We are very far behind in posting pictures so here is our November update. We started off the month with a fun party to celebrate Halloween and our friend Annie’s birthday. We spent one day with our friends taking photos of our family but it’s like herding cats when taking pictures of Gabe and Zara – you never know what you’re going to get! We had a lot of fun riding our bikes outside this month. Aunt Debbie came to visit us over Thanksgiving and we had so much fun showing her our favorite park and taking her for hikes.

View our pictures from our November photos.

Posted in Activities, Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Outdoor activities 76 Comments »

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.

Posted in Europe, Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, PA, Travel 97 Comments »

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.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara 107 Comments »

Summer was beautiful in Seattle and we love spending our weekends enjoying the outdoors. One weekend we went for a bike ride and Z pulled the kids behind his bike on the John Wayne Trail. The kids continue to fight all of the time and at one point Gabe yelled for Z to stop the bike. When we stopped Gabe said he was soaking wet because Zara spilled her water on him. Amy assured him that it was just an accident when Zara piped in “no it wasn’t it was on purpose!”

The kids have started a habit of sleeping together. We didn’t even know they were doing it until we went into their room one morning and found Gabe in Zara’s bed. For the next few weeks we would hear one of them say to the other “do you want to cuddle.” It’s pretty funny how close they are but how much they continue to fight!

View our July 2013 photos.

Posted in Gabriel and Zara, Outdoor activities, Seattle 106 Comments »

Summer finally arrived in June and we had a fun-packed month. We started off the month attending a “Touch-a-Truck” event. We thought the kids would love the event because they loved trucks. The event had motorcycles, dump trucks, diggers, trash trucks, fire and rescue trucks and police cars as well as many other vehicles. The kids were so incredibly shy that they would barely move from our side. It took them a long time to warm up to the event but once they did, they enjoyed it very much.

The kids continue to do well in school. Their teacher commented to us that the kids have great manners and are so loving to one another. It’s ironic that we rarely see them being nice to one another!

We did a couple of fun hikes in June including a 2 hour roundtrip hike where the kids walked the entire way. They enjoyed looking for mushrooms and for bugs, and picking up pine cones. They fell asleep on the way home and then climbed onto the couch and wouldn’t get up for hours.

Our cat Maggie started really going downhill in June. She was diagnosed with severe irritable bowel syndrome and the doctors couldn’t give us any real answers on what her prognosis might be.

View our June 2013 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Outdoor activities 91 Comments »