Pumpkin Hunting - somewhere near Snohomish, WA - Friday, October 21st, 2011

(from the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown department)

Hi everyone,

Today, Dana, Rose and I braved the mud and rain to head out to a farm and pick a pumpkin!

We went to The Farm at Swan's Trail in Snohomish, WA. Incredibly well run - very family friendly - and great for children of all ages. We got to see a duck race, pet some barnyard animals, ride on a hay bale cart pulled by a tractor, and wander around a big field looking for a pumpkin.

Soon - Rose had found what she was looking for:






This was an event sponsored by our pre-school; King Street Co-Op. It was nice to go in a group instead of just by ourselves - farms are more fun with a bunch of people - and the kids were great.

Rose finished the day with ice cream - an orange creamsicle - which she ate instantly. She apparently doesn't mind the wind and rain when ice cream is involved.

Cheers,
Paul

A Note To Daddy From Rose

(from the I can't make this up department)

Here is a note from Rose to me as transcribed by Dana. I present the entire text verbatim, without any editing whatsoever.

Dear Daddy,

Please be careful. Please be safe and I like you. Every time you have to be careful with my jewelry and with my Merry Go Round and you get a prize.

Don't be angry unless you're the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy is angry because he wants to keep all of his teeth.

I really like getting milkshakes with you. I like him playing my Princess video game and my Lightning McQueen video game.

Daddy loves me very much. I love Daddy's very much too because I love him.

I love you, Rose. Thank you for the letter - it made my day!

Cheers,
Paul

Butterfly Rose

(from the All You Need Are Wings department)

Hi everyone,

This is just a quick photo of Rose that Dana took. Enjoy!



Cheers,
Paul

Camping at Scenic Beach State Park - July 28th to July 31st, 2011

(from the Camping with Toddlers department)

Hi everyone,

Well - we had our first family camping trip last weekend. Our pre-school - King Street Cooperative Preschool - organized a camping trip to Scenic Beach State Park. We didn't have any camping gear, but we were able to borrow a tent, propane stove and air-mattress, so we ended up camping in style!

We were pretty busy running after toddlers, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos. In the first photo, that's Rose on the far right.







By the way - that was one big starfish!!

UPDATE: Dana just sent me the photos she took. Enjoy!











Cheers,
Paul

Steely Dan "Shuffle Diplomacy Tour 2011" July 2nd, 2011 Seattle

(from the Reelin' in the Years department)

Hi everyone,

I saw Steely Dan July 2nd at the WaMu theater in Seattle at the kickoff of their "Shuffle Diplomacy Tour 2011". They played a great set - nearly 2 hours of songs!

Here's the song titles I wrote down on my smartphone:

• Intro
• Your Gold Teeth
• Aja
• Hey Nineteen
• Green Earrings
• Everything Must Go
• Night By Night
• Time Out Of Mind
• Godwhacker
• Show Biz Kids
• (You Got) The Bear (Aja outtake)
• Dirty Work
• Neighbor's Daughter (Band Intro)
• Do It Again
• Josie
• Peg
• Reelin' In The Years
• Bodhisattva
  -- Encore Break --
• Kid Charlemagne
• Outro

Setlist notes:

The Intro and the Outro were the band - nicknamed the Miles High Big Band - playing without Donald & Walter and the backup singers. (The backup singers had their own nickname - The Embassy Brats.)

I'm not sure of the name of the songs that were played for the Intro and the Outro - they were instrumentals. According to one setlist they were Dizzy's Bidness and Last Tango In Paris, respectively.

(You Got) The Bear and Neighbor's Daughter are tracks that haven't been officially released - the titles are my best guess looking on the Internet and some of the Steely Dan databases. It's my recollection that Donald said The Bear was an Aja outtake. One setlist mentioned that Neighbor's Daughter is a Lee Dorsey cover.

Your Gold Teeth is the first version on Countdown To Ecstasy, not the "sequel" on Katy Lied.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. I also got this cool coffee mug:

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (Part 4)

(from the Christmas in July department)

Hi everyone,

It occurs to me that I never posted the 2010 Family Christmas photo. Well - here it is!



For this one, we figured that Rose wouldn't pose unless we were in it, so I did have a (small) chance to get ready for the photo.

Happy (Belated) Holidays Everyone - from Paul, Dana, Rose, and Santa

Cheers,
Paul

Look - it's the Future! (or at least June 21, 2011)

(from the Century 21 Exposition department)

Hi everyone,

Just a quick photo I took during a sunny day in Seattle. (Yes - they do happen):



That's the Space Needle as seen through Fisher Plaza, headquarters of KOMO TV. Looks like the Future, doesn't it?

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. Looking at old photos of the Space Needle, I found this quote. I offer no additional comment:

The length of the monorail is a mere 1.2 miles long, but plans are already being discussed to extend the track all the way to Sea-Tac Airport. Since the Monorail can achieve speeds of up to 70 miles an hour, it's likely that gridlock and traffic jams will be a distant memory by the year 2001.