Walch Family

Serves me right!

2010-12-28T12:40:00.001-09:00

The other day we were at the dinner table, finishing up a nice family dinner. The kids had carrots and hummus, one of their favorite veggie choices. Amanda and I had finished up and were just kind of chatting while the kids continued eating. My one son, Andrew, is world’s messiest eater… food finds a way from his plate to his lap, his face, the table, his clothes, everywhere… it drives us crazy. Of course, I’m in one of my moods where I don’t have a lot of patience for watching the food migration from his plate to the rest of the house.

As we sit I watch Andrew eat his carrots. He dips the carrot in the hummus, swiping it back and forth, twirling it, wiping hummus on the sides.

“Andrew,” I exclaim, all you need to do is scoop a little on to the carrot and take a bite. You don’t need to play with it.

He doesn’t get it; I’m not sure he even tried. Exasperated, I grab the carrot and show him how to neatly scoop just the right amount of hummus on the carrot for a well-proportioned bite of carrot and hummus. I’m not sure he appreciated the nuances of proper form I was demonstrating, even though I made him say to me he understood.

Two minutes later I’m watching the hummus tornado carrot dipping occur again… he did not understand the lesson I had imparted. I’m frustrated and exclaim again to him, “Andrew, just scoop it up and eat it. Don’t twirl it around… make it easy!”

Andrew looks down, then looks up at me. “Dad, I’ll make you a deal… you let me eat my hummus the way I want to, and I won’t bother you the rest of the night. Or, you can tell me how to eat my hummus but then I get to bother you the rest of the night.”

He’s a turkey! Lucky for me, my kids don’t take me too seriously. Amanda and I had a great laugh over it, I lightened up, and he continued eating his hummus the way he wanted.

Europe Wine Adventures: Closing out

2010-07-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well, the last few days got a little busier and so I didn’t get a chance to update the blog. Now that we’re back, fully in the swing of life, I figured it was a good idea to get a close-out written out.

We stayed in another cute hotel in Keyersburg. Unfortunately, it didn’t have air conditioning. But, the town was cute and both mornings Amanda and I went out for a nice walk or run along a nice path. Our hotel room had a balcony and we enjoyed sitting out on that and drinking wine or eating a snack. We did go into Colmar one day, visiting little Venice and walking around. We also went to some nice tasting rooms. One was a large cooperative and we bought several of their wines; the other was a very small husband/wife shop where the young husband made some really good wines and we had fun trying to speak English/French with him.

Our last night was back in Frankfurt. On a side note, on the drive back I got the car up to 180 km/hr! Luckily, in Frankfurt, we were able to upgrade to a room with A/C as the temp was well over 100 degrees! Amanda and I caught the trams and trains around Frankfurt a bit but in the end went back to our hotel for dinner and cooling off in our room.

Some conclusions from this trip:
1. A week wasn’t too short… it worked out well. The costs are reduced since you’re not there as long; we were able to quickly adjust to the time zone change; and, we got a good dose of the culture. I could have stayed longer, but really enjoyed the week.
2. I could live there… I think. The people were very friendly and I love the small towns.
3. I love how close everything is in Europe. Coming from Alaska that is no surprise, but I’m ready to drive, train, whatever all around there.

Europe Wine Adventures: More day 4

2010-07-08T21:05:00.003-08:00

A couple footnotes to our adventure yesterday. As Amanda and I were driving along the route, we spied a castle up in the hills and, feeling adventurous, we took a diversion in search of the castle. As we wound our way up the hill we saw multiple parking spots and signs for a birding area. Turns out that was an eagle rehabilitation center. We finally arrived at a T with signs – to the right, Monkey Mountain; to the left, Haut Koenigsbourg. All my life I’ve been infatuated with monkeys, so we headed right, not knowing what to expect.

Monkey Mountain turns out to be a chimpanzee sanctuary. They have a large wooded area, surrounded by a fence, where multiple chimp families live and thrive. They eventually reintroduce these into the wilds of Africa and also use the area for behavioral research. Upon entry, they provide you with a small handful of popcorn and instruct you how to feed them and not to touch them… they take it as a sign of aggression.

Unfortunately, I can’t download the pictures I took until I get home. But, needless to say, it was very cool. The monkey’s are completely uninterested in humans – sometimes they’d eat, other times they’d care less. But, they were all over and we were able to observe babies, teenagers playing, moms and dads protecting their family… it was a very neat experience.

Then, upon departing, we went to the castle. The castle had originally been built in the 12th century but was in ruins. In 1900, the Germans commissioned a massive restoration project that took 8 years and completely restored it so that now it is a museum. We got some incredible views and it is impressive to be able to walk through living history. I took some good pictures of the armory to show my boys, as well.

Here are a couple pics of the castle and the cute little town we're staying in.

Europe Wine Adventures: Alsace Day 3 and 4

2010-07-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

If you’re reading this, I appreciate it. But, mostly it is for me so it may get a bit boring. Here I am, cataloging 2 days of activities, and it is amazing what I’ve already forgotten from yesterday. Hence the reason for the blog… I want to get as much mileage as I can from these trips and writing down the memories so I can relive them is one of the ways to do that.

First, let me complain a bit… France is in the middle of a heatwave. Today it was between 90-95 Fahrenheit most of the day. 80 is nice, and would make Amanda happy, but 90 is hot. And, of course, none of our hotels have A/C. The room is bearable, but warm. On the flip side, I’m sitting on our little balcony, surrounded by flowers, looking ahead at the remains of a castle, surrounded by Alsatian hills and cute little houses on a quiet street. So, enough complaining.

Yesterday we decided to head into Strasbourg, the biggest city in the Alsace region. It has about a million people, I believe, but the main downtown area is pretty contained and surrounded by canals. We had directions to a place we could park and take the tram into the city; and, with our new found confidence in reading street signs, we were off.

Parking was a little challenging, as we drove through the city a bit looking for our pre-determined spot. Although we saw hints of it (on signs), we never found it; we were finally able to find a spot within walking distance of the city for only a few Euro more than we’d have paid for the other spot.

First stop was the cathedral, an amazing structure with beautiful flying buttresses, ornate gothic type artwork and inscribing around the outside, and tall spires. Amanda and I climbed up to the top of the observatory and got a birds-eye view of the city. From there we made our way over to Place Kleber, the shopping district, and then Le Petit France for lunch. We ate at a nice outdoor café complete with music from a couple street entertainers; followed by a showdown between the head hostess and the entertainers when they went to ask for donations from the patrons.

After most of the day in Strasbourg, and the sun, we felt a bit wasted. We went back to Obernai and our hotel and rested a bit. Then, we took a drive up the hills above Obernai; it was gorgeous. On the way home the Obernai Tourism office was putting on a little town square party. There was beer, wine, food, dancing, a polka band; so, of course we had dinner and stayed for a bit. By the end of that the FIFA semifinal game had started and we returned to our hotel room to watch it. Unfortunately there aren’t any sports bars or pubs to watch these kind of events. We found one place, but it was a restaurant with a TV and it was already full.

This morning we got up and headed out for a run. On our drive yesterday we had found some trails and so we headed there to explore… what we found was a beautiful trail system designed for horses, bikes, and people. The trails meandered through wonderfully green wooded (and shaded areas) with little bridges crossing back and forth across a creek. It was nourishing for the body and soul as it was quiet and squirrels and birds flitted around us the whole time.

Obernai has a weekly market so before checking out we went up to that. Calling this thing a market does not do it justice; it is more like a travelling supermarket and tradeshow. People have these big trucks they drive in, full of clothes, and the open them up. The market filled many streets and had everything from clothing to kitchen gadgets to all the good food you’d want to buy for dinner that night. It was packed with people all over and I think we were on stimulus overload after going through half of it.

After checking out we headed back out on the wine route to Keyserberg, our next hotel location. The drive was surreal – cruising along narrow French roads surrounded by fields and fields of vines draped across rolling hills; about every 5-10 km there is another adorable little town with cobblestone streets that you navigate through, only to burst out of it back on the main road. Amanda says I went full French because I can’t help but cycle through the gears quickly to reach top speeds… the narrow roads only accentuate the feeling of speed and it is exhilarating. I can only imagine that’s what they French are thinking, also… otherwise, they wouldn’t tail me so closely if I drop below 100 km/hr!

We tasted some wines and had a classic Alsatian dinner, but I’ll have to write about that more later. Also, along the way, we found Monkey Mountain and a massive restored castle. But alas, the temperature has cooled a bit and I believe I’m ready to go to bed. More to come…

Europe Wine Adventures: Alsace Day 2

2010-07-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

We spent the day, for the most part, kicking around Obernai and figuring out the wine route. First the wine route, or Alsace Wine Route (Vins d’Alsace). This road winds through the French countryside from Strasbourg to Colmar, dotted with small towns filled with winemakers. We set off south, from Obernai, and made it through about 4 towns.

The roads between the towns are nice, winding through vineyards and hillsides. Small towns are visible along the way, nestled in a sea of green patchwork fields. Up on the mountainside you can make out a castle, standing proudly at the highest point. Upon entering a town, the road becomes incredibly narrow and keeps me, as the driver, on my toes. Eerily, most of the towns we went through were very quiet and didn’t have a lot of cars or people.

Amanda and I stopped at a few towns and wandered around a bit, though. Tasting rooms are open, but not necessarily manned, so it takes a little bravery to wander in and see if it is a tasting room (especially since we don’t read French that well) and then find a host. I’m sure over the next couple days we’ll get a bit more comfortable with it, but initially we’re a bit tentative.

One winery we stopped at we tried the Pinot Gris and the Pinot Gris Barrique (which saw 5 months in smaller barrels). It was a great contrast. The regular Pinot Gris had a bit of residual sugar and full, soft fruits in the mouth; a lush feel and a little sweetness to carry the finish. The barrique-ed version had wood on the nose and in the taste. The fruit was definitely muted, but still present. Amanda likes the wood-presence and preferred the latter; and, maybe in the right setting I would, also. But as a nice summer white wine, the classical Pinot Gris was more my preference.

After a few other stops for tasting and pictures we went back to Obernai to find some food. We had lunch at a nice little café – some salads and a glass of wine. Then Amanda and I walked the ramparts, a wall around the city built in the 12th century. It didn’t take long to walk, but it was interesting. There are several places where the old wall has been incorporated into the structures of newer buildings; even some of the towers remain and have been used.

Tomorrow we’ll head in to Strasbourg to visit the cathedral, Le Petit France (for lunch) and probably a canal tour. Then, of course, we’ll have to figure out where to watch the Germany match… being so close to the German border, there are a lot of fans here.

