The Catanzaro Family

Father Daughter Dance

2011-03-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

February at Jamacha means the Father Daughter Dance! Olivia was very excited to pick out a new dress and get all ready to go to the big party. Here's my big girl and her daddy.

Checking out her hair before leaving for the dance.

I can't take credit for the actual heart braid but I did do the curls on the rest of her hair.

Here is Livie and Dad all dressed up and ready to go.

Too cute!

Surprise! Dad even bought her a coursage.

Olivia got fancy beads and a mask at the party in celebration of the Mardi Gras theme.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

We had our big family Christmas party at Brandie and Sean's house on Christmas Eve. We were lucky to mix all three families and have so many people to celebrate with! Sean's mom Joyce and brother Patrick (from Italy) were there, Michael's mom Dottie and his Aunt Judy and Uncle Lewie made it and then the Arnolds (Great Grandma, Aunt Carol, Jason, Leah, and the girls), Cagles (Auntie and Uncle Bill), and Moon's (Grandma Vickie and Grandpa) were in attendance.

Merry Christmas from the Catanzaro Family!

The Cousins - Victorie (5), Jordan (6), Jacob (8), Olivia (5), and Kelly (2)
In case you haven't heard the story, Jason and Leah are in the process of adopting these three little girls (all sisters)! Jacob and Olivia are so excited to finally have some cousins to play with.

A great picture with Great Grandma!

The Arnolds gave us this beautiful frame with their family Christmas pictures.

The girls opening up some new dolls.

Olivia got a doll too!

Jacob made out!

Grandma Dottie showing her holiday spirit!

It's not a family party without Auntie's famous cookies.

Happy Birthday Kids!

2010-12-21T12:51:00.001-08:00

In the frenzy of the holidays we make birthdays a priority! Olivia turned 5 on November 30th and Jacob turned 8 on December 15th. Both kids had fun friend parties and family parties too. Here are a couple quick pictures from our family celebrations.

Olivia chose Tinkerbell Fairies for her cake.

The big gift...an American Girl Doll that she named Flower.

Jacob picked football for his party theme!

Here he is on his brand new bike!

School Started

2010-09-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a month but it's still important. School started August 23rd and this year Olivia and Jacob are both with Mom at Jamacha. Jacob started second grade and Olivia began Kindergarten. Both are off to a great start and love school.

Out the door and heading for the car. One quick picture before you go!

Olivia finally gets her picture on the sign.

Where does time go?

Here are the boys! Jacob, Jack, Kai and Thomas - when will they stop growing?

Olivia is in Mrs. Cajka's class, just like Jacob was.

One last hug for Mom before we all start our first day. Mom's teaching second grade this year.

This is Jacob's desk.

Mrs. Gates (aka Auntie Cheryl) is his teacher.

This is Olivia's desk.

She settled in with no problem.

Kindergarten parents stay for awhile on the first day so we have some nice pictures of Olivia getting into the routine.

Story time on the carpet.

Olivia's first art project.

Putting paper Olivia onto the wall!

The Home Makeover Continues

2010-08-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

I need to stop watching HGTV....my home projects are snowballing. We have now painted the living room and bathroom. We bought the house almost seven years ago and I swore the wallpaper in the bathroom would be the first to go. It finally went yesterday. Yea! I'm still trying to figure out why we felt the need to do all the painting in one day and right before going back to work but I'm glad we did. The simple idea of putting a little paint on the wall has now turned into a new bathroom mirror, light fixture, towel bar, and toilet paper holder. It has also created a need for a whole new window shade (on the largest, most expensive window in the house, yikes). That has progressed into the desire for new carpet which is leading into a new kitchen and then a new master bath. Of course you won't see that blog until probably 2020! For now enjoy the pics of some hard workers and don't call CPS for breaking any child labor laws. They really begged to help out.

HGTV Inspired

2010-07-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

So I finished planning my 20 year high school reunion and found myself at a loss for what to do next. (Yeah right, there are thousands of things that need to get done around here) I've been addicted to HGTV this summer and started looking around the house at all the things that needed to get done. Number one on the list was a new set of kitchen chairs...then I figured out what they would cost. So on to plan two I would get them recovered...then I figured out what that would cost. On to plan three...thanks to HGTV...I'd try it myself. That's what happens when you are a teacher on summer vacation without a paycheck.

Olivia and I dropped off Jacob for a playdate and headed to the fabric store. Olivia found a color that looks pretty good with our couches and hopefully will be durable. For $35 we left with enough fabric to cover all six chairs and some extra just in case. After a quick lunch we decided to get started on the first chair and here's how it went.......

Fourteen years and two kids later this is what the chairs looked like. This one isn't even the worst of the bunch.

I got the seat off.

There were at least 50 staples holding on layer one.

Finally all three pieces are apart.

After an hour and a half here is the finished chair! Much cleaner but I'm not happy with the corners. Not bad for the first one. Just five more to go!

More Wedding Pictures

2010-07-03T23:30:00.001-07:00

It was fun to spend the day celebrating with Michael's family! Here are a few family pictures.

Tony and Marina's first dance.

Aunt Linda and Grandma Dottie

Michael's cousin Jeannie and her husband Donald

Donald and Jeannie's son Christian

Jeannie and Christian

Tony and Marina's Wedding - June 26, 2010

2010-06-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Michael's brother Tony got married this weekend to Marina! It was a beautiful wedding at Marina's aunt's house. Michael was a groomsman, Olivia the flowergirl, and Jacob was the official greeter. Jacob made sure everybody signed the photo of Tony and Marina and even made announcements during the wedding in case anybody forgot! Here are a few pictures of my beautiful family. More party pics to come later as well as pictures of Grandma Dottie and the rest of Michael's family.

The proud Catanzaros!

Here is the back of Olivia ...

and the front!

Jacob was very responsible at the front door!

Olivia at work.

Marina and Tony

The new Mr. and Mrs. Catanzaro

Looking good Michael!

Michael and Jacob

The first dance

Mischievious Olivia getting more M & M's.

Dancing with Daddy

Hawaii - Day 4

2010-02-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

December 29, 2009

I'm going to be selfish and do Day 4 in two separate entries. One with kids and one without! For my Christmas/birthday present Michael booked a photo tour for me. I love to take pictures and have wanted to learn how to better use my camera. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean I was able to send the kids away with them and focus on my pictures. I got to spend the entire day with two professional photographers, Ken and Mary Goodrich (www.hawaiiphotoretreat.com). I learned so much and had a fabulous time taking hundreds of pictures. A little north of Hilo are the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Gardens where these pictures were taken.

Ken and Mary

Hawaii - Day 3

2010-01-30T12:32:00.003-08:00

December 28, 2009 - We started our day with a long scenic drive from Kona to Punalu'u Beach. It took about two hours of winding road and 30 m.p.h. speeds, but it was very interesting to see the changing landscape. We traveled through lush green coffee plantations, desolate lava fields, and grassy hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was well worth the drive because Punalu'u Beach is covered in fine black sand and home to many sea turtles. Surprisingly it wasn't even very crowded and we enjoyed several hours of swimming and wildlife watching. It was definitely a beach right out of a movie.

After getting our fill of sand and water we piled back in the car for the ride back to Kona. We made a stop in Na'alehu at the famous Punalu'u Bakeshop. We enjoyed yummy sweetbread, malasadas, and ice-cream before we realized we were running short on time. Upon returning to Kona we had a quick 45 minutes to shower and change before heading back out to the Sheraton for the Firenesia Luau.

The luau was a fun night. The kids had a great time learning to be warriors with their poi balls and fire sticks. The adults enjoyed the all you can drink mai tais and buffet. The show was more theatrical than authentic luau but they did the hula and it was exciting to watch the fire dancers. We finally made it back to the condo late that night with the kids entertaining us with their ukuleles the whole ride home.

Jacob and Olivia at Punalu'u Beach

More sea turtles today! Jacob and Michael swam with a few while snorkeling.

Jacob watching the turtles from his perch on the rocks.

They turtles even came out to sleep on the beach. We made sure not to touch and stay back an appropriate distance.

A turtle munching his lunch in the background while the family poses.

Beach Beauty

I know you can hardly see us in this picture but I wanted a picture of the sand more than us.

There are plenty of shots of palm trees and ocean but I thought this was pretty. We had the ocean on one side and this lily pond on the other with the black sand beach in the middle.

Big brother lending a helping hand.

This is the beautiful view at the Sheraton where we went for the luau.

The whole family - Uncle Sean, Auntie Brandie, Jessica, Michael, Olivia, Grandma Vickie, Grandpa Larry, and Jacob

Doing the hula

Some more hula at the table. Olivia and Jacob entertained everybody while we waited for dinner and the show to start.

The musical portion of the evening.

Getting ready for the buffet line we stopped to check out the Kalua pork.

We couldn't help but buy the professional luau portrait!

Hawaii - Day 1 and 2

2010-01-18T18:29:00.001-08:00

December 26, 2009 - Day 1 wasn't very exciting except for the fact that we unloaded the car from Christmas, threw in the suitcases, grabbed a few hours sleep, and headed out to the airport. We spent most of the day on the plane, in the airport, picking up the car, and grocery shopping. Thanks to Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean we stayed in a great condo right on Ali'i Drive. There was enough daylight left when we got to Hawaii that the kids could see what it looked like and we enjoyed dinner at the Royal Kona Hotel. The kids thought it was cool to eat right on the water at a table surrounded by tiki's and lava rock. The adults thought it was cool that we were relaxing with our first Mai Tais of the trip!

December 27, 2009 - Day 2 started out with a very exciting trip to Costco to finish stocking our condo. It was nice to see that even in Hawaii you can get a Costco hot dog and soda for $1.50! After our shopping we finally started vacationing. Just a few miles down the road from the condo was Kahalu'u Beach. The sea turtles were swimming right on the rocky shore and the snorkling was easy for Jacob. Olivia even got to see fish because the water was so clear all you had to do was look down. We spent the whole afternoon soaking up the sun and exploring.

Olivia and Michael swimming in the condo pool.

Jacob relaxing while they waited for everybody else to return from Costco.

Jacob and Michael at Kahalu'u Beach.

Grandpa was with us too!

This picture was taken just looking down. You didn't even have to get wet to see fish!

Here we all are checking out our first sea turtle. We were careful to look and not touch. I'm not sure the turtles were aware of the rules since they swam right along with you.

Livie and Dad

Hawaiian Honu

There's Grandma checking out the turtles. Auntie Brandie and Sean were with us but somehow managed to be wandering everytime we tried to take pictures.

Oh yeah, we do have kids!

2010-01-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

The last post was all about Michael and I and that was about the end of our story. Since then we've hosted Thanksgiving for 20+ people, had a family birthday party for Olivia who turned 4,took a 3 day trip to Disneyland to celebrate both kids' birthdays, took the kids to the SeaWorld Holiday Nights, went to the kids Christmas performance for Kidz Klub, squeezed in a birthday lunch for Michael, had a family party for Jacob who turned 7, went to Olivia's preschool Christmas Sing, watched the kids sing at the Christmas Cantata, celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Ramona, took the kids to Hawaii the day after Christmas, and finally squeezed in my (Jessica's) birthday this past weekend. Whew! In between all of that I worked, did Christmas shopping and worked on planning my 20 year class reunion. I'm thinking I'm in need of another vacation.

Unfortunately since we just came home from 9 days in Hawaii I'm not going to get any sympathy and that is to be expected. We had a great time since Thanksgiving and I promise we will catch everybody up with some pictures soon. For now the demand is to see some Hawaii pictures so that is where we'll start! Stay tuned I hope to post the beginning in the next couple days.

Kids, What Kids?

2009-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Just about every post is dedicated to family events which means the kids. Pictures of our kids doing anything and everything. Every once in awhile there are a few pictures of Michael and the kids, one of me and the kids, but never one of just the two of us. So this blog entry is dedicated to every picture taken this year of just the two us......it won't take you long to check them out.....there's only four!

Jacob took this lovely (yuck) photo of Mom's first day of the new school year. It was followed up with 100 more of Jacob and Olivia starting their school years too.

