Curtains Break

After getting everyone in the car after the parade and associated mishap we headed home. Sprout was very tired, and Sox and I just wanted to veg a bit.

Pulling into the driveway Yoshi popped his head out from between our bedroom curtains. That stinker was on the bed. Immediately I suspected we forgot to close the gate. Sox then said she remembers closing it.

My next thought was that he jumped it. In all the years we have had him, he has never jumped a gate we put in his way.

Boy, was I wrong.

Instead Yoshi had chewed part of the wooden permanent child gate enough to break one of the slats, then he pushed his way upstairs!

Result: hairy bed and broken gate. Not a good morning. Now the gate has a huge hole that a childs head could get caught in. Luckily we have another one in our sunroom that we can swap in.

Accident Crew

Yesterday after the parade was a very scary time. Sox and J left with the girls to go feed them in the car. T and I had the boys and watched the parade a little longer. We started the walk back to the car, and when it was visible, I saw J and Sox standing at the side of the road. J was walking towards T and I with a strange look on her face. Sox was getting Beet into her carseat.

When J was close enough, she said they had been in an accident. They were rear ended while nursing the girls.

My stomach instantly dropped. J said they were OK, but I picked up the pace and caught up to Sox. She was shaken, and I was pretty scared. I gave her a big hug to reassure her, and to make me feel better too. I was pretty worried about her, and for Beet too. The drivers involved were all exchanging information, so I helped with that.

After a couple moments, we could hear an ambulance siren. Sure enough the ambulance was for us, but noone knew who called it in. The crew got out and ensured everyone was fine. Once they determined there were no injuries, they went on their way. As they were leaving a police car showed up, and a firetruck, both with lights and sirens going. The firemen wanted to make sure the scene was safe, and that no cars were on fire nor leaking anything flammable. The police took statements from everyone, and helped figure everything out. I am glad that they arrived because that reassured me and seemed to calm everyone down. Also, with their police report on file, we no longer need to keep track of anyones information. Through it all though, the boys were very patient, and the girls uttered not a peep.

Sox and J were not buckled at the time they were hit. Sox was feeling a little sore yesterday so she headed to a clinic to get herself and Beet examined. I am extremely happy that they are fine. The car is a little banged up, and now we need to start dealing with ICBC to get it fixed. There is a bunch of damage to the drivers side rear quarter panel, the rear bumper, the rear door, potentially the rear tire, and the front bumper too (our car was pushed into the one in front of us). We have plans to head to Vancouver this weekend so hopefully we won’t be without a vehicle (although a close friend of ours offered her van for us to use).

Quite the saga. Imagine sitting in a parked vehicle at the side of the road and being rear ended. Scary. I am just glad that nobody in any of the four cars was hurt.

Roadside Parade

Still keeping very busy during my time off.

This past Wednesday (May 14) we headed out to Fort Rodd Hill with a friend of ours, and her son. The boys had a great run around out there, and we enjoyed checking out the sights. The great thing about that place is that a seasons pass is $5. Now I can head back there any time I want to take some pictures. Wednesday I also played my first Ulti game of the season.

Thursday some of Sox’s family arrived for a visit. Friday we all headed out to Island View beach for some sin and sand. On the way back I stopped at a roadside stand to get some eggs and a couple red peppers. I also got a couple pieces of Rhubarb for a snack. Imagine my surprise then the total was less than $4.50. The eggs we normally buy are $4!

Saturday morning we went out for breakfast at Pluto’s (mmm, my favorite place for breakfast) then headed off to a Beacon Hill park playground. We also went for a small tour of the park for Sox’s dad and stepmom. We then said goodbye to our visitors.

Today we headed downtown to watch the parade. I was actually feeling under the weather, but the boys had a great time, and so did the adults. There was a bit of a downer for us when we were leaving, but I will detail that later.

Hammer Disc

Ulti on Wednesday was fun. I am still trying to learn everyones names, and to try and help some of the newer players learn how to play. Whenever I get out on the field, I am always surprised at how quickly the game comes back to me. My throws during warm up felt completely natural, and I even threw a perfect hammer for a point during the game.

My biggest problems are the team size (specifically the number of men), and my fitness level (the whole reason I joined the summer league). The league is 4-3, meaning 4 men 3 women on the field. With the abundance of men on each team, this means lots of sideline time. Good right now when I can’t play more than a couple points, but bad when later in the season I want more play time.

I worked up a good sweat on Wednesday, so that was good. I took it easy during the game though, tried not to get involved in too many sprints or hard chases, kept my feet moving, and handled the disc when I could. It all comes back like riding a bike.

The weather was perfect Wednesday too. The sun was trying to peak out from behind the clouds, but never quite made it. The temp was mid teens and the ground was soft from the earlier rain. Perfect introduction to this season.

Ultimate Names

Tonight is the first game of the 208 Victoria Ultimate summer league. Yikes. I am definitely out of shape, but I am looking forward to playing again. It is a cool day, and it rained earlier so it should be pretty good conditions on the field. I am going to try and take it easy while I play to just get back into the game. I don’t want to start off this season like the last time I played.