Europe Wine Adventures: Alsace Day 1

2010-07-06T00:32:00.001-08:00

A few months ago Amanda and I had a leisurely Saturday and, as customary in Europe, had a glass of wine with our lunch. Having our common sense dulled and our romantic idealism enhanced, we booked a flight on Condor Air from Anchorage to Frankfurt. My Mom and Dad graciously agreed to take the kids for the week and we were set.

When we visited Luxembourg several years ago we saw campgrounds along the Mosel and so our initial idea for this trip was to rent a Eurovan and camp. However, as we started researching more (after we’d already committed, of course) we found out we were going at the high season and campers were only rented for a 14 day minimum. Oh well, we booked a few quaint hotels, rented a car, and called it good.

July 4th - we departed Anchorage around 2pm. It was a great 9 ½ hour flight over Greenland to Frankfurt, Germany. While flying Amanda could see giant ice sheets breaking up down below; there was minimal turbulence and since we had an exit row, plenty of leg room. A friend of Amanda’s, travelling to Russia, was also on the flight and sat right in front of us.

Upon arriving we had to wait a bit for our car but eventually hit the road. Making our way out of Frankfurt was easy enough and the Autobahn was nice. Our top speed was 160 km/hr (almost 100 mph!) but the speed we could go fluctuated wildly – no need for cruise control! Although it only took us a bit over 2 hours to get to Strasbourg, it took us almost another 2 hours to find Obernai, the small town we are staying in for 3 days. We were beat – we got checked in and slept for a couple hours before heading out to dinner.

Our hotel is incredibly cute – there is an open-air courtyard with tables (where I sit as I write this) surrounded by all the rooms. Beautiful red and purple flours hang from all the windows and balconies and sweet Thyme plants are on every table. The village is a classic cobblestone street French village that has quite a bit of tourism. Lots of people come with their bikes and take day trips; Amanda and I followed one of the routes on our job this morning as we ran to Nidernai, the neighboring town. We ran through corn fields and the backside of houses with lovely French gardens.

Funny... and back

2010-05-19T20:44:00.003-08:00

Holy Cow! It has been almost a year since I've posted here. I've been thinking a lot about it since I enjoy writing. Then, a funny story happened and I figured that was a good excuse to post on the blog.

Ok, so my one funny story… it just happened. I was tucking the girls in to bed… well, they went down to bed and as I came down they were telling me there was a spider. There was a small spider on the wall close to where Jenna’s head is at (she's on the top bunk). I told Jenna to go get a paper towel. “ohhh”, she says, cuz you know, it makes her nervous. She came back and I told her she had to get it, but get it fast otherwise he’ll get away.
“Ok, but will you throw it away?” she says as she’s climbing back up. I agree and she goes right after it and gets it quickly and wads it up and hands it to me. She starts crawling in bed as I’m squishing it up tight.
Then, I exclaim, “ah, it got out! It’s on your pillow, Jenna!”
She bolts! She scurries down her bed, puts two hands on either side of the ladder, swings her feet through, and launches herself off the bed, landing on the floor! I didn’t even have time to say “wait!” It would be like me jumping from 14 feet up! Of course she was fine and was laughing; I was cracking up… I couldn’t believe it. She's our natural gymnast.

Summer fun

2009-07-29T19:59:00.002-08:00

This has been an epic Alaska summer - warm sunny days, relaxing evenings, and overworked days. Yes, nothing ever works out perfectly. For work, I've taken on some additional responsibilities which has required me to travel to Fairbanks on a regular basis. It isn't a bad commute, but of course responsibilities bring some pressure.

But, onto the more fun things. We planted a garden, a first for us. Although like everything I wish I had more time for it, I love the therapuetic aspect of weeding and taking care of it. And, it is amazing watching the things grow - green beans, carrots, lettuce. Yum! Stay tuned... we're focusing on the Northwest (wine and food).

We also took a great long weekend trip with our girls. Amanda, Jenna, Carli and me went to Portland, OR for a trip. Our girls are excellent travellers - no complaining, eat anything, go along with anything, entertain themselves endlessly and jump right in to new activities. In Portland we went to the Chinese Garden (peaceful and serene); Washington Park and with the roses (intoxicating); the Japanese Gardens (a connection to nature); and, Multonomah Falls (exhilirating). The girls climbed all the way to the top of the falls with us, showing their true spirit with cruising to the top.

We spent one day in the wine country, a full report which can be found on my sister blog (alaskagrapenuts.blogspot.com). I really (really) enjoy experiencing wine country and seeing the location the grapes are grown, meeting the wine makers, and tasting terroir.

Recently, we went dipnetting. This will turn out to be a bit of a lean year for us as far as reds go. I just had our last boat trip cancelled, so it looks like we'll have what we have. I'm hoping to get a bunch of Silvers between Valdez and some runs up some rivers or something, we'll see.

The kids have had a full summer. The boys went to Cub Scout camp and basketball camp. All the kids went to a church camp. Now, the raspberries are ripening and so a nightly activity is going to pick those.

This is a bit abrupt and quick of a report, but better than nothing. Summer in Alaska is light, full, and fun. I hope summer is treating you all well, also.

Miracle Kidney Kitty

2009-03-10T12:15:00.001-08:00

A quick update on our cat, our resilient Chunk. He seemed to be on the way down and after the vet checked lab values, she said his only real hope was IV fluids. Given the emotional and financial cost of that prospect, we declined and took him home. At her insistence we took some fluids to put under his skin to ease the discomfort associated with kidney failure. Chunk, however, figured that was all he needed and since starting fluid therapy has bounced back nicely.

He definitely isn’t all they way cured and we know it is now a matter of time. But, that time could be days or years… and we should all appreciate the extra time we get with loved ones. He is very affectionate but with the same sense of attitude, especially after getting his fluids.

So, for the time being he’s doing well and we are grateful and happy to have our friend still with us.

Reprieve

2009-02-16T09:18:00.002-09:00

A quick update... we took Chunk into the vet. His kidneys were in full on failure mode. Blood test showed values off the charts. His only hope was going to be staying in the clinic for 3 days with an IV. We decided against that and she sent us home with some fluids to put in him. She said kidney failure is quite painful for cats and that this would ease his discomfort.
Well, over the weekend he has improved quite a bit. He is eating and drinking regularly and seems to be getting around ok. He curled up with me on Saturday for a little nap and has been out and about quite a bit. Even though the end must be inevitable, it is nice that he isn't so sick right now.

Not ready

2009-02-12T02:04:00.003-09:00

Here it is, 2am in the morning, and I have cold sweats and shakes, yet I'm fairly certain I'm not sick. Last night I noticed that Chunk, our cat, hasn't eaten for a couple days... maybe more. He'll eat tuna, but not dry food. And, it is obvious things aren't right with him - he's skinny and not quite himself. We, unfortunately, are used to these signs.

Chunk is our oldest pet... we got him about the same time we got Rosa, from the humane society in Roseville, MN. We went there and had picked out one cat to adopt when Amanda spied some kittens and picked out this gray and white one. She couldn't put it down and we decided he had to come home with us, also.

His name was originally Theo. But, as he grew, he quickly filled out, realy filled out, and we often remarked on his "chunkiness." Well, that seemed to stick and he became Chunky or Chunk for eternity.

About 8 or so years ago we learned, through a blood test, that he had kidney issues... maybe he'd start having kidney failure or maybe he just has small, grape-size kidneys. I always thought he'd be the first to go. But, over the last several months we've had to say goodbye to his buddies Rosa and Cody... he's stayed strong... until now, it seems.

When he was young Amanda would often come to bed after a shower with wet hair. He loved that and would paw at it and try and bite it. Over time, though, sleeping on her head was his favorite spot. She would talk about how he was "out of control" last night with taking over her pillow. But, she couldn't resist his soft paws on her neck.

Once, in one of our road trips up the highway, he got his bell rung pretty good. We were driving the big old Ford fullsize van up. We had stopped at Liard hot springs for a dip. Amanda had the side doors open and, as she was finishing up, slammed it shut. It would have closed nicely, except Chunk's head was in the way. She shreeked (I mean, she had slammed it). Chunk fell over, his eyes floating in his head. I picked him up expecting to see brain matter falling out; but, his head was intact. I put him back down where he wobbled a bit and then fell over again. We held him for a while - he looked really dizzy - until he got his bearings. He turned out to be just fine, but always seemed a little sweeter to us after that incident.

I woke up tonight and pet Chunk. It was clear his energy level is down and immediately I knew I wasn't going right back to sleep. I am not ready for another pet to die, not yet. I'm not sure I ever would be, it just seems to be happening on too regular an occurence these past 10 months.

Family Road Trip 2009

2009-02-11T17:05:00.000-09:00

Amanda and I have taken several vacations alone, something that we’ve enjoyed and have appreciated the alone time. However, as our kids have gotten a bit older we’ve realized we really wanted some family vacation time. I know, a few years ago I would have thought we were crazy; but, thankfully, we all change.

We cashed in a bunch of our miles and flew down to SFO – we called the Bay Area home from 2000-2003 – for the start of a drive North to Seattle. We flew in late Friday night/Saturday morning and drove down to Mountain View to stay with some friends. One fun note… on the leg from Seattle to SF the plane was fairly empty and Alaska Air bumped our family of 6 up to first class. The boys and girls each got their own seats and lived it up having snacks and root beer floats.

Day 1: Saturday
We spent the day with Kate and Simon and their twin girls Beth and Amy. We met them through the twin connection and they became great friends sharing many hikes around the Bay Area as well as very memorable camping trips to Big Sur and Northern Tahoe. This trip was very relaxing as they have created a back yard oasis with a fire pit, trampoline, guinea pig, and a couple “free range” chickens.

Day 2: Sunday
One of Connor and Andrew’s best friends during our time in California was Brandon Young when we visited our good friends Chris and Alice, Brandon and the boys picked up like they’d never been apart. We played basketball, Wii, and the boys got to have a sleepover with Brandon and his younger brother Bryce. We had a nice dinner alone with Chris and Alice, thanks to some brave babysitters willing to take on 10 kids (ours, theirs, and the Young kids).

Day 3: Monday
We hit the road North driving through SF, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and up to Arcata, where our hotel reservation was. It was a gorgeous drive as we started getting into the Redwoods. Unfortunately, the road was a bit windier than we anticipated and without Dramamine the boys couldn’t take much of it. Connor got pretty sick and Andrew hung on, but didn’t feel well. The girls did great just playing in the back of the van. That evening we went out for pizza at a classic family pizza restaurant – video games, grimy tables, serve your own soda – the boys even mixed their own concotions at the soda machine.