Michael had to go to Prague on business and I decided to go along.

Still in Prague (it was one of the only days Michael had time to sightsee with me) we are in front of the Charles Bridge with the castle and cathedral in the background.

Here we were one night out to dinner!

Halloween Festivities

2009-11-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Halloween isn't just a day around here it is a month long celebration! It starts with picking out costumes and wraps up with tired kids falling asleep making sure their candy bags are close by. This year Jacob decided to stick with his Star Wars obsession and be Commander Fox. Olivia is equally obsessed with Disney Princesses and chose Cinderella. They were excited to wear their costumes to the Jamacha Fall Carnival, again at the annual Ranta Family Halloween/Pumpkin Carving party, and finally on Halloween night. In between we found time to visit the local pumpkin patch. Sadly we didn't make it out to Bates Nut Farm this year and we really missed that tradition. Between baseball games and all the fun there just wasn't a full day that we could make the long drive. Maybe next year! We wrapped up our Halloween festivities with all the family coming for dinner and then trick or treating around the neighborhood. Now bring on the next fun get together, Thanksgiving!

Playing games at the school carnival

Enjoying some cotton candy

Jacob and his first grade friends, Kai and Jack.

The big kids had fun and the little ones did too!

Dad at the pumpkin patch with Olivia and Jacob.

Olivia

Jacob

Mom and the kids!

Getting ready for the Ranta Halloween party

Kirk took a great family shot!

Pumpkin carving time

The Ranta family invited Fiona to do a little face painting.

Jacob got a ghost, bat, and spider web!

Spooky

Olivia has a pumpkin on her cheek and beautiful fairy eyes.

Olivia and Dad

Halloween is finally here!

Leaving a house with their treats!

Trick or treat!

Deep Sea Fishing - Oct. 2009

2009-10-18T09:38:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, October 17th, we went out on a full day deep sea fishing trip. Thanks to Jessica's dad, who chartered the boat, we were able to fish with just our family. Grandpa Larry, Grandma Vickie, Great Uncle Rod, Great Uncle Mike, Cousin Jason, Auntie Brandie, Uncle Sean, and all four of us met at 5:30 AM at H & M Sportfishing and boarded the Daiwa Pacific. Thanks to Nick the cook, Shooter, Scott, and Captain Ken we all had a great time fishing! Sorry to Michael and Grandpa Larry we somehow didn't get any pictures of them with their fish. We all managed to catch something even if it wasn't a fish, Uncle Mike caught a bird and the bottom but still had fun! Olivia had a great time just hanging out and coloring or watching movies in the galley. It seemed like one of the crew was always with her coloring or playing! It is pretty funny to find the Captain and 2 crew members sitting at the tabel coloring in the Fairy Coloring book. It would have made a great picture. It was a great day for everybody!

Great Aunt Carol and Cousin Leah waving us off at the dock! They spent the day shopping and sightseeing around San Diego.

Jacob and Olivia ready to go! Olivia wanted to know why it was still night out.

Auntie Brandie, Grandpa Larry, Great Uncle Mike, and Grandma Vickie

Cousin Jason and Uncle Rod checking their rods.

Jacob stealing some bacon from the cook.

Jacob helping with pick up bait at the bait tanks.

Sea lions are cute when they aren't stealing your fish!

Waiting for breakfast in the galley

Uncle Rod got the first one!

He landed a nice sized bonito.

Jacob getting some help from Shooter

Jacob caught two rock fish.

Grandma Vickie with her two rock fish.

Jacob reeled in this bonito. He wonders why his arm is sore today.

Here's Jessica with two of her four fish!

Auntie Brandie with three of her fish!

Uncle Sean with 4 of his fish!

Uncle Rod got another one.

Here's Jason bringing in a bonito.

Proud fisherman

Too much coloring can wear a girl out.

Sean caught a bass.

Jacob got to sit above the bait tanks on the way back.

Jessica loves her nature photographs.

An octopus that came out of one of the fish.

Sean won the jackpot with this bonito!

Squid

Uncle Rod was worn out!

Relaxing in the galley on the ride back.

Uncle Mike and Grandpa Larry

Close encounter with a cruise ship

Within minutes it was swallowed up by the fog.

Heading back to the dock

The whole gang and the crew

Jacob became an honorary crew member!

Here's the boat we were on!

Princess Classics on Ice

2009-10-11T13:03:00.001-07:00

Saturday the 10th Olivia and Jessica had Girls Day Out and went to see Disney On Ice: The Princess Classics. They started with a Jamba Juice for Olivia and Starbucks for Mom. Then off they went to the San Diego Sports Arena. For the next 2 hours Olivia sat in absolute awe as her favorite princess stories were retold in true Disney fashion. Even Jessica was impressed with the sets and ice skating. After getting a souvenir program and a Cinderella snow cone the day was labeled a success!

Here is Princess Olivia sporting her new Snow White shirt and best princess smile. Jessica was glad Olivia didn't insist on wearing one of her costumes since it was really cold in the arena.

Olivia in her seat waiting for the show. She's showing off her program and princess rose.

The only stage shot we got before the camera battery died. That's Aladdin skating and waving to Jasmine who's in greenish colored pants at the top of the castle stairs.

Camping With Grandma and Grandpa

2009-10-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in September is the Lake Cuyamaca Fishing Derby. Last year Grandma and Grandpa took Jacob and this year Livie got to go too. It's a fun time for the kids who get to spend quality time in the outdoors and Mom and Dad have a weekend on their own!
Jessica drove the kids up to the lake on Friday after school and they didn't come back until Sunday afternoon. The kids had a fun time fishing but sadly they only caught one fish the entire time. Before you feel too sorry for them it turns out that one lone fish Jacob caught was the first place prize winner in his age division! Yea Jacob. Olivia was happy with her goody bag and she even won a raffle prize. While they were off fishing Mom and Dad went to a charity fundraiser for school, had a last minute garage sale, cleaned out the garage, had a fancy dinner out, and got to sleep in! We were all winners!

Livie and Jacob all set up for fishing.

Happy campers!

Games with Grandpa.

A couple of ragamuffins

Jacob with his prize winning rainbow trout. That's his new rod, reel, and tackle box that he was given as the first place prize. He also got a plaque to hang on the wall.

Baseball Again?

2009-09-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Jacob loved playing tee ball so much that when he found out there was also a winter league he wanted to play again. We are so glad he's found something that he really enjoys doing. He is now playing Minor B baseball, which means harder rules, bigger field, and a pitching machine. Winter Ball is much more casual than the spring season so it's a great chance for Jacob to learn the rules and get more practice. He's on the Mariners and he'll be playing every Sunday until Thanksgiving!

Playing the outfield

Keeping his eye on the batter

Now he's up to the plate....

and slapping hands with the coach after making it to first!

Olivia's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-13T18:03:00.001-07:00

The day after Labor Day Olivia started preschool. She went for a few weeks in the summer to get used to going but this was the official start of the new year. Since Mom already started school Dad took Olivia to the first day open house. Olivia settled right in and gave a big wave when Dad needed to leave for work. It looks like it's going to be a busy year!

Here's Olivia in her new dress with her backpack, all ready to go!

Here's the pink backpack and check out the bow Dad put in her hair.

Olivia and Mrs. Silva playing with play dough.

One last picture of the dress and shoes, she picked them out all by herself.

Our friend Aidan goes to preschool too! They are so lucky to be in the same class. That's dad Tony who also came to the first day open house.

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T19:37:00.001-07:00

We can't consider Labor Day as the end of summer since we go back to school in August and we know we can visit the beach well into October. We did join the masses and went to The Strand to celebrate our long weekend. Here is Jacob and Olivia sitting in the middle of their castle. It was a beautiful day and we look forward to another beach day next weekend.

First Day of School

2009-08-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Look closely because that is our big first grader sporting some new braces for the first day of school. Jacob started first grade on August 24th. He is in Mrs. Savinon's class at Jamacha and Mom is right across the hall.

Jacob on his first day

It's Mom's first day too!

Dad was there for support.

It's good to have friends! Here are the boys flashing the first grade sign. Jacob, Jack, Kai, and Thomas are all in the same class this year. It's one thing to go to school where your mom works and it's even harder when the teacher is one of your mom's good friends!

Chula Vista Lemon Festival

2009-08-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday (Aug. 9th) we went down to the Chula Vista Lemon Festival. Turns out it is just a few blocks of street fair type food and shopping, with some kiddie rides thrown in. The main reason we went was because Olivia's ballet/tap class was performing along with the other Rec. center dance classes. We also enjoyed some ice cold lemonade!

Here is Olivia all dressed and ready to dance.

Olivia was not blessed to have a mom who can do fancy hair so this ballet bun was a major accomplishment. With a lot of pins, hairspray, and a visit to the internet this was the end result.

One last practice before the girls dance in front of an audience.

Why aren't they always this nice to each other?

Waiting for the recital to start. Jacob is a very proud big brother.

Here they come!

Olivia was smiling and having fun and that's the most important part of the dance.

A quick change into play clothes and we had time for a few rides.

We're Sorry

2009-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

To our loyal fans we are sorry that we haven't kept up on the blog! We still can't figure out where time goes. The camera never stops clicking but it's hard to sit down and get something done. Here is a quick picture review of the past few months.

Jacob finished T-ball in May and received a trophy and signed baseball.

We took a trip to the zoo to see the new Elephant Odyssey.

We went out to Fort Rosecrans to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

Jacob wanted to see if Grandma's name was added correctly.

Jacob received an Academic Achievement award in June.

He shook some maracas in the End of the Year Kindergarten performance.

He closed out the show by asking parents to meet their kids on the playground.

Saying goodbye to his Kindergarten teacher and hello to first grade.

We saw baby doves at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ramona on Father's Day.

Olivia still has bandages but her nose is looking better.

Grandpa and Cooper on Father's Day

Olivia went back to ballet!

Practicing for her recital in August.

Stay tuned for Vail Lake, the San Diego fair, Fourth of July, and more!

Olivia's Surgery

2009-04-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that Olivia had her second nose surgery. We explained what was going to happen and she handled it just fine. We got to the hospital at 5:30 AM and she left for surgery at 7:30. The surgery was over at a little past 10:00. She went to recovery and then post-op. We made it home around 1:00. She never cried but then again if you had a team of people treating you like the queen you would be okay too. The staff at the hospital was so nice and went out of their way to make her feel comfortable. They thought it would make her feel better if they gave her beloved "Yellow Bunny" a bandage on his hand and a bandage on his nose just like she had. She freaked out when she saw Bunny's hand but she likes the one on his nose! :-) The doctor thinks that in a few years we may have to do another surgery but we will have to wait and see how this one heals. In the meantime she is home, relaxing in the big bed, and watching Disney movies!

Sitting pretty in bed!

Watching Cinderella and waiting for her surgery time.

Home in bed! The bandages are skin color so they don't look too bad but we can already see the major bruising underneath. She will most likely have two black eyes tomorrow if it's anything like the first surgery. There's Yellow Bunny's bandage too.

Little League Day at Petco Park

2009-04-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today was Little League Day at Petco Park. All the San Diego Little League organizations were invited to attend the game and participate in the Little League Parade. We arrived at the stadium around at 10:45 and Michael and Jacob went to find the Eastlake teams and line up. Brandie and Sean came along with Olivia and I to find our seats. The Little League teams got to enter the stadium at left field and walk along the warning track all the way around to the exit at right field. As they passed by home plate Michael and Jacob found us in the stands, yelling and cheering for them! We met them back at the seats after the parade and stayed for the whole game. Sadly the Padres lost but Jacob was so proud to walk on the field wearing his uniform!

Jacob waiting for the parade to start.

Jacob took this picture as he walked around the field.

He also took a picture of us cheering in the stands!

Here we are, the whole family sporting our A's T-ball shirts! (Even Olivia is wearing her shirt though you can't see it.)

Waving from our seats

Enjoying a treat of cotton candy with some very sticky hands.

Michael and Sean enjoying the game.

