GOLF:
BIKING:
Monday, August 31, 2009
Daddy's Little Girl
Izzy has really become a Daddy's girl lately. As you can see, she likes to do whatever her Daddy does...
GOLF:
BIKING:
GOLF:
BIKING:
Now & Then
I came across photos from Sofia's birthday party last year, so I just had to share some now & then photos:
NOW (August 2009):
THEN (August 2008):
NOW (August 2009):
THEN (August 2008):
Sofia's 4th Birthday
We headed over to Whidbey Island - just past deception pass - for Sofia Oximana's 4th Birthday party last weekend. Though I was born & raised in Washington, I've never been to Deception Pass, so it was pretty cool to finally see what all the buzz is about. It's beautiful - and we were fortunate to see it on a wonderful sunny day. The day as a whole was wonderful. We left early (Izzy slept in the car!) and drove north and then through the pass. We arrived around 11:30 to the park and in no time there was a ton of food, drinks, and friends to play with. It really was a great day - every time we hang out with the Oximanas we are reminded about how awesome their family and friends are. We really had a blast - and there were a ton of kids for Izzy to run around with. By the end of the day Izzy was cranky, but all in all it was just a great time.
The birthday girl
The birthday girl
Jason & Sofia
Rachel and Sofia
Izzy on the Dora chair (she just wouldn't take the hat off)
Izzy & Emily - they're about a year apart
Daddy's little football star
Sofia & her pinata
Uncle Sam helps Izzy pull the string on the pinata
The kids (and a few adults) with the birthday girl.
Sofia smiles while Izzy is much more interested in the cupcake...
Rachel and Sofia
Izzy on the Dora chair (she just wouldn't take the hat off)
Izzy & Emily - they're about a year apart
Daddy's little football star
Sofia & her pinata
Uncle Sam helps Izzy pull the string on the pinata
The kids (and a few adults) with the birthday girl.
Sofia smiles while Izzy is much more interested in the cupcake...
Water table fun.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Zoo with Jamie, Maryn & Maria
Izzy and I spent Friday morning with Jamie & Maryn at the zoo. We got there right when the zoo opened and it was raining a little bit. We started on the elephant trail because Maryn wanted to see the elephants, but they must have been sleeping because we couldn't find them anywhere! BUT ... the Siamangs, pythons, and orangutans were out and very social. The siamangs were so excited to see us that they stood right up on the ledge of the glass and reached their hands against the glass like they wanted to touch us. We got down to their level and were eye to eye with one of them. It was so cool. Actually, Izzy was kind of freaked out by it - I don't think she understands the concept of glass yet so I think she thought it was too close. It was truly amazing - I think it was one of my highlights at the zoo ever!
A bit later we made it over to the penguin exhibit. This time the penguins were mostly above water - maybe because it was cooler and overcast that day? Nonetheless, it wasn't as exciting as previous visits, but I still think it's Izzy's favorite thing at the zoo. Here are a few photos of Izzy and Maryn at the penguin exhibit:
A bit later we headed to the Northern trail and saw the brown bear and river otters. The brown bear actually plunged into the water and was walking along the bottom. It was so cool - I haven't seen the bears do that before! The otters were super playful and diving through the water and playing.
Just before lunch, we headed over to Zoomazium to let the girls play and get some energy out. It turned out that we were there at just the right time. At 11:30 they started playing music and gave the kids shakers so that they could dance with the music. Izzy and Maryn had a fun time dancing along - as you can see in these videos:
Maria joined us for lunch and a few afternoon exhibits. We started with the flamingos on the way over to the lemurs who were swinging from the trees. These photos of Jamie and Maryn and Maria were taken at the Colobus Monkey exhibit - if you look carefully in the tree behind Maria you can see the black and white monkey fur up on the tree!
A bit later we made it over to the penguin exhibit. This time the penguins were mostly above water - maybe because it was cooler and overcast that day? Nonetheless, it wasn't as exciting as previous visits, but I still think it's Izzy's favorite thing at the zoo. Here are a few photos of Izzy and Maryn at the penguin exhibit:
A bit later we headed to the Northern trail and saw the brown bear and river otters. The brown bear actually plunged into the water and was walking along the bottom. It was so cool - I haven't seen the bears do that before! The otters were super playful and diving through the water and playing.
Just before lunch, we headed over to Zoomazium to let the girls play and get some energy out. It turned out that we were there at just the right time. At 11:30 they started playing music and gave the kids shakers so that they could dance with the music. Izzy and Maryn had a fun time dancing along - as you can see in these videos:
Maria joined us for lunch and a few afternoon exhibits. We started with the flamingos on the way over to the lemurs who were swinging from the trees. These photos of Jamie and Maryn and Maria were taken at the Colobus Monkey exhibit - if you look carefully in the tree behind Maria you can see the black and white monkey fur up on the tree!
It was a really fun day - thanks to Jamie, Maryn, and Maria for sharing it with us!
