World travelling, life through Zoe's eyes, and other random sights.

Zoe and Xander love snacks. On the ferry Zoe now knows to ask for bear snacks, gummi bears. Those kids will inhale those things. Five at a time.

This is Xander after his first bout with M&M's. I think he won.

And of course after all those snacks you have to brush your teeth.

This is what happens when you give Zoe the camera:

The food one above is great, really artsy, it shows the viewer not only the food but the source of the food.



Z and X in a firetruck (I know you can't see it but trust me its a firetruck, it was raining that day).
Zoe at the county fair with the sheep.

Zoe at the fair with her new body paint.

So we have been here in the house about three months. In those three months I have been to Alaska (twice), Pasadena, Las Vegas, Portland, Tokyo and Canada. Heres a few pictures of those trips.

Whittier Alaska, the most one horse town I have ever been to. You have to drive through a mountain to get there. Oh but theres a catch, there is only one lane through that mountain, so not only do you share it with cross traffic you share it with a train. So after you pay the toll (gotta recoup the mountain excavation fees) you wait your turn (I think it was each side gets 20 minutes to go through) and head on into the mountain.


Above, the entrance to the tunnel. Below, driving through the tunnel.


Fake northern lights in the airport. I was disappointed, Alaska was just like WA, it got dark at the same time and no northern lights.



Dads business class meal, Filet Mignon..... The only way to fly.
Deju vu all over again. Going back to Japan felt odd, like going home almost. I definitely still miss parts of Japan but nothing beats our own home.


My second trip to Alaska, low clouds all day every day. And COLD.


The devils delorean, found at a rest stop on the way to Portland.



Dad driving back from Canada with the Jonestown players.

Upgrades

Here are a few changes we made to the house, before and after photos: Most of this we did in the first few days after moving in, when we had no furniture.Above before, yellow walls and the most used and abused carpet you have ever seen in your entire life. We had to have the carpet replaced as there was just no saving it. The red walls look the same as the before but its a deeper richer red now and its on all the walls not just the fireplace wall.


The bathroom downstairs before, it had blue walls but they were worn and for cleanliness we (christine) just repainted the entire thing. Oh and its a new toilet too. Apparently the previous owners put the above one in blindfolded and did the job about as well as you would expect someone blindfolded to do.

Garage, the previous people built a room of sorts in the 3rd car bay,, but we had it removed, storage is nice but we need a place to park the riding mower. The first two days we were here I (adam) took the opportunity to epoxy the floor. I knew once one box hit the garage we would never see it empty again. The epoxy is awesome, somewhat rubbery but with blue and black speckles, so its non slip/skid and you can just hose it off or sweep it out. Christine also painted the walls of the garage. The carpet lady was shocked it was a garage, saying it was nice enough to live in. As soon as Xander is able to sleep in a normal bed we will find out!
Christine also put in this overhead storage. The above view is from outside the garage in, below inside to out. So from the street you really can't see what we have stored.

Old and busted dishwasher. I removed at least an entire cups worth of gunk from it and it still had "stuff in it", plus some of the buttons didn't work and it just wasn't doing a great job of cleaning the dishes.
New dishwasher and paint. The whole thing is stainless but we are leaving all the protective plastic wrappers on as long as possible (or until Zoe and Xander go to college).
Old fridge above, old yellow walls. New fridge below, new green walls. (more protective plastic remains).



Old pantry above. We had to take out each shelf and really clean it. Looked brand new by the time we were done.
Below is a new laundry sink I installed. We had one in Guam and it was great for washing shoes or whatever else you wouldn't want in the kitchen sink.
New washer and dryer.



Xanders new haircut all styled up.
Zoe with her Farrah Faucet hairstyle. This only lasts about a day before it goes flat but very glamorous for that one day.

Around the House

Zoe and Xander saw the hose watering the grass. Zoe ran through a few times, then boom she was naked. Xander saw her having fun and boom, Zoe helped Xander rid himself of clothes and there they were.
Zoe got tired of pedalling so she decided to carry it.

I got a mole in the backyard. Z and X decided to go excavating for it.
Xander ate nearly 75% of this burrito and was still hungry. He is a machine.
Zoe monster chasing bubbles.
Zoe and Xander at the aquarium.
Dads new toy.


How dad spent labor day weekend, before above, after below.