And Now for Your In-flight Entertainment

Nikos perfects the sprinkler.

Global Warming Is a Myth

Memorial Day Weekend conjures images of sun, sand and bbqs. Our lovely weekend, however, was comprised of snow, hail and takeout. Fun stuff. Despite the fact that Nikos was a little bit sick (sporting a 102 degree fever at points) we ended up having a good time with great friends.

Friday was my day off but I had to run into work for a few hours. Jack picked Nikos and I up a little before 8am and we carpooled into the city. I packed the whole bag of tricks so I could get some work done. After the obligatory adorable-child-showoff rounds at work I plopped Nikos on the floor and surrounded him with toys where he played for awhile and amused my coworkers with his I-think-I-may-crawl-oh-no-maybe-not routine. Around his usual 11am naptime he conked out at work. Sweet.

Taki had to work late so Nikos and I bunked up with the D'Angelos for the drive to Tahoe. It was a tight squeeze but we made the best of it. (For more on the SIX HOUR car ride - including the reason Nikos was sporting nothing but a diaper on the side of Highway 80 - visit Katie's blog).

If you look carefully you can see Nikos experiencing his first snow flurries (there's one on the upper left of his forehead and one on the left side of the stroller.

Here is a shot out our window on the Saturday morning...and later on that day.

Despite the snow flurries we were determined to take the kids for a swim in the Ridge's Indoor/Outdoor pool. You'll notice that the kids are appropriately dressed...Jack, on the other hand, not so much.

Ha - clearly Jack took our admonishment of dressing appropriately to heart. Feel free to make this your screensaver. Rightclick-save. Rightclick-save.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day so we went for a nature walk to enjoy the scenery.

Here's a fun comparison of the same shot at Thanksgiving.

Katie and Brooke become one with nature and pose with a bluejay.

We plan to make this an annual shot. Brooke just told Nikos that she's crushing on the handsome 20-something year old boy she was flirting with at breakfast.

Jack shows Taki the ways of the world. I believe he even said something like "see - this is what it's like with two kids - easy."

Believe it or not, this is Nikos' first shoulder ride. He was a big fan.

After our walk we headed over to Applebees to enjoy their giant confusing menu...and their bloody marys and mojitos.

I think Nikos just saw the picture of Jack in his hat.

Here are the lovebirds that we shared the timeshare with - let the record show that Katie did suggest renewing our vows as a rainy day activity.

As I am sure you expected, I forced Taki to stop on the way home so we could get pictures of Nikos and his first time in the snow.

YES. This shot is for Kelli.

While I was enamored with the plate of cheese fries (with ranch!) Nikos was more into the tropical ceiling fans and colored lights.

While it wasn't the weather we expected, we did pack some fun into the weekend. We narrowly managed to avoid Pedialyte-vodka cocktails while partaking in m-n-m Blackjack. Love it.

Packing for Tahoe...

You know you have a problem when you are packing for a vacation and you think "wait, I need to pack some different clothes, he wore this stuff in the last post." What? Yes. Sadly, you would think that the kind of weather we experienced in Chicago a few weeks ago would not replicate itself on Memorial Day weekend in Tahoe but YES when I called tonight they said they had some snow flurries today. WHAT? So much for spending time at Zephyr Cove!

OH! I also totally forgot to resolve the Pak-n-Play issue in Chicago. They totally had one. When I called again at the last minute to ask if they had a port-a-crib they could deliver to our room she said "sure, no problem." And I arrived to a Pak-n-Play in the room. Go figure.

Also. This is what happens when you pick up a chai latte at Starbucks at 9:15 at night. SEVEN POSTS. Alright...I am off to pack.

A Boy and His Dog

I left Nikos and Bosco alone in his room for a few minutes and came back to this scene. So cute. And for the record, I filmed this before my "no commentary" promise but as you can see, I have already started scaling down my lame comments. Real story - camera died in the middle of my narrative.

Brooke Turns One! May 18

Wow, I seriously can't believe Brooke is a year old already! A year ago today I was riding home on bart after finishing up my first day of maternity leave when I checked my voicemail and heard the message from Katie from earlier in the day (11 am?) telling me that she was in labor in the hospital. I remember thinking, well, at least I have another 4 weeks or so to prepare...that was until Nikos deeked me out a few weeks of maternity leave.

And here is a variation of the same shot you will see on every blog...forcing the kids into a couch picture. I wasn't quick enough to catch Madison but here is the one and under club. From left to right - Marco, Nikos, Brooke (center of attention), Jack and Reese.

Marco and Nikos right with Nikos giving me the stank eye.

The birthday girl with some cake remnants.

It was Robin's birthday as well, but sadly she left before I could get a picture of her with cake all over her face! Happy Birthday to two of our favorite friends.

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

Ahh, last week gave us a taste of summer time which means - gelato! There is a gelato stand that Taki and I are big fans of about two miles away from our house so with the 4 mile rt walk we don'f feel so bad woofing it down. Love this stuff!

Tonight we walked Nikos up to try it for the first time. He was there once with us when he was about a month old but this time he got a taste of his own. Despite the faces he was making, he really did like it (evidenced by him wanting to get more.) I think he was a little turned off due to the temperature.

Nice facial expressions, huh! Maybe we should get him together with Clara Cecchin when she takes her first bite of solid food each night.

Here's a picture to prove that he made it out of the gelato incident okay.

Latest favorite sleeping position - Catherine, maybe you should try this when you have trouble sleeping?

The Neglect-a-Saucer on steroids.

Mother's Day in Chicago

My first Mother's Day was fabulous. Taki and Nikos treated me to brunch at a great restaurant in Chicago. It was pouring on the way to the restaurant and still raining when we left to go back to the hotel but afterwards it cleared and ended up being a beautiful day.

At the restaurant Nikos was presented with a rose to give me (obviously he didn't find it as interesting as the people at the next table.)

Quickly my rose became his toy. But have no fear, the rose (now split in half) dropped to the ground and he quickly became enraptured by the plastic sleeve.

Nature vs nurture. One point for nature as Nikos displays Taki's former affinity for the deadpan stare.
Taki and Nikos take a catnap after brunch.

A walk in the rain.
Walking by the Tribune Building we realized that it had been featured on an episode of CSI: New York (I know we are total dorks). The building was really cool, featuring pieces of other buildings and famous sites around the world. Here we took some shots of a few of them and the building itself.

While waiting for the taxi ride to the airport Nikos showed off his two bottom teeth (and one Ugg). We also noticed that the tooth count was up to six while we were in Chicago.

Taki sports the new familiar picture smile (I know!) and Nikos gives me a dirty look for interrupting the flight attendants safety speech.

Nikos waves goodbye to Chicago.

Nikos adopts his familiar airplane sleep position. Thank goodness.