Day 4: Tuesday
After leaving Arcata we continued up the coast to Crescent City (I think it was) and then headed over to Grants Pass to hook up with I-5 and a nice easy drive into Eugene. The weather held for us – no snow in the pass and very little rain. The roads weren’t too curvy, either, and so the boys enjoyed the drive a bit more. The girls have the back seat to each other and just play with their toys and have fun for the entire drive. If Jenna gets tired she just naps for a bit, wakes up, and then starts playing again.
We arrived in Eugene late Tuesday afternoon – a typical damp, gray, and somewhat chilly Eugene afternoon. We took a nice walk around the neighborhood with Jasmine to try and loosen up after sitting all day.

Day 5: Wednesday
Wednesday was a nice relaxing day, especially knowing we had no where to go and no serious agenda. Betsy had planned a dinner for us with Dan and Bob. Dan has a vineyard with primarily Pinot Noir grapes and makes small quantities of his own wine as well as selling a lot of his grapes to other wineries. Bob and his wife have a small importing business bringing small-production French wines into Oregon. It was fun to talk to them in general and also about wine and the wine business. Stacey also made the trek down from Portland to spend the night which we appreciated.
During the day we did a few errands around Eugene making our regular pilgrimage to Trader Joe’s and a good lunch at Café Yumm. That afternoon the kids decided they wanted to stay with Betsy – she was very gracious to even give them that option – and Amanda and I went to visit a few local wineries.
We went to King Estate, a large winery most known for their Pinot Gris. We bought a couple bottles of their Pinot Gris and also did a Pinot Noir flight and decided to take home a bottle of the winemaker’s signature Pinot Noir. King Estate is an absolutely beautiful setting, even in winter. I’ve been on their tour before and it is nice, but wasn’t being offered.
Next on our list was Silvan Ridge/Hinman Cellars. They are a relatively small tasting room with some Pinot Noir and Shiraz (we only did the red tasting list). They were solid quality wines but not exactly blockbuster for my palate.
Finally, we hit Sweet Cheeks. They are so named as their tasting room sits on the intersection of two hills which, when viewed from a distance, looks like some “sweet cheeks.” The tasting room has this great soap stone wood stove. There was no fire burning, not even any coals left, but the stone was still very very warm. Their wines were good. They had a sweet Riesling they had just bottled that was excellent – sweet but with some nice acidity that prevented it from being too syrupy. We bought a couple bottles, one to enjoy with Amanda’s sisters. Later, at a wine store, we ended up buying a bottle (on recommendation) of their Pinot Noir infusion which is Pinot and Cab Franc… should be interesting.

Day 6: Thursday
During dinner last night we sort of invited ourselves out to Dan’s vineyard. He took us on a tour showing us his barrels, his winemaking equipment, and the vineyard. He does a great job taking care of the vineyard, and it shows… there is something calming and enjoyable about being at the top of a rise and looking out over a field of vines.
That afternoon we went driving around Eugene, walking around the U of O campus, and visiting a downtown wine shop. We picked up a couple pizzas for dinner.
The wine shop was combined with an ice cream stand, a coffee stand, and a café with wood-fired pizzas. So, while we picked out wine we had them make and pre-cook a couple pizzas for us which turned out to be very tasty that evening.

Day 7: Friday
Friday was the drive to Seattle. We said our goodbyes to Betsy, which was a little tough on everyone. The boys are always a little sad saying goodbye to people, so they got a little down. The surprise was Carli, though. Typically she’s pretty self-contained, not really letting others affect her emotions much. However, as we pulled away we heard a sob in the back… Carli was crying about leaving and deeply affected, and not because others were crying. While it was sad, Amanda and I were actually encouraged that she’d made such a strong emotional bond and was letting herself feel the heartache of leaving. We considered it a breakthrough.

On the way up we stopped in Portland to visit Stacey at her home. She made us a wonderful whole-wheat macaroni and cheese, which we all loved. It was a nice stop and, although brief, a good time to catch up on things. Unfortunately, we left just a little later than we wanted and then I think took a wrong turn. So, leaving Portland we hit some traffic. Luckily it wasn’t too bad, I guess, as far as traffic goes. But, for these Alaskans, we were definitely reminded how much we don’t like cities.

We arrived in Seattle and immediately went to the high school to watch Drew play in his first varsity game. Unfortunately, his team didn’t do so well. But, we all enjoyed the high school games. We also fulfilled our promise to the kids of getting a Jamba Juice.

Day 8: Saturday
Saturday the highlight was catching up with some very dear friends from high school, Heather and Jeni. Heather was one of my best friends during high school and also spent quite a bit of time in Eugene, during my college time there. However, over the years we lost touch with each other for various reasons and hadn’t talked or seen each other for probably about 10 years. She now has a beautiful 1 year old daughter. Jeni was a high school friend and also lived right around the corner from me in Eugene one year. I had recently seen her at our (gulp) 20 year high school reunion. However, on this visit I got to meet her two children, who are 5 and 3. And, of course, they got to meet our 4 children. In some ways it seemed like not much time had passed, that we were just out of high school and starting to pretend to be serious about life, but not completely bought in to everything we’re doing; but, just that we’re supposed to be doing it. I guess in some ways it was kind of reassuring; I didn’t feel old, but actually younger. I really appreciated the opportunity to renew those relationships, to see the evidence of time passing, feel and see the confidence that 20 years of real-lfe experiences bring, but also feel a sense of youth.

That evening we had a nice dinner with the Caraway’s and then spent the evening hanging out at home with the family. We have known Todd and Diane since they only had 2 kids (they now have 5) and were young in marriage and life and we were in our first year of marriage (now coming up on 15). We have stayed in touch with them through their moves and all of ours. I lived with them for 3 months while finishing school and we have visited them several times over the years. This visit, however, was the first we’ve done with our entire family. Their twin girls quickly adopted one of our girls and took care of them during our stay. Caleb and the boys immediately hit it off. Spending time with the Caraways is like spending time with a family that is in some ways completely different, but that we’re all completely at ease with. Todd remarked on the same thing – it just feels so comfortable to walk in to their family and make ourselves at home. Their friendship is very valued and I can easily imagine spending time with them 20 years from now.

Day 9: Sunday
Sunday we woke up and took everyone out for a walk. There is a beautiful walk in the forest by their house that has wonderful, quiet trails that wind through rainforest like trees. We said our good byes to the family, made a final quick run to Trader Joe’s and headed to the airport for our flight home.

The kids were excited to come home, I think. Amanda and I were, also. It was a wonderful trip… everything I had hoped and expected it would be. One thing the kids wanted to do while on vacation was see a movie, which we didn’t get to, and so I owe them that. But otherwise it was a success and hopefully goes into our family memory bank forever.

Now if only I'd get some of the pictures up...

Like father, like son, like grandson

2008-12-29T11:30:00.003-09:00

Sunday morning the family goes to church. We arrive a bit early as Amanda and I are teaching one of the Sunday School classes. The kids are running around for a while, but then people start coming in and the place starts to fill up. We spend a little time getting our classroom set up, asking the boys to help us out. I run out to get some extra cups and, as I walk into the foyer, I get to witness my son Andrew, in the middle of the room, tucking in his shirt. Unfortunately, he comes from a line of Walch men who show little discretion... his belts undone, pants unbuttoned and pulled down a little bit, and he's getting the shirt all straight before buttoning himself up. Of course, I rush him off to the side a little bit, off the public stage. Although I probably should have been a little embarrassed for him, I really wasn't. He obviously wasn't. And, I doubt my Dad would have been.

Fun with twins

2008-10-27T21:28:00.003-08:00

This morning as I'm hustling to get 6 kids out the door to school, I have this play out...

Andrew is standing on the steps, fully dressed in snowpants, coat, etc. Connor tells me he doesn't know where his snow pants are.
"You need to find them, Connor" I say. He starts looking around only because he knows he needs to do something. I resume getting myself ready to go.
Realizing he isn't making any headway and my irritation is increasing, I ask him, "What did you do with them after yesterday?"
"I think I hung them up," he says.
"Well, then they gotta be around here somewhere!" frustration rising in my voice.
Anxiousness is brewing for him now, knowing I'm feeling rushed to get going. He renews his efforts of looking around even though he knows it is futile.
It is time to go and I've boiled over. "CONNOR, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM YESTERDAY AFTER YOU WERE DONE PLAYING?!!?"
"I hung them up, Dad"
"THEN WHERE ARE THEY?"
"Andrew took them"
My mouth drops. Andrew has been watching this whole interaction, his brother nervously hunting around and not ratting him out... just standing there probably hoping beyond hope that a pair of snowpants will drop from the sky.
"Andrew, are those Connor's snowpants?"
"Yes"
"Where are yours"
"I left them at school"

Yes, my friends, they look out for each other to a fault.

That was the beginning of the day. Now, they are both sick, throwing up. Connor at least had dinner, which was a pasta sauce with some carrots and brocolli. I made him try one piece of brocolli. He tried shoveling his carrots off to the side but I caught him and made him eat a carrot, too.
2 hours later he's got his head in a bucket. He pukes up all of dinner and, just as he finishes a big one, he lifts his head up, barely above the bucket, and says to me, "It's because of the vegetables, dad"

He is persistent, that's for sure.

Lots of ups and downs

2008-10-15T06:32:00.002-08:00

Well, it certainly has been a little bit since I last updated this and oh so much has happened. Our summer was fun, but very full, and we had a few heartaches along the way.

We moved into our new home, really my old home, but now our new home. The process was somewhat anxiety-laden since we sold our house and had a pretty quick turnaround on that, plus we had lots of family visiting during that time. We really like it here, though, and have started settling in. Having more space is definitely nice when kids come over to play. And, now that it is winter, I finally get to put my car in the garage.

Unfortunately, one of our cats, Cody, got really sick. He finally got to a point where it was obvious he wasn't comfortable and we decided to take him in and put him down. We suspected kidney failure; even though he was young, he had all the signs. That was a hard thing, especially after losing Rosa not long ago. Cody did have a bit of a thing for Rosa, though, and would typically curl up with her, so maybe he wanted to spend more time with her.

On the positive side, Amanda completed her second half-marathon and I completed my first marathon. Given the hectic summer we had, we were both proud of ourselves and I was very happy with my time... I did just about a 10 minute mile for the race.

Amanda and I also did our annual Seldovia trip. The berries were out in full force this year and we loaded up on Salmon and Blueberries. We'll make our Seldovia jam and enjoy that this winter.

Now, in mid-October, it is winter here. So, we're hunkering down and looking forward to some cozy fires. More on that to come.

Mid-summer update

2008-08-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

Well, in Alaska mid-August is really the end of summer. But, with the way this summer has gone, we’re going to have to try and milk a few extra weeks out of it. I think we’ve had only a handful of days that have reached 65, let alone 70 degrees. We’ve made the best of it, however.

