Team K Happenings & Updates

Adela's First Birthday photos and the Cal Football Game

2010-11-29T23:01:00.000-05:00

We got to take photos to commemorate Adela's first birthday at the St. Mary's campus here in Moraga with our favorite photographer, Nancy Trapp-Chen. It was chilly and a bit foggy and not everyone was very cooperative but we got some fun pictures nonetheless! :)

And, over the Thanksgiving holiday, we took Hania and Amelia to the Cal football game - the last one in the current Memorial Stadium before they tear down and rebuild the new stadium. Too bad the outcome was so sad...a loss in the last seconds to Washington. But, sitting in the rain and hail, we got to meet the Cal cheerleaders and snap a pict.

Southern California Fun in the Sun!

2010-11-15T23:09:00.000-05:00

We took a road trip down to Orange County for a little bit of work and a lot of play. Steph drove with the girls down and Greg joined in on the fun a couple of days later. We had a great time meeting with friends, visiting old haunts and enjoying Disneyland with Nana and Gung Gung and Uncle Mark, Auntie Becky, Caleb, Elias, Gabriel and Micah! Wow, it was so exciting!

(Enjoying room service for the first time!)

(Me too!)

(First dip in the ocean and loving it!)

(Dinner with Abby, Chris, Ava, Christie and Shaun at SuperMex! Check out Amelia hamming it up.)

(Riley, Hania, Amelia and Anne going for a walk.)

(Rob and Cooper.)

(Riley, Cooper, Hania, Amelia and Adela.)

Happy Halloween!!

2010-11-02T01:12:00.000-04:00

We are recovering from our Halloween party and celebration last night. Super cute costumes and lots of fun! We had some great friends over and had a whole bunch of little ones running around! The kids made the rounds - and by that, I mean they made it all the way around the neighborhood!, trick-or-treating and filling up their bags!

Hard at work!

Greg's masterpiece!

Aaargh, Matey!

All of our little trick-or-treaters!

October 2010 Fun!

2010-10-26T03:40:00.000-04:00

Exciting - Blogspot has finally made it easy to upload photos to the site so here we are again. I'll try and catch up with a few photos over the past few months next week but right now, I thought you'd like to see some October fun photos. Most importantly, we celebrated Adela's first birthday!! Wow, I can't believe our little baby is already a year old. This time last year, she was just coming home from the hospital after a 12 day stay in the NICU. Today, she's crawling everywhere, very adventurous, extremely smiley and giggly and just so adorable. Happy happy birthday my baby girl!

Happy Birthday, Adela!

Her first cake!

Getting into it...

Digging in!

The aftermath!

Adela's First Birthday party at Gymboree in Oakland.

Young and Adela horseback riding.

Joanne, Christine and a sleepy Themis.

My dad, Young, Yasi and my mom.

Mark and Becky.

My cousin, Robert, Claire and my newest nephew, Micah.

Birthday cupcakes!

Mark and Gabriel.

Halloween is around the corner and the girls are very excited. Hania is going to be the Queen of Hearts, Amelia, a Pirate (she loves to say "Aaargh, Matey" and it's pretty cute when she does) and Adela will be a Peacock (not much grumbling from her so I am enjoying the fact that I get to pick her outfit).

Trick-or-treating event at La Fiesta Square in Lafayette.

We've been to a couple of Halloween parties and a trick-or-treating events already. Love that the costumes are getting lots of use!

Easter fun 2010!

2010-04-05T17:48:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter! We had a lovely, if not rainy, Easter. Hania dyed Easter eggs with Nana and the girls got to hunt Easter eggs inside since it was pouring out. We had a yummy dinner with zupa ogorkowa (pickle soup), grilled farm potatoes and a delish ham.

News from this week: The girls are all doing great. Hania has been a bit of a sassy-sassafras lately which we are attributing to her age and her dropping of her nap, which makes for one exhausted little girl! She now can write her own name as well as Amelia's name. Amelia is excited to be starting ballet soon and has been doing really well learning her colors and numbers. Adela has been enjoying more baby rice cereal and will start other foods probably sometime this week. She is also rolling over occasionally from her back to her belly and is starting to sit up more. It's spring break week here so hopefully the rain will taper off and we'll get to play outside a bit!

(Adela's passport photo. Getting ready for our big trip to Polska!)

(Dying Easter eggs.)

(Adela eating dinner with Gung-Gung.)

(Greg obsessed with his latest puzzle!)

(Amelia enjoying her zupa orgorkowa.)

(The perfect shade of pink!)

(Easter dinner.)

Easter is near!

2010-03-29T00:42:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was chock full of Easter egg hunts...two to be exact! The girls had a great time collecting eggs, having their faces painted, meeting the Easter Bunny and getting special balloon animals and flowers made by the "twistyman".

The first hunt on Saturday at the park in Moraga:

(Hania and her friend, Vivienne.)

(Hania getting a rainbow painted on her face.)

(And Amelia, a bunny.)

(Arts and crafts time!)

(Hania made a bunny puppet!)

(Hania impressing us by showing us she knows how to write her own name now!)

(Amelia and Hania with Themis and Ellie.)

And the second egg hunt on Sunday:

(More face painting.)

(Ready, set, go! Hania is off to find some eggs!)

(Action shot!)

(Amelia is delighted with her find!)

The other excitement this past weekend was Baby Adela eating food for the first time! Yum, baby rice cereal!

March has been full of sister love and fun!

2010-03-22T00:53:00.005-04:00

So far, March has been a great month. Spring has arrived, the weather has turned so there is lots of opportunities for outside play. Adela is now 5.5 months old, Amelia, 26 months old and Hania is a solid 3.5 years old! Here are some pictures of our fun times.

(Amelia at Dad's Day at her preschool.)

(Amelia is painting with snails on Dad's Day.)

(It's springtime! The beautiful tree just outside of our house.)

Mish's Baby Shower

2010-03-22T00:07:00.007-04:00

My cousin, Michelle, and her husband Conway are expecting their first baby boy, Max, in May. Yay! We helped her celebrate with a baby shower full of yummy food, creative doodling on onesies and fun socializing with family and friends.

(Genie, one of the shower hostesses.)

(Aunt Sharon, so excited!)

(Sweet pea, Forest - 10 months old.)

(View from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Russ' living room. It was a beautiful day.)

(The masterpieces!)

(Peek-a-boo!)

(Forest and Adela having a chat!)

(Mike, knackered from a tough day!)

(Celeste and Connie.)

(Mish and Max.)

(Ham quiche with asparagus salad.)

(Mmmm! Coffee crunch cake!)

(Working hard on the onesies.)

Visiting with Wujek Jas, Ciocia Ewa, Zosia and Zenek

2010-02-28T23:48:00.006-05:00

We had a great time when Greg's brother and his family came for a visit. We even ventured a trip up to Tahoe with one pre-schooler, two toddlers and two babies, two fully loaded cars and four optimistic parents!

(Noddy fans taking in a showing.)

(Bathtime!)

(Yawn... Zenek taking a nap while the girls go sledding.)

(The girls.)

(Whaaa? Amelia, the bundled up burrito.)

(Wujek Jas flying by.)

