Westmoreland Asays

The older boys decided to be characters from that Harry Potter franchise (Meg made them gowns and scarves), while Ian got the default elephant costume, which Aaron and Ed have both donned, and which Meg adorned with "Mitt Romney 2012" signs , but for some reason removed it after she had taken the boys trick-or-treating for an hour (she thought that would embarrass me). We lived in a different, more central part of the neighborhood last year, which proved to be full of kids pounding the streets for sugary treats. We now live at the northern extreme of the neighborhood, so we had virgin-like territory to visit. Many of the residents were very liberal in letting the kids take handfuls of candy or they passed out non-fun sizes--and one woman literally dumped the rest of her bowl in the boys' bags because she just wasn't getting much traffic at all. All three boys lasted from 6-8:45 without a single complaint, negative word, or put-down to one another--I've never...

Meg encouraged me to steal away tonight to see Moneyball, which was playing at the Moreland. She knew I wanted to watch it, and she had no interest, so it was a good win for both of us (she finished making the older boys' Harry Potter-inspired costumes for Halloween). Even though I had to leave during the middle of the USC-Stanford foootball game, I swapped my pajamas for a pair of shorts and walked over to the theater (I don't get out much on Saturday's so why bother changing my clothes?). Before I left my parents' house a century ago, baseball was my world. Getting cable as a kid was great because I was guaranteed a game a day (even if it was the Atlanta Braves)--and I would watch every one, even those that went 23 innings or whatever. I watched one game this year--and just this week: game 7 of the World Series, and it wasn't even the whole game. I played throughout my youth, but I haven't stepped onto the field since I was a senior in high school, and I don...

Aaron and Eddie's Aunt Angie (recently promoted from "fake aunt") treated them to a day on the town, including tickets to the Portland State football game Saturday afternoon. They didn't last the whole game, but at least they got to see two blocked punts. I welcomed the break, as I needed some quiet time at home to rest. Later, while taking in lunch at a nearby McDonald's, the following conversation happened (at least the gist of it, as reported by Angie): Angie : What animal would you choose to be? Aaron : I'd be a turtle. They live a long time and seem to live a slow, relaxing life. Eddie : I would be a cow because then I could drink my own milk. Angie : That's kind of gross. Pick something else. Eddie : A hermit crab! Please offer up your analysis on these choices in the comments.

Grandma and Grandpa Booren are leaving their home of 17+ years to move to the East Coast, so they threw a going-away party of sorts for their kids and grand kids. The location: Great Wolf Lodge , about 100 miles north of Portland. Fortunately, they also let me tag along (of course they did; they have openly accepted me as one of their own from the very first time I met them, which took place before I had even begun courting their baby daughter). Only two of the four families still residing in Oregon were able to make it, which was nice for us because it allowed for our boys to spend more individual time with their grandparents. It's Like a Dream Come True for a Little Boy Anyone else see my mullet hiding in the back? I'm not sure how to describe Great Wolf Lodge. It's part resort, part indoor water park, part hotel--but all of its parts are definitely geared towards making money (it ain't for those hoping to have a good time on the cheap). When we arrived we were...

Meg began a project three or four years ago, one that seemed to linger on and on without an end in sight. Nobody knows for sure of its origins, but it definitely hatched before Ian was seeded. Not that I have any room to brag, as I have clearly failed to complete many a task (e.g., running the Boston Marathon despite qualifying three times, earning that scholarship to Stanford to play baseball (I still have four years of eligibility), and writing an episode for The Simpsons) that I had set out to do oh so long ago. But this story isn't about me. As part of a father's day gift, Meg had offered to make a quilt out of my old race t-shirts. I was impressed with her bravery at such an undertaking, for I would race in said shirts, which soaked up my sweat and foul stench and the blood of the rivals I crushed, and which I would then immediately strip off and store in an air-tight plastic bag, thus preserving the physical essence of my over-achieving effort. I admit that that last se...

Meg was so anxious to kick off summer vacation and excited to have the boys home all day every day that she booked us a hotel room in Newport the day after the boys finished school in June . I told her this new-found excitement would last about a week (she probably blew me off, but I can't remember what happened three hours ago, let alone three months), and then she would be longing for September and school. I think the later proved to be true, but maybe not until a few weeks. Well, September finally arrived, and the two of us walked Aaron and Ed to their first day of classes. Aaron could probably pass for a fifth grader, but he is stuck in third grade. And Ed began life as a full-time student in the first grade ( but don't expect this full-time status to last forever ). We arrived 10 minutes early to a chaotic crowd that felt like the Rose Garden on Blazers bobblehead night: people were swarming everywhere. When the bell finally rang--the official notification that kids ...

Today was one of my six company-observed holidays, and our family took advantage of this and the sunny weather. The day began with Ian sitting happily in the bike trailer for 50 minutes while I ran 5.5 miles through quiet and cool city streets in SE Portland (the sun had yet to rise high enough to bake us). After lunch we, along with Aaron, went on a 10+ mile bike ride along the Springwater and the Willamette Greenway trails, with stops at Sellwood Pool (it was the last day we could use our membership, and it was PACKED), where we met up with Meg and Eddie, and Dairy Queen for cool treats. Ian napped for part of the bike ride, as he usually does, and a lady complimented Aaron on his good cycling skills. In the evening we grilled some thick and juicy steaks and some hot dogs on the back porch, which stays pretty cool for most of the day, in addition to some edamame picked fresh from our garden. Perhaps the best part was putting the kids to bed early, as school starts promptly at ...