2008 Summer Trip - Part V

Alyssa had her surprise guests for her party days earlier in Portland, and so too did Dorothy in Seattle for her birthday party. Betty, Barbara, Alden and Cassie flew in from the Bay Area for the party. They flew standby and weren't able to make it on the plane as originally planned so their arrival was delayed a couple hours.

This worked to my advantage, but caught me off guard as I learned about their delay while pulling into the cell phone lot near the airport. The phone rings and I fumble with my hands-free device (the state of Washington enacted a hands-free calling law similar to the one in California except theirs is a secondary offense) to answer the call. It's Betty.

Me: Oh, hello, Betty.
Betty: We're getting on the plane now. Can't talk much now. We'll see you soon.
Me: Uh, okay. See you soon.

My thoughts: So they're just boarding their plane when they should be landing in Seattle. Must've been delayed for some reason. So this'll give me time to shop for Dorothy's present.

So I spend the next two hours trying to find the digital SLR, a Nikon, that we talked about purchasing. In the end, I buy a different camera, but she's happy with the camera now so that's that.

I'm near the end of signing the papers to purchase the camera including an extended warranty (would not normally do this, but we have had really bad luck with digital cameras), and I realize that I'm running late now to get to the airport. Luckily I am only a few minutes away so I rush off even though there is no call yet. So I call Betty to find that they had just landed. Perfect timing.

After a quick curbside pick up at the airport, we were on the way to my parent's house. At the house, I tell them to go to the front door ahead of me. Dorothy answers the door and sees people that she did not expect to see.

Ryan gets more to the point and says, "Hey, what are you doing here?" before running off. We share the whole story with Dorothy and the kids. It'll be one of those memorable birthday stories that will be told over-and-over for years.


That evening after the party, I drive the surprise party guests to the airport and see them off, making it three trips to the airport in one day.

Stats Redux - August 2, 2008

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, and updated on January 2006, June 2006, October 2006, March 2007, and November 2007.

Price of Gas: $4.19 per gallon (down from a high of about $4.49 earlier this summer when crude oil prices pushed past $140 per barrel; Costco price this week was under $4/gallon)
Price of Milk: Still $3.99 for a gallon at Trader Joe's (unchanged from November 2007)
Bridge Toll: $4 as of January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (which is $5 cash and $4 FasTrak with these rates to increase to $6/$5 on 9/1/08)
Today's High Temperature: 88 degrees F (overnight low of 56) and sunny!
Dow Jones Average: 11,326.32 close on 8/1 (down over 1400 points since 11/07)
Shopping Days to Christmas: 144 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)
Dinner Tonight: It'll be a meal on the run, due to Swim League Meets ongoing and Naomi's evening class
Average Commute Time: under an hour in mornings due to summer driving conditions (in a 3-person carpool MWF and now a 3-person carpool TuTh; added 1 person to TuThu carpool)
Cost of Area Homes: the median price for Contra Costa County has dropped to below $500k for the first time since 2004
Movie Ticket: recently paid $10
Time with My Kids: good summer days with kids

Naomi just turned 9 and got braces.

2008 Summer Trip - Part IV

So it was from ice cream in Troutdale to on the road again. We had designs on hitting Best Buy to look into buying that digital SLR for Dorothy, but decided to get going on our trip to Seattle. Lianne joined us, with Ojiichan and Obaachan with Yuki in her car.

We took a break in Centralia for dinner at the Country Cousin Restaurant. Their tag line is "Home of Old Fashioned Pot Roast." It's one of those restaurants that you see and think, "Let's check it out one of these days." It's what I would call a quirky restaurant, with good American food.

The Ballard District of Seattle has a uniquely maritime heritage that can still be seen today. Its most famous landmark is the Ballard Locks. The locks provide a way for boats and fish to make their way between Puget Sound and Lake Union and Lake Washington. One somewhat unknown gem of the Ballard area is its park/beach, Golden Gardens Park, on Puget Sound. We visited both these locations during one day of our Seattle visit.


In between visiting the beach and the Locks, we had lunch at the Totem House (also pictured above) located just down the street from the Locks.