Grandma

2009-02-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

I know we said we'd be better at updating our blog but things aren't always smooth running. The last month has been pretty busy and unfortunately this wasn't the update we would have liked to provide to you. Jessica's grandma had been sick for several weeks at the beginning of February and she passed away on February 20th. A memorial service is planned for March 7th and a burial will be later at Fort Rosecrans. Here are a few pictures from Grandma Moon's birthday in October. We had a great time visiting, she loved seeing the kids, and it was a quiet time to relax. We got to see her again at Christmas but that was crazy with all the presents and family! Grandma will be missed a great deal but we will remember all the happy times that we shared.

SeaWorld in September

2008-12-28T08:57:00.001-08:00

Back in September we were fortunate enough to attend a Dine with Shamu dinner at SeaWorld. We had received free passes and were very excited to use them. The food was really good but the highlight was seeing the whales so close to us while we ate our dinner. We would recommend this experience but save it for a special occasion because the tickets are expensive.

This was right next to our table.

Shamu waving

That is Shamu right behind Jacob.

Here is a better view.

Waving goodbye at the end of dinner.

Here's Olivia enjoying the show. She was a little nervous at first.

After dinner we went to the new Sesame Street Playplace and Olivia got to see Bert.

We made a last stop at the tide pools before heading home.

Olivia was finally brave enough to hold a sea star.

It's Time To Go Back!

2008-12-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family - Thanks for hanging in there with all of the Costa Rica blogs. We actually had another fun filled day visiting the Waterfall Gardens but since we had been there the first time I'm going to skip over those pics and try to update everybody on what's been going on since July! I'm way behind but since I'm on vacation I hope to catch up. That means that the blog may change quickly so you'll have to check back often to see what's been done!

To start our update I'll jump back to October where Michael and I spent the first weekend in Colorado. Neither of us had been there before and despite the fact we were there to see his cousin get married we snuck in some tourist time too.

We arrived in Colorado Friday the 3rd and checked into our hotel. We then met up with Jeannie (Michael's cousin) and Donald for their rehearsal dinner. After dinner we took a tour of Donald's house, mostly the basement, to see his crazy Star Wars collection. The next morning, after a good breakfast, Michael and I headed out to the Cave of the Winds where we took the lantern tour. We basically spent almost 2 hours wandering through dark and spooky caves with only the small light of an oil candle. After that we went to Manitou Springs, had lunch, and wandered around looking at the old buildings.

The wedding was at 5:00 at a wonderful restaurant called the Craftwood Inn. The weather was a little chilly (it snowed up at Pike's Peak) but the wedding was beautiful and the dinner was delicious. It was so nice to meet Donald's family who are all so welcoming and fun! Jeannie and Donald are a wonderful couple and we are so happy to have been able to share their special day!

Michael's mom Dottie, Jeannie and Eric (his cousins), and Michael at the rehearsal dinner.

Just a small (very, very small) corner of Donald's Star Wars basement.

Here is where we started our lantern tour. The picture below shows how you had to bend down to get through many parts of the cave.

Jeannie and Donald during the ceremony.

Mr. and Mrs. Bychowski at their reception.

Jessica and her new family - Jack and Jim (Donald's dad and uncle).

Donald, Jessica, and Jeannie at the end of the night.

We're Still Not Done!

2008-11-15T16:14:00.001-08:00

Okay, I know that we are lagging in updating the blog but life has been busy. In the future you are going to have to look for our trip to Colorado for Jeannie and Donald's wedding, The Cave of the Winds, the Ranta Halloween party, trick-or-treating with the kids, New York and whatever else happened or happens before we get caught up. Looking back at the trip to Costa Rica it's amazing how much more we'd love to share. Don't know if I'll get to all of it but if I don't blog about zip lining Michael and Jason will be sorely disappointed. As it is, sorry Jay, I haven't yet figured out how to do video so that will have to come later!

Anyhow, the fifth day of our trip was another great one. We woke up early, again to pouring rain, and had a quick breakfast in the car while en route to the Arenal Sky Tram and Trek adventure ( http://www.skyadventures.travel/Arenal_En/Welcome.html ). The hotel was so nice to give us take out boxes and cups and allowed us to fill them up from the buffet. We ate as we drove and were ready to go by the time we got to the sky tram.

Once at the park the kids, Amy and I waited around while Jason and Michael got outfitted with their gear. We all rode up to the top of the zip line in a tram and then watched as Jason and Michael started the zip line portion of their tour. They had an amazing time and talked about it for the rest of the day! Amy and I took the kids on a rain forest hike and then rode the tram back down. The kids were very nervous to have their dads swinging from a little cable so they were very relieved to see them waiting for us at the bottom! After that it was back to the hotel for a quick change and checkout. The adventure continues......

Jacob and Olivia waiting for Dad to get his gear.

The guys are finally ready!

Amy, Sophie, and Jason ready to head to the top.

Here we are!

The whole gang

A view of the top of the canopy from the tram. Pictures never show how beautiful it really is.

Here's adventure boy heading off into the rain forest.

Michael heading off on the zip line!

There he goes all the way across.

Here's Jay zipping along too!

It's a long way over and a long way down.

The whole family in front of Volcan Arenal.

Day 4 - After our boat adventure!

2008-10-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Part of our Safari Float boat adventure was a visit to a small Costa Rican ranch 6 miles down the river. At the end of our tour we pulled up to the river bank, climbed a small hill, and found ourselves being welcomed by a very nice family. The family had prepared for us some homemade cheese, fried plantains, a kind of crepe/pancake thing, fresh juice and coffee. They served it on their outside patio right at the edge of the river. We got a chance to visit with the owners and their little girl. We learned that the ranch has been in the family for many generations and that the grandparents still lived on the property. They have 3 daughters who all ride horses and one is the champion barrel racer for all of Costa Rica. The kids had a great time playing with the puppy, learning about the local plants, and most of all holding the little baby goat who was only 8 days old.

Here are the girls heading up the hill to have a snack.

On the way they found this little goat.

This was the highlight of Olivia's trip. She talked about the goat every day.

Jacob got to hold the goat too.

Here is the ranch where we had a snack before heading back to the hotel.

That is the river right outside the house.

The flowers around the house were beautiful.

After such a great experience visiting the ranch Daniel, our guide, took us back to the hotel. The kids were tired and not very hungry so they stayed with Michael at the room. I went into the town of La Fortuna with the Orlandos for some lunch and shopping. Later we met up again back at the pool where we spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming. Later that night we went back out for dinner and tried to see more lava at the spot we had gone the night before. Unfortunately we had no luck since the clouds covered the entire volcano. It was still an adventure and we were grateful for what we'd been able to see the night before.

Tough life our kids have hanging at the pool bar....

...and the jacuzzi.

The sky was beautiful on our walk to dinner. This was the room we stayed in.

Day 4 - The Beginning

2008-09-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

On our fourth day in Costa Rica we were awakened by the loudest rainstorm we have ever heard. It started about an hour before we were due to wake up and lasted throughout breakfast. This wouldn't have bothered us except we were scheduled to take a boat tour down a river to see local wildlife. Starting to get nervous that we wouldn't be able to go we got a call from our guide. Daniel was checking in to see if we still wanted to give the trip a try despite the torential rains. Luckily we are the adventurous types because we said what the heck and told him to pick us up.

After about a 30 minute drive, it was still raining, we came to Rio Penas Blancas. Here we exited the van to see a small staircase leading down to the river and nobody else in sight. Daniel proceeded to pass out life vests and point us toward an inflatable raft. Here is where Amy and I looked nervously at each other and whispered that we were both expecting to see something along the lines of the "Jungle Boat Cruise" at Disneyland. The thought of 3 small children and 5 adults, in a blow up boat, on a river full of crocodiles was a little more adventurous than we expected. And to top it all off it was still raining!

Proving that once again our vacation was charmed and we were destined to have a fabulous time, the clouds parted and the sun peeked out. We couldn't back out now so down the stairs and into the boat we went, passing a poison arrow frog on the way!

I'd love to say the trip went smoothly and it did except for a few minor issues. One, kids don't like life vests. Especially when they are wearing waterproof rain gear and the jungle is now getting steamy. Two, once you remove a life vest from a child, in order to remove the hot and sticky rain gear, they don't want to put the vest back on. Three, telling children why they need a life vest and then pointing to the nearby crocodile does not settle them down, if anything it makes the problem worse because they now realize they are in a blow up boat on a river full of crocodiles! Chaos ensues, mom bribes all children with as many juice boxes and Oreos they want, youngest child falls asleep (yes our Olivia), and finally we can continue our cruise in peace. Of course Michael is now balancing the sleeping child on his lap while trying to remain in the boat and Jason is getting a permanent stiff arm from trying to shield the sleeping child with an umbrella. When all was said and done we saw so many amazing things that all the little issues were quickly forgotten!

More on day four later......it was a big day!

Jason and the kids ready for our big adventure. The foggy rain was just beginning to stop.

Not the best picture but the kids were excited to see a real poison arrow frog in the wild.

One last shot before heading off down the river.

This is a Jesus Christ Lizard....so called because it seems to walk or run on the top of the water.

This crocodile (cocodrilo in Spanish) wasn't fond of Livie's crying. We were a little nervous when he snapped his head around and dove into the water right by our boat.

This is a three toed sloth. The patch on its back means it's a male. You rarely see them moving so we were excited when this one started to go from one branch to another.

There were many cows on the river banks and they were all numbered except this one. His tag said Charlie. We hope Charlie's been told about the crocodiles.

We think this was called a Tiger Heron.

A howler monkey

Another howler monkey

There were tons of iguanas up in the trees.

These are bats that we found on the side of a tree. We saw nature at work when they all lifted their heads and started to move in unison. They were trying to make the appearance of being larger than we were by moving all at the same time.

Costa Rica - Day 3 - Land of the Lost

2008-09-06T17:07:00.001-07:00

Well we didn't fall down a waterfall or go back in time like Marshall, Will and Holly, but it certainly looked like we were in a movie. It is amazing to see things in person that you have only experienced in pictures. Day 3 in Costa Rica was just as good as days 1 and 2!

We started out with a very uneventful four hour drive from Casa de Orlando to the town of La Fortuna. La Fortuna is located in the Alajuela region of Costa Rica, north of San Jose (the capital). While the trip was uneventful it didn't disapoint in its beauty. Surprisingly we found that Costa Rica has a diverse landscape, from lush tropical rainforests to rolling hillside meadows filled with dairy cows and even some mountainous pine forests. We left early enough that we were spared driving in anything more than a few scattered sprinkles and we had the Orlandos leading the caravan so all went well.

As far away from Land of the Lost you can get was our hotel, Montana de Fuego (http://www.montanafuegohotel.com/), a beautiful resort and spa located right next to the volcano between the green side and active side. We had a wonderful reception with a cool glass of juice and the announcement that our rooms were ready and waiting. We stayed in little cabins with a glassed in porch and a beautiful view. Tired of sitting the kids were excited to hit the pool as quickly as possible. After a quick look around the room we all changed and went to cool off. The rainstorm that hit immediately after jumping in the pool didn't damper the fun. What's a little more water when you are already wet?

The most excitement of the day was lounging in the pool and hearing the volcano start to rumble. For a good hour the volcano rumbled and sputtered and finally erupted while we watched in fascination. Of course the cloud cover was shrouding the mountain top but we were still able to see the thick clouds of brown smoke pour out the top. The pictures don't do it justice at all and of course after it erupted the clouds decided to part for a full volcano view. This remained the talk of the day and it was decided that after dinner we would head to the active side and see if we could spot some lava.

After our delicious dinner we threw the kids in pajamas and headed to the other side of the volcano. After a 15 minute drive, on an unlit dirt road, we crossed a small river and found ourselves smack in the middle of tourist central. In a muddy field we gathered with a bunch of other lava seekers anxiously waiting and hoping that the clouds would clear up enough to see something. While we waited we got to see fireflies and after about 10 minutes the clouds parted. There on the side of the mountain we were able to see a trail of lava coming out from the top and rolling down to the bottom. Sadly this is not an easy thing to photograph without a tripod and an understanding of night photography. So you will have to take our word and the Orlandos that we saw the lava, we cheered and clapped with the crowd, and felt like true adventurers (well most of us were adventurers, the girls fell asleep on the drive).

