My friend and former co-worker Darrel had his first iPhone game approved for sale in the App Store today.  The game is Bedeviled: The Most Diabolical Sliding Puzzle Game Ever.  And it really is.  I was fortunate enough to get a pre-release copy last week, and when I sat down to play the other day I only managed to get four columns completed in 438 moves and 25 minutes.  It’s bedeviling!!

More details here:
http://www.moshplant.com/bedeviled/

Or go directly to the store to buy it for only 99 cents.

Coincidentally, Darrel’s game was approved the same day my copy of Programming in Objective-C 2.0 arrived in the mail.  I’m hot on your heels, Darrel!

Is there any better way to spend the last hours of daylight on a summer evening than reading together on the front porch?

You never know what is going to make Everett crack up. Nathan or I will say something and Everett will want us to repeat it over and over. Lately, Everett likes to bring up whatever funny thing was said and remind us what room of the house the joke originated in. “Everett’s room”, “Dada’s room (our bedroom)” or “Out here (which means the living room)”. 

Everett loves to narrate our daily routines and lets us know when we’ve forgotten some part of the program. This seems especially true with sleeping. “Milk out here. Read out here. One more story in Everett’s room. Fun (this is what he says when we are snuggling in his room because I ask him what he did during the day that was fun). Radio on.” 

Everett continues to be a very helpful boy, and again wants to make sure that things are done right around here. Every night we put away his toys together. He has different bins for train tracks, legos, wooden train parts, blocks. If we put a toy in the incorrect bin, he will dig it out and say, “Wrong one.” 

Even with all his rules, Everett is still an easy going guy. He is a great companion in a restaurant as long as he’s got some little trucks to play with. He transitions easily from one activity to the next as long as he gets to say goodbye to wherever he was playing. “Bye bye park.”

He has been starting to show some frustration with the world. He’s become possessive of playground equipment. He shakes his hands, scowls and grunts at the other kids if they are on the slide or swing he was just on. He also gets mad when he falls. He’ll give the same shake, scowl and grunt to the curb or the sidewalk after a spill. He recovers quickly and moves on to the next event.

It’s wonderful to be able to communicate with him more and more. He’s so much more in control of his world now that he can express his preferences and thoughts. He’s his own dude and he’ll let you know what’s up!

On Saturday, Everett and I rode down to Fort Vancouver for the annual Brigade Encampment event, where re-enactors give demonstrations of life back in the 1800s when the fort was active in the fur trade.

In front of the fort is a garden, featuring a tunnel of vines. Everett loved it, running back and forth through it a dozen times.

Everett checks out a buffalo hide.  There was also otter, fox, bear, and beaver.

Everett was fascinated by the blacksmith’s shop, just as I always was (and still am). If they put on weekend classes, I would sign up in a second.

Every Sunday morning for the last few months, Sara has been disappearing, leaving me and Everett to fend for ourselves for food and entertainment.  What was she doing, always to return sweaty and tired?  Of all the crazy things, it turns out she was running!  And running for fun, not even because she was being chased by anything!  What’s up with that?

On Saturday morning we headed out to Hillsboro for the half marathon she’s been training for with some of our neighborhood friends.  Arriving just in time (the wait in traffic to get to the stadium and the starting line was almost as long as the run itself), the team hit the course a few minutes after the starting gun.

Everett, Chad (one of the non-running husbands), and I passed the time getting breakfast, checking out a farmer’s market, playing in a fountain, and stopping by the airport where we saw the planes last year. The organizers must coordinate schedules, because the planes were back!  Everett was excited to see a P-51 just like the one he flies around the living room.

We got back to the stadium before their expected return, and Everett passed the time by trying to sneak away. He so distracted us that we completely missed Alan’s triumphant entrance into the stadium.  Sorry, Alan!  When the call came that the ladies were a mile out, we started to pay attention, because that meant they were only a few minutes away.  Finally, Sara and Allison came around the corner and into view.  Kate was a few minutes behind.

Sara ended up in 2001st place overall, but only 266th in her age/gender division.  She’s the 266th fastest 30-34 year old woman in the whole area!  Not too shabby.  Most importantly, she managed to shave almost 25 minutes off of her time from last year.

Sara and Allison entering the stadium, about to finish.

The 34th/35th Street team celebrates their accomplishment.

Way to go, Sara!  Everett and I are so proud of you!

Race results are here.

While Sara ran her half-marathon (more on that soon), Everett and I passed the time in downtown Hillsboro, where they have a very exciting fountain.