Santa's Lap

Who doesn't love Santa?! Oh, that's right, it's Ellie.

Hayden has only once sat on Santa's lap and she was only 7 months old and not afraid of him yet. This year she told us that she wanted to sit on his lap so we drove to Kierland so she could finally do it. Anabelle normally has to do exactly what her big sister Hayden is doing but not this time. She was super pissed that we put her on Santa's lap. And do we laugh every time we look at this picture? Yes. Yes we do. Sorry Anabelle. Some day you'll do this to your children too.

Last Soccer Game

Hayden had her last soccer game mid-December and It. Was. Awesome.  She scored TWO GOALS!! She has come a long way since her first practice in October and was finally more excited to be in the game than on the sidelines eating breakfast bars.  A soccer star is born!! Well, until next season when we have to start all over again.

We were very lucky that three of her girlfriends were on her team. She loved seeing them every week and we enjoyed hanging out with their parents twice a week too. Having so many friends on the team may have lead to more giggling, falling down, holding hands, playing in the net, and water breaks but we figure there's time for Hayden to take sports seriously - and this isn't quite the time.  :)

With friends London and Taylor. 

Christmas in New York (City This Time)

We had a fantastic time on our trip to New York City. I had a work meeting on Tuesday, so we decided that Savannah should join me for the prior weekend and make a fun trip out of it. Our friends Jake (who works with me and had to be on the work trip too) and Laura joined us. Scooter and Tracy were nice enough to host us and take us around their little cow town.

Our carriage ride through Central Park.

We had some busy days. On Saturday we went to the World Trade Center site (though we couldn't get in as it was packed), we walked around in Soho, we went to see the Christmas stuff including the giant tree at Rockefeller Center, and we went on a carriage ride in Central Park on a beautiful night. On Sunday we went ice skating in Central Park, then we walked through the park, after that we went to a musical on Broadway called 'Once' which was fantastic, and we hung out at the Marriott Marquis overlooking Times Square.

Notice that I didn't mention food or drink once in the above paragraph? But oh was it mixed in a-plenty.

My goal for the trip was to take pictures of all the food I ate. Done. It was an awesome experience to go on a culinary tour of the city. Here are the highlights:

Huevos Rancheros at Cookshop in Chelsea.

Pizza at Rubirosa in Soho.

Spaghetti and Meatballs at Crispo in the West Village.

Black Truffle Mushrooom Ravioli at Crispo.

Vanilla Cake.

An Egg Bagel from a corner deli.

Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwiches from Ben's NY Deli.

Chuletas de Puerco from Guantanamera in Midtown.

Cuban Sandwich at Guantanamera.

Dessert at Guantanamera.

Chicken Parm at Giovanna's in Little Italy.

So you can see we had quite a good time. Yes, food is how I define trips. Deal with it. I'm hungry again just looking at these.

Here is a video of Savannah skating in Central Park (quite well I might add):



And some pictures of our totally awesome trip to the Big Apple:

Click to See Slideshow

Aces Bowl XVI - Notre Dame

For our 16th edition, we went to Notre Dame, with the trip based in Chicago. In the Windy City, we ate deep dish Chicago style pizza, had a Chicago Italian beef sandwich, went to Second City, had drinks in the Signature Room at the top of the John Hancock tower, hung out in Millennium Park, played Whirlyball, and had some prime cuts at the Chicago Chop House.

For the football game we took a party bus down that included unlimited free adult beverages, tailgated in beautiful weather, played cornhole, and watched the soon to be #1 college football team in the country crush its opponent all while doing the chants and cheers and lifting Cyrus up 38 times.

Yeah. You could say it was a good trip. Enjoy the pics and videos:

Click to View Slideshow

BJ and Alissa's Wedding

We had a fantastic time at BJ and Alissa's wedding in Medford, OR. Neither of us had ever been to southern Oregon, and we were going sans kiddos so we were really looking forward to it. We were also excited to see our close friend BJ marry our new friend, and his soul mate, Alissa.

I was in the wedding party so we were able to do the whole rehearsal dinner thing which was really fun. Plus being able to spend time with BJ's boys, many of whom I knew from my days in San Diego, or from the bachelor party in Tahoe, was awesome. I also met a couple guys that I had previously known only by email, which was very 1990's chat room. But it worked out. They say you can judge a person's character by their friends. I love BJ's boys, and they are now my boys too. (And besides, I'm one of his friends too so he must be awesome!)

Savannah also was able to spend some time with Alissa and her friends at a winery (while the guys golfed). She really enjoyed getting to know her and she said she they could really be good friends.

The wedding was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for better weather on our trip. We can't wait until the next trip to Medford to visit the Garrisons!

