2nd Sabbatical - Vancouver, BC

The second part of our trip up to the Northwest included going up to Vancouver and Whistler. Here's a view from our hotel just south of Stanley park.


Seaplane near the convention center.


We visited the aquarium at Stanley park. It's pretty nice and even includes a nice butterfly exhibit. Here's Lauren checking out the frogs.


Finally a picture where they are both smiling. Maybe all the pictures will be this cute.


Spoke too soon.


We checked out the Capilano suspension bridge. They have a few other attractions and some short hikes that make it worthwhile.


Not sure what was going on with Cole that day. We took the gondola up to the top of Whistler.


The kids are checking out the views.


Here you can see the peak to peak gondola ride. They even have some glass bottom gondolas but we elected not to take one.


Lauren is looking for bears. I might have told her that she could spot some if she looked closely.


Some falls on our way back to Vancouver from Whistler. At least everyone is smiling. :)

2nd Sabbatical Part 1- Seattle

It's that time again, sabbatical. Every seven years, we get two months off. This year we only traveled for about 2 weeks.


On our way to the Grandparent's house the kids fell asleep. This did provide us with some nice relaxing time to just enjoy the weather and sip some drinks.


Here we checked out Snoqualmie falls on our way to Remlinger Farm.


Cole checking to see if his tongue turned color.


Lauren enjoying the horse ride at Remlinger Farms.


Cole taking his turn.


Grandpa and Cole waiting for the duck tour to start.


Grandma and Lauren's turn for a photo.


Seattle space needle


Clear view from the top of the space needle. You can see Mt Rainier in the background.


View of the pier and pike's market from our "Cruise ship" aka the commuter ferry.


Fighting fires is a serious business. We got a tour of Aunt Jill's fire station. Cole even managed to open the garage door.


Sheer joy


Someone didn't want to be photographed with Aunt Jill.


We took Lauren and Cole fishing although I don't know if you can really call it fishing. You had to keep the hook away just so you could "fish" a little bit longer.


Lauren posing with the Tiger at Point Defiance Zoo.


Why must she hold me so tight?

The start of

Seattle bound

Cole is refusing to smile.

Pre-sabbatical lunch

Soft shell crab po boy at Kona Grill.

Solar savings

We just got our first bill where we've had the solar panels for the entire month. Compared to last year, we saved $149 this month.

Indoor Soccer

We signed up both kids for indoor soccer at the Y this summer. Cole was in the 3 to 4 year old division while Lauren was in the 5 to 6 year old division.


Here's one of the few times that Lauren is actually practicing before the match. It was hit or miss if she would actually want to practice or play.


Another action shot of Lauren.


I think this was the kid's favorite part of soccer. Snack time!


The kids are learning good sportsmanship.


Lauren loved that she got a trophy.


It's important to know which direction to kick the ball...


...even at all levels.

Solar System

We finally got our solar panels up and running. We have a 6.24kw system that should offset around 40% of our energy usage. The system consists of 26 Centrosolar 240W panels. 20 of the panels are on the front of the house while another 6 are on the south side. Since we are on SRP's time of use program, the best financial return is when you have the panels facing Southwest. Since the panels are facing 2 different orientations, we installed an Aurora Power One 6000 that could handle 2 independent strings.


Here you can see the other 6 panels on the south roof.


This is the roof mounting system. You can see how the mounts attach to the roof and then go under the tile so you don't need to cut holes in the tile. Here you can also see the jacket that will allow the wires to go into the attic.


Here you can see all the roof tiles put back in place with only the mounts showing.


Now the rails are attached.


Here's the inverter mounted inside the garage.


Here are the solar meter and the utility disconnect in case anyone needs to disconnect the panels from the grid.


Finally here's our daily energy output for the last few weeks. We've been averaging around 34kWH a day. We typically consume about 100 to 140 kWH a day.

New Sunglasses

These glasses are so much more fashionable.

First day of Kindergarten

Deja Vu

Second day in a row I had to resort to the car.

Nap time

Cole wouldn't nap in the hotel room so we had to resort to desperate measures.