Big Sounders Night

Summer is  in full swing here in Seattle.  Days are still pretty long and the calendar is full of activities.  Last night (8/3) was a big night for the Seattle Sounders and MLS Soccer, we signed the biggest name in US Soccer Clint Dempsey.  He was officially announced as joining the team pre-game (http://assets.soundersfc.com/2013/dempsey/index.html).  But that was not all that made the night special, the Pickerbockers got to be on the field for the last 20 minutes of the game and meet goal keeper Marcus Hahnemann.  It was pretty cool and great that we got to see Brad Evans put the dagger in with the PK in the last minutes of the game.  Here is a few post they put up from the night on Twitter

Super adorable Last 20 fans tonight! @karlpicard @TheEwingClan pic.twitter.com/Q26uVC8FXd
— Sounders MatchPass (@MatchPass) August 4, 2013

What a night for the Last 20! Thanks to @brad_evans3 for the PK and to @hahnemann1 for stopping by to say hello! pic.twitter.com/dOup6Cgf5P
— Sounders MatchPass (@MatchPass) August 4, 2013

More pictures soon but wanted to post something quick

A few more pictures

Hard to keep up with the posting with summer here in Seattle.  The hibernation has ended and the days and evenings are now packed with activities.  Kasen is off from soccer for the summer but we still get our fill with Sounders and she goes to Karl's games.  She is still doing swimming lessons and getting better and more comfortable in the water.  We have lots of visitors coming (some already have visited) for the month of July.  James and Amber our friends from Virginia were just here, Grammy Barb is currently visiting, and Nana and Pepe will be here in a few days.

Lately we have been busy with Zoo Tunes (conerts at the Zoo), the Seafair activities (Kasen saw the pirates at Alki Beach in West Seattle), the Greenwood Car Show in our backyard basically, her fist movie (Monsters University), and fireworks in Edmonds.  Coming up we have a camping trip in Aug we are starting to prepare for.  We setup the tent in the backyard and Kasen loved playing in it and pretending to sleep.

OK, enough on that on to what folks love a few pictures:

Getting ready for a bike ride to the zoo

Kasen's first movie

Ready for her singing career

Food coma after eating Dick's burger and fries

A little catchup

It has been a while and i figured I'd at least get some new pictures out for everyone.  We have been busy with house stuff, keeping up with Kasen, and a little traveling.  Kasen has gotten quite chatty these days and it is a lot of fun to hear her take on the world.  She is now in a swimming class where she is in the pool without Mom and Dad.  Soccer is moving that direction too.  She is definitely becoming more independent.

Enough with details...on to the pictures which is what everyone cares about.  Some of these are little animated pictures from a series.

Kasen playing red light green light

Kasen dribbling the ball

Kasen doing big kicks

Kasen at Mother's Day lunch

Kasen trying out the scooter

Kasen on the merry-go-round at the Zoo

Birthday and Texas

Sorry it has been a while since we posted. April has been quite busy with Kasen's birthday, Karl's parents visiting early in the month, a trip to Texas to visit family and attend Katie's wedding, and then getting back to the routine.  Finally we have a little time to get a quick blog post up.

Kasen had her birthday on the 3rd and it basically has continued for the month as we've seen family and friends.  She had a great day with some of her friends over, and Nana and Pepe were in town from Virginia.  She got everything she could wish for with more princess stuff than she could imagine.  Here she is with her cake (it was a cupcake cake).

She enjoyed her time with Nana and Pepe.  Maybe the most fun was a day we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island.  She really enjoyed the trip, here she is on the top deck.

Shortly after Nana and Pepe left, Debra and Kasen left for Texas (I joined them later).  They headed to Corpus Christi for some time on the beach and hanging out with Grandma Barb.  They got to build sandcastles and had a great visit.  After a several days there they headed up to Dallas to get ready for Katie's wedding.  We had a great time visiting family. One night we eat at a pub near the hotel called T&P.  They had a giant Jenga game.  Kasen, Phea, Scott and I set it up like dominoes.  The girls really enjoyed it.  