I’ve been training for a marathon, which is this week. As you’ll see a bit later, some life events came up that superseded training and so I’m not as ready as I had hoped, but I’ll still attempt it. I did run a half-marathon and did quite well finishing in just over 2 hours. I also did my first open-water triathlon. My sister Sara and I flew up to Big Lake and did the Big Lake Triathlon. It is a sprint-distance tri with a 900 yard swim. Overall I did real well in that finishing in 1 hour 27 minutes and feeling really good.

We also moved homes – the big event that caused my training to stall out for a week. Our house sold and closed a little faster than we had expected… we were grateful it sold, though, and happy to move on to the next chapter of our lives. So, we’ve been living out of boxes while we get the bedrooms ready and hopefully things will be somewhat organized and ready for the school year.

Amanda’s parents came up for a few weeks. Her dad, Vern, came along on our annual dipnetting trip and saw the bountiful harvest come in. He’s really enjoyed the fruits of that trip – smoked salmon, canned salmon, and fresh salmon filets. We also did a halibut charter and got about 100 pounds of halibut. So, we’re feeling pretty good about our freezer situation for the winter. Amanda’s sister, Lana, also came up for a visit. Even though the weather hasn’t been great we’re hoping she has a good time and comes to visit more often.

The kids are gearing up for the school year – the boys for 2nd grade and the girls for kindergarten. They are all excited, as are we. Our schools start early here and unfortunately we’ll have to pull them out for a couple days right at the start to do our annual Valdez camping/fishing trip… but, priorities, you know! We’ll head down there for Labor Day weekend. Last year we had about 25+ people come down for a big potluck. This year I imagine the number will be a bit smaller, considering the price of gas, but we’re still hoping for a good turnout, and some good fishing.

Tri-family fun

2008-06-22T09:52:00.001-08:00

2 weeks ago was the Eagle River Tri, which I did. It was my third year doing it and each year I think I’ll be able to spend more time training; it doesn’t happen. This year was no exception… I didn’t do any swimming and very little biking to prepare. My training has been focused on running – I’m hoping to do a marathon in August. So, my only goal going into it was to beat last years time, which was about 1:31.

When the results came in I was toward the very bottom of my age group. The only 2 below me were one that was a few minutes slower and one that didn’t finish. However, here is what I LOVE about individual events like a tri – I was extremely excited. My overall time was 1:27:17! I was on a high for the next week… it felt really good. Although, now I’ve got a new time to beat for next year, and of course, I have great plans for training.

Actually, I think what contributed to a somewhat dramatic improvement this year is general fitness level. My running is definitely taken up a notch this year and so, overall, I think I am in better shape and able to push myself a bit more. I also think that with this being my third year, I’m more comfortable with the course and pacing myself in swimming. Also, I knew I could push myself a bit harder during the bike since the run was my best event.

However, the real fun came after the race. The boys participated in the kids version of the triathlon – 1 lap in the pool, a 4 mile bike ride, and then a half mile run. I stayed with Connor; Amanda stayed with Andrew. They did great! Connor was smiling and waving at people as he ran; they really enjoyed it, which is the point. Several of their friends at school were also doing including their cousin, Kiera. It was really a great thing to be a triathlon family and I’m sure in a couple years the girls will be jumping in, also.

Balance

2008-05-28T22:08:00.001-08:00

I read a great statement that basically said life, like wine, is all about balance. As I explore and expand my knowledge and appreciation of wine, I believe understanding balance is a critical, if not the most critical, aspect of wine. It isn’t just about the varietal – Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc. – and it isn’t just about the style – fruit forward, old world, sweet, dry, etc. It is about balance. When I appreciate a wine a lot has to do with the setting, my mood, the food, the time of year, the people, all the things that go into the experience of drinking and enjoying the wine. And with all that, the balance of the wine seems to be a consistent appreciation aspect of all wines.

Similarly, life is about balance as well. Do me a favor… form a mental picture of something in balance. For me, it is a point with a plank balanced on it and a ball bearing on top of the plank. The fulcrum point is a triangle, made out of titanium, polished perfectly. It is a 2D picture. The ball bearing is titanium or platinum… something steely and reflective. They start out perfectly balanced… the ball right over the fulcrum point, steady, not moving.

What does it take to make the ball move? Can you even perceive a change in the angle of the plank when the ball starts rolling? When the ball moves further from the fulcrum, the plank starts moving. To bring the ball back to center, it takes more dramatic moves from the plank; overcompensating, catching the ball as it careens from one side to the other, trying to find the way back to balance.

In life we strive for balance, at least Amanda and I do. We want to enjoy life to the full, in all its wonder and multiple facets. But, to do that, there has to be balance. One aspect can’t outweigh the others. When it does, our life is out of balance and we feel it. Contemplate this – think about the intricacies of relationships, of life choices, of career, spiritual life, family, personal growth, personal enrichment, marriage, parenting, family fun, and on and on.

Now, think back to your mental image of balance? If it is anything like mine, it doesn’t take much to start the ball moving off the center, to lose balance. It isn’t the big decisions or actions in our lives that disrupt balance; it is all the small ones. If we make a small move that disrupts balance, catch it early, the adjustments are easy. But, if we make big moves, regaining balance is harder, takes more dramatic movements, and will result in several over corrections before we’re able to start bringing it back in order.

Maybe this visualization exercise and contemplation didn’t help you; but, ever since hearing that statement I’ve been thinking about it. I feel relatively centered right now, but my desires and ambitions tend to pull at me. The imagery of balance and maintaining or keeping a balanced life really helps keep those desires in check. Plus, contemplating the balance of my life in respect to the balance of a wine adds depth and appreciation to both.

The wrap up, finally

2008-04-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

In Paris we had a poor Internet connection. In Amsterdam the weather was nice. We came home and life took over. So here I am, finally doing a synopsis of the last week of our trip.

Luxembourg – great country. We stayed in Echternach which is a cool little town. The main street was a shopping street with an outdoor gelato stand (yum!), wine shops and a market. We went to dinner at a pizzeria the first night and while out and about the next day we saw the restaurateur; he recognized us and said hello. That’s the kind of town it is.

Luxembourg the country has all sorts of recreational activities from biking, adventure sports, and camping. We took a couple drives up the river through beautiful vineyards, visited a couple wineries, and saw a couple castles.

From there Amanda and I took a train to Paris. We got to see the Paris Marathon, which as pretty inspiring. Our favorite scene was at the finish, at about the 2:35 mark or so, a blind runner (with a running partner) came in. We were positioned right on a curve and as they went around the curve the partner just nudged the blind runner to keep on the path – it was surprisingly moving.

The next day we went out for a run and came across a bunch of police activity at the base of the Eifel Tower. As we waited around we realized the Olympic Torch was going to be coming through (or down). So, we waited around and were rewarded with seeing the torch come down the stairs of the tower and run off (to further controversy, it turns out). We didn’t have our cameras but ran into an American student studying art for a bit there who got some pictures for us (www.andybloxham.com). Turns out some of his pictures even got on CNN, including one of the back of my head! Check it out at: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-9544.

After two days in Paris we did hit a bit of a low spot, emotionally. Our room was really really small, even by Paris standards. The weather was cold and a bit rainy. The Parisian culture is quite a bit different and takes a little bit of getting used to. And, Amanda and I got in a bit of a fight. We got over that quickly, though, and actually enjoyed the last couple days there in Paris. We got into more of a relaxed mode, I think, and enjoyed what we could despite the weather.

After our time there we took a train back to Amsterdam. The weather turned nice and we met back up with Randy and Sandy to share travel stories. We had some amazing dinners – the diversity in food choices, really good food choices, is wonderful in Amsterdam. Amanda and I rented bikes and toured Amsterdam that way, which was a blast. I decided if I went back I’d stay further out of town and rent a bike the whole time I was there.

That was the end of our Europe trip – it ended on a high note, for sure. However, we were ready to be reunited with our kids. When we got home all of them were very excited to see us which, of course, made us feel warm and special. And, I think we’ve decided that will be the last major trip we go on without them for a while.

It’s a discovery

2008-04-03T22:46:00.004-08:00

That’s what he said at breakfast. We just happened onto this hotel in Valkenburg, on our drive from Amsterdam to Luxembourg. And it was a discovery… it was a small European boutique hotel meets South Miami Beach experience, but they were much too coordinated to actually put out a pink flamingo. The Hotel LeTo is run by two men and they definitely have a unique decorating style. The front courtyard area has 2 giant lamps for street lights. The hotel is painted yellow and blue (there are lots of primary colors used throughout) and the windows have yellow or blue lace curtains. In the bathroom the towel hooks are the rear ends of dogs with tails to hang the hooks on to. There are Betty Boop statues in the lobby as well as several variants of purple, red, or yellow trendy but cheap looking chairs. I mean, everywhere you look there is something odd and new, yet somehow it all seems to follow a décor and it all goes together… it is so random it almost has an order and pattern.

What sealed the deal was the breakfast. We expected cereal, yogurt, juice, and bread. But, we came down to a table set for four, several kinds of juices, a huge bread bowl, eggs, banana fruit smoothies, fresh fruit, and supreme service. The table took the décor to a whole new level – all the silverware was cute little figures, the coffee and tea pots were weird garden-type creatures that poured coffee out of their mouth, and the egg holders had craftsy-like knit egg covers. It was an entertaining breakfast ensemble and made for a great start to the morning.

For the rest of the day we went and visited the caves which have drawings from hundreds of years ago, include clandestine worship areas (including a confessional carved out of the stone) and tributes to the WW2 liberation forces. During the Christmas time they host a craft fair in the caves, which must be incredible.

Amsterdam and iTunes

2008-03-31T21:42:00.000-08:00

When music sharing on the Internet became popular the record companies were scrambling, trying to find a way to stop file swapping and illegal distribution of their music. They spent millions, even pursuing the tract of suing individuals (the top pirates) while millions went ahead and downloaded Napster and grabbed some music.

We all knew it was crazy to try and stop it. Yeah, they had to try, but the demand was way too high; the convenience of the mp3 format was coming and the record companies were seen as out-of-touch corporations trying to stop inevitability. Raise your hand – how many of you illegally downloaded music even though you typically consider yourself above thievery?

Then Steve Jobs came along with iTunes, a perfectly simple solution that the corporate record company machines should have come up with initially themselves. Songs were 99 cents. Now law-abiding music lovers – you can put your hands down now – like yourselves could download music and enjoy it on the go. And the rest is history.

