Zach's 7th Birthday

Pre-party clowning around with mom

Soon after his 6th birthday, Zach declared he wanted a LEGO party for his 7th birthday party.  Me being, well... a mom, put it off as, "yes, yes, that's a whole year away."  Well, Kindergarten graduation, a move to a different part of the country and a new school later, the promised LEGO party was upon me.
Friday was his official school party celebration, so we ordered cupcakes from the local 'peanut free' bakery and sent them to school.  I was hoping to go in and take a few pictures of him during his snack/birthday treat time, but that's not encouraged, so I had to settle for a picture of the cupcakes:-)
Saturday morning we hosted a LEGO birthday party for 10 of his school friends (all boys).  The party planners had neat games for the kids to play.  They first built a LEGO man/machine/contraption and raced them down a zip line.  The zip line was between two openings in our living room.  The kids had to think about how they weighted their individual creations.  Zach won with a 3 second time.  I'm sure it wasn't rigged?!  The birthday boy won!

Other party games included transporting various LEGO pieces (individual and larger designed pieces) from one side of the room to the other, depositing them in a bowl.  They worked in teams of two.  All was going well until I started hearing "you cheated".  Uh oh.  Some were using their hands, some would drop pieces, but pick them back up and continue instead of starting over.  Oh well, I'm just glad I wasn't in charge of this part of the party:-)  For the finale, the boys made LEGO catapults and flung their 'men' or whatever they could find across the room.  That was a blast for the kids.  

We moved on to pizza and cake, but we switched it up a bit and had cake first, then, yummy, yummy Luciano's pizza.  Anyone for creme and real strawberries in the filling?  Mmm.

Zach's LEGO cake

I think he is one happy 7...going on 35 year old.  

After enjoying their treats on the front porch, we all took advantage of the lovely day.  We asked the boys to bring a remote control car if they had one so they could have an Autocross in our driveway.  Chaos ensued, but who cares. Those boys had so much fun spending a sunny Saturday afternoon together.  You can't beat LEGOs and cars when you are 7.  I guess they never grow out of it seeing that we had a couple of dad's, Dave included, taking over the cars at one point.  Boys and their toys.

Presents!  Zach enjoyed each and every one of them.  He opened each one and lined it up, then as the weekend progressed, opened each box one by one as he put the LEGO together, played with the magic kit or whatever he opened.  Very mature of him:-)

Mom with her 7 and 8 year old babies.

Sunday morning arrived and it was officially Zach's 7th birthday, March 25.  He had a shiny new 'big kid' aluminum bike waiting on him.  We bought it from the local bike shop in town, so Zach actually had to try it out last week.  He biked around a portion of downtown on the bike and fell in love with it.  Of course, we had to wait on his official birthday, so he had almost forgotten about it with all of the party and toy hubbub.  Let's just say, he was one proud kid to have the new bike.  The weather was uncertain Sunday, but we lucked out and rode bikes to downtown and on to the park.  This new bike will take us to school and back many times over the next several months.  Yes, several....our school is not out until June 22!  Let's not talk about that, though.

As promised, we took him to Zepplin Hobby store on Sunday.  They have a huge racetrack for RC cars.  Dave and Zach spent some time racing, not to mention the time on The Grid, at home on the PS3.  It was an all out LEGO/racing weekend.

Zach opened his birthday cards (containing money) on Sunday night.  He has been saving up for the LEGO Death Star seeing that it is a very, very expensive LEGO.  He counted all of the money he has saved from his allowance and birthday and came up with close to $350.  He kept saying "I can't believe it, I can't believe how much money I have saved."  I love his attitude toward saving money, whereas Olivia will spend her money at a whim.  I think she has learned her lesson on this, but we'll see.  Back to Zach....he was tossing and turning and saying how excited he was, then all of a sudden he said, "I knew it!  I knew I was meant to be a billionaire!"  Oh, my boy.  The conversation turned to college, the importance of college and how expensive a good college cost.  All of these topics were brought up by Zach.  He was concerned about how much we are saving for his college.  Come on, Zachie, don't worry about it just yet!  He says he wants to go to a great college and be a billionaire.  There's a college major for that, right?!  

And that sums Zach up at the ripe old age of seven.  He always knew he would be a billionaire, and that, our dear Zach, is within YOUR reach.  We love you.

Aspen!! and Amelia Island, oh my!

Oh, how we have waited for this trip to Aspen and it did not disappoint.  Barbara G. and I have been looking forward to the March dealer trip (which exec's and spouses were invited), since last year.  Five days after coming home from Hawaii, Dave and I pack our bags (many, many bags) and headed to Aspen, Colorado for some wonderful winter weather and sports.  Seeing that we were going directly to another work trip to Amelia Island, FL we had to pack snow gear and warm weather gear.  My parents and Aunt Barbara drove to New Jersey for their first visit to watch the kids.