(Zosia frolicking in the snow.)

(Zenek and Adela.)

(Hania and Amelia are playing their new game, Jesus and Mary. Hania is Mary, Amelia is Jesus and I don't know what exactly they are doing under the blanket but it was pretty cute.)

And, check out my little video! First one now that I have a working computer and updated software. Very exciting!

Weeeee're Back!

2010-02-10T23:51:00.015-05:00

The stars have aligned and I've hit the trifecta - My computer is fixed, we have a new, working camera (thanks, Mish - LOVING the new Nikon!) and the internet is up and running! So, finally, the madness has died down and I'm ready to post again.

Lots has happened since my last post - we were finally making a dent in our unpacking and were getting ready for Halloween when baby Adela made an early appearance - 6 weeks early to be exact. So, life got a bit more hectic and we weren't totally prepared for it but we're finally starting to hit our groove. Amelia turned 2 in January and started pre-school just after we celebrated. She is in Ms. Janet's class, who happened to be Hania's teacher last year. She is having a great time and although she is the youngest in her class, she is definitely holding her own.

Here are a few photos from the end of December through January.

December 24, 2009 - Christmas Eve dinner

Amelia - hamming it up.

The girls eagerly await!

I made makowiec. The best one so far!

December 25, 2009 - Christmas Day

Very excited for hot chocolate, with marshmallows, of course, with breakfast!

The princesses riding their royal horse.

December 26, 2009 - Boxing Day

And the Christmas celebration continues...

Hania in front of the traditional stockings that my mom makes.

Baby Gabey.

Elias and Caleb.

They are all "helping" to steer and push the car (which ended up going down the steps of the deck with Amelia driving inside!).

January 1, 2010 - New Year's Day

What can I say? The girls just love to run... and run... and run...

January 9, 2010 - Greg's 38th birthday

Chocolate cake for the birthday boy. As I was putting the candles in, Hania decided "Daddy only three, like me. No eight, Mommy!" so there you go! Whatever the boss says.

January 16, 2010 - Greg and Amelia's Birthday Party

The princess birthday girl!

Hania - the magician's assistant for Magic Dan.

January 19, 2010 - Miss Adela

Adela - 3 months old.

January 25, 2010 - Amelia celebrating her birthday a few days later with Nana and Gung-Gung

January 26, 2010 - Miss Adela

September already??!

2009-09-22T18:57:00.005-04:00

Well, here we are in September. We've had quite a busy few weeks, mostly with moving and the girls' new fall schedules. We are finally moved into our new house, living in a sea of boxes, but it is o.k. because the girls are loving it. Lots of space to run around. Hania is back at her "old" school with new teachers, Ms. Cheryl and Ms. Terri. She seems to be having a blast because she is giggling away with her little friends every time I pick her up. She is also busy doing a music class once a week and has just started ballet, which is the most adorable thing ever. She is so un-flexible...just like her daddy! Amelia is busy with a weekly music class as well and kindergym, where she loves to show off her amazing monkey skills.

Here are a few photos from the past month and a half to catch you up...

(Hania's birthday party...I have discovered if you need to get kids to follow you somewhere, show up with a cake!)

(Poor car after the accident. He's looking a lot better these days, finally! Can you see the light from the other car wedged between the car doors??!)

(Amelia being silly.)

(She is such a ham for the camera.)

(Hania wearing one of mommy's dresses from when she was a kid.)

(A nice, sisterly moment. Hania was actually trying to pick Amelia up (which she was sucessful in doing a moment later...).)

(Hania's first day of school as a three-year old. That is her teacher, Ms. Cheryl, behind her.)

(Steph at 29 weeks and counting (Sept. 5), celebrating the Bears win over Maryland in their season opener. Go Bears!)

(Hania's first ballet class. She was very shy and wasn't quite sure until the end when they got a doll to dance with to Nutcracker music. The second week, she was sure to tell me that "this time, Mommy, I no be shy.")

July recap!

2009-07-28T15:26:00.005-04:00

Wow, this past month just flew by. I cannot believe we just celebrated Hania's 3rd birthday!

July was decidedly marked by Greg and Steph's big date night out to the Coldplay concert, a fantastic trip to Orange County and Disneyland with the girls and my (oh my!) 35th birthday in which my awesome hubby and best friend threw me a surprise party!

(Me on 7/3/09, 20-weeks along.)

(Picnic dinner on the lawn at Shoreline Amphitheater before the Coldplay concert.)

(Great fun at the concert!)

(Disneyland!!)

(Hania loved the Dumbo ride and "steering" Dumbo up and down. Amelia...not so much...)

(Hania's favorite part of the day was seeing the characters, giving hugs and taking pictures.)

(Who could leave Disneyland without an ice cream treat?! Amelia would have enjoyed one, too, but she was so exhausted, she fell asleep in the stroller (a first!) on the way to the ice cream shop.)

(Hania took Daddy for a ride. She loved it...he felt sick afterwards!)

(The one ride Amelia actually enjoyed - Small World. Me too....air conditioning!!)

June is ending already!

2009-07-01T16:32:00.005-04:00

Last week was a busy one - and a very warm one! We started the week off by playing in the little kiddie pool at Auntie Yasi, Uncle Young and Zander's house. The girls took a little while to decide to join in on the fun but once they did, they had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, later in the week, Amelia got quite sick with a very odd, very swollen foot (and a half). Poor little baby was so so sad and unable to walk for a couple of days. Much better now, thank goodness. The weekend was HOT and Sunday we decided to get out to try and cool down so we headed to the city and did the whole tourist thing at Pier 39. The girls ended up getting the world's largest kids cone at Ghiradelli's. mmmmmm!

(Hania doing a painting project - concentrating very hard!)

(Splashing about.)

(Sad, sad swollen foot :( Crawling was rediscovered...)

(Chillin' in the city...105 degrees at home, 75 degrees at Pier 39.)

(The wind was picking up. See Alcatraz in the background?)

(Riding the Daddy train.)

(Mommy got her recent pregnant lady craving fix - mmmm, In 'N Out burger! Amelia had to get in on the action, too.)

(Amelia's digging in!)

(Hania making friends with "shiny man", as she calls him.)

(The giant size kid-cones at Ghiradelli's!)

(Mmmmm!)

Pizza, swim lessons and Father's Day!

2009-06-22T23:31:00.005-04:00

This was a full week - we met some friends, Colleen and Alex, whom we first met in Irvine when Alex and Hania were just a few months old. We first headed up to the Little Farm in Tilden Park where the kids had a blast feeding the animals and then we headed down to Zachary's Pizza for lunch.

(Hania and Alex.)

(Amelia is thoroughly enjoying the pizza. Yummmmm....)

(Playing with hats in the car on the way home.)

(Glamour girls!)

On Saturday, Hania and Amelia had their first swim lessons. Funny because the end of the week was quite hot but on Saturday it was chilly and windy. Poor Amelia got chilly and had to get out of the pool a little early but once Hania relaxed she had fun.

And Father's Day was on Sunday and, unfortunately, Greg had to leave on a business trip in the afternoon. We heded over to Berkeley in the morning where the girls got to munch on muffins and then had a run around their favorite fountain.

