This year we celebrated Thanksgiving dinner at the Washington Athletic club. Our friend Jessica who had just moved to Seattle from Witchita also joined us for dinner. Z and I were also lucky enough to have a great date night and see Brandi Carlile in concert over the holiday break. It is always a great show and we had awesome seats.

We also took our first trip to the mountains this winter. There was already a good bit of snow on the ground and we had a blast playing in the snow.

This year our friends Jessica and John took our photo for our holiday card. It was a chilly day and the kids were not super excited to be out in the cold but we got some great photos!

View our November 2012 photos.

Posted in Activities, Family photos, Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Seattle 109 Comments »

I’m a little behind in updating our blog!! We have September and October pictures below.

Some of the highlights from the fall were:
– Hiking – we did lots of walks in Discovery Park. Picking up leaves and sticks is so much fun! Dad feeds us blackberries and we love them!
– Pumpkin picking and a hay ride at a local pumpkin patch
– Halloween – we dressed up as Raggedy Anne & Andy and everyone thought it was super cute! We had a lot of fun at our friends Halloween parties
– Bike riding – We got balance bikes – they’re bikes with no wheels. They’re supposed to be easier to learn on than training wheels. Gabe is a daredevil and wants to ride down the hills.
– We got to ride the new Ferris wheel downtown. It was Gabe’s idea but once we were in line he freaked out and wanted to go home. It’s pretty high!!

View our September 2012 photos.

View our October 2012 photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Seattle 81 Comments »

Thought you would enjoy:

March 2012:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpPU8zsDMyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6EhH709EZI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h36KTW1GEM0

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara 89 Comments »

In the car sight-seeing in Hawaii, Zvonimir and I were talking about an actress who was from Hawaii (Tia Carrera) and quoted the movie she was in that she was a fox. As we drove down the road Gabe, who pronounced Susanne’s name as Sudan yelled “Sudan’s a POX” (his word for Fox). Z and I were laughing so hard which made both he and Zara say it more. THe first time was by far the funniest but we thought this video was pretty cute as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnN2cd6tolM

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

We had talked about celebrating our birthdays in Hawaii and when our friend Susanne texted Amy and a few other friends about taking a trip together it was perfect timing. Amy quickly began researching houses. We were so excited to meet up with Jessica, Chuck, Malina and Logan from SF, Tracy, Doug and Billy from NY, and Susanne and Bill from Dallas.

Zvonimir, the kids and I arrived early to meet our friends Susanne and Bill in Waipouli on the east side of the island for the weekend. We rented a 2 bedroom condo that had a great living area, laundry in the room, and a great pool with slides. We were in a great location that allowed us to explore the north side of the island. Our first stop was Ke’e Beach bordering the Na Pali coast. We quickly learned that Kauai has two things – beautiful beaches and plenty of roosters! The story is that there was a big storm that blew a chicken coop over. The chickens escaped and have multiplied over the years. They are everywhere and they are LOUD! Despite her roots, Amy is a true city girl now. The garbage truck backing up the road (and beeping loudly) didn’t wake her but the rooster woke her daily.

After the weekend we headed south to Poipu where we met the rest of our friends. We rented a large 3 bedroom house and a neighboring 1 bedroom appt. to accommodate the group. Our house was across the street from the ocean. To the right was a “baby beach” that was protected by a break wall and to the right was a boogey boarding beach. The baby beach was perfect for the kids. They could play in the water without having to worry about waves or the rocks. It was also great for the parents because just 25 or so yards out there was a great reef and lots of fish and turtles. We also had a seal come up on the beach. It didn’t really move so the kids were a bit disinterested.

We had a blast in Hawaii and look forward to our next reunion.

View our Hawaii photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Hawaii, Travel 96 Comments »