Fun times in Colorado

Our first stop on home leave was to Colorado to visit Christy's sister Katie, her husband Jeff, and their dog Frisco. Christy's parents also flew in from California so it was a mini-family reunion. Denver is a great city for kids--Nicholas loved the Aquarium and the Children's Museum, which even had an exhibit for Claire! We are excited to learn that DC will be getting a Children's Museum in 2013. Christy also got to go skiing for the first time in 3 years (2 babies and a 30th birthday later!).

We are spending the rest of our home leave with David's parents in Ohio, and are happy to be reunited with the Moe cat. We signed a lease on a townhouse in Alexandria, VA (near Franconia-Springfield) and are now busy trying to figure out pre-school for Nicholas for next fall. It's like college--$50 per application, and they are due in January/February for the following September. Crazy!

Other projects are job-searching for David and finding a nanny, so we are still pretty busy and have a lot to accomplish before Christy starts French at the end of the month. Oh, and we will be celebrating our 5th Anniversary! It's been a pretty amazing 5 years.

Here are the pics from Colorado:

The ski resort, Copper Mountain, had a Critterland. Nicholas had a great time in the snow, and his Uncle Jeff taught him how to make snowballs!

snowbunny Claire

pretty soon Nicholas will be on skis!

but in the meantime, tubing is pretty awesome

riding the shuttle (aka "big bus!") from the parking lot to the lodge, with Aunt Katie

lunch break at the lodge, where David, Claire, and Nicholas stayed toasty warm while the rest of us skiied

snow pants and hunter's plaid. too cute! (in mommy's opinion, anyway :-) )

Christy couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day on the slopes. It was sunny, not too cold, and the snow was great!

It's been 8 years since the four of us got to ski together; last time was Christy's senior year spring break, also in Colorado

at the Children's Museum--Nicholas playing in the train exhibit

Claire got to float on her pod at The Pond, an exhibit designed especially for infants

GG and Claire

Mommy and Claire

Daddy and Nicholas fishing in "The Grove"

the best part--the fire engine exhibit! Nicholas got to dress up like a firefighter. Sooo cool!

Nicholas with Aunt Katie and Uncle Jeff at the Aquarium

Nicholas loved to see the scuba divers go "kick, kick, kick" .... I think it's time for swim lessons!

this pretty much sums up Claire's trip to the Aquarium

Nicholas-heaven: an exhibit full of buttons and switches! We almost didn't get past this to the rest of the Aquarium

Shark attack! We got to watch them feeding, which was pretty cool.

We are pretty tired from all the moving and travelling, and are enjoying some relaxation in Ohio and looking forward to getting settled in our new home!

Goodbye, Sweet T&T

It was a whirlwind return to Trinidad; we were there for a total of 20 days. It was nice to have all of our stuff for a short period of time, but we packed out again the second week we were there. Nicholas enjoyed a few last trips to the pool and one last trip to the beach, and we loved introducing Claire to everyone and were sad to say good bye to good friends.








the trucks and dinos made it to Trinidad and back again

Claire turned 2 months just over a week ago but it seems like ages ago!

David sported a mustache for a few days but shaved for the Town Hall meeting.

Claire sporting her cute summer outfits

she has the lounging at the pool thing down pat

one last dinner at Crews Inn

Nicholas loved his mango smoothie!

our air freight-- they did cover it with a tarp, but I'm still a little nervous to see what actually makes it to Washington, DC

Nicholas loves all "big trucks" including the moving truck!

we weren't feeling quite ready for the movers but they packed us up anyway!

enjoying the beach

Claire's Aden and Anais muslin blankets were perfect for Trinidad and the warm weather

PapPap and Nicholas and Claire got matching Hawaiian shirts for Christmas!

Claire loves the swing, just like her brother did.

David and his dad got to go fishing--it was delicious!

Claire lounging at the pool again

our neighbors are the best--they took care of our house while we were gone and gave us a warm welcome!

I will miss More Vino's sushi!

Next up, Colorado!

Christmas 2011

I had wishful thinking about blogging more often, but here we are in Trinidad for a week and I'm just getting the Christmas photos up. We have barely unpacked our suitcases and we will start the packing process again this weekend as our packout starts Wednesday. We are enjoying having PapPap in Trinidad, fresh fish, and sunshine. That will be for another post, though. In reverse chronological order, here is Christmas 2011:


at the airport to head to Trinidad..... and this is just the carry-on's....

The choo choo train in the mall. Nicolas has a pass for 20 rides. Fortunately, it's not just a Christmas choo choo and he can ride again in February.

for those of you who received our 2009 Christmas card, this picture might look familiar....

Nicholas loves his new tricycle--can't wait for spring so he can ride it outside!

Nicholas also loves his very own chair.... we are looking forward to him having his very own room to put it in!

Christmas morning

Nicholas was soooo excited to start opening presents!

Advent Calendars on Christmas Eve

Claire and Grandma snuggling

transformers--cool!!!

visions of sugarplums

Nicholas and cousin Siena had a blast!

I love Grandma!

with David's friend Chris and his kids, who are very close in age to Nicholas and Claire

Thomas choo choo and friends

1 month old! And not too happy about it.

visiting Santa at Krayniak's

Christmas display at Krayniak's

trying to get pictures of Claire in all her newborn outfits before she outgrew them (she is in 0-3 month sizes now!)

tummy time!