First Haircuts!

2009-06-16T22:56:00.004-04:00

The girls had a great weekend, marked by their first official haircuts by the incredible Ms. Karen. Some of Hania's curls are gone (sob! says me...) but they are looking very cute and they had a blast.

(Ms. Karen at work on Hania's hair while she sits in the awesome racecar chair. Hania is mesmerized by Dora on T.V. so she actually sat still for a moment.)

(Finished product. What you can't see is the "fairy dust" in her hair. My princess...)

(Amelia's turn. Our T.V. addict is, too, fixated by Dora...)

(Glamour girls!)

(The girls have found a new way to look at swinging at the park.)

(Amelia is happy she can finally find a way on to the big-girl swings.)

(Amelia is apparently practicing at home for her swing-time at the park. Either that or becoming a yoga guru.)

From tennis player to princesses...

2009-06-08T17:16:00.005-04:00

Well, it's official. The two girls have officially fallen in love with dressing up. Amelia has a fascination with shoes; her own, someone else's, a pair, mis-matching or not - it doesn't matter much. Hania has hit princess-lala-land. It all started at a classmates birthday party a couple of weekends ago where she and two of her friends from school dressed up in all sorts of princess outfits and the obsession blooms...

(Hey mom, check out my shoes!!)

(Here they are!)

(See my pretty princess dress go swish, swish, swish...)

(Two princesses.)

(Not very happy about the princess situation...)

(Resting after all of the activity.)

(Contemplating the day...)

More May fun!

2009-05-31T17:03:00.000-04:00

Our little star is ready to start her tennis career - and just in time for this year's French Open! Yes, she picked out the entire outfit by herself - as you can tell by her very proud expression.

We took the girls up to the Lawrence Hall of Science one dreary Saturday afternoon. Since it was o.k. to touch everything and to run around all they wanted, they had an absolute blast!

(The whale outside of the LHS building.)

More photos and updates...finally!

2009-05-24T23:10:00.015-04:00

Oh my goodness, where does the time go? I finally realized this week that I haven't posted anything new in months! Well, here is a quick synopsis and a few photos from the past few months, since January.

February: February was notably marked by a fun 2-week visit from Dziadek. We had lots of park time and fun running around.

(Can you see Amelia's ear-to-ear grin??)

(Hania is ready for Valentine's Day - our little love bug!)

(Playing around the fountain on the Cal campus.)

March: At the beginning of March, we went up to Tahoe again and the girls had a blast playing in the snow.

(Yes, that is Hania skiing with Daddy!)

(Knackered and passed out (in the gondola) after running around in the snow.)

(Hania decided that Amelia should have a diaper change and, surprisingly, Amelia was ever-so compliant (and yes, she DID get the tights and diaper off herself!))

(The new game - playing with the shredding.)

(Chasing the cat behind the couch.)

April: In April, we visited Irvine and our old house (sob!) and the girls got to go to the beach, Amelia for the first time! We also celebrated Easter and went to the big Easter egg hunt in the Moraga park and had fun at "wheel day" at a local church where they had all sorts of vehicles with wheels, big and small.

(They are sitting on my legs because they did not want to get dirty in the sand - such girly-girls!)

(MMMMM, shakes at the Shake Shack!)

(Dying Easter eggs for the first time. Can you see Amelia enjoying her bath in our kitchen sink in the background??)

(We started making homemade popsicles - Hania is in heaven...)

(...and Amelia is still trying to figure out the finer points of holding the popsicle by it's stick. But at least she knows which end to eat!)

(Beep beep! Here's your bus driver! Welcome aboard!!)

May: Wow, are we already at the end of May?! Amelia just turned 16 months a few days ago and is running like a rabbit, climbing anything and everything. Hania is still in love with school and only has 2 more weeks left of the year. Just today, we celebrated Hania and Amelia's friend, Miranda's, 3rd birthday in which her mom had gotten a pony and petting zoo at the local park!

(Amelia enjoying some apple on her 16-month birthday.)

Lake Tahoe - January 2009

2009-01-25T23:26:00.000-05:00

More snow! :) It finally started snowing and we headed up to Tahoe for some r&r and some skiing. We took the girls up the gondola at Heavenly Valley. Hania was fascinated and excited and scared at the same time. It was quite a bit more chilly and foggy and snowy than at the base so we didn't stay too long but it was a good adventure. The girls loved playing in the snow outside the condo we rented. Note to self, though....definitely hit the potty before heading out to the cold. Pee in the snow boots is not fun for anyone.

(Excited and a little unsure...)

("Snow!" (This after "Mommy hold hand!")

(Bundled up - all warm and cozy!)

(Amelia is loving the view.)

(More snow!)

(Wheeeeee! I think I may have too many layers on to move...)

(Whew...this is exhausting work!)

(Amelia made it out from under the front porch overhang...hmm...maybe the hat is a bit too large. I'm not sure she can see where she is going. :)!)

(Is this how the flamingos do it?)

(Hania is having a blast!)

(The views on the way home were spectacular. This was on the side of Hwy 50, you can see the defined line of snow on the hill where it was snowing and then it wasn't.)

Amelia is ONE!!

2009-01-21T23:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Amelia baby! We can't believe you have just turned one year old. It has been an exciting year. You started off, born in Greenville, SC. We had a great time there where you learned to roll over, sit up, got your first 6 teeth, made some fun friends and were just such a happy, smile-y baby. We moved to California when you were about 8 months old and here you learned to walk and now, almost run. You are also an extremely well-traveled little girl. At one year, you have flown from South Carolina to California 3.5 round trips, one round trip to Poland and once to and from L.A. and Hawaii. I think we figured out that has amounted to about 16 separate flights already! Now, you just love to follow your sister around although you are fiercely independent and you know exactly what you want. You are so happy and charm everyone with your smile. Happy birthday beautiful girl!! We love you!!!!

(This is truly the best gift Amelia could receive...balloons. She is just full of joy and happiness, clutching a balloon in each hand, cruising around the house.)

(Hmmm...what's this??!)

(I wonder how big a piece I can rip off...)

(Here, let me help you!)

(Mmmm...even eating the crumbs...)

(Amelia is very intense opening presents...or rather, watching the others "help" her open her gifts.)

Greg's Birthday - He's 37!

2009-01-09T02:51:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Greg's 37th birthday at home with the girls. I attempted to make a Polish cheesecake (sernik) to celebrate. I think it turned out pretty well...not the real deal because the cheese here isn't quite the same but I think it was as close as it was going to get.

(Hania helped liked to help blow out the candle. She learned to say "Happy Birthday" recently and was crushed when she was told it wasn't her birthday. We had to pretend it was her birthday, too, for the rest of the day and she was going around saying "Happy Burpday Daddy, Happy Burpday, Hania, Happy Burpday, Mia (what she calls Amelia), Happy Burpday, Mommy!")

(Yay, we did it!)

(mmm, cake!)

(It looks not too bad...)

Some random photos of the girls in January...

2009-01-08T02:39:00.001-05:00

Here are some fun moments from this month...

(OK, the photo is out of focus but it's hilarious - Hania is feeding her sister a banana, sitting by the front door, nonetheless.)

