Vancouver Olympics 2010

Brian and I had a wonderful time at the Olympics this week! We watched women's curling and men's aerial freestyle skiing. The city is packed with international guests, all wearing the elusive red gloves that I can't seem to get my hands on! Vancouver pulled off some fairly amazing public transportation projects that made moving literally thousands of people around the city and to and from venues as efficient as possible. We quickly became pros at navigating the new subway system and extensive bus routes to quickly take us wherever we wanted to go.

Curling is a really interesting sport. Imagine a combination of professional pool, bocci ball, shuffle board and horseshoes, played on ice with slippery shoes and little scrubbers that send the "rock" in one direction or another. It's a game of strategy, skill, and back strength. We really got into it. Luckily we sat next to two retired female curlers from Canada who filled us in on the silly lingo and rules.

Men's Aerial Freestyle Skiing was incredible to say the least. Watching this sport on TV absolutely does not do it justice. These guys literally flipped themselves 6 stories straight up into the air performing tight straight turns and flips all the way down to a difficult landing on a very steep hill. Some of them managed perfect landings while other's timing was off just a hair but enough to make the force of their fall slam their bodies backwards into the mountain. I could have sworn one of the men walked away from that with a concussion. Each one seemed to do just a hair better than the one before, making the final results a complete surprise. Happily one of our Americans, Jeret Peterson, kept the gold metal slot for quite a while until a Belarusian, Alexei Grishin, came through with a stunning gold metal jump at the very end. We took silver, and that was super exciting.

Overall, we had an extremely relaxing vacation this week. We slept in every day, ate great meals, hung out with a couple of Brian's cousins, Ali and Katie, and remembered what it was like before we were parents. Abby is happily spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa McFarlane in AZ, an exciting adventure in and of itself. I got to eat my favorite treat - crepes with nutella, banana, and strawberry - delicious!

Check out our pictures on flckr at:
www.flickr.com/photos/bdfamily

We'll have more pictures up soon!

Abby Turns 2 years old!

What a fantastic day we had for Abby's 2nd birthday!!!

Grandma and Grandpa ("Gamma & Tampa") McFarlane were in town for the big event, and boy did we have fun.

We started off the day at the park with Bilbo and Mommy where we rode on swings, bouncy seats and slides. We worked up an appetite for yummy blue berry pancakes, eggs, and juice. Abby got to eat off the special plate. Abby opened a few presents and then took a ride on her new stylin' red Radio Flyer tricycle. Looks like she will need to grow a few more inches before she can go super fast.

We took a trip to the beach next. We had a great time throwing rocks into the ocean and standing in the water in our rain boots. Bilbo got to play ball in the water too!

After a nice long nap, we had a fun birthday party with lots of good friends at Tutta Bella. We danced to the live band and ate yummy pizza and birthday cake. Abby was smiling from ear to ear when the band sang her "Happy Birthday". She even danced with a boy for the first time - her friend Micah was there. Of course, the first one to pull Abby onto the dance floor was her best friend Tatum.

Abby got lots a presents, but she seemed much more impressed just with the fact that it was her birthday, her special day. She mentioned "Happy birtay" many times through out the day and repeatedly asked for us to sing the Happy Birthday Song.

Waiting for the bus

Got the cutest pic of Abby waiting for the bus with my umbrella. What
a big girl

Dinner with the Randalls

Went to dinner with Jill, Tim, Tatum, and Piper tonight at Tacos Guaymas in Greenlake. Abby was so excited to see her friends. She and Tatum ate bean burritos and each did a great job eating! It was a nice way to relax after a long day at work for me.

Abby and Brian spent over an hour and a half playing in her kitchen today. She created a soup and a pie with her fake food that consisted of strawberries, bacon, eggs, bread, and "sauce". Later the two of them made smoothies. Amazingly enough Brian was able to pull off adding frozen peas to their concoction of pineapple, peaches, yogurt, and blueberries!

My belly continues to grow everyday. I am thankfully feeling better for the most part, but this pregnancy is definitely more challenging physically than my first. I've felt the baby move a few times in the last week! The next ultrasound is coming up in about 3-4 weeks. We'll be able to check all those baby "parts". However, we won't be learning about the part that everyone wants to know about - we want to be surprised! Abby is able to say both the boy and girl names we picked out for the baby. She is the only privileged party to know that information. Hopefully she can keep a secret!

It's been awhile

Thought I would take a few minutes to catch you all up on our crazy life in Seattle since I hadn't posted since last March - yikes!

I successfully ran a marathon in June. It was a life changing experience that I am very, very proud of. Earlier today I relived the experience as we drove home up highway 99 and I pointed out different spots on the very difficult last few miles of my race. Looking back now, I can't believe that I actually ran that far. 5 miles seems a little difficult to me at this point!

Brian climbed many peaks this spring and summer, gaining amazing memories and new friends along the way. He is gearing up for his next climbing season as we approach the graduation from his beginning year. I am proud of all of his accomplishments!

