Ella hits Double Digits!

It's hard to believe but she made it to TEN!! We are grateful for everyday with this kind, smart, and courageous soul, we are deeply blessed.

Happy Birthday Ella!  We love you very very much.

Karli Kites!

13 years in the making ... but she is ripping and a full on addikt now!!

so many people to thank on this one ... but Playa Central, Laurel Eastman Kiteboarding, Nat @ Edge Kiteboarding all receive our highest recommendations

... now that she's hooked we just need some solid local wind!!

An Even Dozen ...

Ollie's twelfth:

We are in awe of this cool dude everyday and have so much fun together!!

Ella's Where I am From ...

There simply are not words.



if you need the password contact Karli or Mark

Introducing Wallingford Picketts

can you spot him?

For a long time i started every post here with an apology, and usually said I wouldn't do it anymore. 
This isn't really even a blog so much but more of a place where i post after each of the kid's birthdays, and usually once with Karli's Christmas present - which seems to be a six month delayed post from our summer adventures (2017).


However a new family member warrants an announcement, and with that, please meet Wallingford Picketts (aka Wally):

We are all over the moon with love for this little guy who has been a dream to hang out with to date, he can't wait to meet you.

Temagami ... Part Deux

This summer we were blessed with another week long paddle through Temagami, disconnecting is so very important and feels more so in this world that seems to go a little faster every second!  Here's some shots:

11th Annual Pumpkin Cutting Party

This has been a year with a lot of changes for us. New schools for Ella, Ollie, Karli, and a new job for me. We are grateful for so many wonderful opportunities.  Thankfully somethings don't change ... and one of those things is our annual pumpkin cutting party. As the kids have aged the quality has gone through the roof and the competition was tighter than ever this year.

We flew in our judge from SanDiego and her careful eye and custom shirts are an absolute highlight.

Pics from our fun are here:

click image for more

some links to throwbacks:

ten nine eight seven six five four (undocumented somehow?) Three Two One inaugural - otro 

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This, and every pumpkin cutting party we've ever hosted has always brought a special Brantford family to the forefront of our mind, thankful for so many wonderful memories. This year that was especially true. Love you Sasha, KOEm

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The FINAL Single Digit Birthday ...

wow, I think that makes me old!

about six months behind ... which is pretty much on schedule.  I had a flight to and from Toronto and a flight to and from Dallas and was finally able to post some images from Ella's ninth.

a couple years ago we made the decision to not celebrate birthdays with "stuff" but instead with experiences. It has been one of the best ideas we've ever had!

For Ella's ninth, we finally took the kids to LA and had days at both Universal Studios and Disney. I will admit this was a trip I was dreading and it was actually really awesome and incredibly fun - we knew we were doing it once and DID IT we did!  So much fun.
This followed our invitation to celebrate the actual B-day with Kristy, Karl, Geoff, & Jamie in Hawaii - we continue to be so spoiled, and are so thankfully for the chance to explore this incredible part of ocean.

...:::or watch her over time:::...

this one goes to eleven ...

February is a busy time around our place, and 2017 has been no exception. We were blessed with the opportunity to return to Magical Mexico - this trip to Baja; where we feasted, danced, kitesurfed, swam, and checked off bucket list items.  For this and so much fun we remain grateful for our time on this flying rock ...

Huge thanks to:  Playa Central, Whale Shark Research Project, great buddies here in Marin, Aba & Papa Karl, and everyone who enriches our lives every day.  (tunes 9 Therory) xo

Temagami

uh oh ... when something happens twice is it the start of a new tradition, coincidence, or just some odd thing that deserved repeating?

Only time will tell ... but July 2016 we spent ten days paddling through Temagami.  I feel so blessed for the opportunity to return with Karli to where I spent an entire summer in High School as a Junior Ranger (old habits die hard, and we left the portages and sites cleaner than when we arrived ... although I did leave my sandvik at home).  We had some amazing winds, some great storms, a lot of sun, fantastic swimming, big cliff jumping, one dumped moonlight paddle (a surviving SLR), a long night paddle, and a seven day stretch without seeing another human being - heaven.
We may have stayed a little longer than some expected, but if we had our way we may still be there ;)


(it seems that like trip one - Killarney 2015 i need until Christmas to actually organize and share these images)

We had an amazing Crown Land trip and are thankful for the support of Camp Wanakita, Neil, Erin, Emily & Beydin of Temagami Outfitters, Doug & Marg of Northland Paradise, and the Hamlin School community for making this wonderful adventure a reality - thanks so much.

Ella's Eight!!

OK, so she was actually turned eight eight months and five days ago, but it (not unlike April 15, 2008) was a day that none of us would ever forget:


love you Ella

As always we could never possibly thank our family for their generosity and for making our lives extraordinary, mahalo.

a day in the big city ...