(Hurrah!)

(Mmmm, poopoo ices! Hania was getting a special ice cream for pooping on the potty. Hurray for incentive potty training!)

(Yay, I did it!)

(Just chillin' in her chair. Does she look comfortable??!)

(Hania putting her babies to "sleep" and singing them songs.)

(Amelia was in a very huggy mood one day at Nana and Gung-Gung's house.)

The Oakland Zoo

2009-01-01T02:28:00.000-05:00

We took the girls to the Oakland Zoo to check out the animals. What better way to spend new years day? They had a great time (although Hania was preoccupied by the train that goes around the zoo most of the time). She loved the monkeys the most followed by the petting zoo.

(Hania pretending that she is a monkey, too.)

(She loves the turtles!)

(Soft goat!)

Hania - the troublemaker!

2009-01-01T02:23:00.000-05:00

One morning, it was a little too quiet in the house and we discovered why...Hania had gotten into my cosmetic drawer and decided to give herself a mask treatment.

Tahoe - December 2008

2008-12-31T01:34:00.001-05:00

We thought it'd be fun for the girls to see some snow and to get away for a few days in Tahoe. We headed up to the south shore. After some careful planning, we still managed to need to stop halfway up so we took the girls to lunch at In 'N Out burger (Steph's craving) and then for a little jaunt around the Nut Tree amusement park (which, sadly, I have just learned has closed now. :( The girls LOVED it - sad...) And, yes, you can tell by our pictures it was an unexpected stop since they are both in their pajamas. At least they were warm...

(Having fun!)

(Choo choo excitment!)

(Amelia is definitely excited - can you tell?!)

(Big train....)

(Note - Hania's Miss America wave.)

(Soooo many fun rides, so little time.)

(Amelia either loves the horse or is ready for a nap...)

Greg manage to ski one day and we mostly just hung out in the snow and played. We saw a gigantic snowman erected near where we were staying, impressively built but several drunk dudes. Note - the nose was Greg's idea...

(Hania is a very good big sister - she wanted to make sure that Amelia was warm and comfortable.)

(Family time!)

(The view from Tom and Ewelina's condo, where we stayed.)

(The GIANT snowman.)

(It was a snowman village.)

(Making our own.)

(Knackered after all of the activity.)

Merry Christmas 2008!

2008-12-26T18:36:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful, fairly mellow (well, as mellow as one can be with 5 kids under 5 running around...) Christmas in the Bay Area.

We started off celebrating Christmas Eve at our house. Nana and Gung Gung came over for dinner where we shared some barszcz czerwony (red beet soup), crab and, for dessert, makowiec (Polish poppy seed bread). Mmmm!

(Wesolych swiat!)

(And a Merry Christmas to you, too!)

(Christmas Eve - the excitement is just beginning!)

(Amelia would just rather eat her packages...)

We celebrated Christmas morning at our house and the girls had a blast opening presents and running around in great excitment. Hania was double excited to be able to help Amelia open all of her gifts (as she pretty much thought everything was for her anyhow...) We attended mass at Newman Hall and Hania had fun running around the fountain on campus after getting our Christmas cuppa joe at Strada (amazingly open on Christmas morning!).

(Christmas morning - Hania thought it was unbelievable!)

Christmas dinner was celebrated at my parent's house with a lovely dinner with family and friends. It was really great to get to see everyone again.

My brother and his family arrived just in time to dig into the feast and then we celebrated Christmas, once again!, the next morning, on the 26ths as we opened stockings from Santa at my parent's house. The girls are two lucky ladies with the never-ending Christmas celebration!

(Someone must have been a good girl! Santa definitely delivered!)

(The Chins.)

Aloha!

2008-12-22T18:55:00.001-05:00

What winter doldrums couldn't be cured by a fabulous family trip to Hawaii? After the hullabaloo from packing and moving and unpacking and whatnot, we decided it was time to take off to the land of Aloha for some much needed r & r. We decided upon Poipu in Kauai one, because we could get a two bedroom condo (and let me tell you traveling with one of the world's lightest sleepers is key!) and, two, because we had been there before and knew we loved the beaches and the area.

We started our journey in San Jose (yay for frequent flyer miles, which meant flying out of the more distant airport). It was a perfect way to catch up with our friends, Colleen and Rudy and their son, Alex, who we used to hang out with all of the time in Irvine. Colleen and I think that Hania and Alex remember each other - so cute! We met up for brunch in the cute Willow Glen area of San Jose and then the Millians were so gracious to let us park our car outside of their house for the week while we taxied to the airport.

We then decided to do a very long, 24+ hour layover in L.A. in order to see my brother, Mark, my sis-in-law, Becky, and my three adorable nephews, Caleb, Elias and Gabriel. The girls had a great time, especially Hania who could not believe how great it was to run around with her cousins. It made it on to her list of "party houses" (anywhere where there is extreme fun and excitement).

After the night there, we flew to Lihue where we crashed for one evening in Kapa'a before heading down to Poipu for the next 6 days. Hania LOVED the pool, which was really the pool, called "pool", the hot tub, named "baby pool" (said in a tiny baby voice with her thumb and pointer finger squished together, indicating the miniscule size), or the ocean, which was called "BIIIIIG Pool". She would have stayed at one of those three twenty-four seven if we didn't drag her out occasionally. Amelia, on the other hand, really could not have been less impressed by the pool situation. She did like the hot tub because of it's warmth and for the fact that she could have her toys and they wouldn't float away too far, but she could not stand the sand. It was rather hilarious...if we tried to put her down into the sand, she would draw her feet up and curl up in a ball as tight as possible. When we finally did manage to put her feet into the sand, she would stand on her tippy-toe on one foot and prop up like a flamingo with her other foot firmly tucked under her butt, all while making this sour face. Mean, I know, but very funny to watch. :)

(First day in Hawaii!)

(Taking a snack break, checking out the rooster crowing nearby (and keeping an eye on the food the girls were dropping...).)

(The rooster in full crow...)

(The view is good from up here!)

(Giving the lion a little love.)

(Our daily morning walk from our resort to the Hyatt.)

(An endangered monk seal.)

(Sunset at Poipu beach.)

There was a rather big storm that hit Hawaii towards the end of our trip, sitting squarely above our island for three days. Three days of torrential rain (we're talking the kind of rain that made large parking lots into huge ponds by the end) and kids going stir crazy in the house. By the third day, we were desperate to get back into the pool, so we braved the hot tub in spite of the rain. Apparently others with kids had the same idea because we met several others there and the kids had a fun time splashing about.

(Hania's favorite breakfast - a musubi from the Hyatt hotel...sushi rice, scrambled egg and sausage wrapped in seaweed.)

(OK, we did manage to get Amelia to sit in the sand once. Check out what happens below...)

(First, Hania decides Amelia needs a sand shampoo treatment..)

(Playing happily in oblivion...)

(Smiling even!)

(Until we notice the sand shampoo!)

(Chilling together.)

(Hania and mommy walking on the beach in front of the Hyatt.)

(Enjoying the morning stroll.)

(More roosters on the beach.)

(GK apres snorkel and swim.)

(Amelia showing off her standing, hugging her favorite treats.)