2008 Summer Trip - Part III

After our early evening of shopping, we phoned the Oregon Emotos. They were out and about, but we got in touch and made arrangements to get to their place in the evening after dinner. Dinner was a quick stop at the Elmer's located near the Woodburn outlet stores. Elmer's is an Oregon institution. They opened in Portland as a breakfast place serving primarily pancakes in 1960.

The next morning we woke up to the arrival of Yuki, Lianne, Ojiichan, and Obaachan to join in the fun to celebrate Alyssa's birthday. Ojiichan had said earlier that he wasn't going to make it so everyone was surprised to see him. So off we went to Meeka Sushi for Alyssa's birthday lunch. Diane's parents were there waiting for us so too was Chuck. He was apparently on his way to eastern Washington for a gig that evening and decided to swing through Portland (never one to pass up good Japanese food).

The food was great just like some of the reviews that we found for the place later on. This was topped off by the traditional singing of Happy Birthday with Ryan adding his own twist as you can see in the video below.



So when will Alyssa be asking for the car keys now?

After lunch we drove out to the Bonneville fish hatchery, where we were able to feed rainbow trout and check out sturgeon. The hatchery is located at Exit 40 east on SR 84.

Spending time with family is always one of the highlights of our trips to the Pacific Northwest. Before leaving for Seattle, we were able to spend a little time with the Lee family (Diane's younger brother and his wife and two kids) from Detroit. Here's a picture that we took of the kids while in downtown Troutdale for an ice cream break.

2008 June/July Swimming

June and July are busy months for swimmers, leading to league and city meets in early August. Naomi and Ethan continue to enjoy their swimming, each progressing at her and his own pace. Ryan continues with his swim lessons.

Here are some photos from the past month.

2008 Summer Trip - Part II

With about 300 miles of driving scheduled for the day, we woke the morning of Day 2 with the aim of being on the road by 9am. We are not the most driven traveling group, especially with three kids in the mix. After the usual hotel continental breakfast fare, we were on the road by 930am.

Now, southern Oregon is one of our favorite parts of our trip to Seattle. We have gotten to know Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, and Roseburg quite well over the years. One of our finds from the 2007 trip was the Grants Pass Pharmacy. It still has one of those old fashion soda fountains that serves phosphates. This was going to be our first stop of Day 2. Although the downtown was not as festive (there were no bear statues), the pharmacy did not disappoint.

After wandering around Eugene for a bit, we decided on World Favors for lunch. It was right next to the Lane County transit station. Although their menu featured mostly pastas, pizza and salads, they did have a few out of the ordinary items like cream puffs on their menu. The place had a college hole-in-the-wall feel to it. When we were leaving, there was a band showing up to set up for live music.

Eugene, self-proclaimed Track Town, U.S.A., was once again hosting the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on the U of O campus. We saw a sign that said that entry to watch the trials was free to the public. Only if we would've had more time and the kids were older, we would've stayed to take a peek. Oh, well, maybe in four years.

As a substitute, we held our own family track trials around a water fountain in downtown Eugene after lunch. See below.



Could've spent more time in Eugene, but we had to shove on. One thing that we all noticed was that there was something in the air in Eugene that caused our allergies to flare up. By the time we left, we were all sneezing.

Our final stop before Gresham was the outlet malls in Woodburn located about 40 miles south of Portland. We had stopped before, but never had much time for shopping. We actually had time to shop this time.

Here are photos from this leg of our trip.

2008 Summer Trip - Part I

Although this year's trip to Seattle was shorter than the norm and there was no scavenger hunt this year, it was memorable just the same.

Our first day of traveling featured the usual bathroom breaks, pit stops for food, and refueling stops. We detoured to the AAA office in Redding (Ext 678 on I-5) to pick up an Oregon/Washington tour book. Our copy was back at home, not so useful there. With the book in hand, we were ready to book a room for the night. We decided on Medford as our stop, but were chagrined to learn that the Windmill Inn was no more. It was now called the Quality Inn and Suites. We were assured that they had maintained many of the same features of the Windmill Inn so we paid for a room.

After about 333 miles of driving from home, we drove past the sign welcoming us to Oregon. Not soon after, we passed through Siskiyou Summit which at an elevation of 4310 feet is the highest point on I-5.