The Jaguar group stayed at the St. Regis in Aspen and we had events planned each day.  We loved our suite, with our own butler, no doubt.  The St. Regis has a gorgeous property that backs up to Aspen Mountain, which was the view from our room.  With the altitude and dry air, a humidifier was a must and we made sure to drink lots and lots of water.  Altitude sickness would have ruined the trip:-)

A view of our living room at the St. Regis

Enjoying martinis our first afternoon in Aspen, by the outdoor fireplace that looked out to the ski slopes.

 Our first day in Aspen, Dave, Andy and I rode the gondola to the 11,500 foot peak to snowshoe for the morning.  It was a glorious, sunny day for snowshoeing.  Our guide was a bit granola, but his quotes and poetry regarding nature were just what we needed to get in the mood to enjoy this spectacular town.  Seeing that the temperatures were warm for the season, we were a bit overdressed and had to shed hats and gloves for parts of the hike.  We learned that Aspen was a big silver mining town and was basically deserted when silver prices fell.  We actually saw some of the mines and our guide was telling us that the mountain looked like swiss cheese (underneath) from all of the mining.

We had a professional photographer for the event, so better pictures will be on their way.

After drinking champagne in the spa and hot tub, we moved to the Oxygen Room.  These guys didn't seem to think it was helping (maybe the champagne was taking over), but I enjoyed the oxygen several times during my stay:-)  We all had massages scheduled, so we were all walking around the hotel in our white robes:-)

Our first group activity was snowmobiling.  Due to the warmer weather, avalanches were a threat, so our snowmobiling was limited to the lower tracks.  We had a great time and eventually were able to race each other around a track (now THAT was a blast).  We snowmobiled up to a lodge for grilled burgers for lunch, a quaint place.  One of our guides was previously a "Marlboro Man" as they filmed many Marlboro cigarette commercials in the area.  He looked the part!

Barbara and I with Tom being silly.

Our snowmobile overheated due to the warm weather...and maybe a little of Dave's driving?!

Dinner at Szyrgzy Tuesday night.  We hit the local bars in Aspen afterwards.  Ah, we love Aspen!

Wednesday, Dave skied Aspen Mountain, others skied Snowmass, and I took a shopping trip (with a nice gift card to help me enjoy the day:-).  Dave met me for lunch in downtown Aspen, so we spent a good part of the day together.  We came back to our rooms to find new outfits for our Black and White themed dinner.  We had a sleigh ride planned for a lodge dinner near the old ghost town.  Look at our cool new Spyder jackets, hats, leather gloves and cashmere scarves. We love them.  We will have a group shot of our White and Black theme night soon.

The drive to the sleigh ride was a winding road along a river, high into the mountains.  As we were dropped off to the sleigh, we were given mugs of hot toddies.  Mmm, mmm.  Cue the snow and we were off!  Seriously, it had not snowed since we arrived, so it was as if the snow arrived at the perfect moment. The lodge was rented out specifically for our group and we had country western singers for entertainment and an open bar; what else could you ask for?  We were graced with a full moon on the sleigh ride back, with the Percheron horses leading the way.  It was merry, old time:-)

Grand views

Thursday's activity was culinary cooking and wine pairing.  Dave was chosen to saber the champagne bottle outside in the courtyard before we started the class.  It was SO cool!  We have a photo of the cork mid-air...with the professional photographer:-)

We made some delicious courses, the salad with the local goat cheddar cheese topping was our favorite.  There were a few substitutes for my gluten free diet (no duck ravioli), but it was all devoured quickly, along with the wine pairings.  As we were waiting for the souffles to cook, we raced as teams to see who could whip the egg whites into meringue the fastest.  Dave and I won:-)  Top chef?  Doubtful.

After our culinary lunch, Dave and I took off to see the ghost town.  It was another warm, sunny day and we hiked around the ghost town and into the woods.  The scenery was stunning, with streams, birds and snow melting.

Local artwork in a nearby town

Our final dinner with the Jaguar group Thursday night came too soon.  We had a gorgeously decorated ballroom at the St. Regis, with Jaguars inside the ballroom, a Jaguar logo ice sculpture and a nice Aspen leaf pendant and cufflinks for Dave and I.  We have lots of fond memories of this trip to Aspen.  It was a late night and we had about 3 1/2 hours sleep before it was time for our ride to the airport.  On to Houston, with a long layover, and then on to Jacksonville, FL with a drive to Amelia Island, FL for the Concours d'Elegance.  This was our first year being there with Jaguar and it was nice to see the CX-18; it's a beautiful car!

1952 Jaguar XK120

Dave presenting an award

This was the first year it was warm at the Concours.  Ahh, finally!  We had dinner with our good friend, Hurley and lots of other great automotive writers and peers.  The Amelia Concours is in a class of its own.  