We had so much fun and can't wait to take the kids again. It was funny, though, to arrive back with tans into 30 degree weather because the Bay Area had been hit by a cold spell.

Some funny moments in November...

2008-12-21T23:09:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of moments that made us laugh...

This is a windy day in Walnut Creek. We took the girls for a walk before meeting Nana and Gung Gung for lunch. Hania has discovered her pockets and loves to stuff her hands in them while she is walking and she won't take them out no matter what!

(OK, hands are not in her pockets but it's too cute of a picture not to post...)

This is Amelia under the table, begging for food. She had just started eating more finger foods and would crawl under the table, up to my chair and ask me to feed her, in this case, pasta. After each bite, she'd crawl away and then come back again and again.

Gobble Gobble go the turkeys

2008-12-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving...one of my favorite holidays. It kicks off the holiday season, it's finally becoming winter (yay, skiing!) and it's always a good excuse to indulge just a little. Our pre-turkey day festivities were to take the girls to San Francisco early and to play tourists by taking them on their first ever cable car ride. They loved it (you'll see Amelia hanging on to her favorite pole) and running around the area in front of Ghiradelli Square was a good way to work up an appetite.

(The Bay Bridge, cloaked in fog.)

(Waiting for the cable car...a picture perfect moment.)

(We made it on to the cable car and scored great seats on the outside!)

(We found an open Starbucks where we took advantage of their bathroom and Hania refused to leave without her milk.)

(Another Kodak moment...)

(Hania was running up and down the pathways. It was tiring just to watch her!)

(On the way back, we sat inside and Amelia LOVED hanging on to the pole in front of her. She, of course, tried to lick it a few times (gross!) but generally just held on and grinned.)

One of the nicest things about being back in the Bay Area is Thanksgiving at my aunt's house. There is always a crowd (although this year was "small" at around 45, I believe...) and it's great to catch up with friends and family. This year, because of the mini-army of folks, there were **only** two turkeys (instead of the regular three!) and a ham. And by two turkeys, I mean the kind you eat, not the kind currently running around my living room right now!

(Greg with the two yummy turkeys! One one in front of him has been smoked in the bbq all day by my cousin. Impressive!)

The food was fabulous, of course. In honor of my late grandmother, my mom and my aunt made her famous sticky rice that she used to make every year (in lieu of "regular" stuffing). Yes, we're Chinese, remember. How could we let a meal go by without some sort of rice? Believe it or not, the first time I ever had the traditional Thanksgiving stuffing was a few years ago when I made it for Greg, who, although not even American, pointed out that it was one of the usual Thanksgiving Day traditions. Funny thing was that I had not even really noticed up until that point. :)

And, of course, we managed to take the annual stairs photo. The stairs photo started off as a photo of all of the children in the family taken on my aunt and uncle's very large curving front staircase. It has been such a kick to go back and reminisce (although - funny story and a side note here, there are about twenty photographers every year but you would count yourself lucky to actually see one of these photos as they rarely made it out of someone's stack of photos (in the former days) or out of their camera or computer (in the latter period).) This year, it was a surprisingly small crowd on the stairs as it was the "off" year (where a lot of usuals are off visiting their in-laws). Basically, it was the five kiddos you'll see in the picture below. Note a daddy and a mommy had to sneak in there to ensure that someone wasn't crawling off or pushing someone else over. Aaah, how things change.

(The currebt generation of stairs photograph subjects. From left to right: Greg, Amelia (age 10 mo.), Hania (age 2), Grace (age 4.5), Sadie (age 6 mo.), Corrina, Julia (age 2.5).)

Well, I know this post comes quite a bit after Thanksgiving but I have finally come out of my post-turkey coma so here it is! Enjoy!

Getting ready to ski...

2008-11-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

We stopped by REI to check out some of the toddler ski gear out there. Hania quickly got into the spirit of things with her new Dora ("Doda") ski helmet. We even got her to try on the ski boots and she was walking around in them, skis in hand, ready to go. Yes, she knows what skiing is...she regularly checks out Daddy's Skiing magazine with great delight. Looks like we are going to try hitting the slopes (a very, very small slope) with her this season!

Big Game 2008

2008-11-22T12:59:00.000-05:00

OK, so we didn't actually make it into the game but we headed to Berkeley to check out the Big Game festivities. Hania knew exactly where we were headed from our previous football game experience so she started asking for Oski before we even left the house. We were keeping our fingers crossed that we could find him because we would seriously be in trouble if we didn't get to see him! Luckily, we found him at the Fun Zone. Hania was a bit shy with him in the beginning, as usual, but then warmed up to him quickly. The Bank of the West bear was also in attendance so she was pretty thrilled to have two new buddies. The Bank of the West people were really nice and gave Hania a little teddy bear. Hania followed Oski around trying to show him her new bear. We also taught her to say "Go Bears!". So super cute. :)

(Hania and Oski!)

(Hania meeting the Bank of the West bear with a big wave!)

(...and giving him a big hug.)

(Hania following Oski with her new teddy bear.)

(Hania was all hugs that day and had a big one for Ajai, too!)

(Walking with Daddy and Amelka (who is napping peacefully...). Note how she is gleefully clutching her new possesion...)

(A happy, sleeping baby.)

(Post pre-game festivities happiness.)

The Girls!

2008-11-13T00:08:00.003-05:00

Some fun photos of the munchkins!

(Hania taking Amelia for a ride in the laundry basket.)

(Wheeee!)

(Bubble time!)

(Amelia discovered the wonderful world of balloons today!)

A very rainy football gameday adventure

2008-11-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

So thanks to my friend, Karen, we got some very good tickets to a very exciting Cal vs. Oregon football game. Too bad Mother Nature decided to dump some major rain on us! We had promised Hania the day before that she could ride the train and a but so we decided to venture out anyhow. According to our toddler, it was a very exciting BART ride and the bus was very cool, too. Of course, it took us forever to get everyone as appropriately dressed as possible so we finally made it into the stadium right before the end of the 1st quarter (just as Longshore was put into the game). It was a bit chilly in the beginning and drizzling a bit (see photo below) and then it started pouring. And pouring. And it did not stop! Amelia was completely mesmerized with the guy sitting behind us (who was very nice and gave us a couple of extra rain slickers when our garbage bags were not doing it for us) and Hania LOVED watching Oski strut around the field and the cheerleaders in front of our section. We sat in the rain with the girls for just about an hour before Amelia decided she had had enough and was tired and hungry. I had planned to feed Amelia in the stands and hope that she fell asleep but it was just impossible under all of the gear I was wearing and hope that she didn't get completely soaked in the meantime. We left at that point (it was halftime) which was the same idea a lot of people had so we had a very squishy bus ride back to BART. All in all, it was such a fun adventure and we hope to make it to another (hopefully dry) game before the season is over!

(Staying warm with Daddy, waiting for the BART train.)

(Cuddling together for warmth.)

(Hania has recently discovered pockets.)

(Watching the train arrive on the other side of the platform. What you can't see from this photo is her crying out "choo choo!".)

(Amelia's first BART ride.)

(I love riding the train!)

