We had a great end of September and October. We spent a lot of time hiking. Unfortunately the one weekend our friend Carrie was in town we had horrible weather and she didn’t really get to see the Seattle that we love.

We also took a trip to our favorite farm to pick out pumpkins. The kids love going to the farm and we had a really amazing day there. The only downer was that we saw the kittens that Farmer Nate had offered and they were beautiful but Dad isn’t ready to have another pet just yet.

View our pictures from our October photos.

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We wanted to take a trip to see our families before Z got a new job so we decided to see both sets of parents in a combined trip. We planned for a little over two weeks and we went from Seattle to Chicago to DC via airplane then drove to PA to visit Amy’s family. We decided to put Amy between Gabe & Zara on the airplane and this proved to be a smart choice. The kids did really well on the flights and since Amy was sitting between them, they were not able to fight and hit each other or fight over toys. We loved seeing our family and friends and the kids had a great time playing in the yard.

View our pictures from our PA vacation 2013 photos.

We drove back to DC after 5 short days and had a night flight to Munich, Germany then on to Split, Croatia. We were able to get 4 seats together and again put Amy in between Zara and Gabe. Our flight took off after 10pm so the kids were very tired. The personal TVs on each seat were very exciting to the kids and as a result they refused to sleep. Zara fell asleep first and while Gabe was tired he refused to sleep until about midnight. We arrived in Munich tired and hungry but in relatively good moods. We ate a quick sandwich and boarded our flight to Split. Baba and Dide greeted us at the Split airport and helped to entertain the kids while Zvonimir got the car seats into the rental car. The night flight worked out perfectly as we arrived in Murter late in the evening and were able to escape the jet lag that usually comes with international travel.

Our house in Murter has a great outdoor space so we spent the majority of the week outside playing in the courtyard. We took the kids’ life jackets with us and the kids were very excited to try them out with a ride on Dide’s boat. Every day after breakfast we took the boat to a beach. The kids don’t really remember the ocean from our past trips so they were a bit scared of the water and Zara is cold when it’s 80 degrees out so she had a difficult time adjusting to the chilly water. The kids loved playing with their shovels and buckets and spent the majority of time doing this.

We enjoyed some great food while in Croatia. We love when we fire up the grill and make cevapcici (a pork/beef patty). This year we were lucky enough to be in Croatia during fig season so each day we picked fresh figs off of the tree. Amy had made figs wrapped in prosciutto in the states but this year we were able to make it with fresh ingredients and it was delicious. Zvonimir’s dad and aunt thought this sounded strange and is not something the locals eat but they also enjoyed the new treat! We also celebrated Amy’s birthday while in Croatia with a wonderful cake.

We were also very excited to spend some time with Aunt Lucija and cousin Eva who came to visit us from Munich.

On our flight back we flew through Frankfurt and spent a night there before having a direct flight back to Seattle. The hotel we stayed in was right in the airport and train station and there were plenty of food options. We picked a traditional pub and enjoyed a wonderful German style dinner before calling it a night. The next day we had an early flight. The kids did a really great job on the flight back. They never cried and we had plenty of toys to keep them busy.

After the flight landed and everyone was standing and waiting to get off the plane (and it was exceptionally quiet) Gabe announced that he had a penis. At least we ended the trip with a bit of humor!

View our pictures from our Croatia vacation 2013 photos.

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Amy’s company rented a boat for Seafair – a big festival on the lake. It was a gorgeous day and one of the few dates mom and dad have gone on in a long time!

We also had fun at the zoo, playing in a sprinkler at a birthday party and at the beach. Amy’s company family picnic was held at a wonderful farm near the city. We had been to the farm last year during pumpkin season so it was a much different experience when there were less than 100 people versus the thousands who are there during pumpkin season! The kids had a blast playing with the water pumps, jumping on the air cushion and riding the different tractors.

We were extremely sad to say goodbye to our sweet girl Maggie in August. She had faced months of stomach problems that could not be resolved. Saying goodbye was very hard for us. Gabe & Zara talk about Maggie every day and we all miss her. We love you Maggie Mags.

View our August 2013 photos.

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