Canada Roadtrip

It is raining pretty good right now. What a way to start Labor Day weekend. It is supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow. So, I am gonna use this opportunity to try and catch everyone up with what we did this summer.

I will start with our most recent roadtrip, which took us up through the Olympic Peninsula where we stayed at a great resort on the Hood Canal. Priya got us up nice and early so we wouldn't miss the view in the calm morning:

From Port Angeles, WA we barely made the ferry to Victoria, BC where my Aunt and Uncle live. We were lucky that my cousin and her family were visiting at the same time. Ben tried to show me up in ladder golf and remote control cars:

Priya had a blast riding the plasma car with Mary and Ben:

We took Priya down to Victoria Harbour and she had a great time checking out the beautiful buildings and huge yachts. Aunt Marg had a wonderful dinner for us that evening:

Uncle Rodger was encouraging Priya to keep walking. After a short stay, we caught another ferry early in the morning back to the mainland for a drive to Whistler. I still love the ferry rides in the Pacific NW. The scenery never gets old:

Whistler was in full Olympics mode. The winter games are only 6 months away. Priya got to know the mascots. The big one on the right is our favorite - Quatchi. She got a much smaller size one to take home. Her first stuffed animal souvenir! She also got a beautiful Build-a-Bear rabbit and stroller from Aunt Marg and Uncle Rodger.

In Whistler, Ami and I went ziplining! It was a blast. They have the longest zipline in N. America. I don't know if Ami was more excited about the zipline itself or the fact that the "Bachelorette" went on the same zipline last year?

That is Ami ziplining upside down! We had a great trip. It was fun relaxing with family in Victoria. Hopefully we can get up there again soon.

A quick post before the road trip.

You thought I forgot about you huh? Sorry. Summer. Beautiful. I have been avoiding the blog and trying to get outside as much as possible. We have been super busy and we continue the trend this weekend with a road trip up through the Olympic Peninsula to Victoria, BC and Whistler. Stopping in Vancouver and Seattle on the way back.

Here a few pictures to let you know we are all still alive. Below is Priya ready to head to the Temple last Sunday:

A couple of pictures from our trip to Mt. St. Helens last week.

Pappy took Priya on her first carousel ride at Long Beach on the Southern Washington Coast. She had a blast...and so did Pappy.

Will try to update more often after we get back, but no promises.

Shrayen and Dhilan come to visit Priya

Ami's brother Ashish, sister-in-law Rosy, and nephews Shrayen (age 7) and Dhilan (4) are in town for a couple of weeks to visit Priya.  This is their first trip to the Pacific Northwest, so they are trying to see it all.  They have already been to the coast, the Gorge, Hood River, and Mt. Hood.

Here are some pictures we took on our trip to the Northern Oregon coast.  We started off with a stop at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville.

Priya still isn't walking - hopefully soon, but we help her out.  The kids loved the planes and took a rest on some airline seats.  Here is the whole crew below in front of the Spruce Goose - Howard Hughe's monster seaplane:

Of course, we had to stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for cheese and ice cream.  Dhilan really liked the viewpoint along the coast:

Our last stop was Cannon Beach.  Sona headed straight for the water, while Ami and Priya walked towards the Haystack rock.  Shrayen and Dhilan explored the tidepools:

More to come from our travels...

Photos of Priya

A few months ago, our friend Erik Foss came over to take some pictures of Priya.  The photographs he took are beautiful.  I finally changed the photo album on the right.  So, click on the link to go to the photo album and see the great shots.  Here are a few sneak previews:

New Family Members (Again)

I thought I would post a couple of pictures our newest family members.  We have a family of five, count them - 5, skunks living under our house.  Other than the occasional stink in the basement, they haven't caused us any problems.  And they are kind of cute.  For now.  Although, at 10 o'clock at night when I am walking Sona in the dark, they sound like Big Foot walking through the forest.

Priya doesn't seem to mind them very much.  She was eating away on the back porch this weekend.

Priya really liked these geese at our friend Aaron's houseboat.  These are about the only animals we haven't seen near our house.  

