Bunny Photos

Photography

Eldon came over to take some photos of Izzy the day after her birthday. It was starting to rain, so we put on Izzy's rain jacket and gave her some gardening tools to play for a few minutes while Eldon took some photos. Some of them really turned out cute - and he even got a nice photo of Sneakers!! Thanks, E!

Sneakers

Birthday Party!

Izzy's birthday party had all the elements of a good 2nd year party - fun, games, food, and a few hyper / cranky kids! We held it at the Mountlake Terrace Indoor Playground and while there were a ton of toys to play with, you can see that the big hit with the kids - young & old - was the ball pit!


After some serious monkeying around, we took a break for snacks & cupcakes - in Curious George style!
In an effort to avoid the burned finger from the candle like last year, I helped Izzy blow out the candle this year. This isn't a great photo, but due to the Curious George character sitting on top, Izzy couldn't wait to dig in!


After cake, it was time to open presents before heading back to play. Thank you to everyone for your generosity - Izzy loves her new toys! Two big hits were the baby doll (that Pasha is so carefully holding and feeding below) and the umbrella that all the kids were fighting over!

Birthday part 2

After breakfast, we got Izzy ready and headed downtown to her first KinderMusik class. We started mid-session, but it was the last spot available and I'm so glad we signed up. She had a blast in the class singing and dancing and SoundBridge is totally cool - you can check it out without having a class (https://www.seattlesymphony.org/soundbridge/ ).

When we got back from class, Gerald was out playing in the sun so we joined him for a bit:

Bikers

She hasn't quite figured out pedaling yet, but she scoots around on her tricycle - pretty cute.

A little Annika in the making.

Izzy's Birthday Weekend - Part I

Izzy's birthday was on March 6th and we had a busy weekend! I can't believe she's 2 already - though I must admit that her growing vocabulary and ability to do things on her own is really fun to observe. She can be a stinker at times (but who can't!), but all in all, we're pretty lucky to have such a sweet little girl.


Izzy's birthday weekend started with afternoon treats at daycare. Here are a couple of cute photos with Izzy and her friends:

Roxy, Pasha & Izzy

Izzy's actual birthday (Saturday) started off with a special birthday breakfast (she got to use the "special plate" for the first time!) followed with opening presents.

More photos to follow in another posting later...

Vacation - Part 2

... back in Puerto Rico...

After wandering around Puerto Rico for awhile on a hot and humid day, Gerald and I decided to take a rest at a little bar/restaurant in the middle of a hotel - it was beautiful, the food was great, and I had the BEST Mojito ever!
This is the house I would buy if I moved to Puerto Rico - it's overlooking the water and totally beautiful!

Rolling cigars in the square at the market.
We were ready to head back to the ship after a hot afternoon ashore, so we headed back to get cleaned up and have dinner on board. After dinner, I took a photo of Gerald's sunburn - that's what happens when you sit on a beach without sunscreen!! He felt better the next day, though!


The towel turkey...

DAY 5: St. Thomas, USVI

We didn't get many photos of St. Thomas because we headed over to St. John for snorkeling and didn't want to leave our camera on the beach. It turns out that we ended up shopping in St. John instead and it was the most beautiful of all of our destinations, but alas - only memories for us! Here are a few photos that we took at the ship pier.
There were about 10 iguanas hanging out on the rocks by the ship pier. Just chillin' in the sun. I got some cool photos of them...


Heading down to dinner.
The towel stingray we had waiting for us after dinner...



Day 6: At Sea

We slept in, sat by the pool, read books, and relaxed on our final day at sea. We didn't take any photos, but here's the towel animal of the day - an elephant!



Day 7: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Holland America owns a private island in the Bahamas - Half Moon Cay. Our final day was spent on the island - and it really was fantastic. I got a chance to snorkel and I actually saw a lot of fish! Gerald stayed on the beach and enjoyed the sun. Then we had a BBQ onshore - the food was great and it was nice to be able to eat in your swimsuit! After lunch, I headed back into the water for a bit before heading back to the boat. It was a really nice day!


The last meal of the cruise was a grand affair - singing and dancing and 5 courses. We took some photos of us in our goofy hats.


All in all - it was a great trip! Thanks to my family for watching Izzy for us and again to ArtsFund for the wonderful gift!