With the time change over the weekend, the sunrise was a bit off for me.  Being back down south, the sun rises a bit later than in New England.  I was up early to work out and then sat on the beach to watch the sunrise, which was around 7:15 or later.  It was one of the most peaceful Monday mornings I have had in quite some time.

As we were flying all over the country, my parents and Aunt Barbara took great care of Olivia and Zach. It was nice to have them visit.  We took Olivia and Zack to see the Lorax Friday after school to celebrate the weekend and somehow stopped into the LEGO store at the Garden State Mall.  Of course, they left with some pretty cool LEGOs:-)

Before I left, I was able to take the folks to NYC while the kids were in school.  Aunt Barbara loved it!  Dad, not so much.

 Aunt Barbara, Dad and Mom

 Upon our return home to New Jersey, Dave had to head to London that night.  Everyone was waiting patiently on me to drive them to Toys R Us (since they did not know the way).  A few LEGOs and lots of other toys later, this is the scene.  Do you think these kids are happy?

Their last day here, we went to Sleepy Hollow, NY.  As you can see, we are at the grave of Washington Irving, the writer of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  It was a nice day to tool around.  We walked along the Hudson, saw a few more sites, had lunch at a diner and we were back for the kids.  All in a days work!

They officially visited New Jersey and New York and headed to Florida the next day to see Kim and put their toes in the sand.  Watch out Delray Beach, here they come!  Thanks for some great babysitting and thanks for the visit:-)  Ya'll come back, ya hear?

Winter Break in Seattle and Hawaii

Our much needed Winter Break over President's Week also ended up being our 10-year anniversary trip (from Sept. 22).  We lucked out with flights to Hawaii, so we jumped at the chance.  Our first stop was to Seattle and we visited the Ulitsch clan.  They can't seem to keep us away!  The kids did not miss a beat when they saw each other.  Playing outside, with Molly, in their 'fort', it was all so wonderful.  We then headed to the beach.  It was windy, but we would not be deterred.  Thanks for loaning us beanie caps.

The Pryor's on the beach

Zach, Ava, Olivia and Gage

Cactus is highly recommended- the best eclectic Mexican ever!

Olivia jumped into vacation mode very quickly.  She LOVES Seattle.

As always, their imaginations are running wild and the kids are transformed into dogs.  Each with a name and tag (Lily, Brian and Eric??)  We love the glow necklaces as collars and leashes.  Molly, the real dog, is asleep the entire time during this 'show'.

John, Andrea, Jen and Dave .... a night out on the town at the local wine bar in Issaquah.  

Dave finally visits the Space Needle.  Where is my typical Seattle sunshine?!  ha.

We all meet up at Seattle's Science Center the next day for a little kiddy fun.

Laboratory Lunchbox is a new "must" when visiting Seattle.  I had THE BEST BURGER (gluten free at that) EVER!  Yes, it was all about the food.  I'm still craving it.

It was a short 1 1/2 days with our friends, but no complaints because we cram all the fun into whatever time we have.  We love the kids, we love Andrea and John (and Molly) and we love the feel that Seattle gives us.  Since my early days with Starbucks Coffee, I have loved every visit to the fine city in the Pacific Northwest and I love every bit of scenery along the way.  See you soon, Seattle.  I hear you calling me:-)

Monday evening, we were off to Honolulu.  It's a strange feeling as you look on a map to see your course.  Flying over the vast ocean makes you realize how small you really are, but also how far you can travel in such a short time, relatively.  I'm not sure I would call this jaunt 'short', because it was 6 hours from Seattle, but hey, paradise was waiting.  The beauty of westward travel means you wake early and are ready to explore.  Up at 5 am, we soaked up the morning sunrise, and headed to the beach, Waikiki Beach, that is.  Add another local to my list......and I do love my travel list.  One of my favorite things:-)

We stayed at the Marriott on Waikiki Beach for a day because Dave had an interview for the NY Times regarding the new Jaguar add campaign.  Lucky guy, he got to talk on a conference call while we took off for the pool and hot tub.  Zach even met a buddy there and wasn't ready to go!  I was just happy to be in paradise.  But not for long, it was time for yet another, yes another plane ride to our final destination of Maui.  I'm ready to ditch these bags and sit for a bit.  

We sat for a bit in the Honolulu airport waiting for our flight to Maui.  Drinks made the wait much better and the kids seemed to think we were more at ease as well.  He he.

Early morning Tuesday and we have finally arrived in Maui with a beautiful sunrise, whale watching from our balcony, relaxing, reading and enjoying quiet time....who am I kidding, I had 20 minutes to myself before my early riser was up, Zach, and the chatting had begun and guess what?!  It didn't stop.  We'll chalk it up to excitement.

