Ethan the Dancing Machine

Ethan can dance!

Even up on the Space Needle!

2007 Road Trip Stats and Photos

Our road to Seattle was a memorable one, but then again all of our road trips are memorable. Here are some stats about this road trip:

1. Included a scavanger hunt as part of our travels.
2. Took over 770 photos with our 2 digital cameras.
3. Stayed overnight in Red Bluff, Roseburg, and Portland on the way north.
4. Saw Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier.
5. Took in views from the top (or near the top) of the Smith Tower, Columbia Center and Space Needle in Seattle.
6. Saw the 4th of July fireworks over Lake Union.
7. Saw the statue of Lenin and the Troll.
8. Stayed overnight in Albany and Medford on the return trip.
9. Traveled about 2120 miles over 10 days.

Here are some of our photos:

Seattle Trip 2007

Road Trip Stats and Photos

About 770 photos and 2120 miles later we were home.

Here's a link to some of the photos:

Seattle Trip 2007

Road Trip Stories - Volume 07a

Ethan's Mets blue and orange baseball cap and mit caught my attention. "We're going to an M's game so maybe we should bring these on the trip," I thought. So I grabbed these last two items on my way out the door as we departed on our road trip to see Ojiichan and Obaachan.

Arriving home nine days later, we checked the front steps for delivered packages. There weren't any, but Dorothy and I were hoping that there would be one.

We had called once while in Seattle to ask if a small boy's baseball cap had been turned in by one of the cleaning ladies. The front desk person who answered Dorothy's call was not too pleasant. Dorothy did not want to call again, but she relented to my prodding. She placed a second call to the Windmill Inn of Roseburg the next day and was greeted by someone who seemed to care that there was a heartbroken little boy who missed his hat. She noted our name and address and said that if the hat was found it would be mailed to us.

In Seattle, to make up for the lost cap, Obaachan bought a new M's cap for Ethan at the ballgame. He did not let this cap out of his sight.

We said our goodbyes and headed home on Friday exactly a week to the last day that we could remember Ethan with his Mets cap. Driving through Cottage Grove about an hour or so north of Roseburg, we stopped to check the Dairy Queen. This was the only other place between the Windmill Inn and Portland where we could've left the cap, but we didn't have any photos from the Dairy Queen to verify if Ethan was wearing the cap. He definitely was not wearing the cap during our short visit at the fire station in Cottage Grove because we had photos from the visit. It was the same staff at the Dairy Queen. They only had a red cap.

So we arrived home on Sunday night after two day of traveling. We reasoned that maybe someone would have a good heart and turn in the cap. After all, it had his name written on the inside and even his uniform number, #1. But it had been a week now. Who would turn in such a small seemingly meaningless item?

We get packages from time-to-time. Sometimes we have to sign for the package. Other times the delivery person just knocks on our door and leaves the package for us. This time the UPS man just knocked and by the time the door was answered, the only item remaining was a Otis Spunkmeyer box. This looked odd, but on closer inspection there was a Windmill Inn return address. Dorothy's immediate thought was, "It's the cap!" And so it was.

Ethan was away to his karate camp so he was not able to have this same immediate sense of recovery at the package's arrival. However, later in the day, Ethan was grateful that there was someone at the Windmill Inn in Roseburg who cared about his cap just as much as he did.

A Little Visitor

You never know what you'll find in your garden. Today, Dorothy came back into the house with a little friend on her shoulder - a young praying mantis. Check out these photos.

We're happy to report that the praying mantis was returned to the garden.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Hank Medress, who sang lead vocals with the Tokens in 1961 on their hit single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," passed away this past Monday.

This is a catchy tune that is a favorite of our kids. See our earlier blog post on this from October 2006:

The Lion Sleeps Tonight video clip

Our kids especially like the part that goes "wimoweh" that is apparently from a traditional Zulu melody. The song was first sung by the Weavers in the 1950s.

The Midnight Sun Game

This game has seen major leaguers the likes of Barry Bonds, Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Bob Boone, and Rick Monday play in it. Current A's player Bobby Crosby has played in it. So has former A's player and current Yankee Jason Giambi.

This year marks the 102nd time for this game that starts at 10:30pm and usually finishes around 2am. The sun is to "set" at 12:47am, but the game will go on without lights as has been the tradition since the first year the game was played to settle a bar bet by a man from San Francisco. The game has grown to where it is now televised around the world by Internet.