I will try and get a picture of the garden snake we have seen twice in the last few weeks.  If I can stop screaming like a girl everytime I see it!

Summertime and the living's easy...

I think summer has officially arrived in Portland.  That means tons of events and activities.  Just this week we hit up the zoo tunes concert, the organic brewers festival, and a couple of wakeboarding runs.

The weather is gorgeous - sunny with highs in the upper 70's and low 80's.  The vegetables are starting to grow.  Life is good.

Here are a few pics and videos from a kids day BBQ we had out at our friend Aaron's boathouse on Sauvie Island today.

Ella loved her juice.  I think Priya had her eye on it as well.

Priya was ready to jump in the river.

Here is a quick video of Priya on the boat watching Tim wakeboard:

More pictures and videos from the BBQ and other recent events to come.

New Toys!

I have to apologize again.  It has been a looooong time since the last post.  Blame it on nice weather, a week of extra work in Eastern Oregon, and lots of visitors.  The good news is that I used some of the money I made in Eastern Oregon to buy some new toys. 

The first new toy was a Flip video mini camcorder.  These things are sweet.  It is a full on video camera about the size of a cell phone.  I bought it figuring I could take it anywhere to catch video of Priya or whatever else.  Here is the first video:

The other toy I bought is a Nikon D5000 Digital SLR camera.  This purchase was spurred by the fact that I got back from our recent trip from Yosemite to find that I didn't have much luck using my dad's 30-40 year old Minolta SLR.  I had one roll of blank film and 3 rolls of hit or miss pictures.  The digital SLR is sweet.  I am still learning to use it properly and will probably need to take a class, but here are some early shots:

Above:  Big Priya holding lil' Priya.

Below:  A seed/nut? at Hat Rock State Park in Hermiston, OR

Above:  A picture of me using the new Flip video with Priya.

Below:  Priya eating her new favorite food - strawberries!

The last picture is of a kiteboarder in Hood River, OR.  I will try get a few posts up soon with pictures of our recent visitors and more videos of Priya.

Yosemite

Sorry for the lack of posts.  Ami and I spent a week together in Yosemite, while Grandmaman watched Priya.  And ever since we got back to Portland, the weather has been unbelievable for late May.  So, not a lot of time in front of the computer.  

I hope to get more pictures of Priya's first birthday party posted soon.  But, in the meantime, enjoy some pictures from Yosemite.  We had a great time in Yosemite - hiking, biking, and relaxing (we were baby free after all!).

The picture above is the famous "Tunnel View" you get as you drive through the tunnel into Yosemite valley.  The sun was hitting bridal veil falls perfectly.  Below, is Ami in action on the cruisers we rented in the valley - a great way to get around.

That's me above, enjoying the view after a hike up Nevada Falls.

That's Ami below, on her way up the mist trail to the top of Vernal falls, with rainbows all around.

Above:  Looking up one of the adjacent peaks near Nevada falls.  Below:  Looking down the barrel of Nevada falls.

Above:  Along the trail to Bridalveil falls.

Below:  The two of us in front of the view over Yosemite valley.

One last look at Nevada Falls.  We had a great time.  Thanks to Grandmaman for watching Priya while we were gone.   We missed Priya, but it is a good idea to get away every now and then.

Priya's Birthday Party

Priya had a great first birthday party.  It was jungle themed, as put together by mom.  We had lots of friends in attendance, a few that we hadn't seen in a long time.  Priya had fun playing with Shaan, Hannah, and Maria Elena.

Here is Priya's first birthday cake, which Ami designed.  That is her hippo cupcake "smashcake" in the background.  It never got smashed.  Priya wasn't feeling the cake (what else is new?).

Above is Kathy hold Priya and Hannah, who look like they are sizing each other up before a fight.  Luckily, that didn't happen.  Hannah is playing with Maria Elena below:

If Priya isn't going to eat the cake, I guess I will have to:

Shrayen and Dhilan helped Priya open her great gifts.  Thanks to everyone who made Priya's first birthday party a great time.  More pictures to come...