(This is just before the deluge started. Note, we had to buy Amelia a new hat so her tiny head didn't get soaked. So cute they make infant sized baseball hats!)

(OK, this seems random but Hania apparently loves bell peppers. She pulled this one off of a stand at the farmer's market earlier in the morning and started chomping on it right then and there. Well, better than a candy bar!)

(Still working on that bell pepper...)

(Hania resting after a very long, wet day.)

Halloween with the Cow and Amelia Earhart

2008-11-01T21:05:00.005-04:00

Happy Halloween!
With love, from Hania the Cow and Amelia Earhart

(How Now Brown Cow!)

(Hania was very concerned that Amelia didn't have her "glasses" on.)

(Family photo from the Halloween carnival the previous weekend.)

(Hania "fishing" at the Halloween carnival.)

(Amelia resting after all of the carnival fun.)

(Hania the Cow, patiently waiting to start trick-or-treating.)

(Practicing trick-or-treating)

(with Gung-Gung.)

(Amelia helping Gung-Gung get ready to hand out candy.)

(The pumpkin family.)

(Mr. Moneybags, Cowgirl, Cow and Amelia Earhart.)

(The first thing Hania did when returning from trick-or-treating was dump out her loot from her bag and try and sneak a lollypop!)

(Amelia Earhart after her flight around the neighborhood.)

(I'm a great pilot!)

Some random photos of the girls from October

2008-10-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

I'm behind on the blogging thing but wanted to share some fun photos from this month...

The Blue Angels and Fleet Week in San Francisco

2008-10-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

We went to see the Blue Angels perform during Fleet Week in San Francisco from my grandmother (Popo)'s apartment. It was a beautiful day and had amazing views. All the more reason to enjoy probably one of the last times we'll be at her great apartment.

(Out on the deck. It was a very, very windy day!)

(Having fun on my personal jungle gym, named Daddy.)♠

(Amelia following her sister - she must be on to something cool!)

(Alcatraz, cloaked in fog.)

(Lots of boats out on the bay, checking out the show.)

(Can you seem them zooming by?)

(Flying right by Coit Tower.)

(Surprisingly, the girls didn't get scared even though the jets were very noisy, screaming by.)

(The world's largest private yacht.)

And we're back online...

2008-10-15T00:50:00.005-04:00

After a brief hiatus, we're finally back online! The past month and a half has been marked by Greg getting a job offer at Chevron in Richmond, CA and us packing up and moving 2 weeks later. We've been busy settling in and unpacking (hmmm, I feel like I just did this...oh wait, I did!). We're excited to be back in California but unpacking really stinks - made worse by a most terrible packing job (thanks, Graebel moving company!). But the girls have been so great and have done really well with the transition. We are in a cute home in Orinda, not too far from my parents and our friends. Greg is busy settling into his new job (and his new, EARLY work hours) and I am busy re-exploring the area, looking for the best kid-friendly options out there.
Amelia is crawling EVERYWHERE. She is quite a troublemaker, always going for the things she is not supposed to get into. She always wants Hania's toys (which seems to be fine because Hania is once again fascinated with the baby toys) or paper, which she loves to stick into her mouth. She is a total flirt and still smiles all of the time.
Hania started preschool a couple of weeks ago. She's been "adjusting" (read - crying) but she seems to like it once she settles in each day. It seems to be getting better and easier (knock on wood!) and her teacher is really good. They even have occasional cooking classes! (the class made quesadillas on Monday this week). Below are some photos of Hania at her school's farm days.

(Hania and her classmates.)

(Watching Joey, the horse, do his tricks.)

(Hania playing with her own pony.)

(Horses everywhere! Hania and her classmates playing with "My Little Ponies.)

October is fire safety month and we took the girls to the local fire station where Hania had the thrill of her life, sitting inside an actual fire truck AND getting to meet (and give a hug to) Smokey the Bear.

(Smokey the Bear rocks!)

(Biiiiiiggggg truck!)

Greg took the girls to the park over the weekend where they had a grand 'ol time, swinging away.

(Swinging with my sister...)

(Wheeeeee!)

(Phew!)

(Note - sorry for the poor photo quality. I seem to have misplaced our camera in the brou-ha-ha of the move so most of these are from our camera phones...)

Whaaaa? Amelia's gettin' ready!

2008-08-20T16:51:00.001-04:00

Ready to move, that is. Mommy woke up this fine morning to find Amelia chillin' in her crib...on her hands and knees! (Hmm...that might explain the strange sleeping patterns...) This resulted in a scramble to move her mattress down a notch, particularly after she managed to reach up and pull her mobile down, too. We think she's getting ready to become a mover and shaker in an attempt to keep up with her sister. Look out, our world will never be the same again!

(Hi - check out me and my new tricks!)

(I'm ready...)

(to get moving!)

(Playtime!)

Too cool for the pool

2008-08-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

Hania was looking quite chic heading to the pool with Kelly, our beloved babysitter (who Hania calls "me!")

(Kelly and Hania going for a dip.)

(OK, so it's a blurry picture but she is so cute!)

The O'Rourkes are in the house!

2008-08-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely visit from Kristy, John and Jack O'Rourke who graciously drove down from North Carolina to see us. A little backstory... We know the O'Rourkes from Irvine before Steph and Kristy were moms and working at UCI together.
It was a nice, mellow weekend catching up with each other, punctuated by a big southern BBQ meal. We had a rib taste-off between local grub places Sardi's and Big Dave's. General consensus in the end is that Sardi's ribs rate higher, Big Dave's sides rock and Steph likes the brisket from Big Dave's the most. Who is Big Dave, you ask? He is a former executive chef for the Dallas Cowboys. Greg and John and the pleasure of meeting Big Dave and vouch for the fact that there is no exaggerating when they say "BIG Dave".
The kids had a great time coloring and mashing play dough and, for Jack (but not so much for the kitties), chasing Oski and Guinness.

(Play time!)

(Kristy, John and Jack - Jack is showing mom and dad how things are done.)

(Amelia's first time in a high chair.)

(Lunch-time fun!)

(The ladies - Kristy, Amelia, Hania and Steph (we swear - Jack is running around somewhere nearby!))

People - we have grass!!

2008-08-16T20:38:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's true. There is really grass growing at 1314 Stillwater! No longer the slum-looking house of the neighborhood. Greg got comments from our neighbor that he feels like he is in Augusta (golf reference for all of you non-golf freaks :)!).

(Thank goodness for sod - instant gratification!)

(Irrigate that puppy!)

You know the matching outfit thing had to be done eventually...

2008-08-07T22:27:00.000-04:00

and boy, is it cute! :) I can't believe we waited this long. (Thanks, Ciocia Ewa, for the adorable clothing!).

Acrobatic performers in training

2008-08-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

So, Amelia does two things that Hania never did - eating her toes and making what is described in baby books as a "razz" sound which in a comic strip would come out something like this: "Pbbbbt!" (note tongue sticking out, spit flying). I guess Hania is feeling a little left out and goes by the old adage "better late than never".

(The first attempt - not sure which is the best starting position...)

(Here, let an expert show you how it's done...)

(Ohhh, I think I get it now.)

(Exhausted from the effort...)

Pea-nut Butter...and Jelly!

