The Family's Florida Edition

Happy 1st Birthday Nathan!

2009-03-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

Could have been a much more exciting and happy day for the little guy, but he was so miserable from teething. I am considering making him another cake because he wanted nothing to do with the one on his bday - poor baby.

We took the kids to an outdoor aquarium for his bday...this was one of his happier moments. There werent many...

This was pretty much his demeanor the entire day. Poor boy...you'll be happy to know that he is back to his old, happy self! Literally, 2 days after this picture was taken, his teeth stopped bothering him and he was our little angel again! His timing is perfect! Happy 1st Birthday Nathan - We Love You!!

Snow Day at the Library

2009-03-18T07:12:00.001-07:00

Im still playing catch up...it will never end! This is back from February - when it "snowed" during story time at the library. The kids LOVED it!!

It was a perfectly sunny day in FL - although believe it or not, it was probably the coldest day of the winter!

She looks a little unsure of whats happening...has she forgotten snow already?

Starting to like it...her friend Jack is next to her in the blue coat.

Greg just loves this picture... :)

Its a regular blizzard!!

Trip to SC

2009-02-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

On Jan 15 Greg's grandfather passed away. We traveled to Summerville, SC for the funeral. We will all miss Papa dearly. The one nice thing about a sad trip like this one is family you get to see. We did have a great visit with everyone, a lot of whom we haven't seen in quite some time.

At the Charleston Children's Museum. Momma, Nathan, Auntie Jenna, Allison and Maddie

Big James and Nana

Miss Linda, Papa, Lylah, Auntie Megan and Owen

Uncle T-Rex, Owen and Allison, doing some kid-size shopping

Nathan checking out the infants section

Lylah, Nathan and Owen riding the ducks in the infants area

Anna and Nathan hanging out in his pack n play

All 6 cousins together finally! Back row: Allison, Maddie and Anna. Front row: Nathan, Owen and Lylah

Happy Birthday Dadda - way back on Jan 4th!

2009-02-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

Little Nate man was sleeping (he goes to bed at about 630pm!!) by the time we opened presents and had yummy red cake for Dadda's bday (told you I was behind on here!!). So you get a montage of Dadda and Allison piccies! Enjoy!

Some special bday cards - some more sentimental than others...

We made Dadda a special album for his bday!

And now the part they've both been waiting for...the Red Cake! Happy Bday Dadda - We Love You!!

Trip to the Zoo!

2009-02-02T10:50:00.001-08:00

While my mom and dad were here, we took the kids to the NW Florida Zoo! It was a cute, small zoo, just big enough to keep a 4 year old entertained for the afternoon!

Grandma and Allison getting ready to visit the zoo!

Checking out the gators!

Our brave girl feeding the goats!

Waiting with Grandma and Silly Papa for the choo choo train!

Way overdue Christmas post

2009-01-26T20:28:00.000-08:00

Lots going on in the Barasch household lately...sorry for the delay! Here are some pictures from our FL Christmas!

Allison's reaction to her gift from Santa was priceless...

Attempt at a family picture...Nathan wasnt happy about it!

Allison helping Nathan check out his gift from Santa.

Allison's beautiful Hummel from Papa Great and Gramma Great!

Momma is holding a beautiful Christmas tree that Allison made fcr us a school!

Papa and Miss Linda were here with us for Christmas! So great to have them here!

The day after Christmas, Grandma and Silly Papa came to visit!

Helping Dadda open some gifts!

Hopefully my next post wont take so long to post! We just got the house put on the market, so that has been consuming most of our time! Keep your fingers crossed that someone likes our house!! :)

Allie's 4th Bday!

2008-12-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

I am waaaayyy behind...need to play catch up! We had a birthday party here on Dec 14th for Allison and her friends Jack and Reagan who each turned 2 this month. We all had a great time!!

The amazing bday cake that Reagans mommy Jessica made!

It was warm enough to play in the backyard for a while!

Pinata time!

The birthday kiddos!

The blue icing looked great all over her face!

With her friend Kayleigh opening some presents!

Princess dress up game was a hit!

Nana and Big James got to enjoy the bday party too! So glad they could come down to help us celebrate! Happy 4th Birthday Allison! We love you!!

Thanksgiving and Kids Christmas Party!

