October was a beautiful month here so we spent a lot of time at the park. Gabe loves walking to the park but Zara would prefer to be carried!

We enjoyed a beautiful weekend at Fort Worden state park on the Olympic peninsula where we celebrated Willow and Jonathan’s wedding. Their wedding was on a former military base where the former military housing can be rented out. While the houses have not been updated for quite some time, they are large fully furnished and a great value. Our unit was a 4 bedroom portion of a house that was bigger than our own house. The wedding was very nice and Gabe & Zara did their best to be quiet (they weren’t very successful!).

Gabe continues to be very shy around strangers. His latest thing is to cover one eye when a stranger looks at or speaks to him. Zara could care less about strangers!

We also attended Croatiafest, a local festival to celebrate the Croatian culture. Gabe and Zara wore their Murter tee shirts to show their Murter pride.

The kiddos have started trying to repeat words we say. They love hiding their face and saying “boo.” They also love blowing kisses and have even started giving kisses. When they hit you or give you a boo boo you can expect a big wet kiss with sound effects (mwah!). One night Z heard the kids talking after we put them down for bed. After a while he heard Gabe say “Za-Za”, no response from Zara then “Zaaaa-Za.” It cracked us up so from time to time we call Zara Za-Za.

This year we dressed up as the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf. We didn’t really trick or treat but it gives us a reason to stop and meet our neighbors once a year.

View our October 2011 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Weddings 99 Comments »

We continued to take advantage of the beautiful weather by spending a lot of September outdoors. We took a road trip to Mount Rainier where we hiked up towards the glacier. It was a clear day but it was extremely hot and the mosquitoes and flies were biting like crazy (of course they didn’t bite Z!). The kids got to touch the snow in the glacier and were not sure what to think of it. It always amazes me that there are patches of snow when it’s so hot! Another weekend was spent driving several hours away to hike to a beautiful alpine lake. The kids did very well on the hike up and loved playing in the eating the wild blueberries along the way. It was a lot of fun and we were all exhausted by the time we made it back home!
 

Gabe and Zara are doing great. They are really starting to chatter and say odd things like mailman, backpack and Nah-nah (their word for Maggie). We’re continuously working on sharing… some days go better than others! They both learned how to blow kisses and get a big kick out of Skype calls! They are also growing – a lot! They were both above the 98% in height for their age and seem to be growing out of clothes quickly!

Gabe often takes a book, toy, or some other item as a trade when Zara has something he wants. If that doesn’t work brute force is applied. He has learned to milk every “boo boo” to the max and will search his body for a boo-boo when sympathy is needed (or if you ask him about his boo-boo). Long after the scrape on his knee was healed he continued to bring it to our attention and need a kiss/ hug. He’s quite the drama queen! Gabe is our little snuggler. He loves to cuddle and give kisses. For a long time Gabe didn’t seem interested in chatting but it seems now that he’s more of a chatterbox than Zara. Gabe loves to walk to the park and happily holds your hand or if he has on the backpack with a leash, he’ll bring you the leash to hold onto.

Zara, on the other hand is miss independent!!! She refuses to hold your hand, and gets very angry if try to hold her hand or hold onto her backpack leash. In fact, at times she will just lie on the ground and refuse to move if you try to hold on. Zara, no angel herself, has learned that quick feet, squealing like a pig, and if all else fails, sharp teeth ensure brother cannot take what she’s playing with. Zara loves to grab a book and sit on your lap. We joke that Zara acts more like a cat. When she wants love and affection she’ll sit on your lap but do not try and make her sit on your lap if it’s not her idea!

They crack each other up often. They chat back in forth when we put them down for bed, pass food back and forth during meal time (because the black beans on one try look SO different on the other tray!). When one giggles it’s usually not long until the other is giggling. They are the first one by the other’s side if there are tears. The one not in trouble will at times sit down with the other in time out (or brings toys to the one in time out). All biting, tackling, hitting aside, it’s obvious they have a great bond and love each other.

View our September 2011 photos .

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara 75 Comments »