Beach BBQ Birthday

Alexander turned 10 this month, and we had to choose what kind of party to throw. Alex likes to have a big party, of course. He wants to invite all of his friends from school and Scouts, and he wants family to come, too. Over the years we have had the parties at our house, at the bowling alley, and at Chuck E. Cheese. Some of his friends have also done mini golf, and the "fun center" nearby which has go carts, etc. All of the commercially hosted parties have the same issue - a lot of expense, and only a set number of kids can come. They usually are timed very tightly, too, so you are in and out and the kids don't really have a lot of fun to play. That is ok when they are small, but now they really need time to just be boys. We thought about having the party at our house again this year, but a hoard of 10 year old boys was too terrifying even to consider. In the end, we decided on a beach barbecue.

We are fortunate to live reasonably close to Seahurst Park in Burien. As you may well know, Seahurst Park is right on Puget Sound and has a very nice, very long beach. We go there quite often, and I know that one of Alexander's favorite things to do there is to dig holes and make sand castles, or sand forts, or sand you-name-it. So, my expensive and sophisticated plan for keeping a dozen 10 year old boys (most of whom are in the gifted program) busy for 4 hours? I gave them a bucket and some gardening trowels and pointed them at the beach. That's it.

While the kids were digging away on the beach, the parents and family members hung out by the BBQ drinking coffee. It wasn't that cold out, but the warmth was nice. Eventually I decided to light a fire in one of the unused BBQs , and Alexander's great-grandfather and I had fun collecting and breaking up sticks. We, of course, cheated and used newspaper to get the fire started, but when the kids came by we told them that we rubbed sticks together and they they believed it since Bob and I are old Scouts.

I lit the charcoal, and when it was ready we called them back. Amber organized the kids and I grilled them burgers until they couldn't eat any more - which was a lot - and Alex opened presents. Candles were blown out, and cake was eaten - and then they were all back out on the beach. They were working together to dig holes, fill them with water, and then try to build little dams to protect them from the incoming tide. We had a small intermission for a pinata, but then they were back to the beach, again. It started to rain, and they didn't notice. Then it started to downpour, and they just worked harder. With about a half and hour left to go I called them back up and gave them Pokemon cards and then the area under the picnic shelter looked the floor of the stock exchange because of all of the heavy trading.

Since Alex and his friends have been alive, there have always been video games, the Internet, cell phones, DVD's, etc. I love it that they can have so much fun with a bucket, some shovels, sand, water, and drift wood. I don't know if it will last, but I hope that they never outgrow it.

Reducing CO2 in your home the nerd way

For Christmas my wife gave me a Netatmo weather station because I am a home weather station nerd. The Netatmo is very cool, but it has an unexpected feature: it measures indoor Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels. As soon as I set it up, the Netatmo began to alert that our indoor CO2 was at an unsafe level. The notes said that outdoor CO2 is usually around 400 ppm, and numbers above 1500 ppm could be unhealthy. On that first day, my house was at around 1300 ppm. Prior to that, I never gave indoor CO2 levels a thought. I began to do some research and discovered high levels of CO2 can cause symptoms such as fatigue, headache, breathing difficulties, strained eyes and itchy skin. My family does have all of these issues, especially on the weekends when we are home all day, but I never connected that to indoor air quality. Previously, I installed a Nest thermostat . The Nest is very smart and saves energy by learning your habits and programming itself. Unfortunately, it is so efficient, that t

Rooftop Playgrounds

This week I have had some meetings in a tall building in downtown Seattle, and when I took a moment to look around and enjoy the view I have noticed playgrounds on rooftops. I saw this daycare playground: and this playground on top of a school: I think that this is a really cool use of space. A friend that grew up in NYC said that her school had a rooftop playground, too. The delinquent in me wonders how many toys and balls go over the side, but I bet the teachers are pretty strict about that. Downtown Seattle has always seemed a little unfriendly towards kids and it is neat to see spaces being carved out.

Dutch Oven Balsamic Chicken Recipe

This is a family favorite that is easy to make. It smells so great right from the start, that the first time I made it, my youngest son walked in the house while I was cooking and yelled, "Daddy! Make that one again!" It started life as a recipe on Delish .com, and I have cooked it several times, making small changes, to make it slightly less pretentious, and to work out issues with the directions. I also doubled the recipe so we end with a few leftovers for lunches. Ingredients 1 c. balsamic vinegar 1/4 c honey 3 tbsp. whole-grain mustard 6 cloves garlic, minced Salt Freshly ground black pepper 8 bone-in, skin on, chicken thighs 4 c. baby red, potatoes - or Brussels sprouts (or both) cut in 8ths (12oz bag) 2 Tbsp. Herbs de Provence 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil to cook the chicken Preparation Marinade In a large bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard, 1 Tbs Herbs de Provence, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Whisk until combined.

Adventures of a Seattle Dad

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