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Tantalo Family Thanksgiving Getaway 2011, Maxwelton Beach, Whidbey Island.
Hello from Team Shafer
The rundown for 2011:
1. That "9 more months" that we were supposed to have baby Juan has turned into going-on 15 months. Still waiting, still hoping...
2. Robbie joined the preschooling ranks and now takes the bus 4 mornings a week off to school.
3. We officially overdid the home-improvement projects this year, vowing a quiet summer for 2012. Moved the furnace, turned a closet into a stairway, and installed hardwood floors throughout the main level of the house.
4. A cowboy, fairy, and dinosaur terrorized our house on Halloween.
5. Robbie had an eventful year at the Y, completing the Eels swim class, graduating to Pikes with Hannah, as well as pulling the fire alarm in childcare (emptying the entire building) and pooping in the pool during swim lessons (emptying the entire pool).
6. Hannah went on an epic dad-daughter backpacking trip with some friends... all of the daughters cried at some point, and most of the dads.
7. Another milestone: first school pictures, and they weren't terrible.
8. Dan had some art make it out into the world -- into the Seattle Times and the City Arts Art Walk Awards.
9. We have some concerns that Robbie might have been bit by a radioactive ladybug, changing his DNA into that of a superhero.
10. Hannah has a new favorite phrase: "Stop teasing me, dad." Alicia taught it to her, but at least she doesn't know how to say it in French. Yet.
11. We have a new batch of chicks that we got from Drew and Addie. They have grown to be more like teenage chickens, and they are happily living in the chicken coop. Which was the site of a mass chicken genocide not two months ago. But has now been re-fortified and is entirely racoon-proof. Seriously this time.
2010 happened quite some time ago:
1. We remodeled the kitchen - when the water came back on after 3 or 4 weeks, it was a miracle.
2. We got a bunny and I tricked Hannah into naming him Bob Dylan.
3. Hannah is in ballet and Robbie can't wait to turn 3 so he can go too.
4. We spent 3 weeks in Maui by doing a housing exchange with another family. Carrie came out for the second half and we had a great time.
5. Somehow this isn't number one... we are fostering little Juan. He is cute as a button and we'll probably have him for at least 9 more months.
6. Hannah started preschool and she's loving it. Except the boys, who she says don't listen to the teacher and don't play nice.
7. Robbie wanted to be a motorcycle for Halloween but settled for being a mouse. Hannah was a princess (and also had a princess birthday party).
2009 was a good year too, I'd feel bad deleting it:
1. We have to start with this one, because it's the biggest. Robinson (Robbie) came to live with us as a foster child on January 1, and his adoption was finalized on December 4 at the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle in front of a large contingent of Tantalos and Shafers.
2. Raccoons ate four of our chickens. We retaliated by hiring a professional critter service and have caught five six so far.
3. We added on a covered back deck to the house, which was supposed to be a weekend project but turned into a black hole that devoured the entire month of August and still isn't quite done. But it's a pretty sweet deck, we can bar-b-que in the winter, and hey, no more mud in the kitchen.
4. Hannah got a beta fish and named it Fishy McRainbow. Though it often appears to be dead, it is still alive.
5. Dan surprised Alicia with a cruise to Alaska for our 10th wedding anniversary. Which was awesome.
6. We finally broke down and bought a car in March after a year and a half as a car-free family. Two kids sealed the deal.
7. Our garden was productive this year: tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkins, beans, beets, and peas all did well. Artichokes, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, and asparagus are all started and will hopefully produce more next year.
8. Alicia braved the friendly skies and flew with Hannah and Robbie down to Disneyland this fall. The kids had mixed reactions to the rides and characters, but in general, fun was had by all involved.
9. We went camping as a family for the first time this summer, at the family reunion for Dan's side of the family. The kids were champs, sleeping in tents (boys in one tent and girls in the other) and generally having a blast.
10. Alicia did her first triathlon in June. For weeks afterward, Hannah reenacted it in the kiddie pool in the back yard.
11. For Halloween, Robbie was a chicken and Hannah was a cheetah.
We moved into our new house in May 2008. There is a gallery of the house before all the projects we've undertaken on the Action Shots page. Lots of our house projects are chronicled at our new blog, theurbanfarmersalmanac.com.
Listening...
The Head and the Heart, ABBA, Girl Talk, TBTL, Theme Time Radio Hour, Taylor Swift, Band of Horses, .
Watching...
Kids are digging Spiderman, Super Why, Scooby Doo, Super Friends. Blue Valentine. Thirty Rock. Veronica Mars.
Reading...
Lots of David James Duncan, Annie Dillard, books about people with strange obsessions and behaviors.
Visiting...
Maui for 3 weeks in June (not to brag), backpacking in Leavenworth, annual trip to Yakima, and Bellingham, sweet Bellingham for Thanksgiving.
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