Nico and the ball

Nico's got the passion for soccer in his blood. That's why I took some portraits with him and one of his Christmas gifts. It was good timing because El Salvador and Colombia are playing matches to qualify for the approaching World Cup.

Nico, Napping and Pike Place Market

Here are some new videos we've recently recorded using my work's iFlip camera. It's a small little device that makes pretty cool and simple videos. The first is my favorite, recording a moment between Connie and Nico.



We went to Pike Place Market's Lowell's for breakfast this morning. We sat on the second floor, but because it was the bar, we sat toward the back overseeing the Market versus overseeing the Sound.



This one is a quick video of Nico sleeping.



The camera is pretty cool. If someone wants to purchase one for us, we'd gladly accept.

Postcards from the volcano's edge

Our goal was to make it to Mount St. Helens' visitor center. Thanks to the rental car's navigation system we went to the wrong one! We went to the one covered in snow and closed for the season.

That said, we had a nice trip and had some nice views of the still active volcano.

Rental roadster

We've been daydreaming about getting a new car. We love our truck, but it's just not really working for two adults and a little one in a car seat.

So, we've been thinking about a mid-size SUV. Specifically, we like Toyota's Rav4 and Honda's CRV. You can't rent a CRV, but you can get a RAV4.

The RAV has been our road trip vehicle and it's been pretty nice. Has a lot of kick and really roomy. It's a nice drive. We hope to test drive the CRV soon to get a good comparison.

(NOTE: The photo was from the Internets. We didn't take it.)

Headed to Helens

For the three-day weekend, we've rented a car (more on that later), packed up Nico and Coby and headed south to finally see Mt. St. Helens.

We're currently at a viewpoint seeing both Helens and Mt. Rainier off in the distance. The fog has burned off, so we're in for a nice view. Photos to come - eventually.

We're also spending the night at a hotel and plan to swing by Portland tomorrow.

It's the family's first overnight road trips. The first of many!

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The news and Nico

It's a common tradition for parents to save the newspaper's published when their child is born to remember what happened on that special date. Here is an image and PDF to The Seattle Times' frontpage that special day.

Doc check-up

Nico is weighing in at 10 pounds and 10 ounces! And he's measuring 22 and a half inches! He's moved up on the diaper chart/size as well.
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A walk in the (Olympic Sculpture) park

We awoke Thursday to a beautiful Seattle day and decided to introduce Nico to some art. So we took him to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Many of you know this place has a special place in my heart because I got to work on a “making of” project.

It was a dream of ours to take Nico for a stroll here. It was the first of many!

Going for a drive

It was late on a gloomy Seattle day, but we decided it was not too late to hit the road. The whole family has piled into the 122, the iPod was loaded with new tunes and we were off until the gray sky turns black.

I think it's our first complete family outing. We're heading south, through the city and beyond!

There was an alternate photo that didn't work as a family portrait, but had nice artistic results. Have a look