the inspector. No major problems, so we close on it on July 7 which is the day after I start work in Boston.

Meanwhile the sale of our Seattle house closed on May 26 so that's all done. The buyers are a young couple and this is their first house. They're excited.

Now we're just trying to prepare for our cross-country road trip and waiting for the move. The movers will be packing our stuff on June 16-17 and loading the truck on the 18th. We will depart on the 19th in the camper van. More on that plan in another post.

We have plenty of room for visitors in the Melrose house! Come and see us!