Follow up check for Gar-bear

Month end party in G'vieve's class

The kids needed to leave school early so we could make it to Garrett's doctor's appointment on time. I was sad to have to pull Genevieve out of her class party, so we waited a tiny bit for BJ the Clown to finish up with his part.

Harlan and I met BJ close to 16 years ago when we were involved in the Prism ministry at New Song. He and his wife were members of our group. He hasn't changed a bit! He is an excellent clown if you need one for a party or function.

The many faces of Garrett

Garrett is doing well after that one seizure on Sunday. He continues to have some congestion due to allergies but on the whole he's a happy healthy almost 3 year old goof-ball!

Slow drive back into town

The drive back into town along Barnes to Burnside was so slow, many times I was stopped long enough to take pictures. I noticed this quilt made of palettes standing in a field.

We haven't seen the mountain in many many days. It looks like it's not going away anytime soon either.  I think maybe Cherise and Kiel are bringing their San Diego weather with them.

We won't complain if they do.

I've been meaning to get down to the Burnside Bridge to take a picture of the old White Stag sign. Well today I did. Sorta. Somethings wrong with this picture. I took it while I was stopped on the bridge. The only problem was... I was headed east and the sign is on the west end. I could only get a mirror shot.

One of these days I'll get an official Portland Oregon sign photo. Perhaps it will even be lit up!

A celebration and a scare

May 24th = Dave Hinshaw's b'day

Harlan and I started going out to breakfast on the day after Har's birthday as the 24th was Dave Hinshaw's birthday. Dave and Jude were famous for their breakfasts and brunches. So in honor of Dave we go out to eat and remember what a great guy he was. It's been many years that he's been gone but his influence still remains. His humor and his talent are remembered fondly. This year we ate at the Cadillac Cafe in NE Portland. 

The fresh flowers at the Cadillac are always so beautiful!

I've never seen this sort of credit card receipt before. I've always had the card number x-ed out but never my name. I guess it would be a bit difficult to deduce someones name from those letters and x-es. I just find it weird.

A trip to the ER

Garrett gave several people a scare on Sunday at church. He had what they figured was a seizure while he was in class. By the time Joylynn got to him his eyes were fluttering and when he woke up he seemed confused for a little while. A doctor that attends church there took his temp and blood sugar levels right after the episode and his temp was 103 but was soon down to normal.

Har, Hayden and I got up to the hospital as soon as we could. By that time Garrett was so done with being there and having to sit in a bed that wasn't his "race car bed". He insisted that he get his clothes on and get out of there.

The doctor thought the seizure was brought on by a spike in temperature due to a viral infection. He said it's really not that unusual. It's not something Joylynn or I have ever dealt with before though.

Garrett will follow up with his pediatrician later in the week but there isn't much concern at this point.

A stop at the vending machine on the way out

Wyatt, Genevieve and Danika were sitting in the tiny exam room with Joylynn and Garrett when we got there. It was nice for them to go out and hang out with Grampa and Uncle Hayden.  They had gotten some snacks and finally it was Garrett's turn. Poor guy was hungry after all that trauma.

Fruit snacks were just the thing to cheer him up.

We're all relieved to have him back to his silly self.

Cam's an entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship Class

Cam has a class at school called Entrepreneurship. The class that led into this was a Marketing class that was offered during the first semester. Since Cam didn't enroll until 2nd semester he missed out on this part of the business curriculum.

In any event he had to take part in a Trade Show at the school. It included creating a product,  manufacturing that product, marketing the product and selling it.

Cam came up with a wooden stand for an iPhone or iPod that would amplify its sound.

Master of Manufacturing

Cam and Harlan hammered out a design and Harlan started working on ways to bring it to reality.
He's never done any type of fabrication requiring making multiple units of anything. So this was a bit challenging. Har pulled an allnighter for the first time since college to get them completed. By the morning of the trade show Cam had 18 units to sell at $10 a piece.

At the show

I may be a bit prejudiced, but I think Cameron had the most professional looking display there. His marketing was very well done including his brochures and presentation. I like the colors he picked out for his table too. Top notch Cam! 

Way to be entrepreneurial! 

Pediatric dentist: an intro

Garret joined Wyatt at his latest appointment

As I was signing Wyatt in for his procedure of the day, Garrett was already over in the play area. Genevieve played with those same beds but there were dolls in each of them. Garrett had a shark in one and a dinosaur in the other.

Jess was there with Wy-guy

Jess was able to be in the room while Wyatt got a new crown and sealant. I'm glad that he got to see the whole office and that he liked what he saw.