Izzy's First M's Game
On Tuesday evening, Gerald, Izzy, and I headed to Safeco Field for the ArtsFund Campaign Celebration - they call it Diamond Club, but it's actually seats in Howard Lincoln's Owner's Suite. It actually turned out to be the perfect way for Izzy to see her first baseball game because she got to go up and down the stairs and take occasional breaks to watch the game. I ended up sitting on the stairs for most of the time so I could quickly take trips up and down with her, but it was fine because I got a chance to visit with a few friends during the laps up and down. Izzy's in a stage right now where she loves to clap and say "yay" when others do, so whenever the crowd cheered, she clapped and said yay. It was pretty cute. The weekend before the game I got her a super cute pink Ichiro shirt so she could show her spirit at the game, but of course she spilled watermelon and ketchup all over it and it's ruined now, but oh well - she had fun.
Izzy & Gerald on the way into the stadium - I love this photo.
Izzy & Gerald on the way into the stadium - I love this photo.
Family photo - of course the only one that turned out good was really dark - oh well, it works!
It's getting serious!
What's going on down there?
1st Mariner's Dog while wearing her over sized hat that the Mariner's staff gave her - they also gave her a backpack and a commemorative Safeco Field 10th Anniversary Train - everyone was so nice and accommodating of her. She's a lucky girl!
Yay!
Sitting with Daddy - notice the spillage ... she takes after me!
It's getting serious!
What's going on down there?
1st Mariner's Dog while wearing her over sized hat that the Mariner's staff gave her - they also gave her a backpack and a commemorative Safeco Field 10th Anniversary Train - everyone was so nice and accommodating of her. She's a lucky girl!
Yay!
Sitting with Daddy - notice the spillage ... she takes after me!Monday, August 10, 2009
Izzy's 2nd Haircut
Just getting started - look how long that hair is!
And she even got a teddy bear sticker at the end!
About 1/2 way through
Time to get all pretty - hair dryer, braid, bow & sparkles!
Izzy's a happy girl - she had so much fun!
And she even got a teddy bear sticker at the end!
Habitat for Humanity
On Saturday, I spent the day volunteering at Rainier Vista in the Rainier Valley on a Habitat for Humanity job site. Sellen brought 32 people together from both office & field locations to contribute a full day of work. As you can see from the first photo, we have special shirts made and the crew was roaring to go at 8:30 am.
The whole day was great (but exhausting!), but the highlight for me was getting to know the home owners. For those less familiar with Habitat for Humanity - it's not a charity organization. They provide affordable homes for families that qualify and the homeowners purchase the homes at affordable prices with 0-interest loans that Habitat provides. The money that they pay on their mortgages goes back into Habitat's system to purchase land and build more homes. In addition to qualifying and paying mortgage, the home owners are also required to put-in 500 hours of "sweat equity" on their homes. That means that on top of their 40-hour per week jobs, they also have to work on building their homes on weekends and evenings. Talk about a major commitment. We worked with Ben, Asha, and Sherry on Saturday.
Our project was ambitious, but given that we had a crew of skilled carpenters with us, we really wanted to provide a special service to Habitat. So, we committed to forming the footings for a 4plex and then pouring and finishing the concrete - all in one day. This normally takes Habitat 2 - 3 weeks to complete when they use unskilled volunteers. Needless to say, they were SO happy to have us do this work. My job was to back fill dirt around the base of the forms so that concrete would not seep out of the sides. It was backbreaking work, but very important to the project's success, so I felt important!
The highlight for me was at the end of the day after the concrete was poured – the home owners Asha and Sherry, whose homes we had just formed & poured the footings, for took sticks and wrote their names and the date in the concrete and then posed for pictures. They’ve been waiting over 2 years for these homes and it was a really rewarding experience to see the joy in their eyes as the reality of a new home for their families started to take shape.
Here are a few photos from our day:
The group of volunteers, Habitat for Humanity staff, and one of our homeowners, Sherry.
The whole day was great (but exhausting!), but the highlight for me was getting to know the home owners. For those less familiar with Habitat for Humanity - it's not a charity organization. They provide affordable homes for families that qualify and the homeowners purchase the homes at affordable prices with 0-interest loans that Habitat provides. The money that they pay on their mortgages goes back into Habitat's system to purchase land and build more homes. In addition to qualifying and paying mortgage, the home owners are also required to put-in 500 hours of "sweat equity" on their homes. That means that on top of their 40-hour per week jobs, they also have to work on building their homes on weekends and evenings. Talk about a major commitment. We worked with Ben, Asha, and Sherry on Saturday.
Our project was ambitious, but given that we had a crew of skilled carpenters with us, we really wanted to provide a special service to Habitat. So, we committed to forming the footings for a 4plex and then pouring and finishing the concrete - all in one day. This normally takes Habitat 2 - 3 weeks to complete when they use unskilled volunteers. Needless to say, they were SO happy to have us do this work. My job was to back fill dirt around the base of the forms so that concrete would not seep out of the sides. It was backbreaking work, but very important to the project's success, so I felt important!
The highlight for me was at the end of the day after the concrete was poured – the home owners Asha and Sherry, whose homes we had just formed & poured the footings, for took sticks and wrote their names and the date in the concrete and then posed for pictures. They’ve been waiting over 2 years for these homes and it was a really rewarding experience to see the joy in their eyes as the reality of a new home for their families started to take shape.
Here are a few photos from our day:
The group of volunteers, Habitat for Humanity staff, and one of our homeowners, Sherry.
The site before we started working...
Just getting started...
The form work is almost done!
Sherry pouring concrete for her new home.
The finished product - pretty impressive for one day's work!
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