The day before we left we went to the Stockyards in Fort Worth.  The girls rode in a stage coach, which of course was like a princess in her carriage.

We have a bunch more photos but I figured we'd start with these until we can get time to go through the ones on the real camera and not cell phones.  More to come...promise

"It's a little bee"

Spring is looking like it has "sprung" in Seattle with everything beginning to emerge from its winter hibernation.  Neighbors are out noting how all the kids are older/taller and daffodils are blooming.  A less welcome sight are the little small black ants...  I started to see them near the back door a few weeks ago, but nothing too alarming.  However in the last few days, we are seeing them frequently.  Gone are the 1 or 2 stragglers, they have been replaced with full regiments of soldiers.

As a biologist, I pride myself on trying to see everything in nature as interesting/special.  When Kasen and I see a spider, we crouch at the web.  Talk about the shape and whether the spider has anything to eat in it.  We marvel at inchworms and point out slugs.  I even "catch and release" insects inside our house (for the most part).  Yet, I will admit the ants have been testing my enthusiasm   As a former resident of a tropical climate, I don't see ants as a small problem.  They are in the category with roaches/mice/rats when inside a home.  You just saw one?  I instantly know there are many more (maybe thousands) I don't see.

When we started seeing the ants, Kasen was a little dismayed.  She called them "bees" and was constantly pointing them out (for removal I had assumed).  I may have misread her emotions regarding the ants....

Back to the routine

It has been over a week and we are getting back to the routine.  Sleep is happening at a more normal time frame, although Kasen has not been taking regular naps since we got back, she is at least no longer getting up in the middle of the night.  We have had a bunch of work done on Kasen's room lately and that has not helped the getting back to "normal" (more on that in a future post).

This weekend was pretty packed with soccer, visiting the local firehouse for an open house, the zoo, the farmers market, and a couple dinners out just to name the highlight.  Here are some pictures and video from the adventures.

This video is of Jake (first) and Kasen showing off their big soccer kicks.  Kasen is great at the dribbling part, or little kicks as coach calls them, but the big kicks....well you'll see

Photo day at soccer, Kasen is making sure it's OK to touch the ball with Coach.
Her friend Jake is the other one in the grey Sounders jersey

Kasen sitting in the drivers seat

Kasen on the back of the fire truck,
looking up at the ladders

Hope everyone is doing great, we'll post more as we can. 

"One Night in Bangkok" - Not Enough!

Hello, my name is Debra and I LOVE Bangkok.  Sometimes there have been places that I love almost in spite of themselves.  When finally declaring my love for these cities, it makes me feel like I am admitting some deep truth (especially when other people don't see the place as I do).  Mexico City was one of these places.  No matter how many people told me it was awful, I couldn't help myself.  I loved the architecture, I loved the rich cultural life, I loved the food and I loved the juxtaposition of new/old, traditional/modern.  Bangkok now belongs to this list of places. 

I will admit Bangkok gave an awful first impression.  She was hot, she was loud and whoa, was she dirty.  Still, as we began to get over our jet lag and experience the city, I began to recognize it's beauty and charm.

Spirit house (this one at our last hotel)

A Hidden Oasis

Morning in Bangkok

Walking Everywhere

Now, don't get me wrong.  There were parts that were less than beautiful, but maybe that's what I loved about it.  The beauty was more beautiful when intermixed with normality (like smog, garabage, rats, etc.) 

Here a few pictures near our last hotel (Urbana Langsuan - great location).  One side of the street had a completely abandoned building.  No obvious new work, just a beautiful building beginning to crumble with trash in the front.  On each side of it and across the street, cared for and NICE businesses, hotels, restaurants. 

Totally empty building

Directly across the street

A few buildings down

So while Bangkok startled me at first with some of the realities of a large, foreign city:

Street wiring was a rat's nest (sometimes literally)

Traffic was RIDICULOUS!

I am already tempted to go back.  After all, I never got to finish my fabric shopping...