AFK while in MEXICO!!!

* that's Away From Keyboard for the old folks ;) *

Missy and I are in Mexico this week enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation!!! I just finished up some long and stressful hours at work and of course Missy has her 24hr a day job of suppa mom so this could not have come at a better time!! Hopefully the weather will be nice. We plan to try and make it outside the resort as much as possible and see some local stuff and not be too lazy :) We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and stuff and I'll blog it up when we get back (and maybe while we are there if they have internet access). Here is where we are staying. It should be so much fun!!

Many thanks to Wayne and Merry for letting us use their time share, we really appreciate it. We probably would not have thought to try and go anywhere without it as an option. Also big thanks again to Wayne and Merry and my parents for taking time off to watch the little man while we are gone. I know you are all excited to spend time with him but it's still a lot to ask that you all take care of him for a week and we really want to thank you for doing so. We will miss him terribly, after say 24-36 hours ;) and I know you will all have a lot of fun with him and he will love spending time with you guys.

How We Spent Our 6th Anniversary Morning.....

We have been so busy the last couple of weeks getting ready for Mexico and we planned on not doing anything for our anniversary yesterday (more on Mexico in a later blog post obviously!!). We had bought some stuff at the store to make a nice dinner at home and were just going to relax.

That morning Missy got a text from a friend and asked if we want to go to the Evergreen State Fair. After talking it over for a few minutes we decided that it would be a lot of fun to take Jayden and let him see all the animals and maybe ride a ride or two. It was supposed to rain that day but it was still warm so we just hoped for the best. A quick stop at the Bartel's drug store to buy the tickets (discounted) and we were off! The fair was about 20min from our house so it did not take to long to get there at all.

The rain held off just long enough and we all had a blast at the fair!! Jayden was super excited when we went and saw the animals. He got to see pigs, goats, cows, sheep, roosters, ducks, turkeys, chickens and even zebras and reindeer!

After that we went and got so me yummy fair food and chilled a bit. We went and played a few games. Dad payed $5 to "win" a bear for the boy. Dad also payed $10 to shoot baskets for a big toy, but it was not meant to be.

We only rode on one ride with the little man and that was the carousel. He was a little freaked out when we got on it, we only sat in the sled and not on an animal, but he loved it once we started going.

It was a great time. The little guy was all tuckered out by 12:45 or so and we went home. I think we will go back again next year. Here are some of the other fun moments of the day.

Fun In The Sand......In Downtown Seattle!

On my way to work today I saw a bunch of people fencing off a big area of Westlake Center, a mall/shopping area downtown near my office building. They had huge mounds of sand, a few dozen people and a mini bulldozer! They were making these amazing sand sculptures all over the place. Not sure what it was for, other than looking cool and being 'artsy', but they were very cool looking.

They turned this:

Into THIS:

We were blessed with a rare beautiful weekend and decided to hit up one of the local parks for some sun and fun. We headed to Forest Park in southern Everett because Missy said they had water fountains and lots of toys to play on.

Jayden loved the water fountains and toys. He was a little shy at first but he warmed up to it after a few minutes. He just ran around laughing and running around the water.

It was a lot of fun. Hopefully we have a few more nice weekends so we can do it again and maybe BBQ and invite friends. Here are some pics from the day:

Back to school.....

A classic 80's movie starting the late great Rodney Dangerfield and also what I'll be doing come September 23rd. After a 9 year hiatus I'm heading back to school to collect me some more knowledge and a piece (or two) of paper. I'll be going to a local community college near where we live. Focusing on web development, which too some degree is what I do now. I've wanted to get back to school for a while now and for several reasons.

For one, I've always been disappointed in myself for ever leaving school in the first place. Don't get me wrong, it's worked out remarkably well for me and I would not change a thing. Without leaving school I would have never met Missy, which of course would mean Jayden would not even exist, plus not having a host of my current friends and family. That still doesn't change fact that I never finished what I started and that bothers me.

Second, I want to learn a bunch of new stuff! One of the great things about my chosen field is that I get to constantly create new things and solve new problems in interesting ways. In order to do that effectively, I have to constantly try to teach myself what new and old methods are available to me. In many ways I'm lacking in "old school" web skillz that the "new school" web stuff is built on. I need to get those skillz ASAP, but teaching myself has proven difficult and not be an effective way to learn. If I NEED to know something for my job, I can and will learn it. But if I don't HAVE to know it, I don't have the focus to stay with it. I'm hoping the structure of classes and paying for them help in this regard.

Last but not least, my work is willing to let me have some what of a flexible schedule and is picking up the tab for at least part of it (maybe all of it)! Yippy!

None of this would be possible without the support of my wonderful wife. Even though it will drastically cut the time I get to spend with both her and Jayden, especially during the week. She has been very supportive and encouraging about the whole thing. We'll be getting creative in scheduling "family time" and I plan on becoming much more of a morning person (not a 4am Wayne person though, not yet). She's continues to be the best wife and mother anyone could ask for.

On a lighter note, I went to orientation today after work and damn I feel old. 3/4 of the people where "kids" and a few even with their parents. That was weird. Coming from work where even at 30 I'm the youngest, to school where I was definitely one of the oldest.

It's going to be great, and I'm really excited.

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." ~Benjamin Franklin

"Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it." ~William Haley