Bachelor Daze

Jana and the kids are in Edinburgh. Eating healthily. Going to museums. Good global citizens.

I'm in Burien. Eating pizza, tacos and chipolte sausages. Drinking Vitamin R (Rainier Beer). And putting around in my dads boat. All the neighbors know "Andy's bach'n it", and they're keeping a safe distance from the party house... :-)

Jana and I have had a few chances to talk, but here's the quick day-by-day blow, and a few items i forgot to mention on our call.

Thursday Night:
Larry and Margi had a great party. I walked away with all the leftover taco fixins. enough to feed a small army "should feed you for the week" said Margi. Oh, Margi also found a mysterious baggie and gave it to me. Not sure what that was... but it's gone now.

Friday:
Got to work by 10am (not bad considering jetlag,etc.). In the evening a small army showed up at the beach house. Ate all the taco fixins and drank two bottles of Scotch. Jon was toasted and called Stan Seo at 11:30pm. Rock fight broke out. Wes passed out in chair. Jon stuffed Wes's pockets with rocks. Mark and David slept inside.

Saturday:
Wes asked himself during morning coffee "hummm, why are there so many rocks in my pockets?" I had dinner with my dad and picked up the boat. I took the boat on a little cruise with the guys.

Sunday:
Nice day at the beach. More vitamin R. Actually had a little business meeting at the beach. More boating. Another long night around the camp fire.

Monday:
Meetings all day at work. It's good to be back! Had some spicy sausages for dinner. Sounds like a little poker game is brewing for tonight. I just noticed - Lupe has a big NEW bump on his leg. Looks and feels like fluid. We'll be headed to the vet later this week.

Overall, I'm trying to keep the house CLEAN! I even made the bed. :-) Wes is living in the boathouse, but he's keeping busy painting the Rossmans house. Speaking of Tom and Brenda - they bought a new house and they're moving asap! I'm bummed.

Edinburgh with Kids

Hello in there?!?!
Originally uploaded by B-TownMom.

We've been in Edinburgh for 5 days... here's the quick update:

Jana and grandma have escaped the 1am and 4am breakfast sessions with the jet-lagged kids. So daddy had to figure out how to cook crepes. After a few days of edible mistakes, i finally got the hang of it, and now i can flip a crepe in the air.

I had the best sandwich yesterday. Chicken, cream cheese, bacon, bbq sauce, gouda, salami and mayo. Jana called it the artery clogger. I called it heaven.

Had my first 'real shave' by a scottish barber. Britta was with me. As long as i kept feeding her bits of broken cookie she was happy.

Karsten puked on the kitchen table, chair, couch, living room floor, his shirt, pants and on his bed. Then he felt much better.

There's no TV in our flat, so we've been watching movies on my laptop. Most watched: Thomas the Train, Superman, Muppets.

Karsten loves castles, dungeons, ghosts and monsters. Luckily Edinburgh has plenty. He's super excited to see nessy. While getting my haircut i heard a song on the local radio station "here comes the monster"... i'm not sure if that's just a local favorite or global hit?

Things we couldn't easily figure out how to operate: dishwasher, washing machine (dryer still a mystery), toilet, door locks, oven, stove & microwave. Diane has been hanging clothes in creative places around the flat.

Kids favorite food so far... Karsten: Thomas spaghetti-o's and Thomas yogurt. Britta: oranges (she calls them apples)

Must be @ airport in 12 hours

I printed Jana's "pack this stuff for the kids" email... but i'm missing a few items.

Britta's brush. Really needed?
Bug spray. Huh? Can i fly with aresol cans full of toxic stuff?
The list goes on...

I better finish packing!

Camping Trip Day 3

Big, big breakfast with eggs, pancakes, tortillas, salsa, sausage, cheese, coffee - yum!
Fold up tent, clean site, pack.
Went for hike on Cascade lake.
Karsten "does some business" in the woods. Lucky, i had some tissue.
1pm head to ferry.
Wait in line for over 4 hours in the hot parking lot.
More junk food.
Finally on the ferry at 5:30pm.
McD's in Anacortes.
Wes, Karsten and I all have tummy pain.
Britta is shuttled back to seattle by Lisa, Arnold, Heidi and Hanna.
Karsten and I pick up Britta at Lisas at 9.
Kids back home, and in bed by 10:30pm.
Karsten had a really good time. He's already talking about next year. He needs a bath.
Britta had a wonderful time with Bestemor and Farfar, and she had a great time with Heidi and Hanna. I don't think she even missed me! :-)

Camping Trip Day 2

Big breakfast with Ryan and Tina.
Hike to waterfall.
Drive to top of Mt. Constitution.
Oops... we're running late...
Change into dress clothes.
Speed to wedding, starting at 2pm.
Get lost.
Make it there just in time.
Beautiful wedding.
Drink. Eat. Drink. Eat.
Back to camp site, change into shorts.
Head to swimming spot.
Then to farmhouse for more drink & food.
Back to campsite.
Karsten in bed around 10pm.
Guitars came out.
Neighbors came over.
Thought about swimming at midnight - nah.
In bed around 1am.

Camping Trip Day 1

Day 1:
Hand Britta over to Bestemor at 10am.
Drop Jana off at airport.
Wes, Karsten and I drive to Anacortes.
Wait in ferry line for 3 hours.
Drink beer.
Eat junk food.
Catch ferry to Orcas Island.
Eat junk food.
Get to campground - Moran State Park.
Set up tent.
No pillows or batteries.
Borrow flashlight from Karsten's new friends a few sites away.
Karsten tells scary stories to the Cookie Scouts (a troop of Girl Scouts) - they love him.
Tina, Ryan, Wes and I proceed to drink lots of beer.
Smores.
Swimming in the lake at midnight.
Raccoons at 2am, eating grahm crackers that i left on the table.
I'm standing in my boxers holding neighbors flashlight above my head, waving at the racoons.
Raccoons proceed to eat all grahm crackers, they ignore me.
4am Karsten needs water, he wakes up Wes to walk him to fountain.
6am Karsten starts jumping on inflatable mattress.

Karma?

Jana is flaunting around Europe and I'm at home doing double-kid-duty... what's wrong with this picture?!?! Oh yes, it's payback time. For all my trips and crazy projects - it's my turn to "feel what it's like". I can't even complain, cause as every reader of Jana's blog is well aware, I deserve this.