Abby is growing up right before our eyes and just keeps amazing us with her new words and tricks. She is a happy girl with lots of spunk and energy. Now almost 21 months, she is a word smith and joker. She is also fine tuning the art of tantrums as she approaches her 2nd Birthday. Just tonight I mentioned putting toys away for bedtime and she rain wailing into our bedroom and flung herself head first onto Bilbo's pillow, only to start cracking up when I threatened to tickle her! She started daycare in September and is making new friends. She likes being there but does miss seeing Tatum and Jerri (her nanny). :( These transitions can be tough.

We sadly (but wisely) found a new home for our dog Libby. We now have a much more relaxed dog environment with just Bilbo who seems much more content as an only dog. It's so hard to not have Libby, but she is in a good home with one of my friends from work. I hear she gets lots of love, walks, swims, and jogs now.

I start a new shift at work this week. I will work 7 days in a row, followed by 7 off. It will be quite a change for me and my family, one that I hope will work out well in the end. Wish me luck!

Off to bed.

-Diana

Rainier Take 2

Well, the time has come once again to attempt Mount Rainier. 4 of us from our climbing class are taking off tonight to go an test our ability, training, and endurance. With luck we will be Summiting Friday morning around 5am. If you are interested in live tracking our progress here is a website that will be updated every hour or so.

http://tinyurl.com/rainier-watch

Maui Vacation 3/8-18/09

Brian, Abby, and I had a very nice trip to Maui. I thought I'd give you the highlights:

We arrived to our nice little hotel room in the evening after traveling for 10 hours total. Abby had not been able to run around since leaving home in Seattle, so she was giddy, just running around the hotel room like a crazed animal.

I started my conference the next morning, and Brian and Abby started their daily routine: sleeping in until 9 or 10am, eating breakfast in the room, and heading out to the kiddie pool or beach just outside of our room. Abby LOVED the beach, the sand, the water rushing under her feet, and the waves crashing at her torso. She was adventurous and independent. When I got back at noon, we'd play, eat lunch, and take afternoon naps. My conference ended Friday, and we had 4 more days to play before heading home.

O'o Farms is an organic small farm in the up country that supplies 4 of Maui's gourmet restaurants with their fresh produce. They took us on a tour, picking fruit and veggies for us to sample, explaining their sustainable farming practices and organic farming process. Abby loved trying the produce. She ran aournd, picked up rocks, dug in the dirt, and tried to eat some flowers! She was the only baby there. They picked veggies for lunch as we toured, while the chef began preparing the meal of fresh mahi mahi, salads, veggies, fruit, and homemade dark chocolate. At lunch the adults marveled at Abby's wide palate. In fact, Abby was a better eater than most of the adults at the table, giving everything a try and liking most of it.

We went to a Luau one night. Abby learned how to clap, and she was awed by the fire dancers. She ate corn on the cob like a pro. It was pretty "touristy", but we were glad we went. Out other touristy activity was a glass bottom boat ride on which divers brought octopus, puffer fish, and other neat sea creatures up for us to see. It was pretty cool, but Abby wasn't really into that ride. She much more preferred the Maui Aquarium with bright tanks and colorful fish. It rained the day of the aquarium trip, and her favorite part was running out in the warm rain.

The windy road up the Haleakula volcano to watch the sunset was scary for me! It was misty, the road was tiny and twisty, and in many spots on the edge of a cliff. I got super car sick, but once we made it up above the cloud line, I was awe struck by the shear beauty of the mountain and the view. There was a group of Japanese people who just loved seeing Abby up there. They ran up to her to touch her and get their picture taken with her. We went from 75 degrees and sunny to 35 degrees and cloudy. It was so cold! Despite that, we had a very nice time watching the sun set above the clouds. Unforgettable. Wow.

Our absolute favorite trip was the Road to Hana. We stopped for the helpful road guide, smoothies, and a packed lunch. Our first stop was Twin Falls where we all swam in the cool water fall pool. Abby inspected the rocks, picking each up before chucking it back in the water. Brian taught me how to skip stones on the water. We stopped at two more waterfalls, a beach with black pebble sand, fresh water caves, blow holes, and look-outs to watch whales and surfers. By the time we got back, we'd spent over 12 hours on our trip. We were dirty, exhausted, and totally happy.

Abby tends to make development leaps when on vacation. On this trip she had many firsts: growled like a bear, said "tar" for guitar, pooped in the toilet, imitated chewing gum and mommies flip flop shoes noise, said "nanna for banana, and fed birds on the patio. She said "Hi" (sounded like, "ha"). She really started running and even tried to jump. She was really lovey with lots of hugs and kisses.

Vacation can be so renewing and relaxing. It was new for Brian and I to take a long vacation with a baby. And while it was not the most relaxing of times, this vacation really bonded us together as a family. We're still feeling the effects of our fun trip!

Love,

Diana