Why bring this up as I sit in a perfectly welcoming bed and breakfast in Amsterdam. Well, Amsterdam has taken a similar approach to soft drugs and prostitution. Last night we went for a tour of the red light district of Amsterdam. There is a main street with the peep shows, sex shows, sex shops, etc. But there is also all of the side streets, alleys, etc. with red lights. These red lights are windows with women (and a few other varieties) posing and advertising themselves. Behind them is a bed. When they are busy, the drapes are closed. Prostitutes here have a union, they are regulated; they make up to 60,000 Euro a year. If they happen to contract AIDS during their work they will receive a subsidized apartment to encourage them to leave the business.

Now, I know this approach isn’t palatable to everyone and many conservatives would never be able to accept this sort of approach to a moral violation. But, it definitely is a different way to approach controlling a problem that seems inevitable. Similarly, Amsterdam has taken a similar stance on soft drugs – they turn a blind eye – but are still tough on hard drugs. As such, they have less problems with hard drugs.

Anyway, enough political philosophy, we’re in Amsterdam and enjoying ourselves. The B&B we are staying at is incredibly inviting run by Peter Boogard (http://www.boogaardsbnb.com/), an ex-New York opera singer. He is very hospitable and social and instantly makes you feel at home. Yesterday we put in a full day with Canal tours, the Van Gogh museum, a tour of the Anne Frank house, and a lot of walking. The weather isn’t great but the rain held off most of the day.

Rosa Lynn Walch: 8/20/1994-3/6/2008

2008-03-08T18:27:00.002-09:00

We adopted Rosa from the Ramsey County Humane Society in St. Paul, MN after being married about 7+ months or so. Amanda met her but I'm the one who picked her up and brought her home. She had been in "custody" for about 6 months and they figured she was only about 9 months old. So, for convenience, we put her birthday on our anniversary. She was nearing the end of her stay at the shelter... 6 months is pretty long. She'd been on tv and was their obviously their oldest resident. They just knew she'd get adopted.

It took the first year or so to get her stable and adapted into our life. But, she quickly became a family fixture. Those years in Minnesota we did a lot of driving - Iowa, Wisconsin, Colorado. She went everywhere with us, laying in the back seat, resting her head on our shoulders. She drove the Alaska Highway a few times with us, rode a plane from Anchorage to Seattle, lived with several different families while we found a permanent place to live, and narrowly avoided being sent back to the doggie slammer one Labor Day weekend in Madison.

Whenever a visitor came over that didn't necessarily like dogs, she scoped them out. She'd go over to them and gently rest her head on their lap, working to win them over. Many of them she did. She would chase Chunky (the cat) down from the counter on command. Chunky would jump up, we'd yell "get the kitty" and off she'd go to nose and cajole the cat off the counters quickly.

She was well trained - would not only come, sit, and stay for an hour or more. She would go the bathroom on command. She was very smart and so eager to please that training her was easy and it stuck, even when she was off leash. Her name was Rosa, but Amanda always called her Rosa Lynn, so that's her unofficial middle name.

She only had two flaws. One, she had the worst breath imaginable... dead fish breath, is what we labeled it. And, every once in a while she would have a nervous attack and eat or lick everything in sight - blankets, carpet, plants, dirt. It would come up later, or out, for that matter. We were never sure what triggered these attacks, but we thought it was something between an upset stomach and a large part of her early life spent in a shelter. Luckily, we still have a blanket with a corner missing due to one of her episodes.

She loved running free and I loved it that she seemed most excited being an Alaska dog. When we took trips to Flat Top, she'd run all over the hill chasing the chirping ground squirrels. She'd always come back and check on us, but then hear a "chirp" and take off again. She loved Big Lake, also, and was a great swimmer. We could throw the ball out as far as we wanted and she'd go get it.

In fact, there was an infatuation with tennis balls. She loved them. The funny thing is she'd find one no matter where we were at. Sometimes we'd take walks by a tennis court and that was just torturous for her. Other times we'd go for a walk in some random spot and she'd go off for a while only to return with a tennis ball.

She introduced all four of our kids to dogs. She was great with our boys, as they were infants and toddlers and pulled, jumped, and layed on her. She was gentle as Jenna and Carli both learned how to have a pet. Our cats loved her and Cody often curled up and slept next to her. She loved chasing dogs, or being chased, but was pretty picky about the dogs that she'd be friends with and the ones she'd turn up her nose at. She liked Pepper because she'd bark and Pepper would go running. Even in her old age, she could do a pretty good job of keeping up with Pepper.

In the end, she had cancer and likely pretty severe internal bleeding. The kids got to say goodbye. While at home, with all of us crying and telling her we loved her, she looked scared and uncomfortable. At the vet, I took her in and laid her on the table. She looked much more at peace, more relaxed like she knew it was time. However, even though she knew and I knew it was time, it is so hard to say goodbye to such a dear friend. I know all dogs go to heaven and I told her about all the friends she'd see up there. I miss her so much and am thankful that she was so good to us.

Best Friend 2

2008-03-06T07:26:00.003-09:00

Rosa is on her last few days here. She has a bleeding tumor and likely internal bleeding. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but she is weaker.

One other story... many years ago my friend Tad and I decided to bike up Powerline Pass. I think it is about 12 miles one way and the last part gets pretty rocky. Rosa went everywhere with me and so of course, she came on this excursion. She stuck with us to the top but when we got there I noticed she was slowing down and during one rest stop, I noticed her paws were starting to bleed. Well, we were at the top and there wasn't any way of getting her down... she was going to have to muscle through it. And she did... she followed quite a ways behind us and I stopped frequently to wait up for her. But, she kept plugging along all the way down. That night I had to carry her out of the car as she was so sore.

Best friend 1

2008-03-03T20:13:00.002-09:00

My aunt wrote me today with some sentiments on dogs, the best being there is a reason dog is God spelled backwards. Our oldest dog, Rosa, is really getting old. She's not eating much, has a bit of trouble keeping it down when she does eat, and is loosing weight rapidly. She seems fine and is still getting around ok, but she has declined so fast this past month or two that it's hard not to brace for an end. And, it's really hard facing that fact again, with a dog that's so close. So, I thought I'd try and share some memories now, while she's still here.

Rosa is the most loyal dog I know. My son Andrew had an exchange with Amanda the other day...
Andrew: Pepper (our other dog) loves to be pet; she loves everyone.
Mom: Yeah, she does, Andrew.
Andrew: But Mom, why does Rosa only love Daddy and follow him around?

She does... always has. It really has only been the past week or two when she's been willing to leave me and go find a more comfortable spot to lie down. It drives my Mom and Dad crazy. They take care of her at times when we're gone, feed her, walk her, give her treats. Yet, no matter how long were gone, when I come back in the house she comes right to me.

She's still Rosa, she just doesn't do some of the same things she used to. It's pretty hard to get her riled up to want to bark and fight with me. And she doesn't really chase after Pepper much anymore. She's hard of hearing, well basically deaf, and so she doesn't cock her head to the side when I talk to her and ask her questions she can't understand. One benefit to being deaf, she can't hear Amanda and I when we raise our voices to each other... that used to make her very nervous and she'd go into the corner and shake until we reassured her. We always knew when we were in a fight because Rosa was nervous. But, she still has soft eyes filled with adornment. She is still loyal and wants to be with us. And, she's still here and can comfort Amanda and I as we remember all the life she's lived with us.

5K at ten below

2008-02-11T20:22:00.000-09:00

Last weekend we spent Saturday up at Willow during their annual winter festival. It was cold! There was a 5k race on Saturday that I did... there were 14 of us and it was an absolutely gorgeous day out. The course actually turned out to be 3.4 miles and I did just about a 9 minute mile. That's pretty good for me at this point as I'm just getting back into regular running.

That morning we had a fabulous pancake breakfast in support of the PTA. At first I thought the $9 price tag was a little steep, but they did it up right. There was sausage, eggs, huge pancakes, biscuits and gravy, juice, coffee, great service... it was very well done and I'm planning on returning next year.

After the race the kids had a bunch of activities - sledding, find the marshmallow in the snow, stuff like that. There were snow machine races all day and a dog pulling contest, also. Our girls participated whole-heartedly in the marshmallow find contest. Carli was so focused she threw off the glove and plunged her hand directly in the snow... and it was still below zero! She's definitely a northern girl!

We spent the rest of the night and Sunday at Big Lake. When we left Big Lake around noon it was 22 below zero! Needless to say, we didn't do much outside.

The weather is turning a bit warmer here - 15 today - which is nice. We're all looking forward to a little spring winter activity.

Changing palate, vegetables, and life

2008-01-24T21:31:00.000-09:00

Some notes on wine:

I bought another bottle of Black Chook today, actually two bottles. I had this wine first several months ago when I was doing a sampling of Shiraz. I remember liking it as a fruity, new world wine with some nice complexity. Interestingly, this time my first impression was, "man, is this stuff sweet and fruity" and not in a completely enjoyable way. My second and subsequent drinks the fruit mellowed, and a bit of the complexity I remembered came back.

BTW, for those of you out there that just drink wine, try swishing! I've been doing that more and more - Amanda hates doing it - but it really ups the enjoyment factor for me.

Anyway, I think it was a moment when I realized my palate changes. Wines that were enjoyable and I preferred even 3, 4, or 5 months ago aren't as exciting. Which is why, I think, drinking and exploring wine is so fun... it is constantly changing.

Another note - Amanda and I have been trying to increase our fruit and veggie intake a lot. We've been doing more stir-fry veggies at night. The last two meals I've had the Black Chook Shiraz, a pretty full-bodied wine, and a very decent Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon that was pretty full. Both of those wines went GREAT with stir-fry veggies.

A quick life update - I haven't gotten Christmas cards out to some of my good friends... wow, I'm lame. Maybe by July. We are starting sushi family nights so those should be fun. I've made a few sightseeing and $100 burger flights but nothing notable. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be going to skis this year. I'd love to, but am not motivated enough to get a spot on the lake and switch over for just a month or so. The end of March we're heading to Europe so I'd have to switch back before then. And finally, both our girls are now 5!

More later. Sit back, have a glass of wine and enjoy a conversation with the one you love!

Cold and fast

2008-01-13T14:04:00.000-09:00

Well, not really fast, but when it is colder I run faster. Since the new year I've been reasserting my training regimen. Of course, after taking a few months basically off from any running, I am quite a bit slower. But, the two fastest runs I've had have been when it's been 6 and 0 degrees. Today it was zero or below and I ran 4.5 miles averaging under 9:30 miles... for right now, that's great for me!

Also, we had a friend over who mentioned they visited the blog to catch up on our family. Unfortunately, I haven't done a good job at updating it. Maybe that'll change... hopefully the beginning of 2008 will have some fun things to write about!

Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T23:46:00.001-09:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wine Blogs

2007-11-19T21:18:00.000-09:00

I've been listening to wine podcasts, reading some wine blogs, and a month or so ago stumbled on wine library tv. Gary, the host, has a great attitude on wine. I've been telling a few people about his show. Now he's running a contest if you include his link on your blog. Well I have no problem plugging his show and if I had the time I'd love to write and review more wines on this blog, as well as tell you about family life, flying adventures, and other fun stuff.

Unfortunately, Gary's store doesn't ship to Alaska... but I'd still recommend watching the videos... have fun.

Pinot Noir

2007-09-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

You’ve heard of the Sideways effect, right? The movie is about 2 guys, one a connoisseur and one a bit of an oaf, taking a weekend trip up to wine country. Miles, the oenophile, loves Pinot Noir and describes it as:

A quote from Miles and Sideways...

“Uh, I don't know, I don't know. Um, it's a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It's uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and... ancient on the planet.”

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I, of course, contributed to the Sideways effect over the last couple years and tried a few Pinot’s. I’ve only found a couple that really impressed me and I’ve had a few that reminded me of dirty diapers… seriously. I wasn’t a big fan of Pinot, but something always kept tugging at me to try others. Amanda and I took a trip to Seattle a bit ago and I decided I’d go full tilt Pinot. I did flights of Pinot, bought some Pinot, had Pinot at the restaurant. I tried to discover if there were identifiable nuances that I could embrace. Amanda had liked Pinot, but even she couldn’t take the onslaught of Pinot.

There were none. I’ve decided I am not a Pinot fan and I’ve gotten the Sideway’s effect out of my system. Oh, I’ll still enjoy a glass of Pinot when available, but I’m not going to be buying much of it. Big cabs, good blends, even a fruity Merlot are more my poison of choice.

The next target I’m on is Chardonnay. I think Amanda is coming with me on this quest, but we’ll see. More on that later.

Half of summer

2007-07-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

So far I think I’d have to say it has been a decent summer here. Last year, with all the rain, I think many of us that live here were embittered. However, this year it was a bit dry – and some fires took advantage – but there’s been some good rain and enough nice days to make it enjoyable.

We’ve taken a few good camping trips in our new trailer. We went king salmon fishing at Montana Creek – had one on and lost it – and a trip to Eklutna and Hope. Amanda’s cousin and wife were in town for a couple weeks and we did a rafting trip with them. And, a boy’s weekend where Connor and Andrew and I went and camped out at Matanuska Glacier.

About that weekend… Amanda had to go to Valdez for work and Grandma and Grandpa were taking the girls for the weekend. So, the boys and I planned a camping trip. We were going to fly to McCarthy and spend the night there checking out the mine. Friday night the plane developed a chronic case of fouled plugs – 2 plugs actually fouled on takeoff at Merrill and I had to abort the takeoff. So, flying was out, which became a good thing since we would have gotten weather in at McCarthy Sunday.

We decided to drive up to Matanuska, about an hour and a half North of Anchorage. We camped on a bluff overlooking the glacier – we literally walked from our campsite to the glacier! It was gorgeous and the night was perfect. We went for a hike, taking Rosa with us. We had to cross quite a bit of the moraine and there were some pretty muddy parts. We came over one hill and there was Rosa, buried up to her chest, in silty quicksand-like mud. I went in and rescued her, losing my shoes and covering myself in mud in the process, but she was saved. I decided a leash was in order and we went back to camp and got that before heading back to the glacier.

That evening at camp we made a fire, ate dinner, and played football in the big clearing. It was great. Over the course of the night the rain came, though, and by morning the valley was socked in with clouds, the rain was still coming down, and we were sleeping in a mud bath. We ate breakfast in the tent and then packed up and headed home. The boys love sleeping in a tent and we all had a memorable camping trip.

Now we are coming up on serious fishing season. The second run of reds is starting up in the Kenai, which means dipnetting, and silvers are starting to show up some places, also. We have a couple weeks planned down in the States but there will be a lot of busy weekends and weeks, I imagine with fishing, canning, smoking… and lots of eating!

Ok, so it's been a while

2007-05-31T00:28:00.000-08:00

And I can't sleep tonight. So, let's see... great things that have happened since winter:

Sold the Eurovan... a bit emotional, but practically it had to be done as we just weren't using it as it was intended. We sold it to a women in Fairbanks who loves it and is living out her gypsy dream, so that's good. We bought a Suburban and a 22' trailer, much to Amanda's delight. We took our first camping trip in it last weekend and I must admit, the extra luxury was nice. I miss the van, but it wasn't meant for a family of 6.
Amanda and the boys went flying with me! We took a trip up to Talkeetna - a perfect day!
I took Kiera and the boys up for another trip a week or so later, also. Some family flying has been a blast. It was a beautiful day in Talkeetna... sunny, warm, and the ice cream was great. Unfortunately, Connor didn't feel good on the way home but said he'd fly again.
Amanda and her 4 sisters all completed the Gold Nugget triathlon. It was a fun week of the Puls family visiting Alaska.
The boys completed kindergarten

Those are the highlights. I'm sure there is much more that happened and summer feels like it is already moving fast. But, I'll try and put an update up later. Till then...

Rainy Pass Rondevous

2007-03-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

Obviously the tailwheel finally got fixed. Dad and I went up and did some practice landings on a lake and a couple swamps. Skis are definitely fun. In case I haven’t mentioned, one of the big reasons for skis was Sara and Sheila and I bought a 3 night stay at Rainy Pass Lodge for my parents; it included transportation to and from.

Rainy Pass Lodge is in the Alaska Range and is one of the checkpoints on the Iditarod race. They were going to be there when all the mushers came through, so they were very excited.

A week before their trip Mike Haney and I flew up for a practice trip. Greg Fischer and another co-worker accompanied us in Greg’s 185 (N185KA). Greg flies up to Rainy Pass all the time and is very familiar with the pass and the lake.

When we arrived at Puntilla Lake (6AK) I did a couple passes checking out the lake strip with Greg talking me through the approach. The weather wasn’t too bad; a bit bumpy, but I wasn’t beyond my limits and so it was a good challenge. There is a large bump in the middle of the runway and I had to land long to avoid that. The landing was pretty good. We stopped, had some coffee and cookies, and got ready to go.

Take off was a little more interesting. The wind was probably about 10 mph and it really blew us around taxing. I had a hard time figuring it out, still being new to skis, and so Mike and I were all over the lake. Mike exclaimed he was going to paint “Arctic Cat” on the side of the plane once we returned. At takeoff I went first and was just about at takeoff speed when I hit that bump in the middle of the runway. That launched us and Greg was on the radio telling me to “keep it off!” That I did staying in ground effect for a little bit to pick up some speed, and then we were off. Of course later I came to realize that all the staff at the lodge were listening to our radio chatter as I taxied all over the lake and through the take off.

The next weekend was the trip to take Mom and Dad up. It was a gorgeous day and we had a very nice flight in. On the way home I tried to fly over the Yetna and see some of the teams coming up. But, being solo and a bit navigationally challenged, I didn’t want to spend too much time in the Iditarod traffic, so I headed back to Lake Hood fairly quickly.

The next trip out there was on Tuesday. I went up to Big Lake and picked up my aunt Susie. We were just going to go up for a visit. The weather was beautiful but very windy, which led to a pretty exciting trip. Flying up the pass it got a bit bumpy. We made our first pass over the lake… you could see the wind blowing snow off the hills and all over the lake. Pilots were talking on the radio – Iditarod Airforce pilots, mind you – about the conditions at Puntilla and the gusty variable winds. They were claiming 10-15 knots but the pilots all agreed it was a lot rougher than that. Anyway, during the first pass Dad picked up the ground radio and gave me some input. Another plane came in under me and landed on the lake, more directly into the wind, rather than the runway. He told me to do the same thing. I made another pass… each pass was a ride… really bumpy, updrafts, downdrafts, heads hitting the ceilings. Luckily Sue had been in a plane wreck before, so she seemed to be doing okay. Anyway, rather then try a tight pattern, which was my first two passes, I went out a ways and took a long final in. That helped… I was set up okay although airspeed was jumping between 100 and 60 with intermittent stall warnings – that can wrack the nerves. Anyway, we went for it and made a pretty decent landing of it.

Take off was thrilling, also, but not as bad. We took off on the lake again, trying to go into the wind. The lake has a lot of wind drifts and is a bit bumpy. So, we put full power in and went for it. Bumped over a few small ones, hit a big bump and took a long bounce, but weren’t at flying speed yet. I let it come back down gently, but let it gain a bit more speed. The next big bump we hit was it, and we were airborne. We roared over the dog teams and gained altitude, heading for Big Lake. On the way out of the pass I was showing a ground speed of 150 knots… typical is 105… that gives you some idea of the wind. As you can see from this picture, the snow being kicked up on the ground was blizzard like.

After that trip I was a bit nervous to head back out. Mom and Dad actually got weathered in on Wednesday and Thursday morning I kept my eyes peeled on the weather sites. Finally I got a call from Steve Perrins at the lodge and he said the weather was great, winds weren’t strong, and there was blue sky. I brought the lodge up a newspaper and some horse feed, picked up Mom and Dad, and delivered them safely to Big Lake. They had a great time out on the trail and I had quite a bit of fun, and learning, flying.

Tailwheel troubles

2007-02-14T20:38:00.001-09:00

Planes… I think I am experiencing the full weight of plane ownership, i.e. nothing goes as planned. We put 1863C on skis a couple weeks ago. That went fairly well, especially considering it hasn’t been on skis for 15+ years. I took my friend Greg out to show me around Lake Hood. We did a little taxiing and things felt okay, so I dropped him off and prepared for a flight up to Big Lake. I even called Dad and told him I’d meet him at the airport, so he left. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it. As I pulled away I couldn’t get the plane to go right… I sat there and spun in circles. Luckily Greg had stayed to watch me take off and helped me wrestle the plane back on to the tiedown. Dad was not so lucky… he ended up waiting at the Big Lake airport for an hour and a half before I was able to get hold of Mom to go get him.

The next week and a half has been spent taking apart the tailwheel, putting it back together, putting it on, pulling it off, and having people look at it. In the end the diagnosis was it is worn and needs to be rebuilt.

I got the parts today. There is one pin that I can’t get out. The parts that I got aren’t machined super clean and need some work before they’ll fit (they have some burrs which seems a little sloppy to me). Amanda is getting sick of seeing me spend all this time working on the plane and although I enjoy it, with a young family my personal time is pretty limited to do this kind of stuff.

At the end of the month I have some flying scheduled to take Mom and Dad out to Rainy Pass. And, I’d like to fly around the Iditarod some. But, I’d really like to do some flying before then. At this point I’m not planning to put skis on next year, although it would probably be a perfect winter. I’m sure the frustration will subside soon enough, but I’m ready to get my tail – and tailwheel – in the air!

