It was Amanda’s birthday today. She is thirty-four. I hope this is the best year yet for her.

I had not been able to get her a birthday present due to time and transportation issues. I do know what I want to get her; perhaps I will try obtaining the gifts tomorrow.

She took the day off today. I do not know what she did in the morning as I passed out with the Bonasaurus, although I vaguely heard her talking on the phone and muttering about school supplies. Her mom took her out to lunch when Baby Jae woke up. I was going to try to get her presents at that point, but she needed me to be back soon as she had appointments and plans for the Kai. I ended up going to City Peoples to price some yard and garden stuff. I did not actually, by anything though.

Amanda came back and took the Kai to a medical appointment and then to one of those do-it-yourself ceramic places that opened nearby.

Once they finished with that (and Baby Jae woke up), I met them at Cactus in Madison Park for her birthday dinner. I had not been there since last year when during what I also believe was her birthday. Madison Park abounds with back-in parking only; I remember when we first moved here how awful I was at that, but today I just whipped the car in reverse and spun into the space with scarely a second thought.

I noted that their salsa is actually pretty good. I have been eating a lot of mediocre salsa lately. I had their Navajo Fry Bread with honey as an appetizer (this stuff is really good and cheap) and their fish tacos. The tacos were alright, and perhaps worth getting again, but not as good as Huarachitos’ fish tacos were. Huarachitos is opening up a new place soon after their old place had a fire a couple of years ago. Which is good because I am so-so with regards to Mexican and TexMex food and Amanda is a big fan, but Huarachitos’ fish tacos were freakin’ excellent.

I ate way too much and way too fast (kids, ya know) and am very stuffed now. I did have a couple glasses of sangria which were very tasty.

I finally retrieved the scooter from the townhouse after dinner. I had charged the battery at home, and that appeared to allow the scooter to start. I think the ignition switch might have bad contacts as the electronic starter did not always kick in even with the fully charged battery. There might also be a short somewhere which would explain by the battery discharges too fast. Something to keep an eye on now that it is back home as I can just check the battery levels every day.

After the kids were asleep Amanda and I were considering signing up for Tough Mudder later this year; apparently a lot of her crossfit gym members are going to go. It looked kinda fun, but Amanda was freaked out about all the electrical shock obstacles they had, which seem kinda funny, but also creepily sadistic. We probably won’t sign up, but I guess one never knows.

Amanda took the two progeny to Geraldine’s Counter for breakfast with her mother. Actually, she took Baby Jae as the Kai had spent the night with his grandmother; she just met them there. I do not feel like eating breakfast out is worth the calories. I stayed home and cleaned and put away laundry and the like.

I was going to skip breakfast and just eat lunch, but eventually I ate two soy burgers. It is hard to say if they were better healthwise than the avocado and pepperjack omelette with hash browns and toast that I would have gotten at Gerladines. Upon further thought, it is not hard to say really as the souy burgers are definitely better for me and probably less caloric.

Back home, Baby Jae had a shortish nap, if one counts the fact that I basically held her for thrity to forty-five minutes. She screamed when I eventually put her down, so that was that for the nap.

Amanda wanted to go hiking somewhere, but I was feeling slow and tired even though I theoretically had eight hours of sleep. Amanda countered later that since I have not used my CPAP machine for months, I really have not been sleeping at all… all due to my “lack of willpower”. Such empathy!

I did decide to go, and we headed out east and did the Twin Falls Hike whose trailhead is a little past Issaquah on I90 West. There were a lot of people there; cars were parked way up the road to the trailhead. Fortunately for us, we scored parking in the “official” lot.

The hike itself was fun. It was a short two-and-a-half round trip, although that is a long distance with kiddies. I carried the Bonasaurus in our kiddie hiking carrier we had originally gotten for Lonan. She handled it very well this time. I had tried carrying her in the backpack when she was around five or six months old, but she would have none of it. Today she was very agreeable, at last as long as I kept moving. She also seemed not to like going uphill, and my legs and heart would agree with that.

I got massively sweaty even though it was a bit cool.

On the way back, the Bon had a poo emergency in the car, and since we are good parents and did not want to have her sit in her poo for the thirty-plus minutes back home, we stopped in North Bend to change her. As it turned out, we changed her in the same McDonald’s parking lot where we changed her some other time in the past (that sounds inelegant, but whatever). The Kai certainly wanted to stop inside for a snack, so Amanda and I discussed if McDonald’s fries were vegetarian now. I consulted the internet, and, yes, they still have a small amount of beef stock in them. Or at least the possibility there is beef stock. McDonald’s representatives are supposed to say they are not vegetarian, although in certain locales and countries they may be. Obviously, they need to cover their legal behinds.

I spaced out in the car while the others went inside for snacks. Amanda came back outside with two apple pies for me and a half of a large fry (perhaps her mother ordered it?). I only got one apple pie because the Kai was apparently lusting after them the whole time inside even though he had ice cream and french fry and other snacks. I ate the rest of the fries because I was hungry and I like french fries, so I ate beef from a evil fast food franchise. I am evil, yes.

