Paco & Michelle

If you’re a happy little spider…

paco — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:03:01 +0000

Video from Sophie’s pre-K class:

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider:

If you’re happy and you know it:

Sophie’s 4rd Birthday Party

paco — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:13:02 +0000

Wow, Sophie’s three years old! The theme was “Strawberry Shortcake” and the mood was definitely festive. Burgers and hot dogs and opening presents made for a great time at the party.

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Whose birthday is it, anyway?, starring Sophie and Ben:

Feliz Navidad from Sophie

paco — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Sophie participates in her Christmas program at The Oaks Church, where she attends “Mother’s Day Out.” Feliz Navidad:

Jingle Bells:

Sophie’s first day

paco — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:29:53 +0000

Taken from Sophie’s Mom’s Facebook page:

Sophie had a great first day at preschool. She didn’t cry once, ate all of her lunch and took a nap! She amazes me.

Third Day of our Pacific Northwest vacation

paco — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:55:42 +0000

The third day began at the Kirk House, with breakfast at the place. We remembered that last year it was fairly yummy although this time around it seemed to be more on the exotic side. The breakfast parfait was still good — although not everybody got granola, in which case it just plain sucked (plain yogurt just plain sucks, I don’t know if anyone would care to disagree?).

We hit the road and made our way to the English Camp. Driving anywhere in the island is akin to perusing through a set of really cool postcards, and the drive to the camp was no exception. As we got close to the parking area we encountered deer grazing on grass by the camp site. Last year we visited the American Camp, which is the larger of the two. The English counterpart didn’t have all the historical markers the American camp has. While the American camp was full of how life hard was and how the soldiers and staff there had a miserable time, the British camp was all about trees and gardens.We walked about a bit and and saw most of it, but cut the trip short and got back on the road.

We made our way back to Lime Kiln Point Park. We had stopped there last year and actually got to see several killer whales from the coast. We didn’t expect to see any that day, and we didn’t. It was still a nice stop — we walked down a trail and visited the Lime Kiln lighthouse. We would later drive down the coast and got close to the other lighthouse on the island, but just like last year we couldn’t find out how to get to it. We spent some time catching the breeze on the rocks by the beach, and made our way back to town. We took the long way around on a less-traveled road and spotted some more deer and foxes.

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Approaching the English camp and getting greeted by one of the natives:

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Second day of our Pacific Northwest vacation

paco — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:45:27 +0000

On the second day our body clocks were still tuned in to Central time so we took an early stroll in downtown Anacortes. We found our way to the Calico Cupboard Café, where we had eaten breakfast once last year during our overnight stay in the town. We remembered the awesome hot cakes they served, but forgot about their incredibly slow pace. It took a while to get our orders placed and delivered, but it was worth it once breakfast was served. Last year I got the Breakfast Sampler, which is served with only one flapjack, so this year we opted for the tall stack of hot cakes. I uploaded a Blackberry shot and a comment about this plate when I was first served it, which led my friend Tommy to comment: “That’s one of the most beautiful sentences you’ve ever crafted: ‘The sausage is as big as the flapjacks.’ ” And well, you can see for yourself.

We strolled downtown to walk off breakfast — which neither of us could finish — and noted what had changed since last year. Not much really, although it seemed as if a couple of shops had closed and maybe a couple more had opened. Traffic was slow but we weren’t in a hurry.

We checked out of the Fidalgo Country Inn and started thinking about heading to the ferry that would take us to Anacortes. We had some pizza at Village Pizza and made our way to the ferry dock entrance, where you have to park to get a place to load into the vessel. More than an hour later we boarded the ferry, and almost an hour later we were in Friday Harbor.

We checked in at the Kirk House, the same Bed and Breakfast where we stayed last year, and then made our way to the San Juan Island’s Museum of Art and Sculpture Park, where local artists display their pieces on what is basically a big yard. On the way over we stopped on the highway to watch a group of bald eagles competing with crows and a fox over some food. Or maybe the eagles were hunting the fox. Other motorists had stopped and in the end we couldn’t decide what the scene was. We continued to the park and got there in a few minutes. Last year we didn’t see all of the sculptures, so we thought we’d take a stroll to see what we missed. We found something new: mosquitos, which cut our visit short. We also spotted yet another fox carrying what might have been dinner.

We made our way back to Friday Harbor and to the Kirk House

Click on the photo to visit the Facebook album:

A single bald eagle takes flight across a highway on San Juan Island:

A few Eagles criss-crossed over a highway on San Juan Island, competing with crows and a fox on the ground for food:

One of many foxes we saw on San Juan Island. This one was running across the Museum of Art and Sculpture Park, apparently carrying lunch:

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Click here to visit the Flickr album.

First day of our Pacific Northwest vacation

paco — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:24:12 +0000

We flew into Sea-Tac, picked up our rental car and drove north, bound for Anacortes. We’d been up since early in the morning, so we stopped in Everett and found a Dairy Queen to eat lunch (no Belt-Busters or Hunger-Busters outside of Texas). When we told the Bed and Breakfast keeper in Anacortes that we ate at Dairy Queen she commented, “Hmmmm… Dairy Queen…” We’re so used to the ubiquitous fast food joints that we not only take them for granted, we really look down on them; not so in San Juan Island, where they still have to make a special Ferry trip to find such delicacies.

We continued our trip northward and stopped at LaConner and looked around the historic downtown area. Very charming and picturesque. This would be our first taste of the cool Pacific breeze that kept us wearing jackets in the middle of June and that would provide us with “happy thoughts” once we returned to the hellish Texas heat. That first night in Anacortes we stayed at the Fidalgo Country Inn.

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It’s all happening at the zoo…

paco — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:09:25 +0000

Sophie and Ben visited the Fort Worth Zoo with Aunt Shelley and Uncle Paco. Saw crocodiles AND alligators…

Click on image to see slide show:

Click here to see the Flick album.

Sophie’s second birthday

paco — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:56:18 +0000

All the pictures from the birthday party on April 25, 2009. A smaller version of the album in the works.

Why the long face?

paco — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:11:28 +0000

Pics from a quick visit with the Grandparents…

Click on image to see slide show:

Click here to see the Flick album.