Here is a view of the hotel from our room.

Fun in the pool!

A little rain is no big deal!

Jacob loves to swim.

The view of the volcano from the pool. That is smoke coming out of the top!

The clouds rolled in and then the volcano erupted. The picture just doesn't show how exciting it was to see and hear!

Of course after the excitement was over the clouds cleared and here is the whole volcano still smoking at the top!

Excitement over it was back into the pool for more fun.

Sophie taking a juice break!

This is the best I could do getting a picture of some of the lava. This is from our front courtyard at the hotel. I put the camera on night photography and with the light from the porch and the flash it was enough to get this shot.

In the Blink of an Eye

2008-08-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

We all say it a million times in our life....Where does the time go? Jacob started Kindergarten on Monday and is loving every minute of it. Here's a couple of pictures showing then and now!

Jacob was 6 months old here and his biggest accomplishment was sitting up! Kindergarten wasn't even a thought back then.

Here he is now at 5 1/2 (he always has to add the 1/2) on his first day of real school as he likes to say. He's had many accomplishments since those first few months and we know he will have many more. Here is to a great year and many more to come.

Day 2 - A Drive Through the Valley

2008-08-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

After a great night of visiting and good food we woke up refreshed and ready for another adventure. We drove to the oldest church currently in use in Costa Rica, the Iglesia de San Jose Orosi, one of the only structures still remaining from the colonial era. The Catholic church is located in the Orosi Valley in the Cartago province and was built in 1743. We spent some time looking around the inside of the church and visiting the small museum next door which contained religious artifacts and paintings. According to tour books the Orosi Valley is considered to be the most beautiful valley in the entire country. We would agree that it is very beautiful but we think the whole country is beautiful!

A mural depicting life in Orosi, primarily know for their coffee plantations.

Iglesia de San Jose Orosi

Looking out of the church and into the courtyard, across the courtyard is the museum.

After visiting the church we got back on the main road, which loops around the entire valley, and headed off for lunch at La Casona del Cafetal Restaurante (http://www.lacasonadelcafetal.com). The restaurant is located on a coffee plantation overlooking the Cachí Reservoir or Lago de Cachi. We sat outside, on a beautiful patio overlooking the lake, and enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch. The kids were happy as can be since they could run all around the grass without bothering anybody and after lunch there was a playground to explore.

Lago de Cachi - This is the view from the patio where we ate our lunch.

Jacob - Great Explorer

Here's Olivia having fun at the playground.

After lunch we continued down the road until we came to the town of Ujarras. Ujarras is home to the ruins of a colonial chuch built over 400 years ago. An indigenous Huetar Indian fisherman claimed to have found a box with an image of the Virgin Mary. Unable to move the box, local people built a classic Spanish Colonial church, ( Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción ) on the site. Over time, the spirit of Mary is said to have performed several miracles for the villagers, including a spontaneous bell ringing that warned them of an impending flood. In 1666 she is credited with helping a hastily organized militia repel an invasion off the Caribbean coast by the English pirate Henry Morgan. But she failed to save Ujarrás from a devastating flood in 1833 that damaged the village so badly the people abandoned it and rebuilt on higher ground. Today the ruins are surrounded by a park where local families gather to picnic on Sundays. We had a fun time wandering through the ruins and playing in the park.

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Limpia Concepcion

Exploring the ruins

Another view of the ruins

Just one of the many parrots we saw driving through the Orosi Valley.

After seeing the ruins we got back on the road and enjoyed a beautiful drive home. We made another quick stop at the AutoMercado to pick up some dinner for the kids and then back to the Orlando house to eat and pack for the next part of our vacation. Day 3 – Off to Arenal…..coming soon!

Sophie and Livie eating dinner together.

Jacob and Michael in the Orlando's kitchen.

Costa Rica - Day 1

2008-07-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Amy and Jason, amazing hosts and tour guides, suggested that we make our first full day in Costa Rica for the kids. Jacob and Olivia were such troopers on the long trip Friday so it was a perfect suggestion. Since this was our second trip we didn't have that burning desire to venture off into the jungle immediately upon arriving so it was okay with the adults too!

We started our day with a yummy breakfast of Amy's pancakes and spent some time catching up. After getting settled we headed out to Parque Nacional de Diversiones, a Costa Rican amusement park (http://www.parquediversiones.com/). This amusement park donates all of its profits to the National Children's Hospital of Costa Rica. It is similar to Disneyland in that it is broken up into different sections. We spent the majority of our day in the section called "Pueblo Antiguo" or simply "Old Town".

Pueblo Antiguo is very much like San Diego's Old Town. It has different buildings representing life in Costa Rica from the late 1800's and early 1900's. We had lunch at a typical Costa Rican restaurant and even got to see some local animals on the farm. The kids also enjoyed riding a few of the rides and watching a parade. This was certainly a fun place where we could have spent many days exploring but it was fun to focus on the section native to Costa Rica.

We wrapped up our evening with a stop at POPS (our favorite Costa Rican ice cream shop) and the AutoMercado (supermarket). The kids had an impromptu dance party in the kitchen and then once they were in bed the adults had a wonderful (AKA "quiet") dinner together. Amy made a delicious homemade tortilla soup and after that the girls visited while the boys played Backgammon.

Upon arriving at the park the kids were greated by this friendly tiger.

The entrance to the Old Town section of the park.

Every once in awhile we remember to take a family shot. Here we are in front of one of the old fire trucks.

In the middle of the plaza was this old fountain. Around the fountain were frogs spitting water and the kids had a blast making the frogs squirt at each other.

Jacob really thought he'd be able to push the girls in this ox cart. We didn't have the heart to tell him it was bolted to the cement. He's convinced he really was able to push it a little bit.

Sophie was so excited to show our kids her favorite rides.

The girls loved riding on the little bugs.

Jacob was too cool on the kiddie roller coaster.

We ate lunch at the restaurant in the background and then the kids wanted to try out the cool rock chairs and table.

Amy and Jacob at lunch.

Jacob with one of the parade characters.

While touring the farm we saw the usual animals goats, cows, horses, chickens, pigs, ducks, etc. The kids favorite was the giant iguanas which we don't find roaming around San Diego like they do in Costa Rica.

Great Friends!

2008-07-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

We just returned from another wonderful vacation in Costa Rica! We went to visit our great friends Amy, Jason, and Sophie Orlando. We've all been friends for a long time and it is fun to see our children becoming great friends too! Here is a couple of pictures of everybody before we left for the airport.

Michael, Jacob, Amy, Sophie, Olivia, and Jason

Jacob took this one so Jessica could be in the picture too!

Strike a Pose!

2008-07-10T15:44:00.001-07:00

A few months back Jacob asked if he was going to be taking swim lessons and I said, "Yes, in the summer." Olivia spoke up and said, "I'm taking ballet class in the summer. I'm going to be a ballerina!" This is something we've thought of doing but didn't have any plans on starting at only 2 1/2. We were thinking more like age 5! Anyhow, her passion to be a ballerina did not subside and she has mentioned it over and over as the weeks have gone on. We found a class at our local recreation center that starts at age 2 1/2 and is really inexpensive. We decided this is a good way to see if she likes it without spending a fortune. It is actually a beginning ballet and tap class so she gets to wear both kinds of "fancy shoes" and "be beautiful". Her first class was this Wednesday and she seemed to really like it so we'll see how it goes!

Here's Olivia waiting for her teacher to start class.

Showing off her new moves!

DIRT!

2008-06-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

We spent Father's Day in Ramona and the kids love nothing better than visiting Grandma and Grandpa. We've figured out the biggest reason is the DIRT, and of course the horse, and the DIRT! This is where Jacob and Olivia can get as dirty as they want because they aren't going to be tracking it through my house. On this visit Grandpa provided them with their own kid sized shovels and a giant dirt pile. Throw in a bunch of other toys that they have accumulated and they are busy for hours. They also liked picking vegetables in the garden and eating strawberries right off the plant. Grandpa barbecued and we had a great dinner on the new patio. It was a great day!

Livie loves Cooper.

King of the Mountain

Olivia already has a Petey dog birthmark around her eye so it was pretty funny when she landed in the dirt exactly on her birthmark making it look even darker!

The only thing better than dirt is making it mud!

The Kids Are Getting Big

2008-06-22T15:06:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a whole month since I updated the blog and it certainly isn't for lack of anything going on. Just the opposite, we have been so busy I haven't had time to keep everybody in the loop. We are now on summer vacation so I should have more time to post.

The latest in our house is that our kids are growing way too fast! Jacob just finished EAK (Early Admission Kindergarten) at Jamacha and is ready for regular Kindergarten in August. Olivia has moved out of her crib and is now enjoying her new beautiful big girl bed (her words). Here are a few pictures the kids wanted you to see.

Jacob got a Principal's award for Outstanding Effort.

Here is Jacob on the last day of school with his teacher, Mrs. Soto.

This is Olivia's new bed and dresser.

We didn't have to paint because we bought the twin bed quilt and sham to match the crib set.

Olivia loves her new room!

Spring Break - Part 4 - The End

2008-05-17T13:44:00.001-07:00

We ended our Spring Break by going on a 4 day/3 night camping trip to the Cuyamacas. We didn't realize how cold it would be so we probably won't be camping in March again! We still had a great time hiking and exploring around the area. One day we took what we thought was a one mile hike around our campground. It turned out to be closer to five miles but the kids did a great job and we got to see a lot of neat things. The next day we went exploring at the waterfalls and had fun climbing around the rocks, feeding the squirrels and finding a frog. We liked our campsite so much that we booked the same one for June!

Here is our camp all set up.

Relaxing by the fire, waiting for the marshmallows.

Hiking around the falls.

Here's the frog we found.

Two brave explorers

What you don't see is the drop off the front of that rock! Yikes!

Taking a snack break!

Jacob and Olivia doing their Tarzan calls.

Taking the hiking trail by our campground. You can see the burned trees from the Cedar fire.

Jacob the Explorer at Indian Rock

Easter Sunday

2008-05-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

We've gotten far behind in our postings. Our good friends Cheryl and Mike had a new baby on April 8th and Baby Kate had to have open heart surgery the next week. We have been updating the Gates Family blog (see our link) for them so that their friends and family could stay informed on Kate's progress. Anyhow, we have some catching up to do.

We last left you at the Easter Social and our fun Spring Break continued. After the social we came home and dyed Easter eggs to take to L.A. with us. On Sunday the kids found their Easter baskets, left by the Easter bunny, and then we left for Great Grandma Moon's house to celebrate with the rest of the family. It was a beautiful, sunny day perfect for Easter basket and egg hunting.

Waiting for the first round of eggs to dye.

Jacob's basket was left in the fort.

Olivia's basket was hidden behind the barbecue.

Up in L.A. the kids were spoiled with different baskets from all the relatives.

Here is Olivia checking out her first lip gloss.

Jacob found a basket filled with dinosaur fossil eggs and models to build.

Here is Livie's reaction to Mom saying, "NO more chips before dinner!"

One day we will be able to get both kids to smile nicely at the same time!

Grandma Vickie and Olivia being silly!

Spring Break - Part 3

2008-04-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

The next fun event on our Spring Break agenda was the annual Eastlake Spring Social. It was held the Saturday morning before Easter. The kids love to see the Easter Bunny and have the egg hunt. It is nice that every kid gets to grab eggs and then trade them in for goody bags. Nobody leaves empty handed and it doesn't matter how many eggs you manage to get. This year we realized that Olivia is much braver than Jacob was at 2. Not only did she run other kids over to get the eggs but she went into the older kids sections to take theirs too! When Jacob was that age he would see the crowd of kids hesitantly pick up the egg closest to him and be done with it.

The highlight of the morning was seeing the Easter Bunny.

There was coloring and crafts for the kids to do.

They always love to play on the playground.