Enjoy the pics.

BJ and Alissa's Wedding

Autumn in New York (Rochester That Is)

We have made it a priority to see our good friends the Lecces at least every year. Last year they came to visit us here in Phoenix. This year it was our turn to go out there, Rochester, New York.

For those of you who don't know them, Sheila and Vin both went to Cornell with Matty, and it was Matty who introduced them to each other. Plus Matty is their son Vincent's Godfather (said in Marlon Brando voice), and Sheila and Savannah have grown really close over the years, even taking girl trips together. In fact, the two of them look so similar that many people think they are sisters.

Not only do we enjoy seeing them and spending time with them, but we love getting the kids together and seeing them bond. It is quite amazing how close they are considering how far apart they live.

THURSDAY
We took the red-eye flight so that we could be there early Thursday morning. We were a little worried about it with the girls being so young. Fortunately they did okay. On only one occasion during the night did Hayden act up a bit so overall it worked out.

A beautiful day to complement the beautiful course.

Once we landed, Vinny and I immediately scooted off to go play golf at Oak Hill Country Club, home of one of the best golf courses in the country and where the pros have played many big tournaments including US Opens and the Ryder Cup. It will also host the 2013 PGA Championship so it's kind of a big deal. I told Vinny how jealous I am that the course is right by him and that he gets to be a Member. To repay his guilt I threw on him, he hosted me for a day. This guilting thing works.

We had an amazing time and it was such a beautiful fall day. The course is as great as advertised so it was an awesome experience for me.

"This one is perfect!"

Afterwards we met up with the ladies and the kiddos at a farm for some apple picking. The weather was still amazing so we were able to go up and down the orchard looking for that perfect choice.

The kiddos absolutely loved it and it was fun to watch them take joy in finding just the right one.

We also got to play in the teepee they had there and look around their farmer's market. Our introduction to fall in upstate New York was going well.

Four Little Pumpkins

Afterwards we went to dinner at The Distillery and off to home where the little ones had baths and went off to bed in their matching pumpkin jammies that Sheila got for them (it has become 'tradition' for the host mommy to get matching jammies for all 4 kiddos.

A great first day was in the books.

FRIDAY

On Friday we went to the National Museum of Play, one of the best children's museums in America (at least to me and I have visited all of four so that must mean I am an expert). But also to these people. This place is incredible with many different rooms and exhibits and it's all hands on.

"Price Check!"

There is a mini Wegmans (famous northeast grocery store) for the kids to shop and checkout, complete with kid size shopping carts. They absolutely love acting like grown-ups and going through the store picking out their items. At the checkouts there are working conveyor belts and the registers actually scan the UPC and log it, then they create an actual receipt with Wegmans printed at the top (genious).

Other top attractions include a Sesame Street area, a TV news center, a fantasyland with a giant, a restaurant, and a vintage video game area (most popular with Vinny and me who re-lived highlights from our youth like Pole Position, Gauntlet, and Tron). So it was a great time for kids and adults alike.

That night we had an adult night out as we got a babysitter for the kids. Sheila and Vin took us on a tour of Rochester. First we went to a swanky lounge to get some drinks. Then we went to Oak Hill Country Club for dinner in the Oak Room. This place is really nice and many consider it to be the best restaurant in Rochester. It is so nice that I had to bring a sport coat as they are required for gentlemen.

After dinner we went to Chocolate & Vines, a wine and dessert bar. This has our name all over it. We had some delectable treats and some great wine, along with some great conversation, mostly about the top movies of all time and how Sheila and Vin are on a mission to watch the entire AFI top 100.

It was an amazing evening and a perfect cap to our second day.

SATURDAY

"Weeeee!"

The next morning we went to Stokoe Farms (pronounced STO-key) for a fall pumpkin festival. This place was great as they had all kinds of fun things to do. For one, there is a giant 3 story slide that Hayden did about 43 times.

They also have tractor and tricycle rides, hay wagon rides, zip lines, a corn maze (which we didn't do), and more big slides, which all the kids did lots of times. It was a seriously fun time. We also got to eat cider donuts, a specialty in upstate NY.

That night we had barbeque for dinner at the house in order to wind down a bit. We also got a chance to play some Euchre, something we have done together for years.

SUNDAY
Sunday was the day of our departure. But before we left we had to hit up a diner for a great Sunday breakfast, so we went to Peppermints. It was yummy but we were all sad as we knew we had to say goodbye.

Nonetheless, the trip left us with memories we will cherish forever. Thank you, Lecces, for such an awesome weekend.

More pictures from the weekend are here:

Rochester Trip

The Chefs

"I hope she doesn't blow it."

