Visit to PA 2011
We headed to PA to visit and for my nephew’s wedding. We left very early in the morning in Seattle and arrived very late in Philadelphia. After a long day of flying we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. The kids were really tired and grumpy for most of the trip so by the time we arrived home we were exhausted. PA was much warmer than we are used to but had a great time playing in the yard, watching trucks drive past, and visiting with family.

While the trip home was awesome, the return trip home was miserable. It all started with toilet paper stuck to me after a bathroom visit. The flight attendant was rude, the kids were tired and grumpy and refused to take a nap. Every time the kids fell asleep they were woken up, which made them even more grumpy. While Zara was flipping out I turned sideways in my seat and my pants got caught on something and tore the entire side out. By the time we reached home we were again exhausted.

View photos of our PA Visit .

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

We took a few thousand pictures so it took us a while, but we’re finally getting around to posting our Europe vacation photos. Below are 5 new galleries.

We wanted to make the trip to see Zvonimir’s parents before Gabe and Zara needed their own airline seats. Airline tickets to Slovenia were much more expensive this year compared to years past so we ended up buying tickets to Venice, which is about 3 hours from Ljubljana. An added bonus was that our connections were through Philadelphia so we were able to find a 24 hour layover and meet up with Grandma, Pap, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Patty, and Aunt Sue before our flight to Europe!

It was great to see our family and perfect timing that Pappy could give Gabe his first haircut. We saved the cute little curl for his scrap book.

View the pictures from our Vacation 2011 – Philadelphia family visit.

The next evening we had an overnight flight to Venice. We assumed that since it was a night flight that Gabe & Zara would sleep through the flight. We assumed wrong!! The kids are not used to being held while they tried to sleep, so that was a problem, as were the lights, people were walking around, and not having any room to spread out (you can’t sit in the same row with twins because you need an extra oxygen mask).  They also started the I want mommy and no one else phase so they were only happy when Amy was holding them (which a stewardess pointed out was not allowed).  Unfortunately, we were “those people” with the screaming kid (times 2!) and nothing we did made them stop crying.

We arrived in Venice with two grumpy kids and 2 very tired and stressed out parents. We were very happy that we booked a hotel in Venice because we were exhausted and in no shape to drive the 3 hours to Slovenia.

After trying several cars before we found one large enough to fit us and our stuff, we headed to the hotel, just outside of the old city. After we took a nice nap, we took the bus to the old part of Venice and rode the water taxi around the city. We enjoyed a beautiful dinner al fresco in the back streets of Venice. It is a beautiful place and worth the visit. I wish we had more time to explore!

View our Venice pictures.

The kids were wide awake at 2 am so it was a rough night with little sleep, but overall we were glad we stayed overnight in Venice. The next day we headed to Slovenia to see Baba and Dide (Grandma and Grandpa). It was much warmer in Slovenia than at home so was a tough adjustment. The kids also did not adjust well to the time change so sleep was tough for everyone. We had a great time taking walks, visiting the playground and markets in Slovenia, and catching up with friends. The kids had a great time with their grandparents and loved spending the days watching dogs and playing in the park.

View pictures from our Vacation 2011 – Slovenia visit.

Next, we headed to our family house on the Croatian coast. Lucija, Erwin and Eva flew in from France to meet us in Croatia. The kids are only a month apart so it was really fun to have the whole family under one roof. It was also great to catch up with our Croatian family and friends in Murter.

The weather in Croatia was quite warm but the kids loved exploring the patio at home. When we arrived in Croatia, both kids were still pretty shaky with their walking so they often ended up crawling then pulling themselves up. They did not like crawling on the rough patio stones so they learned to walk a little more quickly as a result. Grandpa also taught the kids to throw stones into the sea in Croatia so this was hours of fun.

View our Croatia pictures.

After our visit to Croatia, we returned to Slovenia for the remainder of our trip. On the drive back to Ljubljana, we stopped at Zvonimir’s grandparents homestead in Slovenia. The area looks very similar to where Amy’s grandparents lived in Pennsylvania. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the stairs of the house and were greeted by a very friendly cat whose calm demeanor, despite 2 non-gentile kids, earned him some prosciutto from our sandwiches! Before the final leg of our journey to Ljubljana, we visited our cousins who live nearby. We had not seen them in a few years so it was great to say hello!

View our pictures from our last week in Slovenia.

The flights back to Seattle were very long but luckily we had an awesome gate agent who, not only blocked the entire bulk-head row but also gave us 3 seats behind that road so we had enough room to spread out and for the kids to take a nap.  Unfortunately Zara flat out refused to sleep so she was a mooing mess (she sounds like a cow mooing when she is tired, upset, etc.).  Gabe was a little happier after a 3 hour nap but the flight seemed never ending.  When we finally got to Philadelphia the kids we had to rush to make it through customs and to our next flight.  By the time we got on the flight the kids were so exhausted that they crashed and slept the entire trip to Seattle.  We were extremely happy to be home after a 26+ hour day!!

Posted in Europe, Friends & Family, Slovenia & Croatia 79 Comments »

Rita had planned to come to SF to visit her daughter Jeanne and her family and we thought it was a great excuse for a road trip! We love going to SF and were very excited to see Rita, Jeanne and family and our friends Chuck, Jessica, and Malina.

Our trip started off a bit rocky when we learned that our flight was a few hours behind schedule. This was a quick weekend getaway so we weren’t happy to have our time in SF cut short. While we waited to board the plane, we sat in the airport and watched the flights arriving. Gabe licked the entire window clean (yuck!) and both he and Zara were in great moods. Hopefully we are raising kids who like to travel!

Things started looking up when we got upgraded to first class! We even had an extra seat so Gabe took full advantage of the legroom.

We had a really fun visit with Chuck and Jessica. It was so fun to see Malina at 2 and imagine how hectic life will be when Gabe & Zara are walking and talking and have opinions! Gabe and Zara played in the sand on the beach for the first time. Gabe ate 3 handfuls of sand and would have gone for more if we had stayed longer.

We also met up with my former roommate’s brother and sister in law, who happens to live in the same neighborhood as Chuck and Jessica. It was nice to finally meet someone I had heard about for years!

We had a great visit to the Academy of Science. Gabe and Zara love birds so the Amazon exhibit was really great for them. There were butterflies and birds everywhere. The kids were so sleepy but had so much to keep them busy! They also got a kick out of the penguins exhibit.

We finished off our weekend by spending the day at Jeanne and Spencer’s house visiting with their children and Rita. We had an amazing day and a quick but yummy meal on the grill before heading off to the airport.
Seattle has been quite rainy this year so it was quite nice to be outside in some beautiful weather and it’s always nice to be in SF visiting friends!

View our San Francisco photos.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Travel 780 Comments »

We decided to spend the beginning of November visiting our family back east in lieu of dealing with the crowds during Thanksgiving. Zara and Gabe were squirmy on the flight but did well overall. We had a nice week in my hometown visiting friends and family in PA. Unlike our first trip to PA, Gabe and Zara no longer stayed where you put them, so it was a full time job making sure they didn’t get into trouble!

On our return trip we spent a few days in the DC area to catch up with friends and family there. We were able to find a hotel with a 2 bedroom suite with a living room so it worked out great! It was great to see our friends and family in DC as well!

The return flight did not go as well as the outbound flight. We arrived at the airport early and set up our “gypsy” camp in a quiet corner. The kids were able to get a good nap in before our flight. We headed to the gate a little later than we hoped and the flight was already boarding. We quickly changed the kids and picked up food for us. Z broke down the stroller and packed it and the 2 car seats in bags to check at the gate. I took both kids, the diaper backpack and the Pullman full of the toys, milk, bottles, and other essentials and boarded the plane. Unfortunately, no one offered to help me lift the Pullman to the overhead compartment and the lady behind me took the only spot left for a bag so we were forced to check the bag. I quickly unpacked the milk and bottles and other essentials (or so I thought). As we pulled onto the runway Z asked for a toy for Gabe…. My heart sunk when I realized I had checked every single toy we had. It was a long 6 hours but thanks to an extra outfit and plastic water bottle (which they chewed on), we survived!

View photos of our PA Visit.

Posted in Friends & Family, Gabriel and Zara, Travel 84 Comments »

My siblings usually all go home for the Fulton Fall Folk Festival. This is my hometown’s “homecoming” of sorts and is really a big tractor parade. It’s always good to have everyone home and eat some of mom’s cooking!

View my FFFF pictures .

Posted in Friends & Family, Travel 63 Comments »