We had planned for Amy’s sister Deb to visit and help with the kids during the first week of August when Ciara, our nanny was in Ireland on vacation. Z had a last minute business meeting in China the last week in July so we knew the week would be crazy for Amy before Ciara left on vacation. The day Z left for China, Amy and the kids went to a pick your own blueberry farm. The kids ate far more blueberries than they paid for and we had a few incidents of turning the buckets upside down but all in all it was a huge success and something we’ll do again next year.

On Monday morning, Amy reminded Ciara that with Z gone it would mean she would have to work more hours. Ciara’s response – you do remember I’m leaving for vacation on Wednesday, right? OH CRAP. No, the dates were in Amy’s old work calendar that she lost when she changed jobs. Somehow the dates had never made their way to Z’s calendar so he had no idea Ciara was gone (and Amy’s CEO would be in town) when he picked the dates to go to China. This meant Amy was alone with no child care, a new job and a her CEO being in town and no Z to help. UT-O looks like it’s going to be a stressful week!

Let’s just say it was a little stressful for a few days but fortunately, our previous nanny’s daughter Chelsea had just graduated from high school and was willing to take on the challenge. Thank goodness she was a trooper and saved us! The only problem that she ran into was that Gabe, who tends to be a little shy with strangers, hid in the corner of his crib and refused to get out. After a little coaxing and the promise of play dough, he came out and warmed to Chelsea. The week was crazy but Amy and the kids survived no problem. The kids were super excited to see Daddy when he returned from China and they were also excited because Aunt Debbie visited to watch them the following week.

Debbie and the kids had a lot of fun while she visited and fortunately she wasn’t freezing when she visited!! We did all sorts of fun things like the Salmon ladder, Pike’s place, and a yummy waterfront dinner. Aunt Debbie and Amy also went whale watching. It was a beautiful day and pretty scenery but I don’t know that Amy is one for “hunting” for things. It was great to have Aunt Debbie visit! We can’t wait for her to come again soon!

Aunt Debbie left a day too early and missed out on the fun of Seafare (she said she had to work or something silly like that!). Seafare is a big summer festival in Seattle. There are parades and boat races, and the coolest part is the Navy Blue Angels show. Our friend Bryley lives right on the lakefront where the planes fly so we were lucky enough to have a front row seat. It was very hot and loud so we’re not sure that the kids loved it this year but it played them out and they took a very long nap!

View our August 2012 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Outdoor activities, Seattle 93 Comments »

We returned from Croatia to a cool Seattle summer. We planned a last minute trip to PA less than 2 weeks after our return from Europe. This was our first red-eye with the kids and by the time we made it to PA we were exhausted (not to mention dying from the heat and humidity!). Since Amy’s new company is based in the DC area she planned to spend one day working out of the DC office to meet with the founders. The kids stayed in PA with Aunt Patty and Grandma in charge while mom and dad had their first night away (ever!). The kids had a blast playing play dough and barely noticed we were missing. It was a super quick trip but we were really glad we made the trip and got to spend time with Amy’s family.

View our July 2012 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, PA, Travel 5 Comments »

The week before we left for Europe there was an article in the Seattle newspaper that talked about how a father and child were kicked off of a flight because the child was throwing a fit. We were a little worried this might also happen to us when Gabe decided to throw a major fit for the first 45 minutes of our flight. We have no idea what was wrong but he was not a happy camper and did NOT want to be strapped into the seat. Once he calmed down they were both in a great mood. In fact, they were so giddy that they kept each other awake until we were an hour from Germany. Every time Gabe would fall asleep Zara would hit him and yell “Babriel. Babriel Karl.” Gabe he would return the favor yelling Zaza or Zawa. We tried our best to keep them entertained by offering them something new every hour and with the exception of a yell or loud giggle, they did pretty well. It was a really long trip and pretty tough on us all so we were very happy when we arrived to Europe.

The kids were super excited to see Baba and Dide (Grandma and Grandpa) in person. The kids are usually very shy when they don’t know people well but since we often skype with Baba and Dide, the kids were comfortable right away. We were able to spend a few days with Aunt Lucija and cousin Eva in Slovenia before they returned to France. Zara and Eva were fast friends. Zara was super interested in Eva and wanted to hug, kiss, and hold hands with her. It was super cute. Gabe was too busy to care about the girls and didn’t really know what to make of them. Zara fell in love with an old teddy bear that Eva had claimed so it will forever be known as “Eva’s bear.” Zara was surprisingly good about giving Eva her bear back.

After a few days we headed to our house in Croatia. Zara and Gabe had a lot of fun running on our outside terrace playing with the large toy truck and wheel barrow Baba and Dide bought. These were a huge hit and provided hours and hours of entertainment. The kids had a blast in Croatia. They loved going to the beach and playing in the sand, running with their toy truck / wheel barrow, and swimming.

Europe was much hotter than we’re used to in Seattle! We forgot how miserable hot summer nights can be! The kids didn’t mind the heat – this meant more playing in the water and more ice cream – a novelty they experienced several times on this trip!

View our Vacation 2012 photos.

Posted in Europe, Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Slovenia & Croatia, Travel 6 Comments »

We had a lot to celebrate in May. Zvonimir turned 40 (though he didn’t want to celebrate!) and we had a low key weekend at home. We went hiking and had a date night on the town. We also celebrated Amy’s new job. After 15 years at her old company, she took a new job working for a very small consulting firm.

Gabe and Zara are chatting up a storm. They get very frustrated when you don’t understand them but they seem to understand each other just fine. They learned at Gymboree to clean up when they are done playing with toys so they sing “Clean up clean up, everybody clean up.” They’re pretty good about putting their toys away. They also developed a love for play dough. It seems that they would be happy playing with play dough 24 hours a day! A recent ploy to get out of going to sleep is that they have to give Maggie a treat before they go to bed. At first Maggie was terrified and stayed as far away as possible, but it seems that now she’s starting to get it that she’ll get a treat if she’s there.

View our May 2012 photos.

Posted in Activities, Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Outdoor activities, Seattle 75 Comments »

We’re late in posting the last two months of pictures so we have two months March and April below:

The kids turned 2 in March and we celebrated with a big birthday party at Gymboree with a bunch of friends. The kids all had fun and the birthday cake was a big hit.
The kids go to Gymboree every week with Ciara. They love going to Gymboree so they can run and jump. Gabe learned how to jump and was hopping like a frog all over the house. Zara didn’t pick up on jumping as quickly as Gabe. She would proudly stomp one foot on the ground when we told her to jump. For whatever reason they started putting a book on the floor and jumping off of it. This provided hours of entertainment.

We took the kids to swim lessons at our gym. They love being in the pool and especially love jumping off the side into the water. They are pretty fearless and going under the water does not seem to bother them.

The kids started saying “I love you” back when we said it to them (really it sounded like “ri-rove-ru” but it still made my heart melt) and I started saying “I love you more.” We soon started having a banter back and forth when we said said I love you and “un-un, I love you more.” It is pretty cute!

View our March 2012 photos.

April.
I bought the kids a harmonica and they love playing it. It’s so much fun to watch them learn how to play it!

Z was out of town for a few days and I dropped some applesauce I was feeding to Gabe. As I dropped it I said “Oh Crap” (it could have been worse!) and Gabe quickly repeated it….five hundred times! When Z returned home Gabe dropped his fork when eating dinner and said “oh Crap.” A few hours after the kids went to bed, Z and I were laughing about how Gabe said “oh Crap” and out of nowhere in his high pitched little boy voice Gabe yells “oh crap!”. Guess we are going to have to watch what we say even when we think they’re asleep!

View our April 2012 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara 94 Comments »