2008-12-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, thats my new motto! Here are a collection of pictures from both our trip to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and the 85th kids Christmas party on Saturday!

Allie is very into coloring lately...here she is doing a Thanksgiving coloring project with Dadda!

Nate man in his Turkey Day best!

Our Thanksgiving meal...yummo!

Our 2 cutie turkeys!

Getting ready to leave for the Christmas party!

Awaiting Santa's arrival!

Allie with her friends Lauren and Kayleigh. Santa is in the background, 1st jet on the left! :)

Santa arrived this year on an F-15 Strike Eagle!

Nate man didnt mind his ear protection at all! I LOVE this picture of him!!

Kids flocking to Santa after he got out of the jet!

No tears from either child! Allie has no fear of Santa or any other dressed up characters - she actually never has! Nathan was happy as long as he could still see Greg and I!

Merry Christmas!!

Long overdue...

2008-12-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

Long overdue 6 month pictures of Nathan and Allison's preschool picture! Sorry for the delay! Enjoy!!

Photos!

2008-11-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

Allie, or should I say Allison (which is what she prefers to be called now), loves taking pictures with our camera. We always get a good variety of pictures...the floor, the ceiling, the TV, occasionally one of us! She even takes turns with our camera, allowing Greg and I to take pictures of her too! She is a hoot! Enjoy the pics from an evening photo shoot!

Momma posing for Allison after she gave me a makeover...dont I look lovely? :)

Dadda and Ariel posing...Ariel had to be in every picture for this photo shoot!

I think this was Mommas turn to take a picture of Allison and Ariel.

Can't forget Mukluk - Nathan was asleep or he'd have been included too!

She got a little close on this one...she cut out Ariel!!

Being silly with Ariel!

A must see video!

2008-11-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

We officially have a crawler...life just got that much more difficult! But he is sooo cute!! :)

Halloween and Major Barasch!

2008-11-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a big success for Miss Allie! She enjoyed every minute of it! She was a bit afraid last year to actually run up and yell trick or treat. But not this year...she made Greg and I stand back while she exclaimed, "I can do it myself". Okay then! Mukluk was, as usual, the hit of the neighborhood. Everyone commented that our kids were cute, but they just LOVED our dog. I totally thought it was a Japanese thing...guess I was wrong!

The other fun news this week is that Greg is official a Major! Congrats Dadda - we are so proud of you!!

Mukluk the fire hydrant was the hit, over Nathan the chicken and Allie the Fairy...really??

Sleeping on the job...

Just after Allie and I ripped off his Captain rank to show the Major's rank.

Taking the oath of office! Nice!

We love the Fall!

2008-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

An array of fall themed (for the most part anyway) pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Filling up pumpkins with leaves from the yard!

Graduation day from swim lessons!

The family being silly, with Ariel helping out.

Good times at the Mullet Festival! Allie loves using Nathans stroller while he gets carried for a while.

Fun on the big slide with Dadda.

Atop the ferris wheel!

Allies favorite - the cups!

Nathans first bike ride!

Even Mukluk joins the bike ride!

Allie loving her pumpkin!

Mukluk trying to enjoy a pumpkin seed - we did not let her eat it!

Ariel and...

Cinderella's castle!

Allie went to a character lunch with Dadda and Nathan. She met the Cat in the Hat!

The other characters that she had lunch with!

Allie and Kayleigh in their costumes at the lunch!

Nathan on his swing!

Allie at her Halloween party at school with her friend Liam.

Allie doing a Halloween craft at her party - this one was called popcorn hands!

Instead of getting her face painted, she choose to get her arm painted. Its Nemo the fish!

Class photo!

Circus, Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Party!

2008-10-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

So much to catch up on!! We took the kids to the circus a few weeks ago...it was lots of fun but super hot! It was under an actual tent, no a/c, and I about died from heat exhaustion! But it was fun none the less! After our fun circus trip, we stopped at a local pumpkin patch on the way home to get a pumpkin! Allie asks everyday if we can carve it...she will be thrilled this weekend when we finally say yes! This past weekend Greg's squadron had a kids Halloween party! LOVE seeing all the cute costumes...Allie had a great time. Nathan took it all in like a champ, and even fell asleep for a while in his ergo carrier. Gotta love a napping baby! Enjoy the pictures!

