Colyer World » Sean http://www.ecolyer.com Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:35:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 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 Eight http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-eight/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-eight/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:39:56 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=6488
After 3 days in the Jungle … we hopped a canoe to the mainland …

… and, as goes without saying, piled into the bus again. If you are interested in seeing my “Jungle Hair” then check it out! I was sitting in between Max & Norma on this trip! Hard to see in this photo, but believe me … there was some serious jungle hair going on here!

Let me just zoom in on this wild hair thing going on.

David getting comfortable with his new baby alpaca blankey from the Otavalo market

Emily decides to sit in the far back seat of the bus with the crazy boys: Nick & Sean! The feet are Sean’s.

Emily looking cute in her Christmas dress AGAIN, but is soon to be booted out of the back seat into the arms of her mama!

Nick settling in for a long journey back to Quito, but first things first (particularly with this group) …

LUNCH!!!

Sean, Nick & Max waiting for lunch to be served as they watch the popular iPad

Again, another beautiful spot for hummingbirds!

Papa Dave checking them out with his binoculars

Then off to Quito for one night before our short plane flight to Guayaquil

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/07/15/ecuador-part-eight/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 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 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

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/03/15/donner-lake/feed/ 0 “Seaside Beach” (Monterey State Beach) http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/02/22/seaside-beach-monterey-state-beach/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/02/22/seaside-beach-monterey-state-beach/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:09:40 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=5080
We went to Monterey, California for President’s Day weekend with the Kensler-Iversens. Sean, Alex, Max & Emily are such good friends! :-) Here they are outside the elevator door on their way to the indoor swimming pool.

Seaside Beach was located directly outside of our hotel less than 1/4 mile.

Took a picture of this sign for The Oma ’cause she is always concerned about earthquakes.

Emily running wild ‘n free on the beach! She insists on wearing sundresses in winter!

Sean running around with a large bird feather in hand!

Max attempting to time the waves.

Sean loved to pick up wet sand and throw it! :-)

Sean

Two of the cutest tushies!

Max

Max

Max

Max & Emily

Emily, Sean & Max

Max

Max

Sean

Sean

Emily

Emily

Max

Emily & Uncle Erik

Alex

Alex, Max & Sean

Sean

Alex

Alex

Alex & Max

Max & Alex

Alex

Sean

Max & Alex

Alex

Max

Max

Alex & Max
It was 45-48 degrees today on the beach, but they insisted on wearing their swimsuits! They didn’t last too long! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The adults wore winter jackets and were still freezing!

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2011/02/22/seaside-beach-monterey-state-beach/feed/ 0 Emily’s “Happy Bird” BD Party http://www.ecolyer.com/2010/07/26/emilys-happy-bird-bd-party/ http://www.ecolyer.com/2010/07/26/emilys-happy-bird-bd-party/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:41:50 +0000 sarah http://www.ecolyer.com/?p=2960

We celebrated Emily’s 3rd BD yesterday with friends & family

The main event for Emily’s 3rd BD was “Happy Birds”, a performing parrot show

Seven beautiful & friendly parrots entertained us all and Emily even got a kiss from pretty “Piper”

This particular bird is a trainee to the show.  Emily is feeding him an almond.

The bird show consisted of various birds riding a bike, riding a scooter, singing songs, making other animal impersonations, skateboarding, opening water bottles, etc.

Max was an active participant in the audience with lots of questions for the “Bird Lady”.  He loved it!

Piper wants to give Max a kiss,

but Max holds back …

Piper gives Max a kiss on his cheek

Piper riding a scooter

Max and his friend, Cameron, intently watching the bird show

Sean & Zack

Zac & Megan

Zac & Cameron

Zac & Max

Alex & Zac

Brennan & Zac

Riley & Forrest

Papa Dave, Brynn & Kedryn with Zac & Forrest

Kedryn (my nephew) & Zac

Brynn (my niece) & Forrest

Papa Dave, Brynn & Kedryn with Zac & Forrest

Forrest & Christian (Kathy had to bribe Christian to get near this bird!)

Michael, Kathy & Olivia with Zac & Forrest

Brynn flaunts her muscles by holding these two fairly heavy macaws

Sweet Samantha with Zac & Forrest

Max & beautiful Forrest

Max was totally enthused by the birds

Cute Keddie with Forrest

Emily with Forrest

Emily enjoyed watching & participating in the bird show

Emily & her friend, Megan, with Forrest

Ready to blow out her candles.  Notice the pretty red fingernails!  Brynn gave her a manicure before her party!

Princess Emily

Happy 3rd Birthday Emily!!

]]> http://www.ecolyer.com/2010/07/26/emilys-happy-bird-bd-party/feed/ 0