Here's Jacob waiting for the egg hunt to start. Why is it called a hunt when they are in plain sight? It should be an Easter Egg clean up!

Here's Livie after the littlest kids got to hunt.

Counting to see who got more, the competition never ends with these two.

Spring Break - Part 2

2008-04-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

After our fun day at the beach we needed a day of rest so Wednesday we lounged around the house and did nothing. We were actually resting up for our next day of fun which was a trip to Disneyland. Back in February we were able to get 3 day tickets at a discount and we still had one day left on our ticket to visit. Since it would expire we squeezed in a weekday trip with Michael taking a day off and Auntie Brandie coming to stay with Olivia. Jacob is big enough to go on all the rides and Olivia isn't so we think it's better to wait awhile longer before she comes with us. Anyhow, we met Grandpa Larry at the park in the morning and despite it being Spring Break we managed to have a great day getting on all the rides we wanted to. We even had time to explore the new Pirate Island (formally Tom Sawyer's Island) and search for Captain Jack Sparrow. We stayed in the park late enough to see Fantasmic and the fireworks show and then we headed for home. Another fun day on Spring Break!

Dad and Jacob in the Tomorrowland Rockets.

The boys on Pirate Island.

Jacob really enjoyed roaming around on all the pirate things.

We couldn't believe it when we ran into Mrs. Soto, Jacob's teacher!

We found Jack Sparrow and Jacob got his autograph on his map of the island.

Heading back from the island in search of more rides, Mom had to have a picture in front of the castle. According to Jacob castles are for girls!

Spring Break - Part 1

2008-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Things are slowing down a little bit so we have the time to go back and fill you in on our fun filled Spring Break. Our spring vacation lasted from March 15th to March 30th. The adults kicked off Spring Break with Couples Night Out on the 15th (see the Gates Family Blog for some pics). After a great night with friends Sunday was rainy and became an indoor day. Thank goodness the rain didn't last because we had a beach party scheduled for Tuesday. Our friend Kai was celebrating his 5th birthday at the Silver Strand in Coronado. Check out the pictures to see what a great day it turned out to be. (We are lucky to have the pictures we do since I took the old camera and forgot to charge the batteries. Ooops!)

First, here is our "Star of the Day"! Kai turned 5 on March 10th. It was fun to see all the boys together, except our friend Thomas who couldn't make it.

The day started a little breezy but it didn't take long for the kids to change into swimsuits. It was a great day with not a cloud in the sky.

Olivia's a big girl now....she ate lunch with the big kids on the picnic table.

Here's Jacob braving the freezing water!

Livie wasn't as brave but she didn't mind getting her toes wet.

She enjoyed playing in the sand (and eating some of it) a lot better than the water.

Jacob loves the sand too. Look at how big he and his friends are getting. If you've got time look at old posts to really see the changes!

Jack

Connor

Connor's big sister Lauren. She's 8 years old now!

Stay tuned for our next Spring Break Adventure. After the beach it was off to Disneyland.....coming soon!

A Fun Adventure

2008-03-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to get away despite every sign that says you shouldn't! After a couple weeks of sickness and days of rain we still decided to take our prearranged trip to Disneyland and it was certainly worth it. Months ago we booked a room along with Auntie Brandie, Uncle Sean, Grandma Vickie and Grandpa for two nights in Anaheim. As the room was nonrefundable and it was the last weekend to get Grandma's Wildfire Hero discount we decided to make the trip. We learned in Costa Rica that a little rain never hurt anybody so we packed up our rain gear, dressed warmly, and braved the elements. We left Olivia at home with Grandma Dottie and didn't tell Jacob where we were going until we were on the road.

We got to Anaheim Friday night and started our trip with dinner and shopping in Downtown Disney. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and Jacob had a great time devouring a giant Volcano brownie desert and shopping at the Lego shop.

Saturday morning we got up early and after breakfast made our way to Disneyland. We were lucky enough to avoid rain until about 4:00 in the afternoon and even then it wasn't that bad. We stayed in Disneyland the whole day and didn't leave until about 10:00. We made it to most of the main rides but missed Thunder Mountain because we didn't want to wait in the rain. Jacob's favorites are Buzz Lightyear and Pirates. He got to do Space Mountain and Indiana Jones this time but didn't love them. He has decided that outside fast rides are great but inside dark fast rides are a little too scary. He was quite brave but didn't jump at the chance to do them again. We were getting quite tired but wanted to see the 9:30 firework show. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and it had to be cancelled. We still had a great time.

Sunday morning the rain poured down and Grandma and Grandpa decided not to do California Adventure with us. They headed home after breakfast but we decided to give it a try. Luckily the rain stopped about 15 minutes after we got there and the rest of the day was great. We only stayed until about 2:00 since we all had work and school. It wasn't crowded so it was plenty of time to do the most important rides! Jacob got to see a lot of characters while we waited for the rest of the group to try the "Tower of Terror". Mom easily gave up her chance to go and waited with Jacob! We have another day on our ticket so we are thinking about making a trip back over Spring Break but we are spoiled and don't want to go when it's so busy so we will have to think about it.

Grandma and Jacob at the Rainforest Cafe.

Jacob, Donald Duck, and Dad

Grandpa, Jacob, and Uncle Sean waiting in line for "The Matterhorn". Grandma Vickie and Auntie Brandie were nice enough to wait in line for the new "Finding Nemo Submarine Ride".

Mom and Jacob on "The Matterhorn". That is Uncle Sean in the background.

Driving with Uncle Sean is so cool!

Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean waiting for the fireworks.

Jacob loves to see the characters.

This is the "Jumping Jellyfish" ride at California Adventure.

It's not a trip to Disneyland without a picture of Mickey!

Two Special Valentines

2008-02-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

How time flies! It's hard to believe that Jacob and Olivia are getting so big so fast. Here are some pictures of our Valentine's Day. Olivia brought cupcakes to daycare and some cards for her friends. Jacob had Spiderman Valentine's for his class party. They both came home loaded down with treats and of course there was more waiting at home. No candy from Mom since she knew how much they'd get during the day! Happy Valentine's Day to all our family and friends!

Here are my two Valentines!

Pucker Up!

Why can't they always be this nice?

Present time!

Jacob has learned to read the cards first. Notice Olivia has already ripped apart the tissue and now she's going back to see the cards.

Livie loved her books and clothes. This was a Valentine dog book that we read about 20 times.

Jacob was very excited to get the latest Bionicle. It only took Mom about 2 hours to put the thing together!

The Last and Most Expensive Birthday!

2008-01-08T21:50:00.001-08:00

Since our last entry was about birthdays we might as well finish off the birthday updates and then we'll go back to Christmas!

I turned 36 on Monday and in my usual fashion stretched out my birthday as long as possible. It all started on Friday when Grandma and Grandpa came to get the kids and kept them until Saturday. This meant an uninterrupted day full of all kinds of plans. Michael had the day off and I envisioned shopping, errands, more shopping, more errands, dinner, some more shopping, and a movie! Well after a leisurely bagel and coffee we started with errand #1....head to Drew Ford and take a test drive in order to get our $75 gift card.

Now we are not one of those crazy couples who goes all over the place doing odd things to get coupons and free stuff. We knew this was the year we were going to need a new car (the Explorer had a slipping transmission and 130K miles) and after a day at the auto show we narrowed down our choices. We might as well make some money and drive one that we wanted to try out anyway! We arrived at the dealer at around 10:00 and a mere 8 hours later drove away in our new Expedition. Since I have the kids and all the junk I will be driving it most of the time so.......Happy Birthday to me!

Not exactly an impulse buy but more like a deal that couldn't be passed up. The Expedition is a 2007 and was sitting in the used lot with only 980 miles on it, yep that's right only NINE HUNDRED! Since it was used we somehow managed to save $14,000 and get a used (NEW if you ask me) SUV fully loaded for less than the stripped down models. This is by far the fanciest car we've ever owned.

Needless to say we got nothing else accomplished that day but I did manage to sneak in a nice dinner and movie. With a new car that will probably be the last dinner or movie of the year! Nor will I be doing much of that shopping I was so looking forward to. I did spend the rest of the weekend peeking out the window to look at the new car since we can't afford the gas it will take to drive it anywhere. :-)

Lovingly referred to as "THE BUS", it has 3 rows of seats and can fit 8 people very comfortably. Guess who the new designated drivers will be.

You needed to see the back.

No eating, drinking, or breathing while riding in the new car! If I get my way those 12 cupholders will never be used.

A lot of fancy stuff we didn't need but it came with it. I can navigate myself all over the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. We won't be driving to Puerto Rico anytime soon/ever!

This is the second row, there's another one just like it in the back!

Birthdays Galore!

2007-12-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

Catanzaro craziness starts in October with Halloween and ends in January with Jessica's birthday. In between October and January we manage to fit in a trip to the east coast, 2 major holidays, and 3 other birthdays. In previous years we've also done a ski trip but this year we will be staying home. Whew! Here are the exciting details from the birthday parties.

Olivia's birthday is celebrated first on November 30th and then Jacob's falls on December 15th. This year we decided to host a joint birthday bash for all their friends on December 1st. Sadly Olivia spent her 2nd birthday home sick but recovered enough to make it to the last half hour of their party. This year we decided to move the party away from home and had it at "Pump It Up". This is a giant room filled with inflatable jumpies and slides. Not only did the kids have fun but the adults did too! We had about 15 children and their parents jumping around and then we finished with cupcakes and breakfast treats in the party room. It was quite chaotic but everybody had a wonderful time.

After a quiet afternoon the festivities continued with a family party for Olivia. The birthday girl was sufficiently recovered to enjoy opening presents and having dinner and cake with all the family. She picked Baby Einstein (Baby Stein to her) decorations and loved that she got to blow out candles and have people sing.

Jacob has a hard time understanding why his sister got to have a birthday before he did since he is older but he finally got his turn on Saturday the 15th. With the friend party out of the way we had a family party for him on his actual birthday. He picked Bionicle decorations and managed to tear through his presents in record time. The rest of the evening was spent watching Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle Sean try to put together all the presents that required assembly. While all the construction was taking place Jacob sat on the couch enjoying his new Leapster!

Wait we did say 3 birthdays didn't we. Michael celebrated a birthday on December 6th with a lot less fanfare. He rang in the big 35 with PF Changs takeout and some homemade brownies. Jacob wanted to go back to Pump It Up but it was a weeknight! Somehow we didn't even manage to get a picture of the big event. Sorry Michael!

Here is the birthday boy at Pump It Up.

The birthday girl made it for a little while at the end.

Jacob loves frosting!

The love of frosting runs in the family!

A good amount of the gang but not all of them!

Livie's Baby Einstein cake

Money, money, money!

Jacob's Bionicle cake

Jacob is five! Where does the time go?

Eastlake Christmas

2007-12-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Every year our Eastlake homeowners association sponsors a Breakfast with Santa. It is a great community event that also doubles as a toy drive. Olivia and Jacob get to see Santa and have a fun morning while also doing their share by picking out a toy to donate.

The morning starts with Santa arriving by fire truck. Our clubhouse is across the street from the fire station and since it doesn't snow here that's the best way for Santa to make his grand entrance. We then wait in line to receive a number so that we don't have to wait in line for our visit with Santa. The association provides a continental breakfast that we enjoy while waiting our turn. The nice part is Santa takes a lot of time with each child and makes the visit very special. I guess it's nice if you are early risers like we are and get a good number otherwise people do have to wait a long time. This year the talk turned to Santa telling Jacob he knows exactly where he lives and will make sure that his gift gets under his Christmas tree. Jacob politely explained that we won't be home and that Santa should go to Great Grandma Moon's house instead!

After visiting with Santa we enjoyed the carolers, ate our candy canes, and the kids got to do some crafts. Jacob made a Christmas light frame and then both kids decorated gingerbread cookies. The hard part was getting the decorations onto the gingerbread man and not into their mouths! Later they were having story time with Christmas books but it was chilly and the kids are fighting colds so we called it a day. We look forward to going again next year!

Santa's big arrival!

