If you had to flesh out what the boys were like just by looking at one picture this would be the best one I could give you. This captures both of them quite well in one succinct photo.

This is not a political space by any means and while I love following the races and discussing politics with folks in civil space I mostly keep that away from this blog. There is on measure here in Multnomah County that I do want to share a bit information about because it plays a big part in our family’s daily life and that is Measure 26-125. This measure asks if the county should maintain open libraries, programs, services, renew levy of $0.89 per $1,000 assessed value for three years beginning 2012? This measure renews current local option taxes. The Current levy ends June 30, 2012 and when it ends Multnomah County Library loses 65% of their funding. This is not a tax increase but rather a maintaining of the current levy on Property taxes in the county.

A couple of reason why I think we should continue funding the County Library system:

- More than 35,000 people visit the library each day
- Library staff move more than 67,000 items a day through the community
- Multnomah County libraries provided reading programs for more than 280,000 children last year
- Summer reading programs reached 98,000 children last year
- The home delivery service brings 200,000+ books to homebound seniors and residents of retirement/adult care centers

We have the second busiest Library system in the country behind the New York Public Library and it is the oldest Public Library System West of the Mississippi dating back to 1864. That is truly amazing and a source of pride for us Portlanders. Please Vote yes on Measure 26-125 and Keep Our Libraries Open.  All of the rest of them you’re on your own, I’ve got opinions but none worth sharing! Make sure to have your ballots in by May 15th.

We had some issues with a van and our front buffer on our second car and when all was said and done the cost to repair it was more than the worth of the car. So we got a settlement for totaling our car and though we bounced around the idea of making do with one car the distance to Primo’s school and the twice a day bike ride wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t going to work because during that time I would be riding back and forth to the school I was meant to be working, making the most of the time with one kid. So unless we move closer to the school we need another car for the shuttling of kids while Beautiful has one at work.

The picture above is the car we went with. A 1971 VW Beetle for Beautiful to commute back and forth to work. She learned to drive in a convertible Bug and even though this isn’t the Karmann Ghia that she was hoping for, it is a car that fits her pretty well. The boys are also pretty excited to have the Bug in our lives and enjoy punching me when ever we go outside and see the car. Primo got all the neighborhood kids excited about giving our new car a wash, Tom Sawyer style.

So we aren’t the one car and pile a bikes Portland family that we want to be yet but we do have an old car that gets 40 miles to gallon so we aren’t doing too bad for our “Green” cred. Soon enough a sensible Subaru will find its way into our driveway and we will be unique and outdoorsy just like every other family in Portland.

Summer time is around the corner, though you would never know it from the Portland weather. We have had a warm winter but it has been very wet and very gray. Soon both boys will be finished with school for the year and under foot even more. I’ve been thinking a lot about what sort of summer activities I can farm the kids out to for their benefit and mine. Primo will be doing a soccer camp late in the summer and Segundo will hang out with my parents that week since the camp is out their way. Anyone else have some summer camp ideas that they or their kids love?

Last night after a great dinner with friends Beautiful and I headed downtown to the Portland City Grill to grab a dessert and watch the sun setting from atop one of the bigger buildings in the city. We have been trying to make it there ever since we were given a gift card as a thank you gift. With the boys at my parents house and the sun making a rare appearance late in the day we thought it was a great time to grab a drink and watch the city close down for the evening. Unfortunately we never made it up to the restaurant, or even into the building because on our way into the parking garage we were hit by a pizza delivery van backing out of the entrance to the garage because they weren’t going to make the clearance.

I tried to back up when I saw the brake lights but we were boxed in by another car and my reflexes for the horn were too late. The big van slowly crumpled the front end of our little Mazada turning the hood into a mini accordion and relocating the bumper 3 inches farther down than it had previously been. The driver immediately got out and apologized profusely. It was clear who was at fault and a number of witnesses asked if we needed them to verify. The slight hill and the big van made it so the driver couldn’t see us, and the car in front and in back of us left us with no place to go. We exchanged info and got both insurance companies on the case. The driver and his business immediately admitted fault and no one was hurt, except our car but the night was spent working through the details and not sipping beverages while the sky went from blue, to orange, to purple.

