Jan’s last day in the Cozi office!
It’s been a wonderful 6+ year adventure at Cozi. Jan founded the company with his friend, Robbie, back in March 2005. (Robbie’s in the brown shirt in the photo.) Cozi has done quite well over the years (despite the recession), and this year the business is doing better than ever. But for a while now, Jan’s been feeling that it’s time for something new. Back in the spring he and Robbie talked it over, and agreed the company was stable enough to survive Jan’s departure. Jan will continue working with the Cozi board and product team as an adviser, but today is his last day in the office as an employee.
To celebrate Jan’s time at the company, and take advantage of the amazing weather we’ve been having for the last few weeks, the office shuts down for the afternoon and the whole company goes on a kayak trip across on Lake Union and through the ship canal toward Lake Washington. The outing is followed with drinks and food at a restaurant on the water, where Robbie makes a nice farewell speech and presents Jan with a beautiful framed collage depicting the evolution of the Cozi product. Another Cozi friend, Joanna, presents him with a gorgeous photo book covering the history of the company in pictures. Everyone else stops by to share some memories.
It’s bittersweet to say goodbye, but Jan’s excited to take a break from office work. For the time being, he’ll be working from home on an independent software project, spending more time with the girls, and keeping an eye out for what might be next.
We spend the day at the Wild Waves water park. Angela’s been meaning to take the kids there all summer, so we’re just squeaking the trip in under the wire. Jan’s family comes to town for the weekend — Skye and Jared drive up from their new home in Salem, OR, and Chris flies up from S.F. — and Lyn joins in as well. A cabana serves as home base for the day, which includes many trips to the wave pool, the kid’s play area, the lazy river, the water slides, and the “raging river” tube ride. We cap off the day with a big family meal at an Indian restaurant on Capitol Hill.
The weather has been perfect for the past 2+ weeks: sunny, warm, but not too hot. We spend the afternoon at Madison Park Beach.
Family canoe trip through the Arboretum Wetlands. It’s Bree’s first time in a canoe! We make a brief detour up a dead-end waterway to find a geocache there (GC1NKR5). It’s really tiny, but we find it.
Jan takes Liya on a morning kayak paddle on Lake Union. It’s a perfect morning: sunny, no wind, almost no boat traffic. We have fun watching from underneath as the Fremont Bridge goes up, and also stop to pick some blackberries at the water’s edge.
Anya and Liya quietly pose for a traditional Back to School photo in front of our house.
Liya settles into her new desk on the first day of 3rd grade. She excited to have Mrs. Lord, the same teacher Anya had last year.
A fifth grader helps Anya figure out where her first class is. Anya’s moved up to the middle division of the school, which covers 4th and 5th grade. Unlike last year, this year Anya won’t have a single main class teacher, but instead will move between a number of teachers.
Bree: “Who is Aunt Skye married to?”
Angela: “Uncle Jared.”
Bree (gasps): “WHAT?!?”
Bree’s school year begins! This year she’s moved up to the Pre-K program. (Because she was born after the school year cutoff at Anya and Liya’s school, Bree will likely be in Pre-K for two years before moving to her sisters’ school.) Angela took Bree to school on the bus — which Bree loves to do.
We try stand-up paddleboarding on Lake Union. It’s fun, although when the wind picks up, the boards get somewhat tippy. This is the fourth time Jan’s been able to get out on the water for sone sort of paddle sport this week!
Anya’s 4th grade class is starting to practice touch-typing.
As Angela drove carpool today, she overheard Anya tell her friend, “Don’t tell too much. There’s a MOM in the car!”
These days all three girls have been asking Jan to read to them. He ends up reading straight from 7:15 to 8:30 every evening—so long that his voice gets tired.
Tonight’s selections:
Sabriya: “The Well at the End of the World”, by Robert D. San Souci and Rebecca Walsh
Liya: “The Westing Game”, by Ellen Raskin
Anya: “Nancy Drew #14: The Whispering Statue”, by Carolyn Keene
Jan and Chris meet in Phoenix, AZ, for a brotherly weekend. It’s about 60°F and overcast in Seattle, but about 105°F and blazing in Phoenix. The brothers spend some of the afternoon by the pool. When the sun gets low, they explore the nearby Desert Botanical Gardens, which turns out to be full of a mind-bendingly alien-looking cacti. Some of the cacti look like they could have been designed by Dr. Suess, if he’d had a thing for vicious-looking thorns.