Jacob is an old pro at posing with Santa. He told Santa he wanted a telescope which was not a surprise to us, thank goodness. We are always a little nervous that by Christmas Eve he will have completely changed his mind about what he wants.

We snapped one of the two of them because we didn't know if Olivia was going to sit by herself.

Olivia didn't have much to say but she wasn't afraid once she saw Santa had candy. She did mind her manners with a nice "Tank You" and a high five. She even attempted a Merry Christmas but wouldn't tell Santa that she wanted a pink car. Jacob made sure Santa knows what to bring for her.

Here is Livie putting the finishing touches on her gingerbread man.

Jacob is just about done with his decorating.

New York, New York - Nov. 1 - 5

2007-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile we actually get the chance to go somewhere without our children. While it was considered a work trip (some work was actually done) it was much more of a whirlwind getaway of great food and fun entertainment. After getting through the fire week, surviving Halloween with a sick son, and scrambling to get work done in order to go to New York, it was a relief to sit on the plane for 6 hours of peace and quiet.

Upon arriving in New York we checked into the Westin Times Square and changed for a quick walk to a great restaurant called 44 and X (located on 44th and 10th). The next day Michael headed to the Javitz center for the running expo and I headed to 5th Avenue for some much needed shopping. Loaded down with bags I called Michael to meet me (I needed a valet) and while waiting was interviewed for a piece on holiday shopping. The camera crew drew quite a crowd and it was funny to see the other tourists trying to figure out who I was. Later that night we went out to A.O.C., a fabulous French restaurant in the village, with our friend Josey. It was great to catch up with her and find out how she's loving married life.

Saturday found us up and about quite early as we were invited to watch the Olympic Trials with Michael's client. We cheered the runners as they ran past early on and then walked to Tavern On The Green in Central Park for breakfast. The Asics team, us included, were quite excited when Ryan Hall (an Asics runner) won the trials and beat the trial record. Later that night we hit another Hells Kitchen restaurant, 44 sw Ristorante, for an Italian meal and then walked to the Barrymore Theater to see Duran Duran. The highlight of the concert for Michael was seeing that they were all wearing Onitsuka Tiger shoes!

Sunday we slept in and then made the walk back to Central Park to cheer on the New York Marathon runners. We watched the men and women winners and then took a break to have some lunch at Mickey Mantle's. We made it back to the finish line just in time to catch Tom and Suri Cruise heading out of the Tavern to cheer on Katie. While we haven't been Tom fans for awhile it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of a celebrity sighting. If I ever give up my teaching career I could become a paparazzi! We wrapped up the evening back in the village at Gonzo, a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Vincent Scotto. We don't know how celebrity he, his name wasn't familiar, but his food was wonderful.

Monday found us scrambling to pick up a few last souvenirs and then heading to the airport. After a completely different kind of tired it was nice to spend the last 6 hours of our trip on an airplane in peace and quiet, before returning to our normal chaos!

The last stretch before the finish line.

Ryan Hall, running in Asics gear!

Jessica at Tavern On The Green.

Michael got to play on the "Big" piano at F.A.O. Schwartz.

Second row seats for Duran Duran were great, even if they're getting old!

Tom Cruise and Suri at the NYC Marathon.

Don't know many one year olds with police protection.

The best shot we could get at the end of the marathon with my little point and shoot camera!

Oh yeah, we were there for work! Here is Michael's ad in Times Square.

Party Time!

2007-10-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 20th we were invited to Kirk and Elizabeth's annual Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party. For whatever reasons we hadn't actually seen our friends since Jacob was still crawling so it was great to catch up. We got to see a lot of friends from Michael's previous job and meet their kids. We also learned that Kirk and Elizabeth now have one on the way!

The kids had a great time, carving our pumpkin, playing games, eating pizza, and just running wild. There were all kinds of Halloween treats for them so they were in heaven. Livie stayed close most of the time but Jacob found a gang of boys to run with and of course found a girlfriend too. They love getting dressed up in their costumes and staying out late (even though we were home by 7:30, dark means late).

Professional pumpkin carvers!

ARRRR! Here is our finished pumpkin!

Mom and Minnie Mouse

Captain Jack and Tinkerbell

Halloween is coming!

2007-10-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween is Jacob's favorite time of year. He loves to pick out his costume and decorate the house. He can't wait to go to the pumpkin patch and carve the pumpkins that he picks out. He may love Halloween more than Christmas. Every year we get pictures taken in costume so here are this year's choices. Jacob picked Captain Jack Sparrow, even though he hasn't seen the movies he knows that Jack is a pirate. Pirates are quite popular at our house. Olivia saw her costume at the Disney Store and wanted to wear the ears. She chose Minnie Mouse over Tinkerbell. The color wasn't great when I scanned these but you get the idea.

Olivia was quite cooperative for her pictures.

Captain Jack

Why don't they always get along this well?

Back in School - September 10, 2007

2007-09-30T17:18:00.001-07:00

On September 10th Jacob went back for his last year of preschool. It is hard to believe that next year he will be in Kindergarten. He was very excited to go back to his classroom and see his friends. He has some of his buddies in class this year; Jack, Kai, and Thomas. He also has a new friend named Jenna that he talks about A LOT! His other buddy, Connor, is going 5 days this year but they still hang out on the playground. It is fun to be back in the swing of school, with all of the crafts, sharing, and practicing writing Jacob's name.

Playdough is one of Jacob's favorite things.

Jacob and his buddy Kai.

On the play structure

Jacob with his teacher, Mrs. Silva.

Splashing in the Rain

2007-09-14T21:07:00.001-07:00

One of the things the kids loved best about Costa Rica was all the rain. We were looking at pictures of Sophie Orlando in her rainy season boots and Jacob was bemoaning the fact that San Diego is dry and brown, not pretty, green, or wet like Costa Rica. Low and behold the very next morning we had a freak rainstorm that lasted about 15 minutes. The Catanzaro kids have their own rain boots that see a lot of dirt in Ramona but never any rain so it was really exciting to throw them on and run outside. Yep they're in their pajamas but who cares! They had a great time running in the grass and splashing in the puddles. They were soaked by the time the rain stopped but it was so warm it didn't matter. Who knows when we will see rain again so you have to have fun while it's here!

Camping Out - The Real Thing This Time

2007-09-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Back in June we shared the Eastlake campout pictures. That campout sparked the idea that we should really go camping complete with woods and a campfire. We decided to stay local for our first family campout and went up to Lake Cuyamaca. We stayed at the Paso Picacho campground and brought Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean along for the fun. Thank goodness they came because camping is hard work with two little kids. Jacob had a great time playing in the dirt with a boy from another campsite. Olivia had a good time too but it was difficult to keep up with her constant falling over rocks and rolling down hills. We think it will be easier when she's a little older and a lot steadier on her feet!

We left Friday, August 3rd and just spent the weekend. We got our campsite all set up and Brandie and Sean had the site next to ours. We explored the campground and had our first marshmallow roast. Saturday we made a big breakfast and then went hiking at Green Valley. We took the Green Valley Falls Trail up to a rock waterfall. Being August there wasn't a lot of water but there was enough to cool off and splash around. It was a perfect pool for the kids to play in and chase water bugs. That night we had another campfire complete with smores and roasted hot dogs. It was a great adventure to watch a family of raccoons wandering around the outskirts of the camp right before we headed off to bed. Sunday as we were packing up we got to see a hawk that flew right into the middle of our campsite. It grew quite a crowd of neighboring camper.

We arrived home Sunday afternoon, covered in dirt but already talking about our next trip. It was fun to spend some family time without television and all the distractions of home. It was a lot of work to set things up and take it all down again but well worth it. (Brandie has all the pictures of the campsite so hopefully you'll see those later!)

Jacob found the perfect tree to climb on!

The squirrels suddenly vanished when this camper appeared.

Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean on our hike.

Cooling off after a hot hike.

Daddy's girl!

Olivia loved the water best if somebody would hold onto her.

The boys took a drive up Mount Laguna to see the view!

(Brandie and I lounged around the campsite reading while Olivia took a nap)

Our Costa Rican Adventure - The End

2007-09-02T13:26:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 13th, brought our vacation to an end. We woke up early and said some pretty sad goodbyes. Jacob was pretty sure that we had made a mistake and we hadn't really been there all 8 days. He tried to convince us that only, maybe 5 days had gone past. You know it's been a great trip when nobody wants to go home. After some last pictures at the Orlando house, Amy and Sophie jumped in their car and we followed them to the rental car drop-off. We said some more goodbyes and then headed for the airport.

The trip home went smoothly and the kids did a great job. We ended up with the same wonderful flight attendants that brought us to Costa Rica. They remembered Jacob and he was in heaven with all the special attention. We had dinner in Dallas and then boarded for home. Upon arriving in San Diego Jacob got the treat of a lifetime. He got to make an announcement on the plane loudspeaker and then met Captain Dave. Captain Dave let him sit in the pilot's seat, wear his hat, turn all the lights off, and then actually shut down the whole plane. It was a great end to our vacation.

Saying goodbye on the steps of the Orlando's house.

Jacob took this photo so we could have one with Mom in it!

Here is Captain Jacob!

Jacob getting ready to shut down the plane!

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 6

2007-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we set off to fulfill Jacob's biggest wish, to see a volcano. He really wanted to see a volcano with lava coming out but Volcan Arenal was too far away. We explained that Volcan Poas is a volcano that blows smoke and would be almost as great as seeing real lava. Jason rallied everybody up for an early start and after a stop at Bagelmens for breakfast we hit the road to the volcano. We were trying to beat the clouds before they filled in the volcano crater. When we reached the park entrance we were told we had a 50/50 chance of seeing anything. We didn't go all the way to Costa Rica to give up so we bought our tickets, crossed our fingers and drove on in. By the time we parked the car the rain was starting and our chances weren't looking good. We took a short hike to the top and well....you'll see the pictures below! The way we look at it, we had great company, a beautiful walk, and Jacob can never say we didn't try.

After our trip to the volcano we stopped at a cute little giftshop to buy souvenirs and then stopped at a great restaurant called Chubascos which means thunderstorms. A very appropriate name since it rained throughout our meal. The kids had a great time running around the huge lawn and playing on some cute wooden bugs. We ate on the patio and enjoyed the sound of rain on the roof and the beautiful lush green forest. After lunch we headed back to Amy and Jason's with a quick detour to POPS (we love that ice-cream) and a stop at the store for groceries. We were sad to spend time packing as this was one of our greatest vacations ever! One more blog to go and we will have reached the end.

Jacob and Michael on the way up to the top of Volcan Poas.

Here is the crater we were hoping to see.

The gang's all here! Jason's taking the picture.

Here is the view from the top. Yep, the clouds beat us.

It started to clear, we crossed our fingers...

it got a little clearer....

and filled back in again. See behind us, nothing but clouds. No big deal, we were all smiles because we were on vacation in Costa Rica!

A traditional Costa Rican restaurant.

We couldn't get the kids to look because they wouldn't stop running around.

Imperial is the beer of Costa Rica...here is their newest spokesmodel....

and his partner!

Thanks for a great time Orlando Family!

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 5

2007-08-25T19:10:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the delay in our trip updates but school was starting and things got crazy! We are back on track with Day 5.

Gone are the days when you slept late, had a relaxing breakfast, and then barely managed to check out of the hotel before the noon deadline. We still barely made our checkout time but that was because we had to drag the kids out of the pool, AGAIN! We woke up (early) to a beautiful sunny morning and decide to hit the beach and pool since we had at least 4 hours before heading back to the Orlando's. After enjoying our last moments at Los Suenos and saying goodbye to several new friends we made the drive back to Escazu. We stopped again to see the crocodiles and had a quick lunch in the car. By that time we were in the middle of a torential downpour that lasted most of the day. Needless to say nobody wanted to get out of the car to get the camera from the trunk so we don't have any pictures.

Our big challenge going back to the Orlando's was whether or not we could make it all the way to their front door. Jason was nice enough to leave work early and sit home by the phone waiting for us to call when we reached a point where we were unfamiliar. We are proud to say that we didn't call until we were sitting in their driveway and needed them to open the garage. This was quite an accomplishment because without street signs or addresses we were relying on familiar landmarks. We are pretty sure that we took the longest route possible to get there and probably were driving in circles for a good amount of time but the kids were quiet and the rain was nice so it didn't bother us in the least!