So I could focus on the Gar-bear

Garrett is going to have his own appointment on June 6th.  We did quite a bit of talking and he was taking it all in. He didn't like to see Wyatt laying down with sunglasses and a big nose thing for the nitrous on. We did some more talking. I showed him all the chairs in the hygienists area and told him which ones his siblings had used. When I asked him which one he wants to sit in when it's his turn he emphatically insisted that "My teeth not broken!" 

Nope Bud, your teeth are not broken and we want to keep it that way. I hope he is in good spirits and can be coaxed with those legendary prize drawers.

A visit to Freddy's

I try to get over to Fred Meyer every time Garrett is with me. He has quite the fan club over there and there is definitely a mutual admiration between him and his favorite checker, Miss Lisa. They've had eyes for each other since he was a tiny little guy.

He's most certainly a charmer and a character!

A tired one to boot. He still needs naps even though he's getting to be a big boy. 

The car ride works almost all of the time ;0)

Har's 56th

"She says I don't listen or something like that"

Harlan has a t-shirt that has the above saying on it. I found the perfect card for him...

So typical these days. I think kids and 56 year old husbands have selective hearing.

In spite of every mis-heard word or phrase

Har got birthday flowers

He likes green blooms so we picked some up for him. 

These yellow/green gladiolas are very striking and have bloomed so much more in the past day.

Gramma and Grampa's boy

Jess and Joylynn and the kids were all here for a steak and potatoes dinner. Garrett kept telling that it was Grampa's birthday "but next is my birday". He's finally okay with turning three. 

Rowan, Katie and Evie sent Har the #1 Grandpa button in a card because it was "easier to send than a hug!" Cute hey?

Wy drew a picture and Joylynn framed it.

He got cards from Lyssa, Logan and family, Cherise, Kiel and family,  Joylynn, Jess and theirs too. Wyatt decided to draw a stick figure and date it. 

This is another of Wyatt's works that he just brought home. This one was done in art class at school. I think it should be framed as well.

Garrett helped with the candles

Garrett got in a little practice in blowing out candles. I'd say that all in all it was a good day. Har was tired but that is going to be explained in another post.

He got a few new t-shirts, a GPS for the van, and a lounge chair that matches the one I got for Mother's Day. The kids and I will  have to start brainstorming of what to get him in a few weeks for Father's Day.

He is fifty-six exclamation candle... not 561  =)

and I think he's pretty awesome!

Happy Birthday Har

Field trip to the Bull Run Reservoir

I got to go with Wyatt's class

We got to ride in a motor coach since school busses wouldn't be done with their routes early enough for us to leave.

It's a highly protected area

The Bull Run water shed is approximately 100 square miles of forest land that is protected from anything that could possibly contaminate this, the source of Portland's drinking water.

When we arrived at our destination there was standing in line for the restrooms and then we had lunch on the open air porch.

It is such a beautiful area up there. We had a mixed bag of weather but one thing was a constant. It was cold out on that dam.

Three student/ parent groups and three outdoor classrooms

Our first lesson: the forest

We walked through the forest to a small gazebo building and sat around while our tour guide, Lisa, talked about the 4 "C"s of water from the water shed. Clean, continuous, and cost effective are three of them but I guess I didn't listen closely enough to catch the 4th. 

Lesson two: testing the quality of the water

We were shown how they are able to sample water from different depths within the reservoir.

Today, they were testing for turbidity or measuring the amount of sediment in the water. An NTU number of 5 is the maximum for the ultimate quality drinking water sent to Portland.

Lesson three: the dam itself

The third and final part of the field trip was a hike down to the bottom of the dam. One hundred and ninety-four feet!  I'm not fond of heights. All I could do on the way down was keep looking at my feet. Once at the bottom my legs felt like rubber bands.

We walked through the inside of the dam and came out at the other side of the river.  It was very cool inside those tunnels. The minerals leaching through the walls were interesting.  I enjoyed it a lot and tried not to think too much about having to climb back up to the top of the dam to be able to go home.

I didn't take any photos on the way up the stairs. I was too busy breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. I can tell you this, I would NEVER  have been able to do this 50 lbs ago! 

Back at the bus and ready to roll

Wyatt and one of his best buds. They are in the words of his teacher "like a couple of puppies". They bring out the mischief in each other. Silly and fun boys.

Wyatt and I had the seat directly behind the driver so we could see ourselves in his mirror. It was great being able to see out the windshield too. 

We made it back before dismissal

We made it back to the school with about 10 minutes to spare. 

Thank you, Driver Vern for a great tour!