Springtime in the Northwest

Usually springtime in the Pacific Northwest is a protracted state of rain and gloom that lasts from January till July. Imagine March/April of New England for seven months and that pretty much sums it up (minus the snow, of course). Lately, though, we've been lucky enough to enjoy some sunshine and  warm temperatures (50s! Even 60s!) and it's been heavenly.

Last weekend, our family took a road-trip across the boarder into Vancouver, BC (After passing through customs, Sam exclaimed, "Yay! We did it!" I can only imagine that he was relieved to have smuggled his snacks across!)  A map for regional reference:

We felt like we were stepping into the future as we crossed the bridge into the city and noticed how clean and uniform all the glass buildings appeared. I imagined that it must be similar in Hong Kong or Singapore...

We had a nice stroll along the sea-wall around Stanley Park, rode the mini-train with Sam, and enjoyed a complementary movie during our nap-time at the Westin Bayshore. We had an awesome view of the city and the mountains and could see sea planes landing and taking off from the bay.

The following day, we took a ferry (i.e. 12 passenger motor boat) across False Creek to Granville Island and explored the open markets there (Granville "island" is near the center of the picture below, Stanley Park is the tree-covered area just north of downtown.)

This past weekend, we reveled in some record high temps here in Seattle (68 degrees!). On Easter morning, we hid plastic eggs in the garden for Sam to discover. He had a fun time exploring and then discovering the stickers and mini-chocolates hidden inside the eggs:

Babymoon in Maui

I hereby announce that we are pregnant again! After a false alarm last spring (i.e blighted ovum, i.e. empty gestational sac, aka "the ghost fetus, Casper,") we are officially with child. More specifically, this child is a "she," a little baby girl due July 1st.

Because for many weeks we had been referring to her as "Baby two" or "number 2," we asked Sam to come up with a nickname for her a la "Champ." His first suggestion is impossible to replicate, having had an abundance of consonants, mostly of the "t" and "k" variety. But suggestion number 2 was perfect:

"Nanos."

Yes, we thought, "nanos" like nano, meaning small. It will do.

Last month, the three of us were thrilled to travel to Hawaii with the Weisbrod/ Arnow/ Slutsky Family: Steve, Beth, Alexis and Corey, as well as our friends Scott and Rachel Doniger and their 2 girls. It was, I think, the last vacation we will take for a while and thus we dubbed it our "babymoon."

We rented a 5  bed/ 6 bath house on Kannapalli beach in west Maui, just north of the famous black rock. The beach was just a hundred yards away, with great snorkeling and fun surf. We enjoyed a lot of beach time with the kids, an adults-only trip to the Haleakala crater, a few dinners out in historic Lahaina, and an amazing luau. The setting was perfect as we had a relaxing atmosphere with our house right on the golf course and there were plenty of people to keep an eye on the kids as they played in the yard. We enjoyed an awesome whale watch (it was humpback whale season and it was impossible NOT to see a whale on a daily basis) and took the little ones on a glass bottom boat tour of the reef.

Some of my favorite moments (thanks to Steve for taking the pics):

Our house was great. There was ample, private outdoor space next to the golf course for us to spend time on the lanai reading, eating, playing games, and goofing off:

The beach was great and so close by. It was easy to walk to the sand and back to the house:

My favorite personal moments. Couldn't I just do this all the time?

 More fun at the beach:

On to the whale watching:

Beth and Steve took the kids on a train ride while the parents were checking out the crater:

Scenic beach:

The awesome luau:

Taking the little ones on the glass boat:

 A few good last pics:

And a couple more...

Kyle said this was my "Mom of the year moment"

Ailee, Olivia, and Sam