Kian and the Cousins/ Christmas in March

Last Sunday we finally connected with the Snoqualmie relations. I dropped off the squirt on my way up to the pass to ski while they did all kinds of fun stuff down in the foothills.


I skied the 12k Mt Catherine Loop from the base to the summit, almost an hour to slog up there, then I cruised around up top for almost two hours before bombing back down The Loop to the car. It was a splendid day up there, mid-30 and sunny, which made for excellent spring skiing weather-- I had my sleeves rolled up all day-- but unfortunately the snow suffered in the sun and so only the shady runs in the trees were perfect skiing while those in the sun were plain hard work. Poor me. Well, the 3+ hours of skiing felt more like 4 or 5 especially considering the 3500' of elevation gain. Great day but I bonked and probably ate twice the calories that I'd actually burned.

Kian, in the meantime, was flying kites, launching rockets, riding bikes, and then later opening up a car load of Christmas gifts that were set aside since Kian was down in AZ for almost the entire month of December. He scored some cool stuff but the highlight were the new Kobe edition Nike shoes that RJ and Juju gave him along with a new pint-sized bball and a new track suit. The kid is stylin.

On Saturday Kian and I flew the new dragon kite at Gasworks Park and afterwards we went over to the Fremont Brewery just up the street for beers and free pretzels. Awesome kid friendly place. Fun weekend and great weather. Pics and vids coming soon!

Bunch of Random

Horsing around one night last month.

Outside our house during Seattle Snowpocalypse 2012.

Huge snow on the Chiwawa.

Gearing up!

Couple Recent and Not-so Recent Pics

Buddies! Kian and "baby" Henny.

Do I really have to eat all this?

Maybe I can just nibble around the edges like on a muffin?

Yeah, we're pretty cheesy. So what?

New Years Eve, Belated

On New Years Eve in Flagstaff AZ the long-standing tradition is the big Pine Cone Drop. The pine cone is a Volkswagen Beetle-sized electronic light display in the general shape of a pine cone which (spoiler alert!) flickers and opens up when lowered. It doesn't drop to the ground and explode into pieces as I'd hoped, but of course, we went to the 10pm/Times Square drop so if they'd demolished it then there wouldn't have been one left for the real show. Anyway, I'd romantically expected the tradition to have begun as an old bygone from the shoot 'em up wild west days, but I was disappointed to learn it began less than 10-years ago as a downtown hotels gimmicky tourist idea, and the original pinecone was a trashcan dropped from the upper balcony. It definitely packed em in and it was a fun time milling about the streets of Flag on a chilly New Years Eve. Kian barely made it and if it weren't for the fireworks his eyelids might have dropped along with the pine cone.

Opa, Uncle Zeke, Annie and Kian: all bars are kid friendly in Arizona!
They are gun friendly too which balances it out, I guess.

Hanging out at a brewpub prior to hitting the streets for the big drop.

Snow Day Cometh!

These first pics are from Monday at "The Depot" @ Stevens Pass Nordic Center.

Kian's first ski day of the season.

These two are from our front porch this morning.

As has been predicted and long anticipated, snow has blanketed the city of Seattle and its a snow day for all of us! Woohoo, no school or work, we're going sledding! More pics and stories of megafun coming later.

A Few From The Zoo

A few weeks/day pre-zoo, we were still in AZ
and enjoying fantastic sunsets like this!

At Greenlake on our way to the zoo.

Penguidos!

The Sun Bear frolicking in a tree.

Showing proper form!

Back in Flag with a dinosaur on his cheek, as was the want.