New car, new house

We went to Cleveland three weeks ago for a few reasons: to get familiar with the city, to find a house to rent, and to lease a car for me. We were successful on all fronts (see below).

My new 2008 Honda CR-V EXL


The house we're renting in Rocky River

New York, New York

It's been a while ago now that we were in New York but I had photos so I had to share. We had lots of people we wanted to see and lots of places we wanted to eat while there. We tried to have the two come together as often as we could.

We didn't get as near as many pictures as we should have; we were having such a good time that we'd forget to take the camera out. We saw former co-workers, old friends from church, my college roommate Bethany, and Rick's college roommate Perkins and his family. We spent a Saturday showing the Perkins family the sights since they had only moved to the tri-state area two weeks before. At the zoo we ran into my friend Anna from work that had left on maternity leave about 18 months before we moved to Sydney. It was crazy that we saw her but it was awesome.

We picked a not-so-good time to visit New York as we had to suffer through a heat wave while there. After having been there now with a child and in the middle of such hot, sticky weather Rick and I are a bit more reassured by our decision to move to Cleveland. Hey we still love NYC, but it would be tough having a kid there. Piper never got a nap in her crib; it was always in the stroller while we were out.

Our time went by way too quickly and we're so happy that we got to go. It did my heart good to see the city again. A big shout-out to Nicole for letting us stay at her apartment and to Martina for helping us get situated while there. You guys rock!

Welcome to New York!



At Downing Street Park

At Balthazar for breakfast

The Statue of Liberty, or as Piper calls it the "Green Lady"

Sharing a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity

Dinosaurs, ROAR!

Waiting for the sea lion show to start at the Central Park Zoo.

Pretending to be a turtle

Me and Bethany

Looking at Manhattan from Brooklyn. We had just had pizza from Grimaldi's and ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Heaven.

Los Angeles - Reprise

While we were in LA we got to do many fun things with family and friends. My sister-in-law Masha was really nice and got free tickets to the Skirball museum. So we went together with two of her friends with all of our kids in tow. If you haven't been to the Skirball, go when you're in LA next. The exhibit we saw was one for kids about Noah's Ark. It was very interactive and very imaginative. It was so fun and Piper loved it. And free entry and free parking, you can't beat that.

We also took the Metro with my mom and dad to explore some of Los Angeles. We went to Union Station and Olvera Street. They film lots of movies in Union Station since it's so classic. Rick had never heard of Olvera Street. It's a little slice of Mexico and is also home to the oldest house in all of Los Angeles.

We met my sister-in-law Kristen and her two boys, Cooper and Porter, at the airport during their layover on the way to Seattle. It was fun for them to get to play a bit together and for us to visit with Kristen.

That corn looks good enough to eat!


Almost all of the group together (we're missing two of the babies).


Piper was serving Aunt Masha and Harper tea time.


Union Station

Cooper, Porter, and Piper

Fun in the "Sand" Diego Sun

For the 4th of July which is also Rick's birthday (yes, I know that was a whole month ago) we met our good friends Chet and Sharee in San Diego. We had loads of fun together. We went to the county fair and played at the beach. Rick got to eat at his favorite breakfast place, the Eggery, twice.

Chet & Sharee, you guys rock for driving all the way from Phoenix with your two boys in tow. Thanks for a great trip. We'll have to do it again, sooner rather than later.

Rick and the Pipes at the beach

Chet and Sharee with Morgan and Rowan





Piper loved having built-in playmates staying just next door.

A last hurrah at the Moo Time Creamery on Coronado Island. Piper missed out given that she was sleeping and all.

Our trip(s)

You've seen our Tahiti photos and some of our LA shots. That's only the beginning of our ongoing travel adventures. We've since been to New York, Cleveland, and Salt Lake City. We are currently in Idaho Falls visiting Rick's family. We'll be heading to their family vacation spot of Island Park, Idaho this week for some fun out there with extended family.

I think that Rick counted at one point this week that Piper has slept in nine different beds since we moved out of apartment in Sydney. And our little world traveler has been on something like 22 flights in her lifetime...so far.

So be sure to check in again soon for more photos of our journeys.

Los Angeles - Part 1

At the end of June/beginning of July we spent around three weeks in Los Angeles visiting my family. We did get to go for a weekend getaway in San Diego too. We had so much fun in SoCal. My parents had a ball and so did we. Piper would say, "go out in garden" all the time. She loved having all that space. Or she'd raise her hands up and ask "where Papa Allen go?" or "Amma Vicki" (that's my mom, by the way).

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay with you. We loved it all! It was such a good time!

These two were so cute together. I'd say there's a love affair going on there.

Playing the piano and singing


Piper is modeling the adorable Tahitian outfit Grandma Vicki got for her.




What a beautiful girl in her new Sunday dress! When she puts this dress on
now she says "boo-ful."

Here we are celebrating Rick's birthday. I made him a flag cake if you couldn't tell.

Missing friends

I had forgotten that I had these pictures from our last get-together with Dave, Mindy, and Zoey in Sydney. It seems so long ago. That's what happens when you travel as much as we have in the last six weeks. It made me realize just how much I do miss being there, if only to be able to spend time with these awesome friends. We truly do miss you guys! Mindy, I so miss our regular chats together. We hope that you're doing well and that winter is winding down for you.