03/30/13

Family Vacation – We should do this more often…

Of course who doesn’t want to be able to go to Hawaii all the time and just relax and have fun with your family? I suppose I’d be crazy to say, Geez I sure wish we didn’t have to do THAT again.

Maui is a great place for families we learned, and had a beautiful trip to the island for 6 nights. The weather wasn’t as accomodating as we would have liked for sun and warmth-starved Northwestern dwellers, but it gave us enough opportunities to enjoy shorts, t-shirts and sandals appropriately.

Some items of note for this trip:

  • Cora didn’t exactly warm up to water play, BUT she didn’t give it the cold shoulder she has in the past.
  • Lots of pets/animals and other things to look at helped keep her happy, which meant we were happy.
  • A fridge and a sink are invaluable when you travel with a toddler, we thought we could get away without it, wrong!

Eventually we’ll get more pictures up on the site, but it will have to wait until watching the videos doesn’t make me seasick.

Cora-AliiNui

 

07/9/12

Cora, 10 Months, No WAY!

Well it’s come and gone really, and I can’t even begin to understand where the time has gone.

Pictures of some of the adventures are here.

And some details to share on the activities of the last month. Cora has now officially been in every time zone in the continental US. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but I’ve definitely enjoyed the travel to see family. She has now met all the grandparents and aunts and uncles on Sean’s side of the family. Come her 1 year birthday, she will have met most of her family on both my parents’ sides as well. Really a lot of fun sharing her with folks who love her unconditionally.

07/6/12

Happy Birthday, USA

Cora, Cora, how big you’ve gotten! Old enough to celebrate the birth of her nation with a smile and spirit.

Dipping her feet in Kelly’s Creek to cool off.

We celebrated Independence Day between Hurricane, Glasgow and Mammoth, West Virginia with the Beard Family. It was a scorcher for the area, averaging 97 degrees each day that we were here. Which was a real treat after the freak storms that hit the area, disabling electric service for over 200,000 people.

We celebrated nonetheless, enjoying cousins, aunts and uncles aplenty. And my favorite person to visit, Toots, Grandma Beard! She makes a great hostess and is such a fun lady to share with Cora. I hope she gets to share many more visits with us.

For Cora’s milestones, this trip saw more pulling up on the furniture and standing on her own. Lots of squats and pull-ups to get stronger for the walking she is bound to do soon enough.

More pictures can be found here.

05/28/12

Memorial Day 2012 – Family Fail

We had a nice trip planned to the Tri-Cities area of Washington. Sean was going to play in a men’s baseball tourney with a local team and some of his Dodger’s teammates. Cora and I would cheer proudly from the sidelines and as a family we would sneak in some sun and water play on the Columbia River with the kayak.

Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, we leave much later than anticipated on Friday night amidst a flurry of facial tissue, fussy baby, and horrible traffic at Snoqualmie Pass. Who schedules construction lane closures on the way to the sun on Memorial Day weekend?!?! Turns out all three of us were on our way to fevers, congestion, and coughs, why rush?

We check in to our hotel very late, and Cora wakes up very early the next morning, with some delightful congestion to match her cough. We find some breakfast, feeling super fine, then make our way to the first game of the tourney. Cora and I set up a nice picnic, where I proceed to be completely controlled by my illness. We try to take naps in the car and make our way to the hotel after the game. To add to the fun, I got a thorn in the stroller tire and we’re on a flat for the only thing that could keep Cora happy and my nose a little clear. What’s not funny in this tragic comedy?

Despite having paid the hotel in full for the weekend, and having to leave the team short a man, the Beards packed it in. We loaded up the car Saturday evening and scurried on home to the comfort of our own beds and large supply of tissue. There’s always next time.

 

 

02/5/12

5 months of Wahoo!

I’m a little ashamed of how quiet I’ve been with the blog these last two months. I’ve got my excuses (which I will for your sake only elaborate upon in my personal blog). Instead I’ll focus on the excitement of Cora’s 5 months on earth. Each day of which we have been so grateful for. I can’t imagine life without her now that she’s in it!

4 months 1 week

Cora started day care full time this week as I returned to work. It was a short week with the New Year holiday observed on Monday by my company and receiving  her 4 month vaccinations that Friday. She took these well (thankfully only one shot), but the aftermath was something else. It’s a good thing we didn’t go volunteer at AGE UP that night or she would have scared a lot of young girls in to never having kids.

4 months 2 weeks

Technically this was my first full week back to work but Cora and I had a girls trip planned to Santa Monica for a Rice Alumni tourney at Lei Out 2012. It was great taking her to the beach, her first ultimate tournament and to introduce her to so many of my old pals from Texas ultimate.

4 months 3 weeks

One of Seattle’s top 10 worst snowstorms  of the decade hit this week. The weather and road conditions trapped us in LA since I didn’t feel like driving home at 1am in snow on icy roads with Cora. We got back to a snowy day and another short work week as we were home Wednesday through Friday, “snowed in”. I know, I know, it wasn’t that much snow or ice, but if you’ve ever visited our place in Bellevue, you’ll know why us Texans didn’t risk landing on the neighbors roof just to drive to the office.

5 Months Old (Feb 4, 2012)

We celebrated Cora’s 5th month with a trip to Leavenworth, Wa. Or it just happened to coincide with our friends wedding at Mountain Springs Lodge. With beautiful weather and a beautiful backdrop to the whole affair, we enjoyed sleigh rides, Bavarian food, and sledding in the snow.

