Colyer World » Alex http://www.ecolyer.com Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:35:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Bye Bye Patches http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/12/11/bye-bye-patches-2/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/12/11/bye-bye-patches-2/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:27:03 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=7066
In fond remembrance of a sweet little piggy named “Patches” who brought lots of joy to many children & adults too. Bye Bye Patches. Thanks for the smiles you gave to us.

Max & Patches

Emily & Patches

Emily & Patches

Emily & Patches

Max & Patches eating grass

Christian & Patches

Kathy & Patches

Alex & Patches

Emily, Grandpa Dale & Patches

Oma & Patches

Patches trying out Max’s cool mini kick board scooter

You will be missed.

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/12/11/bye-bye-patches-2/feed/ 0 Max’s First Horseback Riding Lesson http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/10/03/maxs-first-horseback-riding-lesson/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/10/03/maxs-first-horseback-riding-lesson/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:10:05 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=6986
We went to “Buck N Horse” Ranch in Gilroy this afternoon for Max’s first horseback riding lesson with his good buddies, Alex & Sean

He was paired with Chai, a sweet little pony

Max & Chai took one look at each other and bonded immediately

Max feeling quite comfortable riding Chai

Giving Chai a big hug to say goodbye after his lesson. This was kind of a trial basis lesson to see if it would be something he would enjoy doing.

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/10/03/maxs-first-horseback-riding-lesson/feed/ 0 Ecuador: Part Seven (The Jungle) http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-seven-the-jungle/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-seven-the-jungle/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:00:13 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=6426
View of Napo River from our room at La Casa del Suizo

Max enjoying the hammock on the back porch

Emily & David playing “dolphin” in the baby pool

Wallace being attacked by the kids!

Papa Dave & Max on the Jungle Excursion

Dorian, Charlie, Alex & Aunt Claudia

Although the Napo River had pirhanas, these were not pirhanas!

Max saying “hello” to a tortoise at an animal sanctuary

These were all injured & rescued animals of the jungle

Toucan

Aunt Claudia getting ready for white water rafting in the pirhana infested Napo River. According to the guide, the pirhanas are well fed so they don’t tend to bite people! Max went white water rafting in Wallace’s lap just to be safe! :-)

Sean

We went to a Butterfly Garden in the nearby jungle town of Ahuano (about a 15 minute walk from the hotel)

We sat down for a minute before our guide came to take us into the butterfly garden & in seconds Miss Em was asleep on Papa Dave’s lap

Gorgeous butterflies!

The butterfly was attracted to the cardinal on Charlie’s shirt

Alex hot, tired & trying to remain still so a butterfly would land on him too

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-seven-the-jungle/feed/ 0 Ecuador: Part Six http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/14/ecuador-part-six/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/14/ecuador-part-six/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:39:23 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=6327
Norma in the hot baths at Termas de Papallacta

David in paradise

Norma & John enjoying some alone time with me & my camera

Mary, Emma & Sean (hiding)

Max & Emily’s front yard: thermal hot baths!

Max & Emily enjoying their private hot bath in their room before heading off to the Jungle

On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been

First stop was a lovely lunch spot featuring hummingbirds

Alex, Emily & Charlie hanging out on the couch before lunch was served

Lunch menu. Surprisingly enough black pepper ice cream with basil sauce is pretty darn good!

Vicky (our tour guide), Normita & Fernando (our driver)

Wallace embracing his mama :-)

Emily walking down a path to the hummingbird feeding stations

Charlie, Emily, Alex, Max & Nick watching the hummingbirds

We arrived at the bank of the Napo River in the evening to take our canoe ride to Casa del Suizo Hotel

Great Uncle Dorian (aka “GUD”) deeted up in an attempt to repel the mosquitos

David ready to go! He probably needed to deet up a little more than he did ’cause he was eaten alive by the mosquitos

Part of the group heading over in the canoe

Our luggage took an entire canoe!!

The beautiful La Casa del Suizo hotel as we arrived via canoe

We stayed here in the jungle at La Casa del Suizo for 3 nights

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/14/ecuador-part-six/feed/ 0 Ecuador: Part Three http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-three/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-three/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:33:27 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=6034
The next day we jumped on the tour bus again and headed to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World)

Check it out! 0 degrees-0′-0″

The Krasnoff Family straddling the equator

David, Norma, Wallace & Max straddling the equator

Mary & Sean straddling the equator

Wallace & Sarah straddling the equator

Emily thrilled to be holding a rhinoceros beetle

Max a little freaked out about it which is kind of funny because he is having a reptile/bug/beetle party for his 6th Birthday next month!

Happy Emily

She wasn’t phased at all

She even touched & petted the beetles.

David was the first to attempt the “beetle thing”.

Emily wanted to do this too, but her face was smaller than the beetle

John & Dorian — a quick stop at a scenic view after Mitad del Mundo

Max at the scenic view

Solar Museum

Here we are as a group on the equator at the Solar Museum

Mark successfully balances an egg on it’s small end on the equator. Yeah Mark!