24 - 7

2007-02-06T22:14:00.001-09:00

I just got back from a nice long run outside, actually the longest winter run I’ve done. It was a good evening, the temps were decent, the kids went down early, and I was feeling alright, so I headed out. I had my Skinny Raven-spiked shoes, tunes, and layers as I headed out into the night.

The spiked shoes are amazing. With the thawing we had a week or so ago, there are some hills that are shear ice… I was able to run right up them. The test comes when you have to go down them; you really have to put your trust in the spikes. They do a great job and throughout the run I was able to navigate icy hills and rough, icy terrain with sure footing. Running at night takes a bit of faith, at times, also. Sometimes the path is pretty dark and your putting one foot in front of the other, mentally ready to catch yourself if the ground is too uneven, but also expecting it to be relatively similar to the last step you take, which isn’t always the case.

Anyway, it was approximately 24 degrees out, very little wind, and I went 7+ miles. Almost 8, actually, according to Google Earth. I felt pretty good throughout the run and was pretty encouraged to be running outside. I don’t mind running on the treadmill as I usually get to watch a movie, but I really enjoy running when I am outside.

Dizzy girls

2007-02-01T22:15:00.001-09:00

This morning started off a bit scary. When we woke up, Rosa could barely walk. It was like her back legs were giving out, shaking, falling over. I helped her down the stairs, but walking across the wood floor was another challenge for her. Rosa is 12 going on 13 and in relatively good health. She’s gone deaf this year, but still doing okay. So, this morning was a bit of a shock and a bit scary. Both Amanda and I had to work so we left her inside and I made a vet appointment.

Both of us thought about her all day, knowing hip problems are common and usually not a good sign. I took her to the vet this evening. While there I noticed her eyeballs moving back and forth; but, she was starting to walk a bit better. The vet saw her and diagnosed her with idiopathic instability… dizziness. They don’t know why it happens, but it isn’t uncommon. It should clear up in a few days. Obviously we were both very relieved.

Regarding another one of our girls, Carli, I keep meaning to write this story. Carli has been with us almost a year and amazingly it has only been in the past month or two she has known both of the boy’s names… seriously. For the longest time she would just call them “boy.”

At night, during prayers… “Mama, Daddy, Jenna, umm… boy, ummmm… boy. Amen”
When she needed their attention… “Boys”
When we had them go in corners and told her to go say goodnight to Connor, she’d just stand and smile at us. Same with Andrew.
Then, after a while, she knew Andrew but didn’t know Connor.
At night, during prayers… “Mama, Daddy, Jenna, Connor, ummm… boy. Amen”

It was very cute and a little funny. The boys were totally un-phased by it all and took it in stride. But, thankfully, now she knows her brothers names and can even tell them apart.

Maui, Hawaii

2007-01-20T09:58:00.000-09:00

Well, obviously we’ve been busy here or I would have found a little more time to write in here before the end of our trip.

Let’s start with the most important things first… I miss my kids! While we’ve been here both Amanda and I think about how much fun they would have playing on the beach, snorkeling, or whatever. This trip was definitely fun for us and good to do alone, but I’m looking forward to spending some time with my children.

Second, we completed our race. It was a 15k (9.3 miles). Amanda did it in 1:41:23 which is under an 11 minute mile… a good time for her. I did it in 1:25:23 which was a 9:10 mile… really fast for me. The course was slightly downhill, which I think helped. The funny thing is Amanda had a really hard time with the heat. Of course, she didn’t follow my lead and try to acclimate when running on the treadmill. During my training I turned up the house heat a notch, had the humidifier on full, and didn’t use our treadmill fan. During the run I felt pretty good. Amanda said she was dying by mile 2 so I think my efforts paid off a bit. The night of the run we went to a luau and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Some of the other highlights from our trip…

We took a day trip over to Molokai. It was a fun trip, although the boat ride was a little rough and Amanda got pretty sea sick. On the way back several people on the boat were getting sick as the seas were typical, but pretty big. We did see a whale breach just a short distance from us, so that helped distract people for a little while. While on Molokai we rented bikes from Phillip. Nice guy; I guess his wife went to Service High and skied cross country in the ’92 Olympics (Silver medal). She still skies out at Kincaid a lot and does a lot of training in Hawaii.

Anyway, Amanda and I rode around the west side of the island, about 20 miles out and 20 back. It was a long ride for my butt – it is still a bit sore – but a very relaxing and pleasant ride. The weather was very pleasant for our entire ride.

We spent another day at Haleakala (http://www.nps.gov/hale/) and did a hike into one of the craters. Again, we lucked out on the weather as the clouds that seem to have been there for our entire trip moved out for the day. The park is a very unique and cool place.

Today is Saturday and we are on our last days. An old college roommate of mine lives on Oahu and is flying over today for lunch. We’ll spend the afternoon with him and his wife, whom I’ve never met, so I’m looking forward to that. Tomorrow we’ll probably take the road to Hana and then out to the airport. We spent yesterday snorkeling and lying on the beach. We saw whales about 50 yards offshore – it was amazing. A baby whale was breaching and playing around his mom and put on an amazing show for us.

Like Amanda said, this is paradise, but this isn’t reality. I miss my kids but am still wrestling with the fact that vacation will end, I’ll have to get my mind back in work gear, and the daily chores will start again. There’s some comfort in that, some longing that the vacation would continue.

Aloha

2007-01-13T18:14:00.000-09:00

Amanda and I greet you from sunny, somewhat windy Maui, sitting in sight of a beautiful rainbow (which also means a light rain). We have the absolute privilege of being able to leave our kids with our extended family and take a vacation to Hawaii.

We arrived late Friday evening at the Maui airport. We called our rental car agency, Island Car Rentals. We decided that it would be fun to rent a convertible. But, I couldn't justify paying the upgrade fee at one of the national rental agencies. So, we went with a local place and a little older model, which made the price something I could live with.

We called them and they picked us up, then took us deep in a residential area to a small shop. They were nice folks, but it was 11:30pm and the three guys hanging out had started "getting their drink on" with a half-rack of Budweiser. They got us all checked out, gave us some friendly advice, and we were on our way.

We arrived at our condo, the Maui Kai, which is very nice. It is right on the beach and we can look out our lanai onto the Pacific and the migrating whales. We spent today driving around picking up our race numbers, checking out the course, eating lunch, buying groceries, and driving around. We're still a little tired from the late night, travel, and the sun from today. Tonight we're going to cook dinner, take a walk on the beach, and retire early. We need to be down at the race end to catch a shuttle at around 5:30am, so it'll be an early morning.

We'll let you know our results. Both Amanda and I don't feel completely prepared, but we'll see how we do.

Kumala wine

2007-01-09T22:00:00.001-09:00

We tried a new wine tonight, Kumala, a South African wine (http://www.kumalausa.com/wines/wine.php?id=183). It was a good wine, nothing special. Slightly sweet, definitely nice fruit flavors, although I didn’t detect the spiciness that they mention. I don’t think I’m a fan of real spicy wines, although a little pepper undertone is nice. Also, in this wine I didn’t taste the tannins.

Although we’ve been drinking wine for several years, now, I find I am still really unable to identify or describe the tastes and smells of a wine adequately. I have a good idea of wine I really like (so far the Shingleback Cab is high on my list) but I can’t exactly describe why. Sideways not withstanding (I liked the movie) I’m not a fan of many Pinot’s. Shiraz is ok, but Merlot’s and especially Cab’s I really really like. In general, enjoying a glass of wine with Amanda at the end of the day is my slice of tranquility… I will pontificate on this experience more later.

New Year's resolution???

2007-01-09T21:57:00.000-09:00

Yeah, I'm doing great. Here it is January 9th and I haven't even posted this year. Ahh, but I do have some pictures coming. So far it has been a good year. New Year's day the family went sledding at Kincaid. It was a perfectly beautiful day with tons of other families out. The hill is a pretty wide hill with no real defined paths going up so when you start walking up you're on your own as far as watching out for those coming down. Luckily, we didn't have any major catastrophes.

We are about done with parties, though. The boys birthday is November 18th. Jenna's birthday is January 18th. Between those two dates we have our 4 kid's birthdays, Kameron (6) and Merril's (4) birthday – the kid’s cousins who recently moved back to Anchorage – then my Mom’s birthday, my sister’s birthday, my Grandma and an Aunt both have birthday’s for good measure, and then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s! Whew… no wonder I don’t want any more cake!

This was the first year in a while my side of the family has all been in town. Sheila and Mike moved are stationed here for a while after three years in Japan, so it was good. Our kids are the same age and they all love each other, so that’s another blessing. We sort of feel we own Sand Lake kindergarten, though. Between Kameron, our boys, and Kiera (Amanda’s sister Pam’s daughter) we have a kid in each of the 4 kindergarten classes.

Amanda and I leave in 3 days to head to sunny Maui. We signed up for a 15K race there (http://mauisurfsandhalf.com/) and then will spend the next week relaxing, doing some hikes, going to Molokai, and whatever else we feel like doing the morning we wake up.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T22:06:00.000-09:00

We had a great Christmas today. Grandma and Grandpa Twinkie (Amanda's parents) sent us a bunch of gifts that we had fun opening all morning. They had sent us questionairres awhile ago and many of the humorous answers we had replied with came back wrapped up as little packages.
In the evening we had my family over and had dinner and another present exchange. It was all very nice.
Many of the gifts Amanda and I received this year revolved around the theme of wine. Sara bought us a nice carrier and 2 bottles, one a Bordeaux. I was very excited about that as I haven't had a Bordeaux before, but have wanted to try one. I am realizing more and more how much I really like the complexity and different dimensions of wine. So, hopefully that will get incorporated into some of the posts here.
Now, this is the week where you start preparing for all the New Year's Eve resolutions you are going to make. I cleaned up the garage so I could start weight training again. :) I'll keep you all posted.
For now, it is good night. Can you believe it... I have an 8am meeting tomorrow. Ugh.

2006-12-20T14:13:00.000-09:00

Well, Christmas is almost here and I'm thinking of New Year's resolutions. I read that keeping memories of things is a way to preserve the good times and it makes you happier. So, one resolution I have is to keep this updated with our family events as I want to have a lot of happy family memories.

First solo 1863C

2006-06-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

This was a beautiful morning for a flight. I dropped Amanda off at the airport at 5:30am – she is going to a conference in San Francisco for a few days – and then headed over to the plane. I have been a pilot for almost a year now and so far my solo adventures have been relegated to renting planes. This is good for practice, to stay proficient, and to get up flying. (I was able to take one lunch trip up to Talkeetna.) But, when the sun was shining and I had a free hour I yearned to just be able to drive to the airport, hop in a plane, and take a flight.

