A Day in the Snow

We made the most of the endless winter in Munich, and made our way to the English Garden – where the newfound sun brought everyone out of the woodwork. Sophia practiced her famous snow angel, and of course Alexandra wants to do anything her big sister does. She has the feed down, but we need to work on her wing motion. Overall, the day was beautiful, and the kids had a blast in the fresh air and the white scenery around the English Garden Lake House.

Family fun

The best part about Seattle is just being with family there, and especially when we are all together.  Brehan ended up flying in the last weekend, and we had a few days of big play before we left.

   

And Alexandra got her own new bike - she isn’t quite able to ride it, but by this summer she’s going to be tearing around the streets in her cool radio flyer.

Swimming with the Fishes

Well, almost.  We spent one of our last days in Seattle at the Aquarium, and they have really really improved it in the last couple of years.  Walking in and seeing the Window on the Sound was amazing!  Sophia & Alexandra headed right up to where the kids were sitting & joined right in. We were quite lucky that the diver was in the window when we arrived so we had a great entrance to the fish experience.  Sophia was so comfortable with the other kids, you can tell she is starting to miss school.

  I love how the girls have fun together! Then it was off to lunch – for fish – and a view of the boats at fisherman’s warf.   And Seattle gave us another amazing day!

Olympic Legacy

Here are some additional images from an unforgettable journey to the Olympics. If this trip reminded us of anything, it’s that we really love the Northwest – for the weather, the people, the cities, and the lifestyle. We spent the first weekend in Vancouver, and the second weekend of the Olympics in Whistler. Whistler Village was so small we ended up eating next to one of the women’s US skiers from the US, and walked by the four man bobsled Gold medalists from the US. The previous weekend, we met Dan Jansen, the ‘94 Olympic gold medalist in speed skating. All part of the Olympic Experience.

The amazingly successful Visa campaign that covered every billboard, every storefront, and every TV station. Go World!

Troy at the Yahoo Sports Fan Zone in Yaletown, a once rundown part of Vancouver, renovated into some of the nicest living space in Vancouver. False Creek with the iconic Imax Theatre, and to the right you can see the athletes village, all lined with Canadian Flags.

Looking out toward the Pacific Ocean from the Granville bridge. We rode across it on a very thin waking path between the railing and speeding cars. You will notice – absolutely NO SNOW in the mountains where many of the events are taking place.

And a scene you don’t expect to see at the Winter games – an absolutely stunning sunset over English Bay. The weather was terrible for the athletes, but what a treat for the spectators.

The sculpture park near English Bay received the attention of everyone who passed by.

Who would have thought that the best of our events would be the Biathlon. The Norwegian anchor of the 4-man relay came out of retirement to win the race by 48 seconds. The real race was for Silver, where the Austrian raced against the Russian for the entire last lap and ended up winning by two-hundredths of a second. That’s how an Olympic race should end.

Moya with all the Norwegian colors in the background. It seemed everyone who came to the Olympics was a fanatic – with flags in hand, and we were no exception totting the Red, White & Blue.

Finally, back in the Olympic Village at Whistler where visitors lined up to take silly photos in each of the rings of the Olympic emblem.

Sophia is 6! Happy Birthday!

Sophia had quite the birthday celebrations this year.  Not only the party at school, but a party at Build-a-Bear and then a family dinner afterwards.  She also counts her birthday breakfast (complete with Mickey Mouse pancakes) as another party…

(Licking the chocolate batter off the spatula after breakfast!) Sitting in her Balloon throne opening presents! and a new bike! Training wheels to come off as soon as the snow stops…

Vancouver

Just a few photos of our fun in the city that isn’t sleeping right now, not even if you want to take a nap in the sun.  There is just too much going on!!