After telling Amy, Jason, and Sophie all about our adventures the guys took the kids to the mall for dinner and some playtime. It was Amy's bunco night so Jessica went along and had a great time. The ladies were all so nice and the food was delicious. Jessica ended up winning a set of candles for having the most wins and Amy won in so many categories but ended up with the prize for most losses! Jessica volunteered to go back in August to play again. (She didn't make it!)

Hitting the beach at Los Suenos.

Jacob is finally brave enough to get in the water.

Olivia doesn't like the water but she loved picking up rocks and shells.

Jacob back in the pool and showing off his rainforest monkey shorts!

There were so many iguanas at the hotel. This one was above us....

...and this one was on the edge of the pool next to us.

At one point we counted at least 9 on the pool bar roof!

The kids learned how to order drinks at the swim up bar (and how to charge it to the room).

We are in trouble now.

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 4

2007-08-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Day 4 began with a quick breakfast in the little coffee shop at our hotel and then a stop at the Auto Mercado for some snacks. We then headed south, a little more than an hours drive, to a town called Quepos. The drive was easy with a beautiful view of the coastline. We drove through Quepos to reach Manuel Antonio National Park. This is a beautiful undeveloped area where the coast meets the rainforest. We had been told that this is the best place to see monkeys and sloths in great abundance as well as many species of birds and reptiles. It wasn't exactly as the tour book described but we still had a great experience. Unfortunately we weren't told that this park had beautiful beaches and would be a wonderful whole day trip. We ended up arriving at the park in the middle of the day when the animals were avoiding the heat so we didn't see as many species as we expected and the stroller wasn't the best accessory to have with us. We didn't have swimwear with us and a cooler would have been a good idea! Despite not being prepared we did get to see a beautiful park and animals that are not seen here in California.

Anyhow, back to our day....after parking the car we made a short trek across the beach where we tipped a man to row us in his boat over a small inlet of water to the park entrance. We had to wait a short time before entering the park as they limit the capacity to help preserve the wildlife. We then began our walk with the open, sunny coast on our right and the dense, dark forest on our left. We did get to see hermit crabs, iguanas everywhere, a couple of monkeys, a few sloths, a raccoon, and some birds. We stopped to have some snacks for lunch where an iguana stole a few fruit snacks and then we made our way back to the park entrance. We made our way back to the car and headed back to the hotel.

Upon arriving back at our hotel we changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the pool! We stayed in the pool until dark, changed for dinner, and enjoyed a wonderful Mexican buffet. Too soon it was time for bed but there were more adventures ahead!

Manuel Antonio National Park

The view was amazing!

A great shot of the boys.

Just one of the many iguanas we saw. They were huge!

Olivia wanted to see the "dog" up close!

Jacob got worried and wouldn't let her get any closer. What a great big brother!

A quick kiss before jumping in the pool.

Our bathing beauty!

Check out those swim strokes!

Vacation is soooooo relaxing!

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 3

2007-07-30T19:08:00.001-07:00

Our adventure continues on day 3 (technically day 4 but the first day was all travel and not too exciting) with a drive down to the west coast. We wanted to give Amy and Jason a break before they got too tired of us and this gave us a great opportunity to experience a different region of the country. Our day began with our personal tour guide, Amy, leading the way to the Courtyard Marriott where Michael's relatives from Colorado just happened to be staying. Michael's cousin Jeannie was in Costa Rica on business with HP and her mom, Linda, and her son, Christian, came down for a vacation while poor Jeannie was working. Ideally we would have loved to see everybody but our vacation was already so packed that the best we could squeeze in was a quick visit at the hotel on our way out of town. After that Amy led the way to the main road that would take us to the coast. Armed with a map that Jason had clearly marked and the Orlando's extra cell phone we said good bye to Amy and Sophie and started our 3 hour drive down to the Los Suenos Marriott Resort in Playa Herradura. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjols-los-suenos-marriott-ocean-and-golf-resort/

The drive was very beautiful with short rainstorms as we made our way down the winding mountain road. We passed through Atenas and Orotina before we were out of the mountains and headed for the more coastal landscape. On our way to the hotel one of the most exciting sights was the Tarcoles river. The actual river wasn't exciting but rather the fact that it is infested with very large, okay HUGE, crocodiles. This was another one of Jacob's favorite things. After crossing the river we pulled over and walked back to the middle of the bridge on a very narrow concrete curb. Looking over the side we were able to see at least 15 crocodiles just swimming or sunning themselves on the sandbar. Michael and Olivia took a brief look and made a hasty retreat to the car but Jacob and I stayed for quite awhile going back and forth to each side to see how many crocodiles we could spot. It was such an amazing sight knowing that these crocodiles were not in a zoo or preserve, just right out in the river. A very brave person could walk right down the riverbank for a close up view. NOT US!

We made it to our hotel in the early afternoon and were very pleased with the resort. The people were so friendly and the grounds were beautiful. All around the hotel were places to sit and lounge, the pool was gigantic with lots of little bridges and waterfalls, the beach was just steps from the pool, and iguanas were all over the place. We took a tour of the grounds, hit the pool, had dinner in our room, and called it a night!

Michael's family!

Yikes! The crocodiles are huge!

My what big teeth you have!

Jacob looking over the side.

His favorite was the one with the orange necklace.

Just one little piece of a very large pool.

We are just steps away from the beach.

Ah, peace and quiet.

Playa Herradura

Los Suenos Marriott

La Paz Waterfall Garden Nature Pics

2007-07-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of our trip was seeing all of the brightly colored wild life! These are our favorites from the La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 2

2007-07-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of our Costa Rican adventure started out beautifully. We got up fairly early and hit the winding mountain road for The La Paz Waterfall Gardens (http://www.waterfallgardens.com/). It was an absolutely beautiful drive through the Cloud Forest. We arrived at our destination and immediately set out on the trail. We first wandered through a giant aviary full of toucans, macaws, other birds, and some lemurs. After that we made our way into the Butterfly Observatory. There were hundreds of butterflies flying around and landing right on us. After the butterflies we walked through a hummingbird garden and made a stop to check out the snakes. We then made our way to another delicious Costa Rican buffet before we continued on our way to the waterfalls. After lunch the rain started but that didn't bother us since we were in the rainforest. We took a quick ox cart ride, wandered through the frog habitat, and finally began our descent to the waterfalls. We followed an amazing stairway down to the falls and were amazed by how gorgeous everything was. Jacob couldn't believe how big the waterfalls were and Olivia couldn't stop looking (even for a picture). We made it to the top of the third waterfall before calling it quits and heading home. The kids did an amazing job exploring the jungle. Jacob walked the whole way on his own and thanks to the Kick family Olivia had a cushy backpack ride. Sophie even walked most of the way with a little help from mom and dad! We started back down the mountain, stopped for a quick fix from the Auto Mercado (supermarket), and called it a day!

Jacob was in heaven exploring through the jungle.

Olivia riding in style!

Explorer Jacob!

Jacob's favorite story is how this toucan tried to eat his hat.

Olivia loved the butterflies.

The Orlandos in the Cloud Forest.

Jessica, Sophie, and Jacob taking a ride in a traditional ox cart.

You can't get any closer than this!

The whole gang!

As pretty as this picture is the real thing was spectacular!

National Geographic in Costa Rica

2007-07-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Costa Rican wildlife that Jessica took while at the INBioparque. She is the family photographer.

Our Costa Rican Adventure - Day 1

2007-07-18T14:05:00.001-07:00

On July 6th we left to visit our friends, The Orlandos, in Escazu, Costa Rica. We left our house at 7:30 AM and arrived at their house at 10:00 PM. It was a long travel day so we slept in the next morning, enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast made by Amy, picked up our rental car, and hit the road. We didn't go far but boy did we have fun. We went to a beautiful park called the INBioparque (http://www.inbio.ac.cr/inbioparque/es/index_eng.html), a place designed to teach about the different animals and regions of Costa Rica. We started our tour with a wonderful Costa Rican buffet, then headed out to some trails which took us to many different exhibits. We wrapped up our day with a stop at POPS (the best ice-cream for a buck), picked up some pizza, and headed home.

"Umm, Mom, there is a giant bug right behind Jacob!"

Here is Olivia in her jungle attire.

The great white hunters heading into the jungle!

Okay it's three white boys from the states and it was a nicely paved trail through the park.

" You want me to touch what????"

Sophie and the giant toucan.

Jacob was very impressed with this waterfall, just wait until you see day 2! (Here is where we quickly explain that somebody will most likely always be missing from the picture. Amy is missing this time because she is taking the picture and Olivia was in the stroller trying to fall asleep. We promise to show Amy soon!)

We aren't sure who had more fun, the kids or Michael!

Camping Out - City Syle (Not exactly roughing it)

2007-06-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Our community recreation center hosted a family campout night at the park. Jacob and Michael had a great time pitching the tent and sleeping out. The rec. center had the Wild Animal Park bring animals, they provided a BBQ hot dog dinner, activities and crafts in the center, and then they showed E.T. on a giant screen on the field at dark. It was Jacob's first camping trip and it has inspired us to book a weekend camping in the mountains.

Jacob helping pitch the tent.

Getting the poles ready!

Put it right there Jacob!

It's almost done!

Here it is all ready to go!

Check out our campsite!

Jacob had a great night in his new sleeping bag and tent!

Couples Night Out!

2007-06-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 2nd of June was a major milestone for the Jamacha crew. We actually managed to get all the girls and spouses together for dinner at the Kick's house. All the kids were with babysitters and none of them were sick which made for a wonderful and relaxing evening. We had a fabulous dinner, great company, and an exciting new dice game called LCR. Jessica made off with the pot winning a whopping $36!

From left to right: Brian and Jenn, Christina and Lance, Sharon and Tony, Mike and Cheryl, Michael and Jessica, and seated is Shannon and Fred

Circle Preschool's Art Show

2007-05-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

On May 18th Circle Preschool had their annual art show. It was a fun night for Jacob to show the family some of his art from the year. We got to see his friends and teacher and of course enjoy some treats.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

2007-04-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

One blustery day in January we decided to try out the new kite we found at Costco. Everybody had fun getting it off the ground and keeping it up in the air. After we tired ourselves out we enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home.

The ferocious shark kite!

Look how high Michael got the kite to fly.

Livie having some PB & J.

Jacob's favorite...potato chips.

Lake Tahoe

2007-03-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

A few days after Christmas we flew to Lake Tahoe to ring in the new year with Auntie Brandie, Uncle Sean, Grandma Vickie, and Grandpa Larry. We had a great time staying in the Keaveny time share and playing in the snow. Jacob got to go up the gondola to the top of Heavenly to see Mom and Dad ski. While up there he got to go sledding and play in the snow but no skiing for him since his arm had just gotten out of his cast. We all had a fun and relaxing time and started our year off right!

Jacob with the snowball maker.

You have to pack it just right.

A perfect snowball.

Check out that throw!

Jacob and Olivia stood still long enough to get a picture together.

Sledding outside the condo. Jacob thought this was great until we took him up the mountain. His comment up at the top, "This is what I call a hill!"

Even Olivia gave it a try.

Christmas in March!

2007-03-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

We started celebrating Christmas right after Jacob's birthday. It started with a Christmas performance at Jacob's preschool and then we followed that with many Christmas get togethers. We had a Christmas party with Michael's family at Judy and Lewie's house on the the 22nd. Jacob got his cast off that day too. Then we had a party at Aunt Carol's house on the 24th and we had Christmas Day at Grandma Moon's like usual. Jacob was really into Santa Claus this year and was very excited that he got exactly what he wanted, a red racing bike! Olivia wasn't quite into opening presents so we didn't get many pictures of her. Her Santa present was a Learning house that you crawl through, just like she wanted!

Olivia all dressed up for Jacob's performance.