Last week I participated in a podcast on Stay At Home Dads and whether or not they feel ok about being an at home parent on the Dr. Sophy podcast. We were joined by Adrienne Maloof from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills because if there is one person that knows about the trials and tribulations of the SAHD life it’s …….., no seriously I’m not sure how we got paired together. Since she is part of the ownership for the Sacramento Kings I had to get in a Laker dig just to keep it real. Please head over to the site and listen to the 30 minute chat. It’s number 23 near the bottom and you have to listen on the web site.

For the past week I have been in Arizona getting to know the folks I work with. As a contractor working from home I came on board quickly and feel like I am just now getting my feet underneath me and a trip out to the home office was a good idea. Not only would I put a face to the folks that don’t return my emails, but I would also get a chance to get away on my own for the first time in a long time. The fact that the trip is Phoenix Arizona in the spring is not a bad thing either.

Along with my time in the office I’ve also made a spring training game, played poker with the Bros, had some of the best BBQ I’ve ever eaten courtesy of old friend and new boss Kyle. It’s been a nice manly retreat, some would even call it a man-treat, wait no they wouldn’t because that sounds disgusting. What ever you call it the trip has been big lift for me and I’m very thankful for Grammie coming from Indiana to stay with Beautiful and the boys so I could get away.

Created by: Engineering Degree

Why does this happen and how do you think we could address this trend? Would love to hear your comments.

Dirty face not included in giveaway

The fine folks at Hank Player USA were kind enough to send the boys a couple of t-shirts recently and they have been major hits. Primo got the Occupy Playgrounds shirt you see above and he has made good use of political statement by encouraging all kids to get out and play. More sandboxes, less videos is his platform and he is spreading the word. Segundo got this shirt here detailing the rules of Paper Rock Scissors. We have narrowly avoided fisticuffs on multiple occasions by consulting the shirt. The boys keep introducing rogue objects like dynamite and a head-butt but since they are not on the shirt they are not allowed.

The shirts are fun and feel good so the boys want to wear them and as a parent trying to raise little hipster kids I approve as well. We’ve gotten some good play and a couple of washings out of the t-shirts and they are holding up well to the boys aggressive lifestyle. There are a bunch of great graphics and styles for girls, boys, and adults as well as some cool accessories so be sure to head over to the site and browse around.

Hank Player has been kind enough to give away two tees to a lucky winner here on this site so let me tell you what you need to do for a chance to win:

1. Head over to Hank Player and sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of the page
2. Like Hank Player on Facebook for another chance to win.
3. Follow the Twitter feed for Hank Player here for even more chances.
4. Lastly give this post a tweet to share the love with others.

Leave a separate comment below for each of those four ways to win and your comment could be picked at random. Everyone has until Wednesday April 11th at noon pacific to get their comments and tweets in. I will generate a number at random and let you know who won. Hank Player will let the winner pick from the sizes that they carry (6M, 12M, 18M, 24M & 2T, 3T, 4T, 5, 6, 7/8, 10/12) but they will pick the graphics because their stock changes daily and they might not have everything available in all sizes at the time of the giveaway.

Good luck and whether you enter or not head over to the site and check out the great shirts.

Since Primo has invented games like chess and begged each day to go back to Director’s Park to play on the chess boards left out each day we thought it was time to get a chess board of our own. We headed downtown to our favorite toy store Finnegan’s and found a quick chess set. Quick Chess is an award-winning set that teaches kids to play in 10 minutes so it seemed a good purchase for us. There is a double-sided board with one side being the standard size and the other a smaller layout that helped beginners get the hang of how different pieces move.

Primo and I set up the simple side and talked about how each of the pieces move before getting started. He picked up concepts quickly and soon we were turning the board over and playing on the big board. While he knows how to play the game and how each piece moves he is not very good so I try balance teaching him the nuances of a complicated game while keeping it fun for him. We talked about seeing the whole board and not getting caught up with just one piece. That was easier on the other side of the board but Primo wanted to play the REAL way. So we find the balance between continuing to learn the game while also letting him win every once in a while. He’s even tried his hand at playing the computer on easy mode. He can’t win there yet but he’s getting better.