Ferndale is for the birds

Well we've all been battling some sort of a cold lately. So much so that we half-feared Jack might be getting pneumonia again. Dodged that bullet, so far. It's just an ear infection. The tubes had a good life, and served us well but they gave up the ghost and the little man has another sore ear. Could be worse.

Illnesses aside, we've been trying to get out of the house of late. It's well known around here that the key to avoiding a grumpy dad and hyperactive kids is to keep us active. Kim's never put off her game, she's a rock. And she never tires of hearing it (I'll pay for that, ow!).

Not long ago one of Lucas' classmates had a birthday party. I drew the short straw and had to go to Gym Star for an afternoon of four and five year-olds doing gymnastics. Score! It was great. First off I spotted a Red Tailed Hawk on Pacific Highway so I pulled the car over to snap a couple photos of it sitting on a freeway sign. We even saw a Great Blue Heron just outside the parking lot. Then when we got there all the kids shunned their shoes and socks and hit the mats. Leaving us few parents dumb enough to stick around free to do absolutely nothing. Can you imagine? Free time. Sign me up. I wouldn't waste your time telling you as much but there was one, two really, classic Lucas moments. He was put atop a mat and told to do a somersault. The spotter told him to tuck his head and look at his bellybutton. Naturally he pulled up his shirt and stared at his navel. Twice.

Last weekend we decided to take a drive to Ferndale to see how long it would take. More specifically if I could drive from Western to Pioneer Meadows Montessori School and back in an hour. Turns out it's no problem. Well except for the fact the Lucas' current school is closing to merge with the school in Ferndale. That's going to be a problem. We have our choice of trying to find another place in town that will work for him or trying to get both he and Jack into the new school. Of course Jack has to master potty training in the next few months and the drop-off times are different there than we're used to. Plus it's a whole lot more driving. We'll figure it out. In the meantime we did visit the new Sonic Drive-In in Ferndale. Not worth the drive, and there's no way I'd ever wait in that sort of line for a burger. It was the grand opening and there were way too many people waiting to eat there. If you've never been, it's a place you cannot go into. You have your choice of drive-through or drive-up, complete with roller-skating high school girls. We didn't know that so we parked next door and figured we'd go in and eat. Nope, so we ordered outside then ate in the car. Live and learn. By the way, we saw a bald eagle on the way there - Ferndale is the spot for birds. And we may say driving there is for the birds, stay tuned.

This weekend we got out by going to the dog park at Lake Padden. It was a decent day weather-wise. Meaning no rain or snow. But plenty of mud. The dogs had a blast. Tuppers is in her element when she's in a bog. Lucas, of course, had a great time with all the other dogs. He's funny, he wants to know all the dog's names. So either Kim or I have to ask the owners. It makes us be much more outgoing than either of us wants to be. But up until an hour ago I could have told you the names of all the dogs that were there.