At the Quality Inn, we were greeted by a large banner that said, "Under New Management." The place did still have the decor and feel of the previous Windmill Inn. None of this mattered too much to the kids. Their main interest was the pool. So while they swam, I went out to get a pizza for us. The first stop was the local Costco's to refuel. The price was $4.19 per gallon, about 20 cents less than at other nearby stations. The pizza was from Kaleidoscope Pizzeria and Pub. Later we learned that this was award winning pizza for the Rogue River Valley area and that the owners are transplants from Alaska. With the swimming, the late dinner and baths taking up time, this was only the first of many late nights on this trip.

Ethan's First Camp Out

Ethan got his first taste of camping with his Boy Scout pack over the weekend. It was just an overnight camp out at one of the several campgrounds (three family campgrounds and five group campsites) located at nearby Mt. Diablo State Park.

We stayed at the Wildcat Campsite, a nice tree covered site with very little parking and very little level ground. The very little parking meant that people had to carpool. The very little level ground meant that we didn't wake up in the same spot in the tent where we went to sleep. Ethan went to sleep in the middle of the tent next to me, but woke up in a ball in one of the downhill corners of the tent. The tree covering was a plus though that allowed us to wake up to some people wearing sweatshirts to keep warm even after the sun had arisen. This was in sharp contrast to the valley below that looked like a sea of warmly-glowing golden yellow hills. Even at 7:00am, the hills below already looked blazing.

The boys were kept busy. They had day time activities aimed at allowing them earn belt loops and badges. The older boys helped with dinner. Our den was in charge of the games. Although there wasn't a campfire, there was a fire pit that the boys used to roast marshmallows and make smores. After dinner, the dens got to entertain with skits and singing. The scouts got an astronomy lesson, got a chance to make popcorn making, and take in an evening hike.

The next morning there were some that were up at the first crack of daylight, which was probably a little after 5:00am. Most of the campground was up by 7:00am. A flag ceremony was held at about 8:00am, right around breakfast time. This was followed by a short drive to Rock City for a hike to Sentinel Rock (need to be careful here as there is poison ivy everywhere).

After most of the group had packed up, one of the dads who is an expert tree person helped a couple of the scouts get a chance to go tree climbing in a harness. This same dad is the one hooked up a tree hammock and a tree swing that were both hits with the scouts.

Ethan is ready to go on his next camp out!

Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference

Win or lose, Naomi and Ethan continue to enjoy swimming. Naomi's in her third year of swim team, while this is Ethan's second year. They've both made good strides since they started swimming with the Seahorses.

The Ygnacio Wood Seahorses are one of seven teams in the Contra Costa Valley Swim Conference (CCVSC). The CCVSC is a recreational swim league made up of two teams from Concord, two from Walnut Creek, and one team each from Pinole, Antioch, and Brentwood. The number of such swim teams in the area is incredible (see the Aquatic Times site).

The kids practice every weekday and have two meets a week until late July when they have their league, City and County championships. Here's a video of Naomi from their latest meet against the Forest Park Flyers. She's in lane 6, the rightmost lane.

One Sea Pony and Two Seahorses

Ryan likes to tell people, "I'm this many," putting up four fingers as in the picture. Another interesting Ryan fact is that he likes to wear blue jeans even on a hot summer day.

This photo was taken just before the team photo was taken.

Picture Day!

It was picture day for the swim team today. Imagine trying to shepherd over 125 kids onto risers in the bright sun and telling them that they have to sit still. Sounds like an impossible task, doesn't it?

Here's the team picture of the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses for 2008. Ethan and Naomi are in the picture. Can you find them?

Swim Meet Versus Forest Park Flyers

Swim Meet Versus Valley Vista Barracudas

The kids are making progress with their swimming, but most importantly they continue to have great time. Ryan is not swimming yet, but he is their biggest fan. In some of the videos that we have you can hear Ryan cheering on Naomi and Ethan.

Here's a clip of Naomi swimming the backstroke at the meet against Valley Vista. She's starting to get the hang of swimming backwards in a straight line.

Ryan Anderson - NBA Bound

Ryan Anderson, top player for the Cal Bears the last two years running, announced today that he's staying in the NBA draft. No doubt a blow to the Bears, but a result that was not too surprising.

