By the way, miniature golfing was quite fun. It was drizzling quite a bit, and we procrastinated about whether or not to go, but in the end we went and had a ball. It wasn't the fancy type of course whereby there were windmills and peeing cherubs, but it was pretty decent and had 19 different holes that were quite quaint. My wife and daughter had fun playing it as well, knocking the ball around in the drizzle. Alex was strapped to my back, so he didn't mind so much.

I love my wife. While typing this, she woke up and asked, "Where's your spoon?" and looked under the comforter and pillows.

"I don't have a spoon." I giggled.

"It's your big spoon... the one you go swimming with."

Hee hee.

Lately, I've been associating my wife with Mario, as in Super Mario Bros. Once, it was because she was wearing blue overalls and a red shirt, and moving her arms in a very Mario-like manner. The other time, she was just moving her arms comically and walking like the 2-D Mario on NES. And making some odd videogame sound. She told me I had Mario on the brain.

D'OH!

Serving as an exclamation of forehead-slapping self-realization, I had to go take a shower to wash the stupidity off of me. After a week long bout of confusion, I finally come to the conclusion what the hell had gone on with my financial woes. I will now tell you the story, but first we have to go wayyyy back to a simpler, more idealistic me.

(Wavy lines, dreamy sound effects, sepia tone.)

About two years ago, I started a checking account that was separate from my personal checking account, in order to keep the expenses, well, separate. That was for Uncle Sam's sake. So I put $5.00 into that account, and never used it because I didn't ever make any money off my business. Everything I made had to be put back into supplies, equipment, and ferret rentals.

(Wavy lines, dreamy sound effects, sepia tone.)

Fast forward to earlier this week, when I got a new debit card in the mail. I'm usually excited about getting new cards because mine get worn out, and the holographic dove starts to look pretty sad after a while. I noticed that the number was different, but paid little mind to it. Until...

The next day, while at Asia Market getting my supplies of real instant noodles not made by White People, I tried running my card and it didn't go through. So I ran it through as credit, and it was fine. Later that night, we went grocery shopping and the card didn't work again. Damn, I thought. They reset the stupid pin number. So we ran it as credit. Didn't work either. So I had to run home to get my checkbook for that.

Today while miniature golfing, I ran my card - no problems. Well, just a moment ago, I realized what had happened, and my head turned into a giant boob. Like a huge breast, with the nipple as my brain. Essentially, when I had done was cut up my valid Debit card for my personal account, and overdrew twice on my inactive account that I had set up for my business. So now, I have no debit card, and my other account that I haven't touched since I opened it is now very overdrawn. So tomorrow, I'll have to drag my long face down to the bank and explain what a twit I was, and hope that they can waive my overdraft fees based on my IQ quotient. I mean, it's like 50 bucks in fees. And they say stupidity doesn't hurt.

It's hard to believe that in less than a couple months, our lives will once again take a backseat to a new arrival, a certain little girl who will need constant changing, feeding, and lots of TLC. We're still having to grasp that notion of having another baby to juggle, which I'm sure we'll do fine with when the time comes. But it is still something that's baffling to comprehend.

What is easier to comprehend as of right now, is the thought of doing some mininature golfing this afternoon. Never mind that it's a little dorky - we're not the coolest people anyhow. Alex can't really get into it yet, of course, but it will be fun for the adults to partake in a little silliness.

Alex is starting to pick up little things here and there, the cutest recently being swaying back and forth. It started during Packwood, really, when I grabbed him, and hugged him, swaying back and forth, saying, "Whooooaaa." He would make a similar sound and do the swaying himself, tilting his head and moving left and right. Today while I was feeding him, he would sway back and forth - like he was enjoying his food.

My mom will be up tomorrow, to spend the Fourth with us and to visit her grandson. It will be my mom's and Alex's first fireworks display - there's no telling how Alex will take the loud percussions and bright explosions.

Sorry the blog entries have gotten a little slower and duller. I suppose I need to get my head back in gear after being so vacated for so long. Don't really know what I'm preoccupied about. I think I'm starting to assimilate into the collective parenthood mode. Living day to day, doing things one at a time, enjoying the little things that the kids do.

The good news is, I'm getting better at the SSX3 snowboarding game that I got for Father's Day. I'm quite good at that.

Alex swimming! Water Baby!

Skeletal trees destroyed by the eruption.

Rainier Rocks!

Spirit Lake, which is at Mt. St. Helens, was completely covered with ash and tree debris. It has since cleared a little, but you can still see the debris in the water on the right of the lake.

Alex enjoyed being soaked by the mist from the falls. It really proved that he was a cool baby!

Surrounding peaks around Rainier.

Clearfork river.

Rainier from the park.

That rope sounds like fun - if you like glacier cold water!

Beautiful glacier water.

A closeup of St. Helens.

Trying out the baby backpack for the first time, he got a little tired after a while - hence the thumb.

Trees that have been destroyed by Mt. St. Helens.

This is me, swinging around a stick that has fire on the tip and taking it with a slow shutter.

The Burger King!

The Cookie Monster! He was quite pleased with himself after his cookie binge.

The bridge over the falls. There's a tunnel in that darkness there.

Some Valley with some name. Don't remember, but sure is pretty.

Packing Some Wood in Packwood

Makes absolutely no sense, but just needed a catchy little title. Well readers, we finally got back from the 5-day annual family camp-out - a tradition with my wife's family, but a first for me. What used to be a entire family affair is now my wife's family and my sister-in-law's family, traveling over to Packwood, WA, and toughing it out at my father-in-law's RV shed.

We had a blast, although our mini-vacation was packed with trips to Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, along with a bunch of mini-trips to different lakes and falls. Seeing the magnificence of the mighty Mt. Rainier and the devastation of Mt. St. Helens really put this guy in his place. It feels a little odd to be visiting these mountains, partially because I've been in this state for 14 years and haven't ventured, or even wondered what it would be like to see these two up close. But I'm glad I did. Something to really marvel over. Puts all the little things into perspective.

As for the non-nature adventures, my father-in-law was kind enough to teach me golf, which I took to like a fish to hiking. I didn't do that well getting the ball airborne, but it was fun trying anyway. Made a few trips to the driving range and a round of golf with my in-laws, and they seemed to enjoy having fresh blood in their golfing life. I enjoyed whacking the balls at the range, but it's definitely a different sort of sport. Very little to do with strength, but technique and form. Hit the 75 yards distance a few times, but mostly around the 50 yard line. Anthony, my niece's boyfriend, who happens to be a football player in a past life, was whacking them high and over the fence (which is bad for accuracy), but I was pretty happy about my improvement. My father-in-law really seemed to connect with me more through golf, which is cool because he's a great guy.

Alex also had the exciting opportunity to go swimming for the first time - which really is in fact waddling about and swallowing tons of water and making nervous yelps. By the second day, he was having a ball in the water, laughing and playing in the water. By next year, he'll be a pro. He also enjoyed the frequent attention - there was an abundance of eyes that were willing to watch over him. Since we all slept in the RV, the cold wasn't too much of a problem.

We also saw a bunch of elk, ate a lot of toasted marshmellows, and told a lot of stories. Quite a different kind of vacation for me, a return to nature that I haven't done in a long time - and I can't wait till next year for more camping goodness.