Category: Uncategorized

The weeks of fall blur together in a busy whirl of school, work, sports and friends. Halloween festivities and fostering a kitten were highlights!

Another summer has passed and the kids are back in school. They seem a bit calmer, more grown up, and more aware of the world around them. Since we were traveling during RJ and Chris’ birthdays, we had belated celebrations for them. We spent a hot Labor Day weekend in San Diego with family!

We flew to Paris but our bags were left in Munich. This led to extra shopping, waiting around, and a lot sentences ending “but it’s in the suitcase”. Less than 24 hours after arriving, we were reunited with our luggage just in time for a boat ride on the Seine. It was great to meet up with Lee and her family for sightseeing in Paris!

We flew to Munich then drove to Salzburg for a reunion with Kristel’s childhood pen pal and family. It was great to see them!

Together we explored the city of Salzburg and Hohenwerfen castle. The orderliness and promptness in Germany and Austria was palpable. We had a lazy day by the lake, riding on the paddle board, eating ice cream and swimming. There are some types of play that are universal to children.

We made it to London in the midst of a heat wave! It took a couple days for us to adjust to the time change. We stayed cool by meeting up with cousins to swim in their friend’s lake (but didn’t take any photos because we were in the water too). The weather has cooled off and we have started to explore!

I never posted pictures from Hayley’s birthday, sorry! Here’s a hodge podge of photos from the past few months.

After postponing international travel the past two years we were delighted to travel to Costa Rica for the kids’ spring break.

There were so many things we loved about this trip! We stayed in vacation rental and experienced a slice of daily life. We walked to the market, bakery, fruit shop and restaurants. We enjoyed ice cream three times (RJ’s favorite part of the trip). We waved to neighbors, saw kids playing soccer, saw women hanging laundry and encountered thin dogs meandering about.

Our house was an oasis with beautiful tropical plants and a refreshing swimming pool. It was adjacent to a pond that hosted ducks, geese peacocks and other birds. The strutting peacocks were a daily source of entertainment and named by the kids “Sir Struts-A-Lot”, “Sir Squawks-A-Lot” and the peahen was named “Penny”.

Our adventures were thrilling! We soaked in the 25 pools heated by the volcano at Baldi and had lunch with views of the volcano. We went white water rafting and saw a flock of Toucans cross the river. We rode on horseback through meadows, canyons and river beds to get to a large waterfall. We took stairs down to the waterfall, swam at the base and counted 512 steps as we marched back up. We went on ziplines and a did a crazy Tarzan swing (all but Kristel did the swing). From above the forest canopy we had an amazing view of steam coming from the volcano. Finally we silently walked with a guide who showed us sleeping sloths, a howler monkey, turtles, lizards, frogs and birds of the rainforest.

After Christmas we adopted two rabbits from the shelter, Waffle and Pepper. Rabbits take a while to become friends, so we gradually introduced them, resulting in a hoppy marriage. Once renovations are complete on their bunny mansion they will move outside.

We joined friends for a snowy weekend in the mountains. Hayley and RJ briefly tried skiing but haven’t found a love of the sport yet. We’ll try again in the future. It was great to vacation with friends!

Christmas anticipation grew steadily this month as we decorated, baked, listened to Christmas music and wrapped. We are so grateful for family, friends, pets, and good health.

After 1.5 years of limited activities, the return to normalcy brought so much joy. The kids had a blast at their school’s walkathon. Trick-or-treating and the pumpkin patch were amazing. Soccer games and social gatherings were wonderful. Finally, in November Hayley and RJ received their first covid vaccine! We are grateful.