2008-08-04T22:07:00.000-04:00

Hania's having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the first time. But really, mom, why bother with the bread?

Hania is 2!

2008-08-03T23:26:00.004-04:00

Can you believe it?! Hania is 2!!! Her birthday was on Friday and we celebrated with a monkey-themed pool party on Sunday. Poor Hania's birthday fun started off with a little too much drama-rama. Mommy and Amelia left in the morning to head to the doctor for Amelia's 6-month well-baby check-up (everything is great - Amelia is measuring 26.5 inches long and is just over 16 lbs. She has her two bottom teeth, is rolling over and is starting to sit up.). When they got home, they discovered that Daddy and Hania had been attacked by yellow jackets. :( They both got stung several times, Daddy on his arm and Hania on her forehead, ear and arm. It broke our hearts to see her so sad but, luckily, she seems to have had a very mild reaction to the stings and is doing o.k. now. The irony of the whole situation is that Hania was supposed to have been with Amelia at the doctor for her 2 year well-baby checkup but Mommy didn't want to mar her birthday with a visit to the doctor...where she ended up having to go anyhow. But looking forward - things quickly turned around and we had a fun afternoon eating ice cream and playing.

Sunday was great with a pool party with Hania's friends and their families. Hania really wanted a monkey themed party (don't ask us where she came up with that one but every time we mention the word "birthday" she started doing her sign for monkey and getting all excited.

(Friday morning started out with a special waffle-berry birthday creation.)

(Happy Birthday, Sister!)

(Opening presents is FUN!)

(Hania - So in love with her baby dolls. Check her out, wearing her new backpack and Cinderella jewelry from Ava Cruz, getting ready to stroll her baby around in her new stroller. Hilarious! :)!)

(A monkey cake for a monkey birthday party!)

(Party at the pool.)

(Amelia and Harper (who is just a few days older) hanging out together.)

(More presents - the fun never ends!)

Daytrippin' it in Asheville, NC

2008-08-03T22:37:00.004-04:00

We headed up to Asheville, NC with the Moyseys for the city's Belle Chere festival at the end of July. It was a great time - lots of craft and artwork being sold and yummy food! Asheville is the home of the Biltmore. We didn't go there on this trip but the downtown area was very nice. Hippies everywhere (and lots of Obama supporters) so we felt just at home - like we were in Berkeley! The hippies were none too thrilled with the religious right demonstrating against same-sex marriages so there was some interesting shouting matches going on. There was also some very random performance art going on which we just could not understand. Maybe it was the extreme heat that day either impairing our brains or, perhaps - and more likely, the performers. Definitely worth going back but we'll have to make a weekend of it next time. It was fun but a very, very long day trip with no naps. :)

(The new Pillsbury chef-in-training.)

(Hania and Anya resting from the heat with a snack and a giggle. We found a fun cafe that had a piano in the back room where they could dance and make tons of noise without bothering too many people.)

(Finally - a family photo moment!)

(Hania and Anya - loving the "double stroller" way of getting around again.)

Here's Amelia!

2008-08-01T22:36:00.004-04:00

Happy baby, Amelia! She just turned 6 months old on July 21st. We can't believe how quickly she is growing up! She is so smiley and so much fun. She's rolling quite a bit now both from her stomach to her back and vice versa and she is very close to sitting up on her own. She's a bit of a weeble wobble but she can do it on her own for a few minutes at a time now. She is also quite chatty and loves to babble away. Her favorite thing to do is to watch Hania or the cats. We're sure she will be joining them in running around soon enough!

(Helloooo!)

(Amelka and her amazingly long tongue.)

(Amelka's first food...mmm, mmmm, mmmmmmm rice cereal!)

(Uh oh, another messy eater on our hands.)

(The two sisters sitting together. :) So cute!)

(Hania massaging Daddy.)

(Ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

Rock Stars!!

2008-08-01T22:14:00.005-04:00

We are exploring new career opportunities that involve the whole family. Look for us to come soon to your nearest club rocking out!

Here we are practicing at the Kendall's when they hosted a Rock Band evening.

(The cutest band members - Awesome Alden, Amazing Anya and Hot Hania!)

(Hania is multi-talented, playing the guitar AND singing!)

(Amelia wanted to participate so badly and that beer looked mighty tasty...)

(Anya - our future drummer.)

(That's Nadia on the guitar, Steven on drums and lead singer, Greg the Great.)

(Trying a different band set up - Treavor on guitar, Steven (still!) and Anya on drums and Nadia the lead singer.)

Who needs a double stroller??

2008-08-01T22:13:00.003-04:00

Hania and Anya show us that a little creativity can go a long way!

Happy Fourth of July!

2008-08-01T22:03:00.004-04:00

We went to the nearby city of Easley's Fourth of July celebration with our friends the Moyseys (Nadia, Steven and Anya (or Nonny, as Hania calls her) and the Kendalls (Katy, Treavor and Alden). We didn't stay for the fireworks...if we had, we all would have had our own fireworks celebrations thrown by the kids. :) It was HOT but we had a good time, especially dancing in the street to the music from the band.

(Amelia getting a good look around while drooling up a storm (hello, teeth!).)

(A huge dancefloor for the munchkins.)

Visiting Nana and Gung Gung in Moraga

2008-08-01T21:39:00.004-04:00

We had a rather unexpected trip to California just after returning from Poland for Steph's grandmother's funeral. Popo lived a wonderful and amazing 98 years - we were lucky to have been a part of her life and to have had her in our lives.

(Nana and Hania at Popo's memorial service at Four Seas Restaurant in San Francisco.)

We had a few days in Moraga with the family including wujek Mark, ciocia Becky and cousins Caleb and Elias. And, the biggest excitement was meeting newest cousin Gabriel for the first time!

(Hania and Gung Gung trying on our new rain boots.)

(Hania and Caleb hanging out together.)

(Nana, Gabriel, Hania and Caleb.)

Polska, the baptism and a whole lot of fun!

2008-07-16T21:46:00.009-04:00

After a long hiatus, I am finally posting again, reporting on our 3 week trip to Poland in June. We were fortunate enough for Greg to be invited to present at a conference in Zakopane which is located in the mountains of southern Poland.

We flew from Charlotte, via Munich, to Krakow on Lufthansa. For all of you travelers with kids out there, fyi, Lufthansa ROCKS. Imagine this - the flight attendants were actually nice, friendly and even helpful! The kids got toys on every flight. We were able to book the bassinet row which is the bulkhead row in which they are able to attach a little bassinet to the wall for the itty-bitty kiddos. I won't go into the details but there are some interesting rules about flying with two lap children. Basically, most of the time it means you can't sit next to each other in the same row (unless you are across the aisle from each other). So our original seat assignment was that we had the two aisle seats in the middle section, with two potential people sitting between us. Can you believe on the way there, we were blessed with the entire section of 4 seats to ourselves?!! (We were just as lucky on the way home with three of the four seats for ourselves!)

(Chillin' on the plane!)

(Asleep, at last!)

(Pretty cozy bed!)

So, after a long, long day of travel, the girls did amazingly well. We spent just a couple of days in Krakow before heading down to Zakopane for the week.

(Wawel Castle.)