Most people don't associate baseball with Alaska, but the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are one of the most successful amateur teams around. They've won six National Baseball Congress (NBC) titles over the years, and they've been runner-up another six times. Their last title was in 2002. In the early 70s, the Goldpanners won back-to-back-to-back in 1972, 1973 and 1974. And they aren't the only Alaska Baseball League team with an NBC title. Other champion AK teams include the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, Mat-Su Miners, and Kenai Peninsula Oilers.

The Midnight Sun Game has been tabbed as the #8 ultimate baseball experience by ESPN, on this list with baseball experiences like visiting spring training (#3 on the list), visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (#2 on the list), and an evening at Fenway Park (#11 on the list).

The current manager of the Panners, Tim Gloyd, sums up the long daylight that is summer in Fairbanks best in a recent article on Yahoo! Sports. "Your mind doesn't comprehend it at first," Gloyd said. "You may be sitting at Denny's, just talking, and next thing you know it's 3:30.

Having been born and raised in Alaska, the long summer daylight experience is not new for me. I remember playing our version of stickball in our yard well past 11pm on some summer nights. These games would usually start in the middle of the day and continue through dinner with people leaving for dinner and returning to join in the game. We would keep score and I remember scores that ran into the 100s for just one game.

On a trip to Alaska with Dorothy several years ago, we had the same experience mentioned by Tim Gloyd above. It never got pitch black dark, just a very dark blue hue. We were just sitting around talking getting caught up with friends after arriving in Alaska. Before we knew it, it was 3 or 4 in the morning.

The Last Day of School!

Here's what Naomi has to say about her last day of 2nd grade:

The last day of school was very busy.Miss Andrews put lots of old crafts and writings in bags for us.We got to watch a video.We went into the office and gave her a book with writings that my class wrote.Then we went into Miss Catalini's room.In Miss Catalini's room we got to watch cartoons and eat pan cakes.When we got back to the class room,Miss Andrews gave flowers to the parents that helped.We played two different games Zip-Zap and The Boss.At The end of school I couldn't carry all the stuff I needed to take home.My mom had to help.When I went out I knew she would come to my swim meet.I had fun that day!

I Love Me!

Every child thinks he/she is at the center of the universe. This video is from the summer of 2006 on our trip home from Seattle. We were near the end of our drive home and Ryan decided to express how he really felt.

I Love Me!
Uploaded by CEmoto

Riddles, jokes, and giggles - Part 2

Here's another installment of giggles, this time brought to you by Naomi and Ethan.

Q1: What do you call a stolen yam?

Q2: How do you fix a broken pizza?

Q3: What do you call a joke book about eggs?

Q4: Why didn't the hotdog star in a movie?

Q5: What do you do when you run out of ranch dressing?

Q6: Where do sheep go to cut their hair?

Q7: How do you ask a horse what his/her name is?

Q8: What does a lion say when he's mad?

Q9: What does a riddle say when it hits its funny bone?

Q10: Why didn't the dino cross the road?

Naomi actually was the one who typed in the last 4 riddles. Her first blogging!

(scroll below for answers)








A1: A hot potato.

A2: With tomato paste.

A3: A yolk book.

A4: The roles weren't good enough.

A5: You buy more ranches to make the dressing (Ethan's own creation).

A6: At the baaaa-ber shop.

A7: You say,"What's your naaaa-me?"

A8: "I'm roaring mad!"

A9: "I feel funny."

A10: It was the chicken's night out.

Magic Trick

I wonder how he does this?

Grandma's Song

Here's a song to all grandmas out there.

Grandma's Song
Uploaded by CEmoto

Brake Lights to Clogged Speakers

Ethan is convinced that he will grow up to be an inventor. He has the right characteristics. He's always asking how things work. I asked him to help me change a burnt out brake light bulb. He learned how the brakes light up with just a tiny little bulb. I let him be the one to verify which light was out. I let him step on the brakes while I made sure the light was working once again.

Later the same day...

Our new computer came with a wide screen monitor that has speakers built into the monitor. The monitor was part of a package with the computer. In theory this sounds good, but the speakers in the monitor are quite underpowered and tinny sounding. So I connected the speakers from our old computer to the new computer. Upon hearing the new sound, Ethan asked, "are these speakers (pointing to the now disconnected speakers on the new monitor) clogged?"

Ryan's ABC Song

Here's an original rendition of the ABC song.

