Saturday, July 29, 2006

Friday Night BBQ

Jen, Jerome, Melissa, Tod, and Bryn came over last night for fish tacos and plenty of beer and margaritas. Auntie Jen got her photo with the kids in the adorable sweaters she got them earlier this year -- so cute! The headache this morning was well worth the fun! What great friends! See Melissa and Tod's blog for more photos: http://todandmelissa.blogspot.com/2006/07/friends-like-family.html and Jen's as well: http://jentraveler.blogspot.com/2006/07/friday-bbq.html


Andy taking a lounge.

Keeping COOL

We've been spending LOTS of time in the kiddie pool trying to beat the heat.

Andy and his babysitter (and our neighbor) Alexia getting ready to hang out for the night while mom and dad have a night out.
Here's the scene at our house on a hot hot weekend -- Shawn in the pool, Andy "talking" on the phone... my boys are CRAZY!!!!

When I first saw Shawn in the pool, I asked him "did you ever think, 10 years ago, that one day you'd be laying in a kiddie pool with your beer and a hose, trying to find relief from a hot day?" Obviously, the answer was NO.

Our little sweet pea

Just a regular lunch at our house - quite the mess - but what a little cutie.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Wine tasting and the Pink Door

We spent Sunday evening out with Jen and Jerome, Melissa and Tod, and Colleen and Angelo at the Tasting Room on Post Alley (site of our rehearsal dinner just 2 and a half years ago) and the Pink Door - yum! What a fun group -- it was great conversation, wonderful weather, and just plain fun to get out of the house (adults only, no less!). Check out group photos on Jen's blog: www.jentraveler.blogspot.com! Here is a pic of me and my sweetie at the Tasting Room:

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Lots of new photos below!

I've managed to fit them in chronologically, the very latest uploaded today (Saturday 7/15), so scroll down to see them all!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Wedding, Spain & (Unexpectedly) London

We're back! There are a ton of photos, so I'll be loading them up as time permits. We had a great time. The wedding was beautiful! Peter and Esther make a perfect -- and handsome -- couple. You'll see for yourself, below.

We spent the first five days at a B&B above Algeciras, overlooking the Mediterranean and the African coast, with Mom, Tom, Pete Neu and, intermittently, Peter and Esther (as they prepped for the wedding and split their time staying with Esther's parents as well) . We had the whole place to ourselves. The wedding was Saturday, June 24, and it was warm but not humid, and very windy. The ceremony went perfectly -- Esther was beautiful! The reception was at a restaurant near the B&B, and many of the wedding crew danced until 6:00 am. We made it until 3:30, when Andy refused to nap in his stroller any longer. We had a ball! You'll see from the photos....

Next we went to condos in a resort village called Alcaidesa, east up the coast from Algeciras. Shawn, Andy and I shared a condo with Peter and Esther, and Mom and Tom and Pete Neu (and, for one night, Gregg) were in a separate condo. We had a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean. From there, we spent days on the beach, took a day trip to Seville, visited Gibralter, and got to spend more time with Peter, Esther, and Esther's parents too.

Shawn and I left on Sunday night, overnighted in a hotel in Malaga and took the early flight to Madrid. Our flight there was delayed for just long enough that we missed our connecting flight from London to Seattle, so you'll see from the photos that we spent some time in London! We had a blast, and it was probably a good thing that we were refreshed and ready for the longer flight the next day.

Okay, now for the "lessons learned" portion of our travel report:

(1) Always, ALWAYS count your bags before you pull away from the house. This will help you avoid the stroke you may otherwise have while waiting for your spouse to return from an unanticipated return home for the suitcase sitting on your bed while you wait at the airport, forced by the airline to decide before they'll check you in whether you will be flying even if he doesn't make it back before they give his seat away.

(2) Always, ALWAYS have the barf bag ready upon landing. Little boys may appear to be doing just fine during descent, but you may have a big surprise after touch down, and yelling "where's the bag, where's the bag" while he throws up repeatedly only proves to your fellow passengers (who already hate you) that you are not a prepared parent.

(3) Keep your books with you. There's nothing as demoralizing as getting on a flight and realizing you just left your book -- with only 10 pages to go -- on the seat in the boarding area.

(4) Be prepared to live without your luggage for at least 5 days ... and counting!

SNAFUs aside, we had a great trip, and it was wonderful to spend time with our family and friends and experience Espana!

Cherise

On our way to Spain!

Here is Andy before take-off. Little did we know what lay ahead ... let's just way we were not the most popular folks on the flight!At Heathrow on our layover, Andy was surprisingly energetic with only an hour and a half of sleep!! This cushiony plane was crawling with kids not too long after this photo was taken, and Andy had a great time mimicking the older boys as they jumped all over the place!

The Bed and Breakfast

Here are some photos of the first place we stayed. The lawn, pool area, and our "casita" had this view of the Mediterranean and the African coast line.

Above is the entrance to the main B&B grounds. Below is the casita that Shawn, Andy and I stayed in. There's a sitting area in the background that was perfect for relaxing after Andy went to bed!

The Bachelor/Bachelorette Party

For the bachelor/bachelorette party, we all gathered on the beach in Algeciras for barbeque and sangria!
2 a.m. and Andy is looking APOed (all partied out).
The next morning (still in his dress shirt, the party animal).

Breakfast with nonna and tito!

Friday Afternoon Party at the B&B

The day before the wedding, Friday, mom hosted a party at the B&B -- we had a wonderful afternoon swimming, eating the yummy food catered by Amy and Alistair, and relaxing! Linda (our resident interpreter) with Esther's parents. Jule, Sid and Shawn Dave and Mylor
Pete and Gregg
Maddie and Andy give each other a big hug.
Patty and Sue

More from the B&B; Tarifa

Everyone enjoyed the pool during Friday's party at the B&B!
Here's a great shot of Mo, who belongs to the B&B owners Amy and Alistair. Mo sustained much abuse at the hands of Andy over the course of our stay, but was always cheerful and good natured despite the overwhelming attention! Mom and Andy at our casita.
Andy wearing his new t-shirt from Uncle Pete (Neu)!We had dinner in Tarifa and then walked through the many courtyards and had coffee, drinks and ice cream. We heard fireworks and saw that everyone in Tarifa was headed toward the beach, so we joined them for the fireworks and then, to our surprise, the burning of a large king-in-his-castle effigy!

The Ceremony

Andy gets ready for his ring-bearing duties. He's also learning new words and here he's pointing to his nose. Here, outside the church, pointing to his mouth.

And now for the ceremony -- Peter and Mom (as is traditional in Spain) walked down the aisle and wait at the front of the church for the bride. Andy did his job with gusto! (Yes, those are the actual rings on the pillow -- that's an awful lot of trust being put in Andy!).
The wedding music was this great, boisterous, vibrant music. We loved it, and Andy was distracted from his crying long enough to dance.
The beautiful bride!

(More ceremony photos below)