(Amelia and mommy in front of a new sculpture in Krakow.)

(Walking through the Planty (a nice park and walking path near the center of Krakow).)

(Mommy enjoying her paczek (Polish donut filled with rose flavored jam) very much!)

We stayed in the Hotel Belvedere, a gorgeous hotel not too far from the main downtown area. We took lots of walks and swam in the hotel's cool pool and basically recovered from jet lag. Greg's talk went really well and he was able to catch up with some colleagues he hadn't seen in some time.

(Hotel Belvedere.)

(Hania LOVES these rides! They are everywhere in Poland and it was impossible to walk down the street without her shrieking "beep beep! beep beep!")

(Amelia is happy, out for a walk in Zakopane.)

Greg's brother, Jas, his wife, Ewa, and their new little girl, Zosia took a long weekend and joined us up there as well.

(Zosia and Amelia, the newest members of the Kusinski clan.)

(The meeting of the minds.)

(The tram ride up Gubalowka.)

(The luge ride DOWN Gubalowka. Hania and mom in the first sled, Ciocia Ewa in the second!)

(Saying "hi" as we fly by!)

(Wujek Jas, Ciocia Ewa and Mommy going for a second ride.)

We returned from Zakopane and spent the next two weeks in Poland playing and having fun.

(Hania LOVES ice cream and daddy just could not say no to that sweet face!)

(More of those rides - this time a horsey.)

(And, of course, yet again another "beep beep".)

(Hania playing in the yard with Babcia and the two girls next door (Ala and (another) Hania). This is the Polish version of "Ring Around the Rosy".)

(And we all fall down!)

(Hania loves feeding the animals at the Krakow zoo.)

(She has NO fear, much to the chagrin of her mother.)

(Hanging out with Ciocia Sylwia.)

(And, more ice cream..)

We had a double baptism with cousin Zosia, held at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Krakow. This is the same church where we had our wedding ceremony almost 4 years ago.

(Walking to the church.)

(Amelka bundled up, wearing one of mommy's dresses and bonnet from when she was a baby.)

(She looks a bit concerned...)

(She didn't cry once during the ceremony!)

(Proud Tata and Mommy. Amelia's wondering, "How can I grab those flowers and stuff them into my mouth??)

(The honoree with her Godparents. From left to right - Ciocia Ania, Mommy, Amelka, Tata, Wujek Szymon and Hania.)

(Greg had double duty that day - he is also the proud Godfather for Zosia.)

(The post-baptism party. Kind of like a wedding party! 40 family members celebrating with us.)

(The two excited grandmothers!)

(Hanging out with family. )

(The kids had a blast running around and playing with each other during the party.)

We had just a little more time in Poland. After 2 1/2 years since we were there last, this was such a great trip. Greg's parents have a beautiful new home and it was so much fun to hang out with family and see the city again.

(Mommy and the girls. Hania is a great big sister - lots of lovin'!)

(Ball!)

(And...more ice cream (lody).)

(Riding through Park Jordana in style.)

(Hania and Ania - the two trouble makers!)

(Wujek Jas working hard, entertaining the trouble-makers.)

(Monkey pose.)

(Hanging out with Dziadek.)

(Meeting Prababcia for the first time.)

(Amelka and Tata in front of Marjacki.)

(Hania on the tramwaj for the first time with Babcia. "Choo Choo!")

(Row, row, row your boat...)

(Hanging out with Ciocia Roma, Mommy, Hania, Babcia and Amelka.)

(The last day we were there, there was this freakish thunder storm. There was lots of thunder and lightning and it was about 30 degrees C. All of a sudden it started hailing golf-ball sized hail pieces and 15 minutes later the temperature had dropped to about 15 degrees C.!)

To see the complete album of photos, click on the photo below:

Polska June 2008

Horse Crazy!

2008-05-11T21:05:00.001-04:00

"Daddy, will you buy me a pony? Pleeeeeeeezeeeeee??"

I don't kid - Hania will be asking for one of her own before long. Dogs and horses. That's what life is all about these days. It's nice to know that if we need a way to distract Hania, all we need to do is find one of those two. And since we live in the sticks, it's not that hard to do! :)

First, the practice ride...

(Racing horses with daddy!)

(Faster!!)

Now, the real thing!...

(Getting to know the horse-y...)

(I'm a pro!)

(Woohoo!)

A true Southern experience

2008-05-02T15:14:00.001-04:00

Of course, we had to have dinner at Just More BBQ where they have some down-home Southern cookin' and a fun bluegrass band entertaining us. The place was great - the music was fabulous and the kids had a great time running around and dancing. We chowed on brisket (chicken, pork, beef), ribs, hush puppies, mac 'n cheese, some sort of hash (I still have no idea what it was. Tasty but not good for me, I'm sure...), coleslaw (Hania ate TWO bowls herself!), corn on the cob, green beans...all of the good stuff. :)

(Hania loving the coleslaw. She is certainly getting into this Southern cuisine.)

(Grrrrr!)

Hania had fun with her friends, Anya, Maja, Kuba and Julia and their parents Nadia and Steve, Kasia and Michal, and Cindy and Tom. I guess the dancing is good to burn off all of those calories...

(Dance, dance, dance!
From back to front: Nadia, Julia, Anya, Hania and Maja)

(Resting for a moment
From Left to Right: Cindy, Anya, Maja, Hania)

(Water break
Nadia with Anya and Julia)

(Rocking and listening to the music
From Left to Right: Kuba, Anya, Hania, Nadia, Julia, Maja)

(It's not a good photo, but there's the band.)

(Mom's need to rest too!
Nadia and Kasia)

A glimpse of the girls

2008-04-30T15:05:00.001-04:00

'cuz why not?! :)

These photos are from the last week in April. Here, Amelia is just over 3 months old and Hania is almost 21 months old.

(HI!)

(HI to you, too!)

(Tummy time)

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream!

2008-04-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

The weather has been great so we took a little drive this past Sunday to downtown Greenville. They had the Artisphere show going on so we walked around and checked it all out. What better occasion for some yummy ice cream?!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

2008-04-16T13:40:00.000-04:00

We hit a Greenville Drive game with our friends Abby, Chris and adorable Ava from Irvine,. They made the trek out and stayed for a couple of days and had a few Southern adventures.

The Drive game was fun even though they lost pretty badly. The team is the single-A team for the Boston Red Sox and the stadium is constructed with bricks from the old mills that used to be in the area. They even have a mini Green Monster. It's a beautiful ballpark and a fun way to spend an afternoon.(Soaking up the rays at the ballpark.)

(Daddy and Hania ready for a siesta after a hotdog lunch.)

(Chris and Ava.)

Family photos

2008-04-13T13:35:00.000-04:00

We had a few spare (and rare) moments to snap a few picts. Now only if we could all get into a photo together...

Sister, Sister!

2008-04-04T13:22:00.002-04:00

We're havin fun chillin' together. Hania continues to be a great source of amusement for Amelia and they are so sweet together.

(Amelia and Hania taking a break together.)

(Groovin' girls! Hania is dancing with her sister.)

(Life is always good when you have raisins to snack on (thank you, Auntie Yasi!).)