Game time is at 6, and I will likely leave home around 5:15 or so. I want to ride there to warm up, and I want to arrive a little early to meet my team. I only recognize a couple names.

Should be great fun. Almost time to eat some dinner.

Vacation Things

Vacation update here. It has been a very busy week.

This past Wednesday I fired up our brand new gas powered weed eater. Holy smokes is it ever powerful and does an amazing job. Once I got it running I hit the twitchy gas trigger and the engine took off. When that happened the trim head also took off with the torque from the engine. The electric variety never do that. I also got through the trimming in no time flat. Awesome.

Thursday Sox had a dentist appointment so I had the kids for a little while. After dropping Sox off at her appointment, we headed to the mall to see the fish at the pet store. We then spent some time in the play area.. Later, I got out for a tiny ride to downtown to meet a friend for lunch. I also stopped at MEC for a bit of shopping. Since I was on my bike I wasn’t able to pick up the new tires I was going to get.

Friday I spent some time on the computer upgrading some software and I also did some yardwork. These are all some things that I have been wanting to do for a while, and it was nice to knock them off the list.

Vic West Fest was pm Saturday so we took Sprout and Beet out there to check things out. Sprout checked out the fire engine, played on the playground, checked out a smart car, and had a hot dog for lunch.

Mothers day I had plans to sneak out when Beet woke up and get Sox a morning Chai. Of course that morning Beet slept in and my plan was foiled a little bit. Everyone seemed to get up at the same time (8 am) and that is when I went out for coffee’s. After breakfast Sprout and I headed out to Kinsmen Gorge park to check out a new playground.

Yesterday Sox and Beet had some errands to run after dropping Sprout off at daycare so I had some more computing time (a nice way for me to relax), then did some more yard work. Sox, Beet and I then walked Yoshi and bought the week’s groceries.

Busy week, but extremely productive and satisfying.

Roundhouse Refurbish

I was at Vic West Fest on Saturday, and came across a display for the proposed changes to the Esquimalt Roundhouse. I’ve been to the Roundhouse on a couple picture shoots (Oct 2005, Feb 2006) and it is a pretty amazing historical site. Here is the development’s website.

The problem is that the buildings are in disrepair and partially condemned. Many people want to save the site but they cannot raise the funds to preserve and refurbish the site to its former glory. The plan I read is to revitalize the area and completely redevelop it into a live/work arrangement that saves the Roundhouse, and its usage for the E&N dayliner while introducing high rises, shopping, restaurants, a brew pub, a market, and condos.

I really have mixed feelings about this. I’d love to see the site preserved as is, but without the money, it just isn’t going to happen. It is sad to think that the site may cease to exist in its current state, and only the roundhouse building will be saved. Even at that, the roundhouse will be forever changed into mixed use.

Lose it and save it. I guess that is better than losing it altogether.

Pictures Engage

Monday (day 3 of the vacation) I got out to shoot some pictures. I ended up at the Kinsmen Gorge Park which has some excellent flower beds. Unfortunately I didn’t hit them at their peak. The Tulips and Daffodils were ending so they were very bland, and nothing else had really taken off yet. Some of the Rhododendrons were blooming, but I find it difficult to get good shots of them.

I was struggling creatively too. It has been a while since I was out on a real photoshoot and my brain would not engage. I took approx 130 pictures, and most of those were discarded.

This heather (I think it is called) provided some opportunity to play with depth of field. Most of the plants like this I find have a purple flower, yet this one was white.

These were the only decent Tulips in the park, and the sun hadn’t reached them yet. I still have a hard time taking good pictures of Tulips. The flower is so simple, it is very easy to end up with a picture that doesn’t highlight it.

I’m not 100% sure, but I think this was a weed. It was a few feet high, and had these clusters of buds. I played with the aperture to change the depth of field, and this was my favorite setting.

I’ve experimented with HDR images a little bit. Below are two examples. The Rhodo and the bridge shots are composed of 5 exposures, ranging from -2 ev to +2 ev. PaintShop Pro took care of the rest.

Adventure Trailer

Sunday was day 2 of my extended vacation and Sprout and I had a grand adventure. Sox and Beet were off visiting a friend, and we wanted to head down to the petting zoo. The big hurdle was that Sox had taken the car, but the solution was to ride a bike.

Sprout was pretty eager to get in the trailer and head down there. It was a lot of fun, and good workout too. Nothing like towing over 45 pounds up a hill on a bike.

The ride there was very uneventful. Once I got there my plan was to lock the trailer to the bike. This was complicated by the fact that we had brought too much stuff to carry by hand (extra clothes for he and I, snacks, non biking shoes for me, toys). I was going to just push the strollerized trailer until I remembered that I hadn’t brought the front wheel with me. Actually I left it at home on purpose. Not sure where my head was.

Sprout had fun at the zoo with his buddy, and when it was time to leave he hopped right back into the trailer. During the ride home he sat quietly and ate his snack. At one point I could hear him telling me something so I pulled over and stopped. He was pointing out a parked car 🙂

I really enjoyed this outing with my son, and look forward to many more.