The girls love to help Daddy cook (yes, Daddy does most of the cooking in this household).

In the picture to the right, we are making grilled pork chops. Daddy has a terrific recipe for barbecuing them that makes them turn out very moist and flavorful.

The girls actually love this dish, but they really love to make it because you get to "paint" the marinade on. They take turns and both think that the other one sucks at doing it. Here, Hayden is clearly not satisfied with Ellie's level of work. I personally think Ellie shows great form here but that is beside the point to our first born.

Of course they love to put on their aprons and help out. This apron that Ellie models for us on the left was a gift from Aunt Shelley and it is so cute.

One day, Savannah realized that it would be good for them to have their own kitchen. So she went to her favorite kids toy food spot, Melissa and Doug, and ordered one up.

When it came in the building was more than Daddy had bargained for (we're talking a Christmas level of building), but it was a super cute kitchen and the girls absolutely love it. Ellie especially loves taking cookies out of the kitchen and saying "hot". Hayden likes to be a server and take people's orders. She did this prior to the kitchen getting here and we could order whatever we want be it milkshakes, cheeseburgers, pizza, you name it. We lived large when it came to pretend meals.

Now that she has a kitchen with food, albeit fake, we aren't so lucky. Conversations go like this:

Hayden: What would you like to order? (with paper and pen)
Daddy: I'll take a cheeseburger please.
Hayden: We don't have cheeseburgers.
Daddy: Oh. Well, I guess I'll have some cake.
Hayden: We don't have cake either.
Daddy: Pizza?
Hayden: Nope.

She's actually perfected the annoyed waitress look.

Now I just jack with her. A recent exchange went this way:

Hayden: What do you want to order, Daddy?
Daddy: I'll have a milkshake.
Hayden: We don't have milkshakes.
Daddy: What?!?!? It says you do on the menu! (I pull out a random piece of paper with random writing on it and hand it to her. Her face was flabbergasted as she looked at the paper trying to understand why the menu said milkshakes when they clearly didn't have them)
Hayden: (distraught, but she regrouped solidly) Well, I don't know who made this but we don't have any. How about orange juice or Diet Coke?

To her credit, the next day she had a full menu that she scribbled on a piece of white paper. I was not allowed to order anything off the menu. This was difficult considering the menu was a bunch of squiggly lines.

Daddy: I guess I'll have the spaghetti.
Hayden: DADDY!

Like Mommy

Are we as pretty as Mommy? Absolutely.

Little Olympians

"Oh say can you see..."

Hayden was very excited for the Olympics (she had to be in this house). We watched the Olympics every night and Hayden's favorite thing to watch was gymnastics. She would actually get mad at NBC when they didn't show it (poor Bob Costas).

So I decided it would be fun to give them medals. So they ran around, then did some somersaults and handstands (so to speak), and then they were presented with the medals (old running medals and a charity event medal).

Who knows, maybe some day they will win some Olympic medals for real? Where will the Olympics be in 2026 and 2030?

See the Wolach medal ceremony below...

First Day of School at Rancho Solano

For a while we've known that the school system in Arizona is not as strong as we would like. Thus, we wanted to get our kids into private education at some point. We never thought it would be so soon until Cyrus Patel had a chat with us and explained the advantages of giving the child a head start.

Cyrus had recently worked for a company that ran several private schools around the country ("ah, so that's your angle, huh buddy boy?" (of course said with accent of a 1920's Chicago comic thug with a cigar hanging out his mouth)).

He said that Rancho Solano was a great school so we decided to investigate further. After learning more we went on a tour of the school, did some more research, talked with our parents, and decided to take the plunge.

We were worried that it would be a tough sell for Hayden but we decided to sell it to her by accentuating the positives and explaining all the amazing things she would be doing. It worked and she was excited, despite the fact that she had some amazing friendships at daycare.

Savannah bought several pieces of the uniform to create many different combinations. It is amazing how grown up she looks in the uniform with a backpack.

On the first day we packed her lunch (something else that is new since daycare included lunch), loaded up her backpack, and set out. Mommy said goodbye at home and Daddy drove her.

She was excited on the way and not nervous. When we arrived at the school, we pulled up to the gate, she got out, and was led to her class. It happened much quicker than expected and she was such a big girl. No crying, no screaming for Daddy. She had bought in and was doing her thing.

We are so proud of her.

Afterwards she was excited to go back for day 2 and ever since (a week later) she is always excited to talk about her work and what is going on at school.

We have also attended a "Curriculum" meeting at  the school (kidless) as the teacher went over all the things they will learn. This really re-affirmed the decision in our minds as we were blown away by what a 4 year old will know at the end of the school year. All in all we are very happy and so is Hayden.