Back home, we eventually discussed what to do about dinner. Since it is Amanda’s birthday weekend (her birthday is tomorrow), it was solely her decision. She initially wanted to go to El Quetzal nearby on beacon hill; we had been there way back in 2005 when we first moved here and they were a little place with maybe six tables. They expanded a couple of years ago, but we were denied a repeat visit as they are closed on Sundays.

Our second choice was Baja Bistro farther down on Beacon Avenue which was have been wanting to try for a while. They have happy hour fish tacos for $2 each, but I got the platter with three fish tacos and rice and beans. Amanda got enchiladas (and a quesadilla I think). Kai got a fish taco and the Bon got a potato and cheese taco.

The fish taco was OK. The fish itself was too fishy for my taste, but slathering it was hot sauce mellowed that out. I would say the platter itself was not worth it; better to get three $2 happy hour tacos and more beer. Amanda said her stuff was alright. The service itself was good and friendly, so perhaps we will be back. They serve breakfast, which is cool. Amanda heard their breakfast burritos are awesome.

After the usual evening bathing activities, we (minus Baby Jae) watched a documentary on fire ants.

Now both children are asleep, this entry is done, and it is time to spend some time with my lovely spouse.

Baby Jae woke up at six in the morning today, but Amanda got up and let me sleep for another couple of hours. They had breakfast, and when I got up she and Lonan Kai went off to crossfit while I stayed at home with the infant.

Unfortunately, for Amanda, there wasn’t a normal crossfit workout… if there ever is a normal one… instead, this time everyone ran to Seward Park and back. I believe Amanda said it was something like 4.8 miles. And of course it was uphill on the way back. Apparently she was not that last person; she beat two people. Although, I know crossfit is not a competition really, unless one considers it a competition with oneself.

Fortunately, there was someone remaining at the gym to watch over Lonan while she ran. LK brought a bunch of legos and played with them.

After they got back we went up to Jefferson Park for the annual Jefferson Park Festival. I basically sat around with Baby Jae while Amanda look LK various places. I pretty much listened to Kimball Elementary’s music performances while Bab yJae smeared banana, soft chocolate cookies, and spilled soy milk on me and everything else. Later I walked around to keep her boredom factor down and to stop being used as a napkin and tablecloth (well, I guess I will always be a napkin for the baby for a while yet).

It came time for the baby’s afternoon nap, so I took her home. Amanda and LK stayed longer as he did not want to leave. I guess he had fun; he got a bloody nose in the bouncy house which must be a ultimate fun indicator for a child. They walked back home which was an impressive accomplishment for the Kai especially since there was no whining involved.

Amanda got a bit sunburned today. I am glad never had to worry about things like that.

I wernt running when they got back. Basically, I ran my route back to Jefferson Park from our house and returned. I usually dor a few laps around the park to get my mileage up, but I have not been running much recently. The run was still four miles, though.

There were gobs and gobs of Somoan’s up in Jefferson Parks fields. Hundreds perhaps. They were there playing cricket (or watching the others play cricket). They well all seriously huge (men and women) and the cricketers (is that a word?) were pretty fast. I can see how being Samoan increases your chances of playing in the NFL by 500% or something crazy tlike that.

Amanda went off to get a check grill since our old IKEA one is finally falling apart. At least, it is becoming too decrepit to use anyway.

We had grilled veggie kabobs, portobello mushrooms, corn, bread, cheese, and wine for dinner.

LK’s grandmother came back from work and took him with her for a sleepover. Currently the Bonasaurus is screaming upstairs because she does not want to sleep, but she really should. Amanda is reading her Kindle on the couch, and I am finishing up my daily writing.

Bonasarus seems to be getting ill. She is definitely less energetic, but is not listless and nonresponsive.

I feel ill to. I have had a raging headache all day and the Bon’s screaming tonight is not helping. She is asleep now.

I managed to work on some yard and garden stuff before the end of the day. I pulled that last stump from the planters on the north side of the house. I also planted the japanese maple over Ate Piglet’s final resting site. I am have read that location is very crucial for japanese maples, so I am unsure if Piglet’s will thrive, but I also have read lots of vague and sometimes contradictory information on the conditions japanese maples need, so who knows. I suppose it depends on the variety, so I guess we will see.

I also side dressed the tomatoes with fertilizer.

I still have not found my keys. I have eliminated a few other places from the set of possible key locations.

Amanda brought back a lot of dishes, glasses, and silverware from her Family Medicince Interest Group thing last night, so I have been doing a lot of washing. There have been many many dishwasher loads since then. Now there is only a lot of large wine glasses to clean, but they are too big to wash in the dishwasher, so they must be done by hand at some point. Maybe this weekend.

I cooked a scrumptious dinner tonight: a fritatta with onions, garlic, tomatoes, brocolli, and cheddar cheese; broiled asparagus; apple and sage vegan field roast; steamed rice (ok that is not all that exciting); wine (yeah, that is exciting).

LK came home and wanted to go out to dinner with his grandmother and stay over her house, and that was fine with me even though I had just spent a couple of hours cooking, but he got distracted playing with his legos and then decided to stay home for dinner. He did go sleep over, though.

Armando is keeping me company by resting beside the keyboard as I type this. That is unlike the sterotypical cat who steps and/or lies on the keyboard or your forearms while you type. Of course, he does that, too.