February started off with a great trip!! Alex and I both worked incredibly hard before leaving for FL + Costa Rica but in the end it was all worth it! We flew to FL to spend time with my parents and grandparents and they got to watch Sasha for 5 days while Alex + I headed to Costa Rica on our first trip alone! While we were sad to go- once we got there we were thrilled to be able to just relax and not worry about any nap times, feeding times or needs not associated with our own.
We went to Playa Esterillos Este which is about 40 min. north of Manuel Antonio Park and it was gorgeous!! We splurged and stayed at a beautiful and peaceful resort- we hardly saw anyone else and it was incredibly relaxing laying on the beach, reading and sleeping. After 2 days of that although I think we both could have spent the entire time there....we headed inland to the La Fortuna/Arenal area. This drive was incredibly long and for someone who doesn't ever get car sick I was pretty close. The landscape is beautiful but you drive on switchbacks and the roads are curvy and bumpy, there is also a ton of elevation gain and decline. Once there we were a little more active and went on a hike, did a waterfall repelling adventure and a zipline tour. I almost backed out of the zipline tour but in the end was glad I did it!! If you are afraid of heights it will make you pass out!! It was so cool though and the longest stretch was a 1/4 mile!! We definitely recommend heading to CR- the food was decent, the people incredibly friendly, and the scenery amazing!! We hope to go back soon!
While we were away Sasha had a great time with her grandparents!! You can see in the pictures, it was like mommy daddy who? She went swimming, went to the zoo, the beach and was showered with love and attention...wait a minute nothing changed at all. Nana + Papa [as they are now known] had a great time as well- I think they would like to keep her...we figured we'd be happy to take another trip but for the long haul she's ours! Her great grandparents also enjoyed having her there and she took to them pretty well. At Oma's she curled up and I think could have slept right in her arms.
The rest of the month has been a mix of catching up from being away and doing some fun local things. Workwise, Amy has started the RE thing and has a ton of trainings she has been attending. Alex has been picking away at the kitchen and working hard at work. We also enjoyed the 3 day weekend this month and decided every weekend should be 3 days!!! Really why not? It allows us to get our projects done, while also relaxing and feeling refreshed for the next week. Does anyone not agree? We attended a fun Oscar Party and even fit in a date to a great Tapas place in the Gourmet Ghetto. On my own I even got a chance to fit in a movie at the beer theater with a friend [the Great Debaters] which was great if you haven't seen it. And Alex enjoyed his ukulele class and is learning a bunch of new songs- even some Beatles. We'll have to record him and post a video! HA! [He'd never let me do that...]
Hope all is well with you! And if you have some time check out the pictures of CR + Sasha in FL!
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/February?authkey=sWNp0VhtKZs
Well '08 is already moving...January was a good month for us, we got into a preschool for next fall after getting caught up in the frenzy. Can you believe over pre-school? For those of you who don't know the schools in the Bay Area aren't great, that being said all of the parents go insane trying to get their kids into the few schools that are "acceptable" whatever that means. Anyway, after a few days of stress we decided not to join in on the craziness and visit 15 schools...I'm not kidding people here do that and we selected the school based on location, cost and not having to have already been on a waitlist while Sasha was in utero. Not bad criteria eh?
Our weekends were filled with fun outings with friends. And we actually got to go out on our own a fair bit this month. We saw Jamie Oliver from The Daily Show- our friend Tristen treated us and we had a great time! And we also got out to see a live band at Yoshi's on an actual date night [Thanks again Tristen for babysitting!] We also went down to San Jose to see a hockey game, which we won. The Sharks are actually pretty good, we haven't been since DC and were surprised at how much fun we had. Maybe next month we'll try for a GS Warriors game, the games are a lot closer and our team is also doing quite well.
Sasha is talking more every day and starting to put sentences together. She really is a chatter, I'm sure no surprise to many of you. She is a lot of fun and is getting a little more daring each day. She is starting to really enjoy the slide and is more independant going off on her own to explore. She LOVES bathtime- there has been more than one night that she's stayed in for 45 minutes. We still read a lot but her favorite thing is playing at the park in the sand or with other kids. She knows all the names of her friends but we think she has a crush on a little boy named Nico she plays with twice a week. We've been told they hold hands while in their strollers and she talks about him quite a bit at home. She is also singing- yes she knows the tune to, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "ABCD" and "The wheels on the Bus". She may not know all the words- but she sings like she thinks she does!! It's adorable! I think she'll be quite the karoke singer. She definately knows what she wants and can clearly communicate- even with picking what song to sing, if I start she'll stop me and say, "No No" until I say the title of the song she wants. It's a lot of fun and a great age- we get to see her learning new things every day!
Workwise, Alex is working on 3 major remodels in SF and his company is revamping their image to be more "green". Alex taking an interest in that a long time ago [in school] is quite excited and is hoping to get LEED certified this year. January was incredibly busy for Amy, the remodel in Crocker Highlands, a 900k project, was fast-tracked and we had to crank out a permit set in about 3 weeks while still getting the contractor enough information to price. It was stressful and a lot of hours but with working on her own she knows other months will be slow so you have to jump on it when it's there! Amy also started her foray into the real estate world. She is working for a local broker called Red Oak Realty and is getting geared up to start up that business as well.
That's just the beginning of what will hopefully be a great year! Here is a link to some pictures of this month:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amyres/January08?authkey=-V8TZ6K6-xA
February started off with a great trip!! Alex and I both worked incredibly hard before leaving for FL + Costa Rica but in the end it was all worth it! We flew to FL to spend time with my parents and grandparents and they got to watch Sasha for 5 days while Alex + I headed to Costa Rica on our first trip alone! While we were sad to go- once we got there we were thrilled to be able to just relax and not worry about any nap times, feeding times or needs not associated with our own.