Jacob as a shepherd at Circle Preschool's Christmas performance.

Anther shot of the shepherd.

Jacob and Olivia with their presents from Santa.

Jacob taking a peek.

Good thing Santa put it together.

Riding in front of Great Grandma's house in his good Christmas clothes.

Party On!

2007-03-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Jacob had his actual birthday on Dec. 15th, a few days after returning from Disneyland. We had a family pizza party and cake. Jacob was again showered with tons of gifts (everybody is way too generous) and had a great time. The next Monday he had a small party after school at McDonalds. That was a party with his friends. After Happy Meals, Batman cupcakes, and presents the kids hit Playland and then it was home for a nap!

Jacob at his family party! Batman is the theme for this year.

The things boys love....big trucks....

....Hot Wheels....

....and knights!

Jacob's McDonalds party! It is very hard to get five active boys to sit still and smile for the camera. This is the best shot we could get of all of them at the same time. From left to right is Thomas, Kai, Jacob, Connor, and Jack.

Disneyland

2007-02-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

After all of the celebrating it was time to move on to the other birthdays. Michael turned 34 on December 6th and that's about all there is on that birthday. Once you have kids your birthdays just don't generate the same hoopla as they once did. Sorry Michael! Jacob's birthday was next and that was quite a big deal. This year he turned four and we promised he would get to go to Disneyland for the very first time. We went up and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for a few days. Jacob got a button to show that it was his birthday and one to show that it was his first time. Everybody throughout the hotel and parks greeted him by name and wished him a happy birthday. It was quite exciting. He even got an autographed picture of Mickey and a birthday call from Goofy! There's a lot of pictures since it was such a great time.

Getting ready for the Buzz Lightyear ride, the first ride of our trip.

Jacob got a picture and kiss from Ariel, his new girlfriend as he calls her.

A picture with Buzz, Jacob was so excited he couldn't even talk.

All bundled up for a cold night with Christmas Mickey.

The next day we had breakfast with Minnie.

Saving Mom on the Jungle Boat Cruise.

Getting ready for the Haunted Mansion.

Poor kid wasn't having any fun at all!

At California Adventure Jacob got to see Mater from "Cars".

Lightning McQueen was there too!

Dad and Jacob at the "Bugs Life" bumper cars. Crashing into Mom was the highlight of the ride.

Mickey and Jacob at the hotel. What a great end to a fun trip!

Olivia's Big Party!

2007-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Olivia celebrated her first birthday in style on December 2nd. We had a backyard BBQ with family and friends. Olivia had a great time playing with the boys (we don't know many little girls) and of course eating cake and opening presents.

Birthday Girl

Joanna and Owen, Grandma Vickie and Aidan, Sharon and Olivia

Ice cream cake for the guests.

A special cake just for Olivia!

We moved outside to get ready for a mess...

....tastes pretty good....

....why waste time using my hands....

....let's have cake everyday!

My first ride on toy! Thanks Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean....this was just one of Olivia's favorite presents.

Olivia Turned ONE!

2007-02-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

Olivia celebrated her first birthday on November 30th! Sadly, Daddy was away on a business trip but Mom and Jacob helped her celebrate in style. While Olivia is a little behind Jacob developmentally, she passed him by a quarter of an inch in height! Back in November Olivia was cruising around the furniture and had just given up the bottle. Now she is walking everywhere, eats only grown up food, says a few words, and is showing interest in riding her little scoot around bike. It was an eventful first year from her very first day when there was concern that she had a tethered spinal cord, the appearance of her hemangioma at 1 month, fear of hip displaysia at 6 months, and surgery at 8 months to remove the hemangioma! Through it all she remained the happy little girl that she is now. We are all looking forward to a less stressful second year with a lot more wonderful memories!

Olivia's very first birthday present!

Pretty in pink!

Jacob helped with the candle.

Yummy!

November (finally)

2007-01-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

After our exciting trip to New York things just got crazier in our household. We were only home a few days when Jacob broke his arm. Aunt Brandie and Uncle Sean were quite relieved it didn't happen while they were in charge! It was one of those freak accidents that you never imagine happening. Jacob was jumping over Michael's legs, as he lay on the carpet, and he tripped and fell landing on his arm. He ended up breaking both bones right in between his wrist and elbow. It was a horrible sight to see and we ended up heading to the hospital in an ambulance. Jacob was amazing and visited with everybody right up until they put him out in order to set the bones. He ended up having the cast removed on December 22nd and you'd never know that it was ever broken.

November was also a time to celebrate Thanksgiving. This was Jacob's first school performance and he did a great job as a pilgrim. He learned some fun songs and even did some dancing. We were thankful to find some time to visit with our good friends, the Orlandos! They were in transition, relocating from the Republic of Georgia to their new home in Costa Rica, and were able to squeeze in a visit on their hectic travel schedule. They came to Jacob's performance and then we all enjoyed lunch together and had time to catch up. After lunch it was good-bye to the Orlandos and home to prepare for our Thanksgiving. We celebrated the day with our combined families and cooked dinner for 20! I guess we were too busy cooking because I don't have any pictures of our celebration. More November news to come.....

Jacob's broken arm.

It looks like we don't feed the kid!

Jacob and some Pilgrim friends.

Jacob, Sophie, and Olivia. Jacob loved having Sophie to play with.

Jason, Sophie, and Amy Orlando

New York

2007-01-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

November 1st Michael had to fly to New York for business. His client, Asics, was a sponsor of the New York City Marathon and Michael went to check out the advertising. Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean were nice enough to stay home with Jacob and Olivia so Jessica could tag along. It was a whirlwind trip starting with a red eye flight on November 1st and returning November 5th! We were able to see and do so much in such a short time. We started the first day by having lunch at a deli and wandering through Times Square and up 5th Avenue. Back at the hotel later Michael had a short meeting and then it was off to dinner with our old friend Josey Miller and her fiancee Jeff. We ate at a great restaurant in the village called Tante Baci. After dinner we went to the top of the Empire State Building to check out the view. Friday Michael had to check out the Asics booth and look for some of the ads around town while Jessica went shopping. Later that evening we went out with Michael's co-workers to a restaurant called Savore back down in the village. Saturday was the big sightseeing day. We went to the Statue of Liberty and walked around the World Trade Center site. Jessica helped the NYFD put out a trashcan fire with her coffee and then it was off to look for more advertising around town. After a quick stop to the famed Macy's (it was huge) it was back to the hotel to get dressed for the theater. We were lucky to get tickets to see Wicked and after the show went out to dinner at Rosie O'Gradys. Sunday we got up early and took a walk around town and through Central Park. It was Marathon Day so after our walk we met up with the rest of the crowd and headed to the grandstand at the Marathon finish line. We could only stay long enough to watch Lance Armstrong finish and then it was off to the airport for our flight home. In all it was wonderful to get away for a few days even though we were exhausted!

Lady Liberty

Part of the memorial wall at the World Trade Center Site

The fire station on Liberty Street next to the World Trade Center Site. This is after Jessica put out the fire!

Central Park in Fall

One of the Asics ads - We saw this on a bus that passed the hotel.

The Marathon finish line

We're Back!

2007-01-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends and Family! We are finally settling down here at the Catanzaro household and we promise to go back and update everybody over the last few months. We left off with our trip to the pumpkin patch so we will finish out October with Halloween costumes. Olivia was a little lamb and Jacob was Batman! Mom and Dad even got into the spirit with Michael dressing up like Clark Kent and Jessica as a spider witch. Here are a few costume shots and the kids going trick or treating. Keep checking back because we will be heading into November soon!

We're Sorry!

2006-12-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

We have not forgotten our loyal followers!!!! It has been a whirlwind of excitement and we haven't a minute to spare these days. Since the last post we celebrated Halloween, went to New York, dealt with a broken arm, met up with old friends, enjoyed a Thanksgiving sing, hosted Thanksgiving for 20, had a first birthday party, had a 34th birthday party and went on a three day vacation to Disneyland. In among all of that we battled colds, went to work, went to school, went to daycare, did laundry, cleaned house, decorated for Christmas, and who knows what else! If that isn't enough we are gearing up for a 4th birthday (to include numerous treats at school, daycare, and a party at home), a Christmas performance, Christmas parties, 3 separate Christmas celebrations, a trip to Tahoe over New Year's, and finally a 35th birthday. Soooo, keep checking back with us and you will soon see some pictures of all our adventures!

Pumpkin Picking Time!

2006-10-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday, 10/22) we went up to Valley Center to visit Bates Nut Farm. Jacob and Olivia had a great time picking out pumpkins and going on a wagon ride. We had a picnic lunch and even saw the Gates and Lofgren families. It was hotter than ever but we certainly had a fun time trekking through the field looking for just the right pumpkins.

Jacob thought this sign was hilarious. He wanted his picture taken in every single pumpkin.

Olivia and Jacob going for a wheelbarrow ride.

Jacob looking for his pick.

Olivia was fascinated by the hay.

Jacob found his perfect pumpkin!

We found just the right size pumpkin for Olivia.

Here's what we ended up with! Every time we turned around Jacob was putting a pumpkin in the wheelbarrow. He kept picking up pumpkins that were away from the pile and saying they were all alone and needed friends. We didn't have the heart to say no, thank goodness they are pretty cheap!

Nothing New Around Here

2006-10-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Time seems to fly and nothing seems to get done. The laundry piles never seem to shrink, the dishes are always dirty, and the floor could use a good sweeping but none of that gets done when you are keeping up with two kids and working full time! In the past month life has been busy as usual. We went to the zoo, celebrated birthdays, visited with pirates on the Star of India, went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Vickie and see her broken leg, put up Halloween decorations, bought costumes, went to the spa, did some gambling, and of course worked and played. I guess I was wrong when I said nothing seems to get done. We've been having a lot of fun and that is all that matters when your kids grow so fast! Sadly a lot of our fun wasn't captured this month as we forgot the camera several times. Here are just a few new pictures to keep you updated.

Jacob and Jack on our special zoo safari day.

Dad and Livie at the Eastlake 20th Anniversary party.

Olivia at 9 months old.

Jacob and Olivia

They're getting big!

2006-09-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how fast time seems to go by! Jacob is almost four and has started preschool for the year. It was good that we sent him in the summer because he was so excited to go back. He is in Mrs. Silva's class and it is a class for kids that are four or will soon be four. We are looking forward to all the wonderful projects and presentations that they have planned.

Olivia is now 9 months and growing like a weed. She has decided that she prefers table food and baby food is no longer her favorite. She loves mangos, peaches, avocados, bread, bagels, bananas, and the list just keeps growing. She is using a sippy cup and crawling all over the place. She can also pull up on the furniture but hasn't quite figured out what to do after that.

Olivia and Jacob, best friends (most of the time)!

A sippy cup and Cheerios....I'm all grown up now!

Check Olivia out in her own big girl chair.

What a trooper!

2006-08-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

I finally found some time to send an update on Olivia. Many of you know the details of Olivia's surgery but for those who we don't see often here she is. Olivia had her hemangioma removed on July 31st. She was absolutely amazing. She never cried once in the long hours at the hospital and after the surgery was completed she didn't have a bit of pain medication and acted like her usual happy self! It has now been three weeks and her stitches are gone and the scar is already fading. The swelling is still there and after a year the doctor will determine if she needs any follow up surgery to minimize the scar or shape of her nose. We will just wait and see but for now Olivia is doing great and showing off a lot of new hats to shade her face from sun!

Here is Olivia at the beginning of July before the surgery.

Here is our happy girl the morning after her surgery!

Not the best picture but you can see how well she is doing. The scar is much lighter but the swelling is still there.

Before, After, and NOW!

2006-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

With one child in the hospital Monday for a cosmetic procedure and the other one at the dentist on Friday for a cosmetic procedure I'm beginning to think we should be living in Beverly Hills! Actually Jacob's partial plate was put in so he didn't have future orthodontic issues and so that his speech would develop properly. Take a look at him now!

July 7th - Before the visit to the dentist!

July 10th - After the trip to the dentist!

August 4th - Looking good! You can't even tell his teeth aren't real.