Anniversary celebration and Easter

I'm rolling up the past two days into one blog post, so bear with me. Yesterday we celebrated Nancy and Chauncey's 45th wedding anniversary. Catherine, Christina, and Aunt Lowell were spearheading the cooking and house decorating for the celebration, Uncle David and I were tasked to help occupy Nancy, Chauncey, and the kids outside of the home. We settled on the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables as a nice place to spend some time exploring.

The kids enjoyed the fountains on the grounds, as well as the nifty bird cages in the main lobby of the hotel.

Since Uncle David was there, I got to climb into several photos which is fairly unusual (as I'm sure most of you are aware).

This morning we made our way to the Chapel of the Venerable Bede on the University of Miami's campus. It turns out Nancy and Chauncey were married there 45 years ago, and Catherine and I were married there 17 years ago this year. My, how time has flown. Father Frank presided over our wedding, so it was nice to see him again too.

Since we were there, Nancy had the nice idea of a quick family photo.

Afterwards, we came home and enjoyed a nice lunch of Cuban sandwiches. The kids finished early and went to play in their room, which gave Catherine and me plenty of time to go hide some eggs for the Easter egg hunt.

Ian and Leah both wanted to swim, so off to the pool we went. That water was a bit chilly, but it was nice in the sun and both kids had a great time splashing and swimming around. Happy Easter everybody!

Marc

Spring Break in Miami...or Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We hopped a redeye flight from Seattle to Miami, and thanks to the modern miracle of benadryl, I actually slept on a plane. It was still super early when we got here, but the sunshine and warm breeze certainly more than made up for the jet lag.

We laid low yesterday, staying fairly close to home. But today was a different story.

First we had some family over for a nice lunch.

After lunch we had to do a bit of house cleaning to prepare for the celebrations tomorrow.

Then it was time to have some fun. Nancy and I walked the kids to the local park. Chauncey decided to drive and surprise the kids with a couple of kites.

To say the kites were a big hit is a massive understatement. We were still reeling in the kites and both kids independently asked if they could come back tomorrow. Probably not in the next couple of days, but yeah, we'll be flying kites again soon.

Have a great day everybody!

Marc

Last snowshoe of the season

This has been a very weird weekend weather-wise! I went for a run in shorts and t-shirt on Saturday, followed that up with a bike ride with the kids, and then mowed the lawn for the first time.

Since we had a pretty big storm system hit the mountains with another 2-3 feet of snow, we decided to go do some snowshoeing for the last time this season today. So glad we did...

There was supposed to be 20% chance for snow today, but that turned out to be a 100% chance as it snowed on us the majority of the time we were up at Paradise. Luckily for me it cleared up towards the end. We had a good time walking down in the Paradise Valley, but are looking forward to the wildflower show later this summer once all that snow finally melts.

We also brought along the sleds/tubes for the kids, since they pretty much put up with the snowshoeing so they can have a blast sledding.

Both kids wanted to try sledding "penguin-style" today, and both thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the kids were finished sledding, Catherine was kind enough to take them inside while I got in one last traipse through the snow.

Next stop, Miami. Have a great day everyone!

Marc

Random photos of the kids

I had this past Friday off, so I took myself down to the local home improvement store and purchased some PVC stuff so I could make a backdrop. It makes for less distracting backgrounds for my photos.

This morning I rounded up the kids for some fun photos.

Fun for me, fun for the kids.

We had to get a couple of more serious ones too.

Both kids had an opportunity to show off their winter gear, too!

Nothing terribly new here. I'm craving a trip to the mountains, but that probably won't happen before we head to Florida in a week or so. Have a great day,

Marc

Cub Scouts' day at the beach

Our days at the beach here are definitely not like what you typically imagine. If you are thinking warm sunshine and palm trees, you are wrong! We'll get that in about a month when we visit Miami, but for now it means rain and cold. However, if you wait for the rain to stop, you'll never get outside.

Which isn't technically true. But 80% of the time, it's right all the time...

Anyways, the rain does actually stop from time to time, and the sun does actually shine. And when it does you can be sure I'm chomping at the bit to get outside. So imagine my surprise this past Friday when I was able to be home when the kids got off the bus and take them for a bike ride to the local park, in the sun!

Both kids are getting much better at riding without a rest break, which is very nice. They both had a chance to play with some new kids, run around, and burn off some energy. Unfortunately for them, I also had time to find a patch of sunshine to stand them in for some photos.

Today Ian and I had a Cub Scout outing at Westport, a tiny little place on the Pacific Ocean about an hour and a half from home. We started at the Maritime Museum there and then enjoyed a lunch at a local diner. From there we made our way to the lighthouse and climbed the stairs all the way to the top. Supposedly you can see Mt. Rainier from there - just not today.

After that the Pack made its way to the local Coast Guard Station where we were treated to a pretty awesome recruiting video (now Ian wants to join the Coast Guard, and I'm pretty sure that linked video is the one we watched) and then got to board two vessels, including the unsinkable Surfman-class (or whatever you call them).

Ian had a complete blast and the Coast Guardsmen let the boys pretty much go crazy and push every button, turn every wheel, open and close every hatch. To say Ian had a complete blast is an overwhelming understatement!

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the time change.

Cheers,

Marc

Bike riding with Ian

Today after church, Catherine and Leah had a play date with a friend from school. Since the day was so nice, Ian and I decided to go for a bike ride.

We've been working on riding longer distances lately, and after a minor bike adjustment it was like someone hit a switch. All of a sudden Ian can ride further and much faster than he was just a short couple of days ago.

The weather was perfect for a couple of miles of riding. Best of all, Ian loved it! I've been trying to tell him that biking is fun, and he completely got it today. So happy that now I have a biking buddy in addition to a skiing and camping buddy. By boy...

Cheers,

Marc