Mr. Polehn writes

I've been seeing a fair bit in the news coverage lately about federal policy changes which have resulted in children being separated from their parents at the border of the United States. In the short amount of time that these policy changes have been in place the US has separated at least 2,000 children from their parents . This is leading to the erection of tent cities to house children because the re-purposed Walmarts we have been housing immigrant children in are near full capacity. This according to the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as anyone with common sense, is horrible for the mental and emotional health of children . As a father and a US citizen I'm outraged by the trauma these children are experiencing at the hands of the federal government.  And things have taken an even more irritating turn.  Our Attorney General, who is quoted as saying the KKK  " were  OK until I learned they smoked pot ," cited the Apostle Paul in...

New series of monthly (my intentions at least) things I'm really enjoying... Ride Report Ride Report  is an app which uses your phone's location data to automatically keep track of your bike rides.  For each ride it asks you a simple survey "How was your ride."  After collecting enough survey data from rides Ride Report can generate a map showing the worst and best rides for a city.  Some cities are even using this data to make better transportation decisions.   I'm not sure if this app will work at a smaller scale for a city like The Dalles, but the idea is very cool.  The more people the use it the more helpful it will be.  At this point I've only ever said my rides were great and being the only user in town this is very unscientific. I highly recommend using this app for fun and better city planning or at least better informed fellow cyclists. Libby Libby is an app which allows you to borrow ebooks through your local library....

Some days you come home and there are just chicks in you laundry room...  But how can you say "no" to that face? Easter art by Lucy Easter outfit by mom   Jesse decided (on his own) it was time to stay the night at grandma's house.  He was pretty disappointed to find out it wasn't. Brace for impact during every elevator ride. Lucy has lost both of her top front teeth.  He bark is worse than her bite. Mystery of the month: Who is this green haired super saiyan? Short silly video: Lucy can ride her bike with no training wheels.  Kid's still love rolly pollies.  And Jesse is apparently a Chris Tomlin fan.

  I was recently subjected to some kind of a sick experiment, in which all my free time was completely taken away, my rights to privacy relinquished.  I survived at the mercy of an oligarchical panel of tiny despots.  Yes, I was a stay at home parent.   It isn't as easy as I thought. I don’t know about other homeschooling parents but I have a very picturesque view of how things should go.  Children gathered around listening intently to unabridged classic literature. My six year old asking thoughtful questions about historical figures and the times and places in which they lived. With the utmost patience and joy my kids sounding out words of poetry, naturally learning phonetic rules in beautiful rhythm.  We'd have nature walks every afternoon with plenty of time for music and art.   By now you can probably tell, I don’t do most of the schooling in my house.  Turns out my fantastic idea of how homeschooling should be was jus...

As I mentioned a little bit ago , my wife and I are expecting another baby in December.  Yesterday my wife had an ultrasound, the one where you can find out the sex of the baby, and there it was.  The first this thing we see is the interspecies sign of malehood.  There is a very tiny man rolling around inside if my wife. He was pretty photogenic and they didn't find anything concerning in the ultrasound.  We are definitely a bit surprised, I mean after two girls in a row you start to see a pattern I guess. We're excited to have a boy.  It'll be interesting to see how different he will be from his sisters.  When we would ask Lucy if she wanted a brother or a sister she has been telling us she wants a brother and has been insisting that there is a brother in mommy's tummy.  I guess we should have been listening to her this whole time. We have no idea on a name yet.  Amanda just won't agree to Hezekiah, I have no idea why. ;) 

    It's a girl!  Or at least from what they could see in the ultra-sound we are almost certainly certain it is a girl.  The little gal wouldn't let us see very w ell.     I honestly really love being the father of a daughter already.  So I imagine two will be a lot of fun.  We have always imagined Lucy and a little sister would be the cutest pair ever so we are really happy.  Lucy and little Ruby Jewel Polehn are going to be the best of friends, we can already tell!

    Next week I'll be flying down to LA with my wife and daughter and hopping on a ship down to Mexico. We'll be on a Disney cruise ship for a week doing whatever the heck we feel like.  I'm planning on taking lots of pictures and writing about our trip, mostly just to be able to look back and remember the trip better.     This is probably the biggest vacation either my wife or I have taken and it is the first time our little daughter will be out of the country.  I've been on lots of charter boats for deep sea fishing but never a big ship like this.  I really like being on the ocean and we love Disney in my house so this should be the best freaking trip ever!...  I have high expectations. Disney + Ocean + Mexico +  Family = Happy awesome fun time!

    The Dalles has quite a few restaurants relative to it's size.  Some are great some are down right bad.       These are my five favorite places to eat lunch in The Dalles in no particular order.  Some are old favorites and others are relatively new establishments.  All serve delicious food and drink. Montira's Thai     Montira's is the only thai place in town.  But that lack of competition doesn't keep them from delivering a quality product.  Other restaurants of the Asian  variety  have them beat as far as portion size and price go but they  serve  a quality product consistently.  I can't say that about many other places in town.     Montira's serves really great food for a decent price.  Just be warned if you ask for extra-spicy you will feel it all the next day...  But its worth it if you really like spicy. Spooky's     Spooky's is one of t...