Cooling Off

We had some beautiful weather this week, and Soren and Joyce headed over to a local water park to cool off.  Soren loved playing with the orcas, getting in some good practice for our upcoming whale watching trip!

Fa and FaFa in Seattle

Our friends Fabrizio and Fabiana visited us from Miami for the weekend (and to run in the Rock 'n Roll Marathon).  After some perfect running weather for the race (the usual grey skies and threat of rain), the clouds rolled away and we enjoyed a beautiful Sunday outing to the sculpture park.  We think a return visit to Miami is only fair...this time in the middle of winter!

 

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day, including a fantastic homemade brunch with Grandpa and Grandma Becky.  Amelia and Soren got Daddy one of the giant Costco vodka bottles that inspired Washington's recent alcohol privatization (so we don't need anyone to bring vodka to a party, ever)!  And we capped things off with the kids' first tennis lesson.  After some initial hesitation, Amelia jumped in and spent about half an hour hitting forehands and volleys alone with the teacher.  Hopefully, we'll be having family tennis matches sometime soon!

 

 

Last Day of School & Daycare

Amelia finished up her first year at FASPS with Crazy Hair Day...she certainly had the craziest hair in her class, but (thankfully) decided that this look was only for special days.  Meanwhile, Soren had his last day at Bright Horizons and said goodbye to his two teachers, Ms. Sara and Ms. Dana.  He really had a great time in their Two's Two room, and will really miss his crazy dances and bubble-blowing with Ms. Dana, but he is really excited to start at FASPS in the fall!  After both kids finished up, we had a celebratory dinner at the brewpub with Goggy.

Little Tony Hawk

No question about Soren's favorite birthday present:  his new skateboard.  We've been going to local skateboard parks for a while so he can watch the skateboarders, and as you can see, he was thrilled to get his own board.  Soren has been practicing as much as he can, and is hoping to take a turn in the bowl later this summer...keep tuned for details!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Soren!

The birthday weekend fun continued on Sunday with Soren's birthday.  After Soren opened some fun presents in the morning (see the next post for his favorite one), we had a big birthday party for both kids at the Seattle Gymnastics Academy.  Amelia and Soren had a great time playing with their friends from school, opening presents and having some of Nana's special hedgehog birthday cakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Amelia!

Amelia has been very clear about what she wanted to do for her birthday this year:  lunch at the Space Needle's rotating restaurant.  Luckily, we got a beautiful day, and the experience was as good as we could have hoped for.  Nana, Taid, Goggy, Grandpa and Grandma Becky joined us for a tasty lunch, topped off with a Lunar Orbiter smoking-cold ice cream sundae for the kids to split!  And Amelia got some happy birthday wishes from other diners on the note we posted on the wall of the restaurant.  She is already asking to go again next year.

 

Nana and Taid's Visit

Nana and Taid came out to visit for a few days and help us celebrate the kids' birthdays.  We lucked into some pretty good weather and spent a lot of time playing in the backyard and various playgrounds, where Amelia showed off her new-found mastery of the monkey bars.  Here are a few of our favorite shots.