Catching up Part 2.

Seems like another slow day at work. Ami was yelling at me again last night while looking over the blog. So, I will play catch up again. Here is Part 2 of what happened between Christmas 2010 and Summer 2013. Terrible, I know.

These loaded backwards timewise. So, we are going from most recent to most remote (pretty much).

These two pics are from our trip to Australia in April. I will try to do a post on that trip since the girls cannot stop talking about it. Priya told me she wants to move there yesterday. Beach sunset in Port Douglas (above) and Mira driving the boat in P.D.

Dinner in Tampa after spending the week in Sarasota with Grandmaman & Pappy

Not sure where Priya was riding this turtle sculpture. Boulder maybe?

Headed out for a bike ride from our house in Austin. This is probably from summer 2012.

One of many ferry rides in Australia. I know this because Mira has her "bunny shirt" on, which she became obsessed with this year. It is actually a hand making the peace sign but she thinks it looks like a bunny. One of 3 shirts she will wear.

Multnomah Falls. Summer 2012

Headed out on the open road in Austin. Obviously not summer given their clothing.

On a hike during our camping trip in fall 2012. Garner State Park in TX.

Diwali 2012 party

My hammock time is always interrupted by the cutest wildlife

Me and Priya in our kayak on Town Lake near our house.

The prettiest cooks in town (above)

The cutest sisters in town (Below)

Mira at the Luminerium art exhibit in Austin. 

Lunch break while enjoying some SXSW tunes. 2013.

Priya on the swing I put up (i.e. had someone else build and hang) at our new house. She loves it. Now she has learned how get it to spin too. 

Well, that pretty much gets us caught up. I will try to do a post on our trip to Australia and then go from there. See you soon.

Hello? Is it me your looking for?

Ami keeps prodding me to start posting again on this blog. I kept saying I was too busy. Well, I am not sure if it is the summer and kids being out of school but it has been a slow work week. I bring my laptop to work now. So, I thought I would update the blog.

The last post was from Christmas 2010. Wow. Just a few things have happened since then. We moved back to Texas. Bought our first home, in Austin. My brother got married. We went to Australia. The kids have grown. I was going to write "the kids have gotten bigger" but most of you know there is nothing big about Priya and Mira.  

I am limited to the pictures that have been downloaded to my laptop. They seem to be mostly cell phone pictures, so I apologize for the quality. Here we go.

About to buy some cheese curds in Carlton Place, Ontario. 

Priya and her cute hat at my cousin's wedding in Ottawa.

Mexican bumper cars in Sayulita.

Safe donut eating in Kyle.

Unsafe push car riding.

Priya and Daisy Duck during Priya's first visit to Disney World.

Priya and Mira with their Austin friends last July 4th.

Dancing at a concert in Vail last summer. The picture below was at a farmers market in CO.

Uncle Chris and Mira driving the electric boat on Lake Union in Seattle.

A picnic and artwork in a park in Portland last summer.

Halloween 2012

Priya going for a ride in Pappy's convertible. Her favorite car.

Ok. That is enough for now. Look for round 2 soon.

Christmas in Seattle

We spent Chistmas with the Wallace family in Seattle.  Grandmaman and Pappy flew up from Florida and we all stayed at my brother's new house in West Seattle.  Priya had a blast watching the ferries go back and forth between the West Seattle dock near my brother's house and nearby Vashon Island.  Luckily, we had one day where the clouds lifted and we could see the Olympic Mountains across the Puget Sound.

Priya had a hard time not opening gifts before it was time.  Pappy kept a close eye on her though:

Finally, it was Christmas morning and Priya set to opening everybody's gifts for them.  She was an unwrapping machine.  She would open one gift and then ask for another:  "Another gift!".  The only thing that stopped her was her new Dora the Explorer backpack:

Here she helps unwrap some more gifts while wearing her new hair clips that Santa brought her by way of the Mattas.

Mira was forced to look on from the sidelines - not quite ready for action.  By next year she will probably give her sister a hand.

Priya Sledding (Video)

Behold the grainy footage of Priya and I braving what must be a 200 foot mountain. You will notice as we descend our snowy perch we pass a cafeteria tray, which was our actual sled. The stranger working the camera was kind enough to force his young son to give up his real sled for one run. I am the best Dad ever.

Winter Boringland

We just returned to Portland from spending a week in the sticks - Hermiston, OR. It started to snow the night we arrived and it snowed everyday the rest of the week. The temperature didn't get above freezing until the day before we left and the low of the week was -2 F. Good times. We did get to take Priya sledding for the first time and I will post a video of that soon.


Between sledding runs, Priya loved playing in the snowy playground. She really wanted to build a snowman but the snow wouldn't stick together. Instead, she rode the horse.

Mira didn't know what the fuss was all about. She stayed nice and cozy the whole week. Below is a picture from the backstage party we crashed at the Yo Gabba Gabba show!

October 2010

October in Portland started out very nice with many sunny days. There were a few very rainy days sprinkled in there. Serious rain. Texas rain. Then another nice stretch of sun. Unfortunately, it seems as though the rain has returned and is likely here to stay for the next 6-8 months. Good times. Hopefully we will get some snow this year in the city.

In the meantime, enjoy some photos of what we did in the sun during October.

Well, this wasn't actually in the sun. This is Mira's first trip to the Temple.

The next group of pictures is from our trip to the pumpkin patch - one of our favorite activities of the year. Mira was there but didn't make it into too many pictures on account of being stuck in the stroller the whole time. Next year.

Cow train. I really wanted to go but I let Ami go with Priya.

Nana found a nice Priya-sized pumpkin.

Everyone jumped on the hayride, including Sona.

This is a real deal pumpkin patch. Pick 'em right off the plant!

This wasn't at the pumpkin patch but I had to include it. Priya insisted on wearing her glasses to school that day. Doesn't she look fabulous!

September and October 2010 - Mira and Priya

Wow. Having two kids is fun. Lots of sleep. Good times. Thankfully we have grandmothers. Here are some photos of Mira and Priya from the last month. It is scary how much they look alike as babies.

Mira's first real bath. She does not seem to like water as much as Priya. She also turns as red as a lobster.

Priya and Uncle Chris watching the Vaux Swifts that roost in the chimney at the local elementary school:

Mira content with her Nani.

Mira content with her Grandmaman.