Shaved ice is BIG in Hawaii.  I know this because Olivia and I have read the Kanani American Girl book (she has Kanani).  This is the first time I have experienced it.  For some reason, they add a scoop of Hawaiian ice cream on the bottom, then the 'finest' shaved ice, flavors of your choice, and whipped cream on top.  The kids chose the 'just ice' version.  Mmm, mmm, sugar water, but everyone is happy.

We spent the first day at the Westin Kaanipali resort just recovering from our travel, and oh, what a glorious day it was.  The following day, we drove the Road to Hana.  Hana is a city on the other side of the island.  The scenery along the way is breathtaking.  Highly recommended.  We stopped to play at a black sand beach with some fierce waves.  At one point, Zach and Olivia both were swept off their feet and tumbled 3-4 times (yes, that big of a wave).  Luckily, neither hit the huge rock on the beach, so after regaining our breath, all was good and they were back in for more!  Olivia loved playing in the black sand.  A side note, some of these clothes did not make it back.  What a long, messy, fun day. 

Alas, the big deep sea fishing trip arrived, much to Dave's liking.  We had a great boat, captain and crew, but no fish were to be had that day.  It was a good thing because the kids were looking at the crewman like he had a third eye when he described how they would reel a fish in.....for 30 minutes sometimes.  Yes, I'm sure a 7 & 8 year old could do that.  I think Dave took us on a 'Big Boy' deep sea fishing trip.  O & Z were truly impressed with the massive fishing lines.  I have seen more than 4 drawings with this fishing boat with lines cast out in the kids drawings.  It's really neat to see what the kids take in and express in their artwork.  We have SO much artwork from this trip.  It was actually great artwork, so it made the trip home with us.  Ah, through the eyes of the babes....

Deep sea fishing Zach

Guess what?!  We had a humpback whale family visit our boat on the way home.  Gentle Giants.  They gave us great views of their massive sizes, tails, mom, dad and baby.  Our cameras did not capture our awe.  This was a first for us...and so close.  That is something none of us will ever forget!

Even though no fish showed themselves, we had a great time aboard the fishing boat.  Tanner, the captain's helper (bring a kid to work day), fit right in with Olivia and Zach.  Fun guy and I told Olivia "he's cute" and she just blushed.  

This is a view from the boat.  Not bad.

View from my lounge chair at the Westin resort.

Road to Hana....inspiring views all day long.

Sweet kids, at the Botanical Gardens on the Road to Hana.  Bamboo and eucalyptus were everywhere.

Hiking to waterfalls, mud covering us included:-)  Did I mention it was a messy day?  These views make it worth it.

Lava Rock beaches

We found lots of tidal pools and actually saw an eel in one of them.  Very cool!

Early wake ups dictate some iTouch wake up time.  Little bums....

Dave and the captain

Freshly showered and his thoughts are with the whales.  He saw 39 whales surfacing one morning.  I couldn't resist this picture.

Overlooking luau from Betty's Beach Cafe, with great food (much better than the actual luau:-)  Thanks for the tip, captain.

Flamingos at the Westin, along with black swans, white swans, Koi fish galore, talkative parrots and an aquarium.  It was Olivia and Zach's own paradise.  Not to mention (no pictures) that we saw a huge sea turtle snorkeling at the Black Rock close to our hotel.  The fish were cool, but the turtle was unforgettable!  Zach wasn't such a fan of snorkeling, it may have been his equipment, but Olivia was a natural.

Time for some boogie boarding!!  The kids hit it hard.  Dave and I had previously took them paddle boarding and it was so cool!  I sound like a surfer, don't I?  Let's be clear, I did not surf, but I loved paddle boarding and what a great workout.  Again please!  I may have to get one for Lake Martin.....

Our last day in Maui, we ate at the highly recommended Mama's Fish House.  It was a gorgeous view, but strong winds on the north side of the island, aptly name the windward side.  It was delicious, but I have to admit, our favorite was Sansei.  Oh, the sushi was oh, so good.  I wish we could have gone again.

Our final day and we drove to the volcano.  This drive was scary, amazing, and scary again.  We drove ABOVE the clouds!  The summit was close to 10,000 feet.  The colors were exquisite and looking at the crater makes you realize how massive this volcano eruption was.  This is also highly recommended.

Ahh.

And this was our goodbye to paradise in Maui.  We had another flight to catch to Honolulu for a quick night there, back to the airport to fly to L.A., rush to catch a flight to JFK and another hour drive home to NJ.  We arrived home a little after 2 am, put kids to bed, found sand brought into our house from suitcases and smiled at each other for a wonderful, crazy travel, screwy schedule, with two kids trip.  We pulled if off with some very happy kids.  Kids that made it to school the next day; impressive kiddos.

As Olivia told me with a smile on her face, "This is the most luxurious hotel I've ever stayed in (Westin)".  To see that smile, on Zach too, it was all worth it.  To see it through their eyes......happy kids, happy parents, happy anniversary.