Point Defiance

Last weekend we went to the beautiful Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. As far as content, I prefer Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, but the view overlooking Commencement Bay upon entering Point Defiance Zoo is truly stunning. An exhibit Felix particularly enjoyed was that of the walrus. As you can see in the picture above, there is a giant window into the walrus tank. We watched four walruses cycle through the tank, they would swim far enough away we couldn't them on the other side of the tank, then they would rapidly approach through the mock rock formations and glide across our view up against the window. It was cute to hear the assembled kids ooh and aah as the walrus passed.

The other day, I busted out some of my old vinyl records. At first, Felix objected because he wanted to watch TV. More specifically he wanted to watch Pokemon. He found some old videos of Natalie's and Megan's in the attic. Now he's hooked. It looks like we will go through Pokemon all over again, though this time I will know more than my kid. Anyway, he soon started to enjoy the music, particularly Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' "Love Your Wife". So much did he enjoy it that he began to dance! Not bobbing up and down in the same place, but big swooping movements, it almost looked like interpretive dance. By the end of the song I had gotten the camera. He told me he really liked that last song and when the next song came on he began to dance again. Though he liked the song, he didn't like it as much as the other one and consequently tamed down his dancing. To that song is the dance that I captured.

And then, last Friday (I guess that would have been prior to the zoo), Trumie wanted a bowl of cereal, so he scaled the cabinets to get it. I was so amazed I ran and got the camera and then took him off the counter so that he would do it again. He was not happy with that. He threw a bit of a fit and felt it wasn't worth doing again. I apologized, explained what I was trying to do, and told him that I was wrong for doing what I did without consulting him. I really did feel like a jerk. Anyway, that seemed to console him enough. I should include this: when he first tried, he had his socks on. I saw him unsuccessfully attempt the climb and thought "there's no way". He figured his socks weren't giving him the traction he needed, so he took them off. I still doubted him. What a jerk I am.

The Trouble With Pickles

While visiting his good friend Charlie, Felix and his good friend came up with a story about a pickle. Charlie's old man, Daryl, provided much of the animation and expertise. Pickle Story 2 was narrated by our Truman.

Felix has begun full days at school. We were a little anxious about how he would take it, but, as Renae tells me, it was like he was just at school the day before. He seemed more at ease about it than Renae... until Renae experienced the six and half hours of time to herself. I have noticed a huge increase in something called "bon-bons" on the expense reports I make her submit. I kid, Renae works very hard in that time.
This past weekend we attended a picnic at Felix's school. The school has an impressive garden that Renae and Felix helped establish last year. Here you see Felix picking an ear of corn.We were able to harvest over 40 ears, which I think is pretty good seeing as that our garden yielded one ear. He also demonstrated his bar agility skills as he traversed from one end of the bar to the other using only his hands. He was very proud of that. This is something that he would not have even tried not too long ago. I was very happy for him.
After the picnic we headed over to a barbeque at, Felix's friend, Finn's house, where Finn's old man, Mike, had just completed an elevated deck with a fantastic view over Puget Sound (and surrounding neighbor's yards). It really is very cool, and as night fell, Kendra busted out some safe n' sane sparklers: