Audrey's 4

Audrey celebrated her birthday with friends and cupcates in the park. Later that evening, we had friends and family over for fish and chips. Then, on the weekend she took her first ride up to the top of the Space Needle. Happy 4th, Baby Girl!

Audrey's 4th Birthday Album

Spring Has Sprung

Spring & Easter Album

We've been trying to get out and enjoy the dry weather. We took an outing to the Olympic Sculpture Park and had a great time running around the big art (or, should that be Art with a big "A"). Piper made friends with a sweet dog but she was quickly de-friended when she licked Piper on the face. The DeVadder's graciously had us over for Easter since we didn't have grass in the yard, yet. It didn't matter anyway, since it rained. We're looking forward to some more dry weather.

Daddy's 40

Daddy turned 40 and we celebrated with cobbler, steaks, friends & family.

Teddy's 40th Birthday Album

Business Lunch

Audrey's been working on some milestones and chose to have lunch with Daddy at work to celebrate.

Off to the Mountains

Leavenworth 2009 Album

Last weekend we moved into our new house. So, we thought it would be a good excuse to head up to the mountains. We figured we'd be sick of unpacking and looking for things that we didn't remember putting away.

We had a great time hanging out with friends, relaxing and playing in the snow. There was just enough for some sledding and feeble attempts at skiing. Piper's continuing her injury-while-on-vacation streak. This time - some road rash from a sledding crash. We took walks through the pear orchards, ate tons of food, stayed up late, and tried to sleep in. But, alas, we returned home and the boxes are calling to be unpacked.

Piper's 2nd Birthday

Baby Girl is two. Birthdays around here seem to be epic. We had birthday brunch with Aunt Cassie, Uncle David, Cousin Panda, Grandpa & Mimi. Mimi made cupcakes and let us help with the decorating. Then we had birthday dinner at Tutta Bella and finished off our pizza with some gelato (PINK for the birthday girl). Then, the next morning we had all of our pals over to the Ravenna Eckstein gym for some running around and fun. Oh yeah, and purple, purple everything! Finally, Piper got her birthday crown from Teacher Karen. Happy birthday, Piper P!

Piper's 2nd Birthday Album

Welcome, Panda Jeanne

Welcome Panda Album

On December 28th, we welcomed our new baby cousin into the world!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Christmas 2008 Album

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with family and friends. It was a memorable holiday season - awaiting the arrival of our baby cousin, spending time with Mimi & Grandpa, sipping cocoa at Greenlake, playing in the season's first snow, missing the Great Snow Storm of 2008, playing in the surf and sand, introducing Tutu and Colin to the Wonder Pets, and waking up to a note from Santa and stuffed stockings! Happy Holidays, everyone!

We Oughta Be In Pictures

Family Pics Album 2008

We had some family photos taken at Gasworks Park, here in Seattle. I think they really capture the beautiful spirit of my girls!

Napa Valley

Mama & Daddy enjoyed a weekend away in Napa Valley.

Napa Album

Haloween 2008

Halloween 2008 Album

We've been enjoying fall. We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, we raked leaves, we made pie. Best of all, we dressed up like cats and went Trick-or-Treating! Now we ask Mama everyday if we can have CANDY!

Landry's 4th Birthday

Our buddy, Landry, celebrated his 4th birthday. We had a blast at his Little Gym Party! Then we took Landry & his big sister, Lillian, to go see the Backyardigans.

Landry's Birthday 2008 Album

Senna's Christening

Senna's Christening

Mama headed back East for some girlfriend & baby-holding time. She had dinner with Nanny & Papa, hung out with Auntie Deena, and went to baby Senna's christening. She caught up with some other high school friends and the McGarrys. Congratulations to Erin & Ray for two beautiful, sweet children.

Growing Girls

Here are some extra pictures from the summer. Piper's now the age Audrey was when Piper was born! Time goes by fast.

Tutu!

Tutu, Colin, and their friend, Bill, came to the mainland for a visit. We had a great time visiting with them. Here's a picture of us having lunch with Tutu after a visit to the Children's Museum.

64 Degrees, Cloudy

Annual Oregon Pilgrimage

Black Butte 2008 Album

We hit the road for our annual pilgrimage to Oregon. We started our visit in Central Oregon with dinner with Great Great Aunt Irene, Great Aunt Hollye & Great Uncle Duane, and Grandpa & Mimi. Then we settled into our cabin at Black Butte Ranch. This year we rented a separate cabin from the Burk/Ellis' but we were only a block away. The kids had a great time riding their bikes back and forth between houses. We had a great time with Lillian and Landry swimming, playing on the golf course after hours, and much, much more. A highlight was watching the horses in the meadow and feeding them carrots. Although, Audrey got a little scared and said, "I don't want them to eat me!" We toured of the fire station...a perfect activity for a rainy day.

Eugene/Florence Album

After a week in Black Butte, we headed to Eugene and Florence. We hung out with Mimi, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Parker in Eugene and visited with Great Grandma Egan. Grandpa was teaching tracking school in Minnesota. Then we headed out to the beach to visit with Grandpa Bing and Norma. They made us a wonderful beach picnic and we had fun digging in the sand. By coincidence, Daddy's friend Mark was also at the beach. We stayed overnight at their cabin on Mercer Lake. We got to meet Baby Annabelle and hang out with Jack, and their two dogs. Again, Audrey was scared that they would eat her! Finally, on our way back home, we stopped in to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Koehn and strip their blueberry bushes of berries!

We had such a great time catching up with everyone and can't wait to see you all again soon.

Chong Family Visit

The Chong's decended on our house for a week long visit. It was nice to have grandparents, nieces, aunt and uncle in our house. But, they kept us so busy! We went to the beach at Golden Gardens, picked blueberries at the Mercer Slough, rode the rides at Seattle Center, and visited the Pacific Science Center. Audrey & Piper had Bi-Bim-Bap for the first time (A didn't care for it, P loved it) and, we had cupcakes for Mama's birthday. Thank you Chong's!

Chong Family visit Album

Tino & Sue's Wedding

Tino & Sue's Wedding Album

Our friends Tino & Sue got married this past weekend. It was the most kid friendly wedding we've ever been to. First, a ceremony at the Rose Garden at Woodland Park. Then, a reception at Bell Harbor Pier. There were kid's meals and a play room. Audrey & Piper had a blast...we had to drag them off the dance floor at 10pm!

Leavenworth

Leavenworth 2008 Album

We headed back to Leavenworth for a long 4th of July weekend. This time we stayed in a nice house on the Icicle River just a few minutes from town. Supposedly, there is some decent fishing from the backyard of this house. The owners dropped by a couple of fillets from a fish they had just caught a couple of days earlier! It was a little tough but had great flavor.

Again, we were joined by the DeVadders and Gardners (4.5 kids). The Landretti/Radus sadly missed this year's get away opting for a family reunion in Kauai, Hawaii (we were sad they were not with us, but I'm sure they were not sad as they basked in the island sun and surf!).

It's amazing that all these vacation rentals now have wireless Internet connections. It allowed both Johan and Eriko to come out a day earlier by working remotely while on vacation.

The kids had a great time together. Piper held her own with the big kids and slept in as a result (thank goodness, she had been getting up at 6am!). Audrey & Miya loved directing the play in the "Airplane" which actually was a sauna. And, Jules was a brave soul playing in the pool filled with ice-cold water. I have to say that vacationing with friends with kids is pretty sweet: zone parenting, having someone different cook you dinner each night, the kids have playmates from dawn to dusk, adult conversation with people who don't mind that you mostly talk about your kids, etc. I think the only frustration we had was trying to have all the adults sit down for dinner at the same time. We found that Popsicles could buy us five minutes of peace and quiet. Maybe next year we need to get bigger Popsicles.