A Great Trip to the Great Northwest

We FINALLY had a chance to take a vacation, and while we missed the summer, we hit some great weather with our six days in Seattle.

Really happy to spend time with my Mom, Dad, brother Byron, and Grandma Anna May. It was a little sad, as one of the occurances while we were in town was to move G'ma to a nursing home to help her fight off an infection in her leg, but I was glad Zoe had some time with her Pa Ma Ma.

We had a great trip to the Seattle Science Center, and then the next day, our intrepid crew headed out to the Mt. Rainier National Park, and took a beautiful hike at the Naches Peak loop. While hiking with a 2 year old, a 3 year old, a 4 year old and a 5 year old may keep you from putting up impressive mileage, you will examine just about every foot of the trail. Highlights included Forest Obermiller kicking his shoe off the trail TWICE while being carried by Dan, Danny Viles shouting at us to "HURRY UP - WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?!?" apparently at his father's urging, and a beautiful meadow and lake view at our turnaround point (a fair distance from the 1/2 way point I believe).

Emily and I even had a chance to get out for a dinner on our own (thanks Mom!) at the lovely Anthony's at the Des Moines marina. We took a nice walk at the Des Moines Creek nature trail, and even had a chance to watch Zoe's cousin Laurel take one of Mom's dogs through agility training.

Check out the photos. It'll be almost as good as being there.

Love ya,

Aaron

Summer in the South

Hi folks -

Sorry for the long hiatus between posts, but things have been a bit crazy here, and Emily and I have both been working terribly intensely the past few months. Here's what I've been dealing with, and Em's had a number of trials to prep for and lots of other work to do fighting crime.

We did sneak away for a nice break in Kentucky, with a day on Lake Cumberland with Anne and Jack (Z's first boat trip), and Em and I enjoyed an overnight trip to Louisville, with Z watched after by her Omi and Gramps back in Somerset, while we caught up with Em's old friends Amy and Joe Wheeler.

We wrapped up the trip with a stop at Nancy Greenfield's to see Nancy and Em's grandma. Check out the photos on snapfish.

Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer and getting some well-deserved time off.

Take care,

Aaron

Z's THREE!

So amazing. She had such a good time, helping pick out the theme, creating the guest list, giving the thumbs up/thumbs down for entertainment (we went with the balloon animal making, face painting, magician, Cookie).

We were overjoyed that both Grandmothers and Gramps (Jack) could join us for the trip, as well as the amazingly polite and helpful Laurel Ottenfeld Viles (sorry her dad and grampa couldn't come though).

13 little ones overrunning the house was such a great couple of hours. Then they went home, with our friend Casey Roberts the only casualty (actually, her son Ellis threw a toy at her, she'll pull through).

Great trips to the Zoo, the swamp, the playground, and a few great meals out added some additional highlights to the visits. Check out the new photos at snapfish.

Aaron on NBC discussing the Gulf oil spill

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Z's first horse ride!

What do you think Mom?

Fun at the the Faberge Egg Hunt

So, pretty sure there were no Faberge Eggs found at this egg hunt hosted by the New Orleans Museum of Art, but there was music, an easter rabbit, real rabbits, bounce houses and a great egg hunt. Check out some photos here.

Saints Alive & Mardi Gras Madness!

So who really thought the Saints would win the Superbowl? Even after a 13-0 start to the season, I'm still astounded. The city of New Orleans was thrilled! Supported by Who Dat's around the country, NOLA just shined! I've got some photos of the victory parade, as well as some photos of Z and the family enjoying Mardi Gras the weekend following the Saints victory. Great pictures of Z and her friend Jude taking in the parades.

Speaking of Z - big news on our front - She's potty trained!! Doing just a great job of using the potty. Really fantastic for us and her!

OH, and if you're interested, I've put together my second annual, 'best songs of the year' cd. More than happy to send it your way if you'd like to listen to what's been getting heavy repeat on my iphone recently.

Hope everyone's well & we miss you!

Finally, some new photos!

Happy New Year! After much delay, I've got a new photo gallery, from our recent (ish) trip to Seattle, Sequim and Des Moines. Cool news is that the photos are all taken with my snazzy new Nikon D-5000. No more blaming the camera, any and all cruddy shots are my fault. Thanks to Mom for the generous gift, and yes, I'll try to keep you swimming in Zola shots.

Hope everyone's new year is off to a great start. After Haiti, the Mass senate race outcome and the Supreme Court decision on corporate campaign contributions, it's nice to spend some time reminding yourself of what's really important, family and friends (try not to think about the future of our democracy as you check out the photos).

Love,

Aaron