Alpacas!

Our Dinner Club took an alternative outing this weekend -- to an alpaca farm owned by someone Caitlin works with. Who knew that alpacas could be so cute and cuddly?! We learned so much about the alpacas (not to be confused with llamas which are much bigger), got to feel their soft fleeces and got to view all the other animals at the farm thanks to our friendly hosts, the owners of the farm. An excellent outing on a crisp fall day!

Group picture in front of the "boy pen."

Feeding one of the Moms...

Some of the baby boys and their mothers...

a close-up of one of the babies who is just a few months old... how cute!!

looking at us because we were holding food. typical of animals!

One of the Moms in with the baby girls...

Moms & baby girls... how sweet!

Halloween HP-style

To celebrate the season, we headed over to Eli's party dressed as Harry Potter and a (blonde) Ginny Weasley. Observe:

Clearly we are exact replicas. Best low-effort costumes ever!

Eli & Derek.... I mean, Gilligan & Harry

Derek, Jason, Eli & Glenda on a stick...

Also, Kobe dressed up early in his Halloween costume. Observe:

(Ignore the thing on his back: He was also trying to wish his friend Josh a happy birthday)

Vancouver!

We finally took advantage of the fact that we're only 3 hours from Vancouver and the fact that Jen's back on the continent to visit her, her visiting boyfriend Eddie and her brother Paul. It was a quick weekend jaunt and, despite the fairly constant rain, we had an excellent time. Highlights, in photos:

Eddie, Jen and Paul pose to mark where we were: the Capilano suspension bridge.

"No running, jumping or wobbling on the bridge."

Treetop adventure!

The Amazing Stamp Race: last stop

Rainy Sunday trip to Granville Island Public Market... the four of us pose with the best purchase ever: a funky new umbrella

Jen, me and Vancouver

Derek, me, Vancouver and the best umbrella ever

Chopstix!

Pictures from a fun night out with our new friends from dinner club, Ryan & Caitlin! Yay for singing/stomping/clapping/laughing good times at dueling piano bars! Being bumped up to the best seats in the house only made the night that much better.

Derek, Caitlin, Ryan and our front row seats...

Derek and Ryan volunteering with random dudes to sing "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" to a random woman celebrating...something. Yes, it does look as if Derek is professing his undying love to that random chick, doesn't it?

A view of this tomfoolery from behind...

"But oh, those summer nights...."
(hey, we were right in front of the stage... it was hard to say no to joining random folks in the singing/performing!)

September in Seattle...with the dogs

Our second month wasn't spent sleepless, but we were busy getting settled into our new jobs and apartment. Here are some pictures from the more fun activities du mois (mostly involving k-9s):

Happy 3rd birthday, Madison Kelly!
Shown here with her mom, birthday pouf and a present from her favorite uncle.

Kobe chows down on some party favors from Madison...

Nicole & her birthday dinner at Shamayana's (sp) in Kirkland... mmm, Indian

Uncle Derek finds that Madison's ears are just as fun to play with as Kobe's...

Aww... Daddy and puppy nap (sortof). See? Not sleepless!

Madison Park beach... sunset walk after our first dinner (of many) at our best discovery ever, Thai Ginger

Derek learns what an acorn is. Those south-westerners! Unbelievable!

Puppy sitting! (This photo was a great, great accomplishment, believe me...)

Moving in...

Pictures from our move in to our new apartment on Madison St. in early September.

The building from the outside...
we're on the first floor, around the back and to the right

Derek, Mitra, Nicole's leg and Kobe's tail hanging around in our new and empty apartment, strategizing...

"Daddy, hey, I think this is all of our stuff. So, um, where's my food?"

Moving into my new classroom... with Derek & Kobe's help

First month in Seattle (8/11-9/10)

Since I've neglected posting very much (/at all) since we've officially moved to Seattle, here is a bulk series of pictures from our first month here which was spent living at the Residence Inn, getting fresh baked cookies every day at 3pm, free breakfast every morning and a free catered dinner every Wednesday night. Not too shabby...

First night out - dessert & drinks at the B&O

Our first experience with conveyor belt sushi at Blu C - cool concept, but no Z-9 quality to be had. :(

Fremont Sunday Market!

Derek, Maddie & her cowboy hat

Kobe with Uncle Mitra & Auntie Nicole...most likely eyeing his cousin Madison on the couch


Before kayaking at Aqua Verde... how do I know it was before? Do I look soaking wet?

Kobe checking out one of the DP's in his new home... what do you think? Has he adjusted well?

Kobe and his new favorite toy: beanie frog!
(in actuality, he is giving the camera a devilish smile because he is about to attack that giant bag of food behind him)

Aww...
(While this is the cutest picture ever, Kobe is secretly hating every single minute of his "we're bored in the hotel; let's take pictures of Kobe" photo shoot...)

View from our hotel balcony of Lake Union. Spoiled, much?

Yay for visitors! Derek & I with Heidi & Greg at the Six Arms

If you can't see the Red Sox in Boston, just move to another AL baseball town...

Derek tries too! Look how close we were!

Boulder --> Seattle

Long overdue pictures from our long drive out that included a great deal of fast food, picture taking, hotel rooms and laughing at Kobe in his seatbelt. August 8-11, 2006:

Good-bye, 1212 S. Emery... please sell yourself.

Hello, Grand Tetons!

Near our cabin at the resort on Jackson Lake...
too bad we didn't have time to take a boat out!

Kobe, his seatbelt and his tongue. (Best picture ever!)

hot sulphur springs at Yellowstone... look at all the colors!

Dragon's Mouth geyser

Yellowstone Falls / Grand Canyon (of Yellowstone)

An interesting reason for slow traffic.... bison on the other side of the road!

drinking Old Faithful root beer at Old Faithful. I should be the company's poster model, no?

Gettin' steamy at the prism geyser...

Family photo at a random waterfall on our drive along the Columbia River in Oregon
(Kobe clearly loved every second of this photo experience. Also of note: we had to convince passersby that our dog was not malicious seeing as he had so many restraints on him. Hey, they're hard to get on and off!)