Water cat

Every time we go to the sink this cat wants the faucet turned to a light drip, please.

Fab five

Ermi's basketball team has been together since kindergarten. Such a great group of kids and coaches. They have won both games so far this season by the mid-20's to the low single digits. They have tough defense! Ermi scored eight in yesterday's game!

Here's a sneak peek of the team photos, taken from my camera.

Lenticular

Lenticular clouds often signify a change in the weather. Calm and warm today.

I love these faces

Live videos

Perhaps the best source of information is from his own Instagram "live videos."

Pay for performance

Since Mason is on his second girlfriend of the year and hasn't been as forthcoming with info on this one, I may have offered a reward for pictures for any middle schooler who provided photos of the two of them in the same frame. $5 per photo, $10 max per person.

Here is just a sample - on the basis that full disclosure may violate whistleblower protectionism.

Colombia

From New York I had a chance to go to Medellin, Colombia. It was a place I had never been, and really never aspired to see. But I learned a ton and found the country to be very beautiful. It was a long trip, however, and a long time to be away from my kiddos when stacked on the backside of the New York trip.

And a zipline...

Sticky situation

Kenzie posing in front of the gum wall in Pioneer Square. (Didn't they just clean this off?)

Location:Gum wall, seattle

Customized weekend

While Cindy and I were in New York, Grammy came up and spent the weekend with Kenzie and Ermias. No pictures, evidently. (Grammy.) They had a great time. Ermi got to go tubing, but Kenzie had committed to a babysitting job, so duty called. Ermi loved the 1:1 time with his grandmother. What could be better?

And, for mason, what could be better than loads of potstickers, laying on Keegan, and private wrestling sessions with Eric? And tubing with the church group? Maybe if you add in fishing? Mason had a great weekend and looks forward to when we will go away again.

That's Keegan under him...

Our bestie is Vegas-bound

Lauren is moving to Vegas, at least for a bit. Which, of course, meant we  had to buy tickets to Vegas. It's so-long for now, but not long.

New York

I had my annual trip to New York and Cindy got to go this year! Our friend Janet joined us and Felix met us there! We had a great four days. I worked a couple of the days, but we had all the evenings. We saw a show, ate lots of great New York food and walked miles and miles.We also watched the Seahawks lose the playoffs.

Wrestling wrap

Mason wrapped up his first year wrestling with a near-perfect season. He lost only one match. This video captures his favorite move.

They had a final tournament and he took first place in his weight class, which happened to be 10 lbs. higher than the prior weigh in. He evidently ate very well while we were in New York. (Diane reported that he ate 22 potstickets at one sitting.) So he found himself with bigger boys near the end. He still went undefeated!

balance boards

One of the perks of my job is getting free swag, such as these balance boards. They have provided hours of entertainment and many near-miss trips to the ER. Stay tuned.

We're starting a cartoon

While Cindy attended our community meeting the boys and I decided to start our own rock band. But then we realized we can't sing or play instruments. So, we decided to start a cartoon.

Rough start

The waters were rough over in Port Townsend to start the new year.

Dawgs

Fun day at the UW women's basketball game.