New Zealand, finally!

New Zealand has always ranked #1 on my vacation wish list.  Many years ago (pre-Perrie & Isaac), Brandon and I decided we would visit NZ to celebrate the end of my training.  Last summer, I FINALLY finished!  Traveling has become significantly more complicated since 10 years ago.  BUT, I have learned a lot from Isaac - most importantly that life is too short to put something like this off!  Lucky for us, Grandma Elaine & Grandpa Terry agreed to tag along so we had 2 adults per kid.  Not a bad ratio.  After many months of planning and lots of packing, we loaded into a van in Seattle and headed to the airport for our very BIG adventure!

Packed & ready to roll

Lunch at the airport in Seattle

Burn some energy before we load onto the plane.  Of course, Perrie made a new friend and quickly said "this is my boyfriend" -- oy.

Here we go!  It's a good sign that Isaac is the only one drinking so far!

Waiting for our 13-hr flight ... come on, let's go!

Pilot Perrie - a model traveler in fact!

And ... we DID it!  Having a "flat white" in Auckland.

 Most everyone's first question is - how did the kids do on the flight?  Well, as good as can be expected.  Perrie was in heaven -- movie in her seat, trays of fun food, hanging out with mom/dad/gma/gpa.  She did great.  Isaac was a lot of work, but what do you expect from a 1-yr-old.  He did puke all over himself, so I guess he is going to be a motion sick kid.  Not easy, but worth it!  Stay tuned for NZ adventures!

Rewind: Thankful for Thanksgiving!

It was great to have Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jo visiting for Thanksgiving 2012.  It was a nice and relaxing weekend.  We cooked a turkey, but ordered our side dishes making Thanksgiving day nice and easy!  Will have to keep this in mind next year!

Loving on Moka

Thanksgiving 2012

Handsome, smiley boy :)

Morning cuddles

LOVE brother Isaac!

Checking out the pictures ... remember when cameras had film?

Train conductor

Someone in Croatia loves us ... thanks for the cool hat Ben & Chelsea!

Lazy Day

We have had a busy couple of months here.  This weekend was our first weekend in a long time with NO plans.  Sometimes no plans is a nice break --- and is just as busy as a day full of plans!

Starting the day with a dutch baby ... yum.

This was Isaac's first meeting with Nutella - needless to say, he approves.

                                               

Do I have something on my eye?

 ART time.  Thank you for the cool easel, Grandpa Jim & Grandma Jo!

STORY time -- this used to be Perrie's favorite book.

Now things start to get out of control.  Lots of chasing around and around and around...

Stop for one second...

and GO!!

 Can't beat a chair bridge...

 And finally, our first ever attempt at "family movie time".  This lasted about 10 minutes.  We were watching a show about flightless New Zealand birds, getting ready for our big adventure (only 12 more days!).