Some milestones this month:

But now for my favorite part, pictures!

12/23/11

Eyes bigger than my stomach

I’ve always loved the food in Houston and one of my biggest joys coming back home for the holidays is the chance to eat at the favorites we don’t have access to in Washington. Those favorites include: fast food fave Chick-Fil-A, good old fashioned Texas BBQ from Goode Company or  Harris County Smokehouse, any and all Tex-Mex, particularly Lupe Tortilla or El Tiempo Contina, specialty foods like Czech goodness like kolaches at Kolache Factory, some wholesome food at Baba Yega, and a good ole hunkin’ burritos at Freebirds World Burrito. Then to finish it all off, we can’t pass up a dip at Marble Slab (sorry AJ, no dairy for you!).

AJ will tell you the food isn’t that bad in Seattle, and while that might be true, 30 years in Houston has shaped my tastes for life.

12/17/11

I’ll be home for Christmas

Man oh man, I woke up two hours earlier than necessary to get ready for our trip home to Houston, Tx this year for Christmas. Lots of anxious anticipation, not to mention sheer terror at traveling with a 3.5 month old kept me from sleeping too long. Also, we three had the privilege of coming down with colds on Thursday and Friday. Lots of tissue and burp rags will be needed for this trip, no doubt.

We can’t wait to see our families, friends, and favorite restaurants on this trip. We’re spending a decent amount of time in town, so look for us because we’re coming to find you! And we like to eat

Update:

Thank you my little dear for being such an angel on the plane!

10/19/11

Tiger – 1, Cora – 0

Well that title is only partly true… While having a newborn at home is really a full time job, on occasion, it affords mama and baby the opportunity to take to nature. And on occasion the sun actually comes out in the Pacific Northwest. Not wanting to waste it as we headed in to a nasty fall and winter, Cora and I took off to Tiger Mountain. A mere 20 minutes away from home, we selected (perhaps foolishly) West Tiger #3 to try and reach the summit to see the beautiful day.


We made it about 45 minutes up the trail. It was a little steeper than I would have liked carrying a baby but it wasn’t too difficult. At our second stop for a break, I decided to pull Cora out of the Moby to cool off and change things up a bit. To my surprise (not really a surprise, just wishful thinking) she had made a larger than expected deposit that had snuck out of her diaper, onto her clothes and the Moby wrap. As this was our first trip out, I wasn’t feeling brave enough to change her on the trail AND risk another blowout along the rest of the hike due to further excitement. So we headed back to the trailhead to try again another day.

05/3/10

El Paso, Tx

We travelled from Austin to El Paso in about 8 hours thanks to my lead foot and Sean’s iron bladder. The wind was killing our gas mileage and we averaged only 20 mpg from Fredericksburg to Van Horn. This area clearly is appropriate for all the wind farms dotting the plateaus along I-10 on the route to El Paso.

Wind farms in West Texas 

There was also a lot of varied terrain in this part of our trip. The last time we came out this way by car was Christmas 2008 and there was virtually nothing growing. Now look at all the green!

Once we arrived in western El Paso, Grandma Miller warmly greeted us and helped us settle in for the night. Karen Miller, Sean’s aunt was due home in a couple hours (we arrived much earlier than all our technology told us we would) and Lorne and Rich Schriver from Las Cruces, NM (Sean’s aunt and uncle) would also join us for dinner.

All the technology 

Dinner was at a great place to celebrate the southwest into which we were about to head: Great American Land & Cattle restaurant, home of the famous steakburgers. There were a lot of antlers and leather rugs on the wall. Doesn’t that make you think of the southwest?

Dinner with Grandma, Karen, and the Schrivers 

To wrap up the evening we connected via Skype to Sean’s parents in Magnolia. We wanted to test out the connection and give Bonnie a chance to chat live with her mother and sister. It was fun to see the enjoyment on all sides. Sean looks a lot like his dad via video camera.

The next morning, I made up a workout in the local park to try and keep myself primed and ready for the World Club Championships with Showdown in Prague. Great scenery and the cool dry air made it easy. I got back and we had breakfast with Grandma and Karen then headed out.

Squatting in the Park 

We gassed up after crossing in to NM at a Chevron and have now officially contributed to the bottom line for all the major oil companies (here’s to you Kim B., Amber A. and Julie S.!) and will undoubtably spend plenty of money to help you guys stay employed. We are now officially crossing in to uncharted territory for both of us.

Where the heck is Arizona anyway?

05/1/10

First Day Accomplished

I have to figure out an easier way to get pictures to this site than what I’ve used in the past but you had better believe they’re coming. I can’t promise our idea of “adventure” will be as exciting as you had hoped but each gory detail of it will be here in some way.

We’re on the road officially now that we have left Houston behind after visiting my parents, the Moore’s in northwest Houston.

On Saturday, before what Sean called “the handoff”, my parents and Sean and I caught a movie at this cool theatre that serves you while you watch the movie. And you can keep ordering after the movie has started! You could get a full compliment of drinks and food but we were already starting to feel the pain of eating out for every meal so we didn’t go overboard.

After the movie, we had dinner at Goode Barbeque for a final (of sorts) Hurrah for Texas barbecue. I’m sure we’ll have some on our stop in Austin or El Paso.

a GoodeBye Dinner

We also stopped in Magnolia for the 2nd leg of the trip to spend a little time with Sean’s parents. We went for a nice walk through the neighborhood, saw a lot of deer and enjoyed the cooler temperatures since we were out of the city.

This really is out in the country