Getting geared up for the holidays we had an incredible opportunity to see the Lion King.  It was a made possible through generosity, generosity for which we are incredibly grateful - thank you.

some images are here.

Thank you for leading us into the season of by example.

Tenth Annual Pumpkin Cutting Party ...

This year was our 10th annual pumpkin cutting party and they continue to be a great highlight to one of our favorite times of the year.  Is it possible they are getting more and more fun?

We flew in a special judge from SanDiego and the custom shirts she brought as prizes had everyone doing their absolute best work work:

Here is Karli's first ever video for this blog:



some throwbacks:

nine eight seven six five four (undocumented somehow?)Three Two One inaugural - otro 

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to the DECADE!

its absolutely mind blowing to imagine that Ollie has been with us ten years ... of course its even harder to imagine a life without my favorite dude.

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*its important to recognize how many amazing people in Mexico, Marin, and Hawaii that should be expressedly thanked and represented in this film ... unfortunately they aren't - but we are in your debt and you have our heartfelt gratitude - you make our life so wonderful, thank you.

Happy 2016 ....

We rang in 2016 in style this year enjoying some of the best snow that Tahoe has seen in years - certainly since our arrival in California.  It was amazing how quickly the kids progressed, getting to stack up seven consecutive days will do that.  As usual we are spoiled and so very thankful for the generosity shown to us, it helps us enjoy incredible times.

Fun in the snow and lots of improvement:

IS it the REASON for the SEASON?

Ok, so that may be a little un-PC but it has seemed that the last few years I have needed the December Break to get caught up on, to go through, and to finally wrestle some of our summer images into something worth sharing*

First Up:  Killarney

This was a big, massive, humongous year in our family - it was the year that we sent both of our kids to summer camp for the first time!!  Yup.  Two weeks of fun for them at my Alma Mater - Camp Wanakita, and two weeks for Karli and I to enjoy and reconnect with each other - while missing them greatly every single day.

We spent the first week, here in California - enjoyed hikes, fancy dinners, hot tubs, and general futzing around the house.  Que Rico.

The second week was monumental.  Karli had done a three day canoe trip (with no sun) in Algonquin a few years previous, but the seven dayer I had lined up in Killarney would be unlike anything she'd done before.  Thankfully, she loved it.

 But did the kiddos like summer camp?

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Then there was the maiden voyage of our newest family member:  Cassidy.  Cassidy was a family father's day gift and is an absolute dream come true for both Karli and myself.  It's a screen free zone and is filled with laughter, adventure, and good times.  The first trip was a journey up to visit Liz, Ian, Anna, Benjamin, & Elsie in Squamish - a raging success but we all wish we could have done the same journey over three or four weeks instead of the ten days we had.  We'll work on that one.  :-)

*although I am not sure either of these are "worth sharing" these videos are increasingly becoming our family's memory (right or wrong), so I really need to try and keep up ...

'tis the season ...

This year I had to have surgery the day before our 9th Pumpkin Cutting Party.  This meant that I was only there for a brief hello before heading back to my recovery bed.  Thankfully Karli, Ollie, and Ella kept the tradition alive and we cut pumpkins like we love to do:

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Of course the cutting of pumpkins is really just preparation for one of our favorite nights of the year!  We had dinner with friends and then trick or treated until our bags were overflowing!!

a huge thank you to Hans and Leia and their brood for hosting us again.

In a mad rush before leaving SF for a two week sprint through Killarney and Ontario - i promised my daughter that her video would be up before she was done summer camp, so with ten days to spare:

arrrgh blocked due to music ....

Prince seems to protect his stuff which is fine (although I had given him credit) ... oh well, take two.  The White Stripes Edit ....

It makes some of the cuts a little rougher than I would like but ... i likely wasn't going to get the Oscar nod anyway.

So I used my recent flight home from New Orleans to get some footage from Ollie's ninth birthday together.  We celebrated in style on the big day by heading down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to hang out with Landon, Craig, & Gretchen - always an amazing time.

We then had some amigos over for a sleepover which was highlighted with Air Hockey Tournaments, Star Wars viewing ... and of course MineCraft.  We had a breakfast piñata before sending everyone on their way.  It was a ton of fun!

Here's what I got:

And we can't forget the annual trip down memory lane:

• eight
• seven
• six
• five
• four 
• three 
• two 
• one
• and the beginning

Happy YanksGiving ... Squamish Style

Just learned the term:  YanksGiving, and I have to admit I really like it.  We used the holiday this year to travel up to British Columbia.  There Ian has a new job, Ian, Liz, Anna, & Benjamin also have a new home .... oh yeah and they've multiplied - we got to meet Elsie, it was absolutely love at first site.  As usual I haven't had any time to edit these, but here are some photos from the trip:


Thank you Liz, Ian, Anna, Benjamin, and Elsie for letting us invade your space and showing us an amazingly wonderful time and place.