So, a couple months ago I started flying with Rich Young in Dad’s 170 in order to start earning my taildragger endorsement. I put in 12 or 13 hours with him and he signed me off. Next signoff I needed was Dad’s. (Not to mention getting on the insurance!) We went up a few times and my landings were a bit shaky, but I felt okay. Earlier this week we went up and did some stall practice and recovery and with that, I received the all clear.

So, after dropping Amanda off I went over and took a flight. The morning was beautiful – calm, sunny, a little traffic. I was a little nervous but made sure I kept going through my checklists and visualizing what I needed to do. I went over to Goose Bay and did several stop-and-goes. My landings were pretty good… I had one bounce that ended up settling in really nicely, so it was a good confidence builder. Then, on the way home, coming into Lake Hood, I probably had my most perfect landing yet. I flared at the right height and flared completely so that my tail wheel hit right before my mains. I kept it straight on the runway – no swerving… it was gorgeous, if I say so myself! Man, what a feeling! I don’t think there is any better way to start out a day than have an exhilarating flight like that!

Now that I’ve conquered the first taildragger solo, I’ll keep going up to gain practice... whenever the weather is right and I have a free hour I’ll be heading to the plane to take to the air.

Gotta tri...

2006-06-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

We've done it! Amanda completed her second triathlon a few weeks ago - the world famous Gold Nugget (http://www.goldnuggettriathlon.com/). And I have completed my first triathlon, the Eagle River triathlon (http://www.eaglerivertri.com/). Both of us are very excited about the achievment and also all the fun we had talking about it, training for it, and doing it. Kris Hadden did it with me also, which was very nice to have someone else to encourage you along on the first one. He's done some others, but it has been a while, so he was a bit challenged by the course, also.

The races are called a sprint distance and they average about 500 yards swimming, 10-12 miles biking, and 3-4 miles running. Mine had a 12 mile bike with some pretty nice hills... wow, I was a bit out of it when I came in from the bike. I wasn't sure how my body would respond to running right away. I just started going and hoped the mind and body would click in. They eventually did after about a mile. My intercostal muscles and diaphragm seemed to cramp up for a bit. I thought that may be because I was breathing so hard through the bike and then again in the run. After a couple miles though I got into my typical running groove and, other than being tired, felt pretty good.

The volunteers on the course are great... they are always yelling encouragments, clapping, and waving the racers on. Everyone of all ages and abilities participate, so it is a great atmosphere. On the run in I had my whole family, Pam and Kiera, and Rich and Stacy Young and family cheering me in, loudly. Stacy's practice is one of the sponsors and she had brought bright green shirts for everyone, so I think I officially had the biggest cheering squad. The announcer called my name as I was crossing the finish line... Brian Walch and the Walchettes!

Juneau

2006-05-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am in Juneau, sitting in the Goldbelt Hotel, waiting for Amanda to give me a call. This is the first time I've been here in about a year and a half... I actually like comming here to visit every once in a while. It is nice to see the changes and progress being made. I also like visiting the RDI office here and meeting some of the employees that I've interviewed and hired but never seen or met. So, on this trip I'm here for three days doing some analysis on Department of Revenue permits as they prepare to put them online.

AP Boy and more serious topics

2006-05-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

Well, since the beginning of this year Connor has had quite the series of accidents – broken arm, tooth knocked out. The latest is he got stitches. This was a couple weeks ago, he and I were playing around in the kitchen, right before bed, when he smacked his eyebrow pretty hard on the kitchen counter. Sure enough, it split open and so 9pm at night I made another trip to the urgent care center.

He did good, but he had to get three stitches. Of course, it required a shot, actually several of them to numb the area. Then, it didn’t take the first time so they had to give him some more shots and basically impregnate the whole eyelid with lidocain. He was in agony… he hates shots more than anything and the poor kid… he does so well and has such a great attitude until he sees that needle come out.

Anyway, 5 days later he had the stitches removed. He’ll have a little scar, but it looked to me healing up nicely. So we’re all out in the backyard moving their basketball hoop. We go to put it down and sure enough our accident prone (AP) boy gets whacked right on his cut… I mean whacked hard. It didn’t break back open but it swelled up about an inch out of his head. The scar is now all purple and his eye got all black and bruised. It is starting to recover, but I think the scar will be a bit more pronounced now and I’m not sure his eyebrow will grow back completely.

More serious topics…
Amanda and I are enrolled in Marriage Dynamics. It is a course designed by the Family Dynamics group. It is a pretty intensive 8 week course – homework, weekly sharing at class, mandatory attendance. There are 12 couples taking the class with us. When I told my Dad we were taking it he said, “what, are you having marriage problems?” Well, not really, Amanda and I both love being married to each other. But, we have our challenges like any other couple and we want to be married, happily married, for the rest of our lives. We want to stay in love and knowing how to do that after 10, 15, or 20 years (we’re at 12) is always a learning process.

My thoughts so far about the class are that it is good. I think it will give us some tools and concepts to be able to take forward for the years going forward. We are already learning a lot more about each other and what our emotional needs are, but I think more importantly we are actually learning how to respect and listen to each other’s emotional needs. Long and short is I would recommend it to anyone, but don’t enter lighthearted… you need to be serious or else it may overwhelm you.

Finally, on to not so serious topics… I received my tailwheel endorsement from my friend and instructor Rich Young. He’s been teaching my in the 170. It has been fun and challenging. Now I will work on passing Dad’s endorsement… the FAA was easy! Hopefully by the next post I’ll be soloing in 1863C!

First tooth gone

2006-05-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

We have a winner! Connor was our first child to lose a tooth! It all started about a week ago, Connor and Andrew were playing hard running around and Connor smacked into Andrew, hitting his mouth. That jarred loose one of his front teeth. He was pretty excited about it and for the next week talked about it and worked at it until yesterday it was barely holding on.

At breakfast he showed it to me and I tried to talk him into letting me pull it (no way!) or pull it himself (he wouldn't take a firm grip on it). So, Amanda and I left for work once Asia arrived, knowing today would probably be the day. Sure enough, later on Amanda got a message from Connor that the tooth had come out... during lunch... and, he SWALLOWED it!

Our first tooth and we don't even have it to rally around, look at, admire, etc.??? Connor was so excited that it had come out finally and he could return to eating normally. Of course, being a good dad I didn't pass up the opportunity for a physiology lesson and let them know that the tooth would be coming out the other end. They have made sure this lesson isn't wasted and included this in their recounting of the story to friends, family, and strangers we meet at the soccer game! Amanda is very impressed with my fatherly wisdom.

Connor knows the tooth fairy is Mom and Dad, but he still was beyond excitement going to bed. We game him a little bag with a dollar and some other goodies that he is enjoying this morning. Maybe when Andrew loses his tooth we'll be able to keep that one!

Technology

2006-04-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

This is an oldie but goody. This is Amanda and I on our trip to China to pick up Jenna. I actually am trying out some new free software - Picasa - which has an automatic link to the blog site. It is pretty slick.

Of course, if you are going to try it, be prepared for a long initial investment. When it starts up it will scan your computer and pull in all the existing pictures on your computer. That process is pretty fast, but, if you are like me, it'll take you forever to just go through and look at all of the pictures... ahhh... it brings back so many memories.

Anyway, you may see a few more oldie but goodies from me...

Oyasumi Nasai

2006-04-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

It's getting close to bed time... actually, Amanda is on her way to bed. I thought I'd write to say hello. I know that if you are reading this you are looking for pictures. Well, one of my ambitions is to organize our picture collection. In the process of that, I'll be posting some pics. I think we need to get back to taking some pictures. Since China we haven't taken many, which isn't good.

All the kids have been taking swimming lessons, which they love. They have an absolute blast there. Connor was hilarious tonight. The boys are practicing their strokes so they are learning to kick and use their arms together. Connnor would push off from the wall and do his strokes fine. But, when returning to the wall, he'd only do one arm... the other arm would just sort of lay limp at his side. We were all cracking up because we couldn't figure out why he did it.

The girls are doing really well, also. At the start of this session Jenna wouldn't let go of the teacher, not on her life. Several times she almost ripped the instructor's swimsuit off she was clinging so tight. Now, however, she can float on one of the noodles and kick herself all around the pool by herself.

I have been doing some flying, learning how to fly 1863C - Dad's Cessna 170. Our friend, Rich Young, has been taking me up and giving me some tail dragger instruction. I'm having fun but I think I'm a bit of a slow study. "Dude, you gotta flare" can be heard from Rich during our landings as he grabs the controls.

We have a couple more weekends in town but I am itching to go somewhere. I think we'll try a weekend up at Big Lake soon or maybe just a day trip down to the Kenai... who knows, just SOMEWHERE!

Stay tuned for pictures...

Catching up

2006-04-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

Let me give a little recap of life...
- Carli seems to continue to do very well with the transition to her new life here. When she first came she wasn't the most balanced walker. However, now she is running quite a bit and her gross motor skills are improving
- Jenna had a difficult time with the transition, much more so than we expected. There was one week where she spent most of the time crying. She is doing much better now
- Carli and Jenna are true sisters. They love each other, but they get into some great arguments, also. Carli loves to make Jenna laugh. But then, like at breakfasts, they'll start arguing over something and it'll just keep escalating until they're both yelling... it is funny and not so funny both at the same time
- Connor and Andrew keep plugging away, slow and steady. They are doing really well at swimming lessons and love doing it
- Amanda and I? Well, having 4 kids has been a bigger challenge than we expected. We're coping, but we are also trying to make some changes. We've scaled back some of our responsibilities, Amanda isn't going to school this summer, we're trying to have more unstructured time with the kids, and we've lined up some babysitting so we can go out on dates!

That's the update for now... stay tuned.

Carli-ism 1

2006-02-20T21:32:00.000-09:00

Whenever Carli has to go to the bathroom she says "mamala" and point to her bottom. We say, "potty" and start walking to the bathroom. She runs in ahead of us laughing and goes to the wall or the corner, giggling until we come in to help her go the bathroom. She has done this since the first day we got her. My theory on this is that maybe in the orphanage they went to the bathroom as a group, would run in and line up to wait their turn. Lining up may have been fun with a bunch of kids all waiting to go the bathroom. Who knows, but that's my theory.

The journey continues...

2006-02-19T15:12:00.000-09:00

Well, we have now completed our family and this is the start of a hopefully regular update on life with the Walches. If you want to see the journey of how we got our 4th (and last) child, see http://carliyuan.blogspot.com for a detailed trip journal.

Posts here won't be daily and mostly I want to do this for our own records. But, please feel free to check in often and leave comments. Technically, this is an easy way to keep a journal and also share it with others, so I'll try to keep it up.

An updated family picture will be coming soon.