Then we headed to Maria Elena’s house for what they refer to as “lunch” at 4pm’ish. :-)

Max & Emily had fun on the teeter totter

Alex, Nick, Sean & Max all on the teeter totter!

And, there was a rope swing here too!

Emily loved it!

Max did too!

Charlie too!

Sean too!

They even had a white pet rabbit which was a big hit with Max & Emily

Emily fell in love with the bunny rabbit!!

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-three/feed/ 0 Ecuador: Part Two http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-two/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-two/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:30:32 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5945
We stayed in downtown Quito the first four nights,

at the Lugano Suites Hotel

The cousins were happy to see each other!

Emily was quite popular with Charlie & Alex.

We started our trip with a tour of Quito. Here is a beautiful cathedral. Wish I could remember it’s name.

The handsome gentlemen hanging out on the wall outside the cathedral (Dorian de Wind, Dale Colyer, John Williams & Dave Glick)

We even got to see the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa! He made an appearance for us! LOL! :-) He was elected in late 2006 and took office in January 2007.

That evening we went to Denise & her husband’s lovely home in Tumbaco for dinner.

This is their beautiful view from their back patio!

Claudia, Denise & Bernardo

Norma & David

Wallace & Marta

The kids had a great time on the rope swing! Ooops! That’s not a kid! That’s my DAD!!!

Truth be told, all of the adults took a turn or two on the rope swing: me, Mark, Claudia, & Evan! It was too dark and the evidence isn’t clear.

Charlie upside down on the rope swing!

Max on the rope swing!

Emily enjoyed using Papa Dave’s binoculars. Better get use to this red Christmas dress! You’ll be seeing it a lot!!!

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/13/ecuador-part-two/feed/ 0 Ecuador: Part One http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/12/ecuador-part-one/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/12/ecuador-part-one/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 22:47:51 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5843
We traveled through Ecuador for 16 days with 15 of our closest friends & family members to include a total of 19 travelers in our group. Here are the individuals in no particular order:


Cousin Nick


Cousin Alex


Cousin Charlie


Aunt Claudia


Uncle Mark


Brave Cousin David


Great Uncle Dorian (aka “GUD”)


Grandpa Dale


The Oma


John


Papa Dave


Friend Mary


Friend Evan


Friend Emma Jane


Friend Sean


Emily


Max


Wallace


And, here begins the tale …

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/12/ecuador-part-one/feed/ 0 The Easter House from Oma http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/29/the-easter-house-from-oma/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/29/the-easter-house-from-oma/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:51:17 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5439
Oma sent Max & Emily a cool cardboard house for Easter! We opened it a wee bit early (okay, a month early!) ’cause the rain has been relentless & we needed something to entertain the little rugrats!

This cool casa cabana has a door, 7 windows and spy holes!

Emily having fun decorating it.

Sean, Alex & Emily decorating the house as Max pops his head out of a spy hole to find out what’s going on with his house painters! :-)

Emily is totally into yellow so she would only color the house with a yellow marker! HUH?!?! It’s been PINK! PINK! PINK! What’s the sudden switch to yellow?

Alex & Sean helping to decorate the back door.

Sean really getting into it.

Max writing his name on the front door! THANKS OMA!!!! This has provided Max, Emily & friends with a lot of fun!

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/29/the-easter-house-from-oma/feed/ 0 Patches Comes To Visit http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/19/patches-comes-to-visit-2/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/19/patches-comes-to-visit-2/#comments Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:00:09 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5332
Alex & Max welcoming “Patches” home for a weekend visit

Alex all smiles as she holds “Patches”

Max being very protective over his classroom guinea pig

Max kept telling Alex & Emily that it was “HIS classroom guinea pig”

Emily & Patches. This is going to be a looooong weekend …

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/19/patches-comes-to-visit-2/feed/ 0 Donner Lake http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/15/donner-lake/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/15/donner-lake/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:35:15 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5274
We went to Donner Lake (Tahoe) this past weekend with the Kensler-Iversen Family

We rented a pretty home with two sets of bunk beds & a spiral stair case to a secret “kids only” hideaway. Kid’s Paradise to Erik’s angst.

Max @ the Donner Lake Mountain House

Emily @ Soda Springs Ski Resort where she went tubing

Sean @ Soda Springs Ski Resort

Alex @ Soda Springs Ski Resort

Sarah & Sean @ Soda Springs Ski Resort. Sean tried some skiing and was quite successful.

Wallace carrying Max to the tubing hill. He was too tired to walk.

Wallace & Erik in the kitchen on Saturday night making a fabulous meal for me & Sarah! :-)

Potato, Green Cabbage & Leek Soup with lemon creme fraiche as our starter. Life is Good.

Alex, Sean, Max & Emily chilling in the downstairs livingroom watching “Harry the Dirty Dog” after a long afternoon at Soda Springs while we enjoy wine & adult conversation upstairs. :-)

Wallace reading “Silly Sally” to the kids on Sunday morning before getting ready to head back to the Bay Area

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