For you Cal fans out there, here are the top ten reasons why Ryan Anderson is moving onto the NBA (play the accompanying video clip for the source for this top ten list):

10. Not only can Ryan shoot, but he can also shoot from the hip!

9. He can dunk! I know that you Cal fans will find this both amusing and amazing.

8. He can go right and left just like Big Bird now!

7. He is a supporter of Rod Benson's "Boom Tho" movement (Benson is a former Cal player who has been entrenched in the D-League, the minor league baseball of the NBA, and is moonlighting as a blogger for Yahoo! Sports through their Ball Don't Lie blogs on NBA basketball).

6. He's ready like spaghetti and in there like swim wear.

5. He is environmentally conscious and recycles.

4. He's like Captain Planet with better footwork (and looks great in tight fitting silks).

3. He can take on Kevin Love one-on-one and defend him outside the arc.

2. He's really 30 years old, not 20 (okay, this was just Benson messing with Ryan).

1. He's a great kid with his head in the right place (he finished up all his class work at Cal this semester, unlike many early entry players who just drop out of school, while auditioning for his next employers in the NBA).

Contract Karma by Fear the Beard

Got this off a site called Fear The Beard that claims to be the East Bay culture blog with a high basketball IQ. I'm not that up on the Warriors, but I think the name of the site is a play on a Warrior slogan. The Beard is a nickname of sorts for Baron Davis, ex-UCLA baller and current leader of the Warriors. It's like saying, "fear the Warriors...they're coming for ya with the Bearded one leading the way!"

Baron is hoping for a contract extension from the Warriors, but it's possible that one might not be forthcoming (they have younger players that could play the same position and he's been injury prone). He still has one year left on his contract for something around $17 million. He could opt out of this contract, but it's unlikely that he would get more than this amount for next season. On the other hand, he could opt out and sign a longer term contract with another club for a higher total amount, but less on an annual basis, but who's counting when you're talking about millions of smackeroos.

The clip below is of Baron trying to do good because he says, "it's better to give than to receive." But the FTB guys know what this is about given the title of the post: Contract Karma.

A Real Life Unicorn...Sort of

At the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, Italy (a town near Florence), a single-horned deer has been born. Deers with such a single horn are rare. This deer has a twin that has the normal set of two horns.

A Blast from the Past

I came across something the other day that I hadn't seen in quite some time. This is proof (I suppose) that you can find almost anything on YouTube.

When I was in Japan for a year in the 80s, there was a female singer who was all the rage. It was 24/7 Akina Nakamori. You could not escape her music, picture and videos.

We went to a robata one evening and they had a television blaring her video. Later at a kisaten (a Japanese cafe) near the train station there was more Akina on a television. Then at the train station there were near-life sized ads featuring every where you looked.

Another time, we went out and one of the stops was for karaoke. Stopping for karaoke in itself in Japan is not amazing, but seeing the same song sung over-and-over-and-over was bordering on too much. The Japanese pop idol wannabes that took the stage to be like Akina had their pop idol's every move down, able to exactly mimic Akina's every movements as they sang her hit "Desire."

Here's one of her many videos for the song "Desire":



And here's a site that has an English version of the same song: Desire

Swim Meet Versus Antioch Delta Skimmers

June 7, 2008. The swim season continues onward.

Naomi swam the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly. Ethan swam the freestyle and backstroke. The following are videos of Naomi's breaststroke (in Lane 5) and Ethan's backstroke (in Lane 1).

"I Am From" by Ethan

I Am From

I am from China, Japan and Berkeley.
I am from visiting my cousin, our grandma and grandpa's,
going to karate and being at Boy Scouts.

I am from building a derby car with my dad,
going swimming in the summer and going to Seattle.

I am from chow fun, mochi and butter noodles.

I am from hugs, how was your day and poems before bed.

I am from Ojiichan, Obaachan, Casey and Dorothy.
I am from Naomi and Ryan.
I am from E.E. and Buddy.

I am Ethan Avery Emoto

The End of Another School Year

The end of the school year comes with a flurry of field trips and end of year activities. For us, the activities have included a visit to the Smith Family Farm, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Los Vaqueros Dam and Reservoir, the 3rd graders' flute performance, the 1st graders' "How Does Your Garden Grow" musical, a preschool musical parade, the Boy Scouts bridging ceremony for Tiger Cubs to Wolf Cubs, and the Girl Scouts bridging ceremony for Brownies to Junior Cadets just to name a few. Now bring on summer!