Ryan singing the ABC song
Uploaded by CEmoto

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a Mother's Day greeting to our obaachan. However, I think it portrays a universal message of love and enthusiasm that can only be expressed by children.

Mother's Day
Uploaded by CEmoto

Memories of NBA Basketball on the Radio

I remember listening to the NBA basketball championships the two years back-to-back where the Washington Bullets played my Seattle Supersonics. I listened to the games on shortwave radio with my dad in our home in the Aleutians. In the 1977-78 series, the Sonics lost to the equally surprising Bullets in a close but strange series where each won on the other's court, and had the Sonics being forced to only one game at home to start the series due to scheduling conflicts. Later in the series, the Sonics played a game in the Kingdome because their home arena was being used for a convention. Even though they had over twice the number of fans on-hand, playing in the enormous Kingdome did not offer the same home court advantage and they went on to lose the pivotal game four match-up. I remember complaining about how unfair it was that the series had a strange 1(s)-2(w)-2(s)-1(w)-1(s) format and the Kingdome move, which probably had an impact on the series outcome not benefitting Seattle. Even though the Sonics were going to be home for game 7, I for some reason did not feel good about the Sonics' chances. It was during this play-off run that Dick Motta made popular at least in sporting circles the phase "the opera isn't over until the fat lady sings." I remember being heartbroken after the Sonics' game 7 loss.

The following year both teams I think were favored to win their conferences or at least contend for the title unlike the year before when both were surprise teams. I think the Sonics had some close calls in their conference series (especially against the Suns with Paul Westphal and Alvan Adams), but they made it to the finals to find the Bullets waiting for them once again. This time the Sonics dominated the series and won in 5 games. To this day, this championship is the only one that the city of Seattle has had in one of the three major professional sports. There's even a web page devoted to the 1978-79 Sonics.

I remember pretending to be Downtown Freddie Brown in make believe games with my brother and other friends in our porch where we used a 5-gallon bucket as the basket. We would play games of horse and even play 3-on-3 games in this 8-foot by 8-foot area porch with bodies crashing into walls and cabinets. Other players that I remember from these Sonics teams include JJ (Johnny Johnson, whose son is now a guard for Stanford), Jack Sikma, Lonnie Shelton, Marvin "The Human Eraser" Webster who was actually traded for Lonnie, Gus Williams, DJ (Dennis Johnson), Paul Silas, Wally Walker and their coach Lenny Wilkens. I even remember the players from the Bullets: Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Bobby Dandridge, Kevin Grevey, Mitch Kupchak and Greg Ballard come to mind. I don't think that I would've remembered this if it weren't for our listening on the radio. Compare this to this day and age, where usually by the next year most people cannot even name the two teams that were in the previous years' finals.

So as a tribute to those long lost days of sports on the radio I found the following video clip. Enjoy.

Video Killed the radio star
Uploaded by lojeanz

Shampoo! Shampoo!

Sometimes what kids hear is more enjoyable than what is reality. During a slideshow of our trip to San Diego, a picture of the world famous orca from Sea World flashed on to the screen. "Shampoo!" yelled Ryan.

Of course, we're talking about Shamu. There are points in the Sea World show where the audience is encouraged to chant, "Shamu! Shamu!" to get the big orca to make a big splash. I think it would be immensely more entertaining to hear and see a stadium full of people chanting, "Shampoo! Shampoo!"

Goooaaaallllll!!!!!!!!!

FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scored a goal reminiscent of Maradona's famous goal for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup. Messi's goal was in a Spanish Cup semi-final match on April 18, 2007 against Getafe.

The video below shows a side-by-side comparison of the two goals.

Comparativa gol de Messi y Maradona
Uploaded by cariacolov

World Thinking Day

Naomi's Girl Scouts troop along with others in the area celebrated World Thinking Day earlier this year. Each troop was able to select a country to share information about with the other troops. Naomi's troop selected Thailand.

The purpose of World Thinking Day is to celebrate girl scouts all over the world. Every February 22nd, the girl scouts from around the world think of each other and give thanks and appreciation to their sister scouts. At World Thinking Day, each girl scout in Naomi's troop received her World Trefoil Pin to show that she is part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (aka WAGGGS). The pin is a golden trefoil on a blue background representing the sun shining over all the children of the world.

Swim Season is Here Once Again

Here's a picture of Ethan with one of his instructors taken last week.