Author: Chris

Chris http://chris.derecola.com/
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Camping at Lopez Island (II)

At some point we’ll post pictures from Prague and Maui, but it’s always so much easier when you’re pulling together the happenings from a weekend away. In the case here, it’s our second annual camping trip on Lopez Island with the Kizers. I don’t know that we ever really intended it to be an annual, but we’ve now done it two years in a row and we talked about doing it next years with our little ones in tow. They just announced a few days ago they’re expecting a boy on New Year’s Eve… so maybe this turns into a family tradition of sorts.

The camping itself was a better time than the last go ’round. We enjoyed ourselves last year, but the ridiculous amounts of rain made it a rough go. We did get a bit of rain this year, but it was mostly at night and didn’t prevent us from getting out to see the area. We didn’t really do anything major, given Melissa was seven months pregnant, but we also didn’t sit on the couch for two days. The San Juan Islands are a beautiful part of this state (and country) and I can see us visiting and/or camping there more often.

Mother By Nature

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I think I experienced my first bit of parental panic today. Melissa and I were swimming in the ocean and she got taken out by a wave. In the moment I was all, “holy shit my kid!” while watching her wash towards shore. I rushed to her, in hopes of helping her up… and maybe helping her back to the beach. Then she stood up, laughing, and said, “at least my bikini stayed on.”

I was in awe. If you saw her, six months pregnant, rocking a bikini, and fearing no wave, you prolly would have been too. Not only was she unhurt, she was thoroughly amused by the whole thing. She didn’t wade past her knees after that, but she’d already owned that moment so it didn’t matter much. Suffice to say, we got both smiles and stares from our fellow ocean enthusiasts.

Don’t panic! She fell on her bum and the kid is still right-side-in like half a day later. I can’t make any promises that there won’t be some embelishment when we tell Small Fry the story in a few years. I have a feeling it’ll be way more harrowing… like zombie land sharks, or something. Regardless of the details, it will always feature a woman that will undoubtedly teach our child to take chances.

Small Fry’s Registry is Live!

We posted the link on our original announcement, but said it would be locked down until we could do a bit more work getting our ducks in a row. Two months later, we think it’s in a place where we can actually share it. I should mention we’re also using this as a list of things we want to purchase, so it may have some items that are kinda atypical for a registry. I actually have no idea what’s typical, ’cause you know, we’ve never done this before. Does it matter? Probably not. Anyway, here ya go…

http://derecola.com/tiny/registry

While I’m writing, I wanted to mention something I noticed when we were putting together a list. Melissa and I worked together (full disclosure: she did more than I did) to tackle all the items;  we had multiple choices for a diaper bag. I was looking through our choices one night and noticed this description for the one I liked the most:

The new updated Babyboo Signature bag comes with new features to comply the needs of any mom. The easy-use magnets on the pockets allow easy open and close. The bag comes with a total of 6 easy-access pockets inside. The material is made pure canvas leather to insure durability and comfort. Finally the design is simple and stylish, being a mom doesn’t mean one should be out of style. NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE – being a mom doesn’t mean you should not be stylish. At Babyboo we want our moms to look great while they nurture their babies. It comes with a clean design perfect for traveling and outing.

I know moms make a majority of the purchases and I support any mom’s right to do whatever makes them happy. What I’m not a superfan of is doing so in a way to seems, to me, that you’re assuming dads aren’t carrying the bag. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I’d prefer products be marketed to parents of any gender ’cause chances are we’ll both be using it. In case you’re wondering, we didn’t pick that one. We are getting more signs that we support dads choosing family (I get six weeks paternity), so all is not lost.

Also, this happened today. Strange days…20160521_125217