Missing Priya in Maui

Yeah yeah, I know. You thought I forgot about my blog and all of the my followers (...crickets chirping...). Well, Ami and I just got back from Maui. Before I put up a few pictures from Maui, I figured I better get you guys caught up to date with Priya.

Here are some quick pics from the end of the summer and early fall in random order:

These two are from a picnic at Chapman Elementary to watch the Vaux Swifts roost in the chimney at sunset. Priya had just gotten a nice boo boo under her eye. Still cute though in her summer dress.

This is Priya's stuffed soccer ball. It is her favorite stuffed toy so far. Then we fast forward a few weeks to a fall walk in her wagon - she loves the wagon!

This is Priya's first painting. It was done at the Children's Museum in Houston. This was after the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. Doesn't she look cute in her smock?

I will try to do several updates over the next several days....

Shrayen and Dhilan visit Part 5 - Orcas Island

After a quick tour of San Juan Island, we boarded another ferry for Orcas Island. This ferry ride saw sunny skies and beautiful views. Priya was ready to go:

I highly recommend that everyone visit the Pacific NW and take a trip out to the San Juan Islands. The ferry rides alone are amazing. Water, mountains, islands, and even float planes!

Priya said goodbye to the ferry as we landed in Orcas Island. Priya was waking up pretty early on this vacation, so I often found myself out of the B&B first thing in the morning for a run or to explore the island. This usually involved some thick morning fog/clouds, which quickly cleared to offer amazing views:

On Orcas Island we explored Moran State Park. Ami, Sona, Shrayen, Priya and I took a row boat out on the lake:

We decided to drive up Mt. Constitution this time. A few years ago Ami and I hiked up, which is a pretty grueling hike straight up to the top where all the cars are parked. Amazing 360 degree views from Mt. Ranier to Vancouver and Victoria.

The deer are pretty tame on Orcas Island! After Orcas Island, the Patel family carried on to Victoria and Vancouver. Since Ami and I forgot our passports, we had to go back to Seattle! Shrayen, Dhilan, Rosy and Ashish had a great whirlwind tour of the Pacific NW. Hopefully, they will come back soon.

Shrayen and Dhilan visit Part 4 - San Juan Island

We woke up bright and early to leave Seattle and head north to catch the ferry to San Juan Island. It was pretty socked in with fog at the ferry terminal and continued that way onto the ferry:

We went in and out of the fog the whole ride, sometimes realizing we were pretty close to another boat only as the fog lifted:

About 20 minutes from Friday Harbor, the fog lifted completely and we had a clear landing at the dock:

It didn't take long for Sona to get into the water. I didn't have a tennis ball at the time and couldn't find a stick. So, she got to chase a large piece of bull kelp. Ami rounded up the kids for a picture:

While Priya and Dhilan try to get their boat off of the ground, Shrayen practiced some Yoga poses. We stopped for lunch at a campground/park I camped at a couple of years ago. While I was camping, a pod of 5-10 Orcas passed right by the campground. Apparently, they had been seen the day before we all arrived this time.

After giving Dhilan a few minutes to spot a whale, we moved on to Lime Kiln State Park. This is also a great spot for whale watching. Again, we were out of luck. But, we did check out the cool lighthouse:

The final stop on San Juan Island was Cattle Point, where this great small beach is located. No one was brave enough to get in the water though. After a quick stop at the beach, it was back to the ferry terminal to catch our next ferry to Orcas Island....

Wallace Family on the Coast

I still have one more post on the Patel family whirlwind tour of the NW. But, I thought I would switch it up with some pictures of the Wallace family get together along the Oregon and Southern Washington Coast.

My parents came out to see what the summer was like at the Oregon coast with the possibility of leaving their current summer locale of Summit County, Colorado (near Keystone and Breckenridge). Let's just say it isn't going to work out. While there was a record heat wave in Portland, an inversion settled in at the coast and they were fogged in all week:

We managed to still find some fun to be had. As I mentioned in a previous post, Pappy took Priya on her first carousel ride. She had a blast as did Pappy:

I decided to take her on the adjacent car ride. I think Priya had more fun than I did:

These pictures are from Astoria, Oregon. They filmed "Goonies" here. A tall column is perched on a hill above town, with amazing views. I was the only one to climb the tower. I was amazed that Priya could recognize me all the way at the top of the tower. The picture below shows her looking up at me at the top of the tower:

The picture above shows one of the great views from the Astoria Column. The picture below is from Cape Disappointment near Long Beach, WA. This is Deadman's Cove. Certainly nothing disappointing about that beach!

While I don't think my parents will be moving to the NW anytime soon, I think they had a good time.

Shrayen and Dhilan visit Part 3 - Seattle

We all headed north to visit Seattle for a few days on our way to the San Juan Islands. Ami's family packed it all in while we took a more leisurely approach, mostly motivated by Priya's napping schedule. Our paths did cross a few times though.

First stop - Olympic Sculpture Park. Priya looks as though she has an opinion on the Calder sculpture behind her:

Shrayen and Sona compete in the funniest picture pose contest.

Shrayen and Priya took a frame worthy picture (get it?) on the way to see the Fremont Troll. That is a real VW bug under it's left hand.

Last stop - Gasworks Park. Ami's favorite park. We met up with a friend of Rosy's and her family. The kids had a blast running around the park and enjoying the views.

Notice the float plane coming in for a landing just below Priya's hand in the picture above.

We even got to spend some time with Eduardo who was in town for a conference. Next post...San Juan Islands.

Shrayen and Dhilan visit Part 2 - Portland stuff

I never got around to more posts about Shrayen, Dhilan, Rosy, and Ashish's visit to Portland. They managed to see just about everything there is to see in the NW. So much, that they barely spent anytime in Portland.

But, they did manage to see a few things. We took them out to my friend Aaron's boathouse. The kids loved the boat but nobody was willing to give wakeboarding or tubing a shot.

Priya loves being on the boat. She can't wait to grow out of or into this life vest though.

I am not sure, but I think Dhilan had a good time:

Shrayen had so much fun at Jamison park last visit, we had to go back.:

Both jumped right in and went beserk! They also took time to show Priya how to climb the rocks.

Good times in Portland. Part 3 - San Juan Islands and Seattle coming soon....