Pony ride at the circus!

Can you see how much Nathan is sweating already...and this was just the start of the show!

Allie loving her mini pumpkin

Nathan getting ready for the Halloween party!

I know what youre thinking...why did she put up a picture of cupcakes? Well, Greg's squadron is the skulls, and its Halloween, so I made skull cupcakes for the party! Loved how they turned out!!

Allie and her friend Jack before a ton of kids arrived

Allie with her decorated pumpkin cookie

Allie with her pumpkin teddy bear she won at a game

Taking a good swing at the pinata

A few of the kids posing for a picture. I was happy to at least get this many kids to sit still for a picture!!

When all else fails, go to the beach!

2008-10-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

And that is usually what we do! Below are pictures from 2 different trips to 2 different beaches. The first is a local state park which happens to be on the gulf! The 2nd is an island in Destin that you can only get to by boat. Fun times!!

Everyone gets to slide!

Swinging like a big boy!

Allie and Reagan getting ready to make sand castles!

Allie, Reagan and the daddys with their finished sand castle kingdom!

The 2 beach beauties!

Happyland Bear!

2008-10-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Once a week at Allie's preschool, one child gets to take home the Happyland Bear on a Thursday. They get to keep him (or her, in our case) throughout the weekend and then bring her back to school on Tuesday and tell the class what they did with the bear. We captured what we did with the bear on camera, and Allie got to take the pictures to school to show her friends! Hope you enjoy the pictures too!

The group when we first got the bear home.

Big surprise, we took her on the boat!

And to the beach...

And to a bouncy castle...

And to see Co Co the clown...

And to the driving range...

And in the car, many times. We now miss the Happyland Bear! :(

South Carolina

2008-09-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

2 weekends ago we took a weekend trip to South Carolina. We were lucky enough to visit with Greg's grandparents. Allie was so sad to leave their house, she had so much fun with them!

A cute little park we found...of course Allie found the swings right away!

Trying to have fun on the hotel room floor! Luckily the hotel had only been open a month, so the floor was actually pretty clean!

Little Man is 6 Months Old!!!

2008-09-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

How did he get so big so fast? Your guess is as good as mine! But he had his 6 mo well baby on Tuesday and he got a clean bill of health! He is a hefty 16lbs, 13oz! We sure do know how to raise beefy babies, don't we! Actually, he is only in the 50th percentile for weight and height...so I guess he isn't so beefy after all! :) Enjoy the Nate man pictures!

Taking a dip in the ocean!

2008-09-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures and a video from a typical weekend day for us. We can't complain about having nothing to do in Florida!!

Brother and sister hanging out in the water!

Can you see the 2 dolphins behind me, on the left? How cool is that!!

Allie starts preschool!

2008-09-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Preschool started Tuesday, Sep 2. She LOVED her first day, as I knew she would. She gets really shy around her teachers, and admits to me that she is shy with them. But her teachers told me that she opens up and is her usual chatter box after just a short time. Of course, on her first day of school, my camera battery died! Go figure! But Greg and I went with her to a meet the teachers day last week and we did get 1 or 2 pictures from that day too. She had a great first day, and was very excited to go back today!

Meet the teachers day at preschool

Her favorite playground toy - her teachers told me she was teaching some other kids how to pump their legs! The teachers loved this, since it meant they wouldn't have to push as many kids on the swings! Go Allie!!

Our only picture from the first day of school before my silly camera died...

On our way to school today - doesn't she look excited!!

Dadda comes home!

2008-09-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Dadda was TDY (on a work trip) for about 3 weeks. Not long compared to some trips he's taken, but long enough! We were very happy to meet him at his jet when he landed!

Allie had just got done with dance class - so she had a very exciting afternoon for sure!!

Catch up!

2008-08-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on...I'll try to catch up in a few pictures...

Allie rarely naps anymore, but we do have "quiet time" most days and this is one of the rare instances where she actually fell asleep...with a book on her head! I laughed for a long time after seeing this one!

Big boy Nathan enjoying his first bite of rice cereal. Photo taken by sister Allie! She was my awesome photographer while I fed him cereal for the first time!!

Cereal face...

Crafty Allie - sharpening our craft skills before preschool starts!

Trying to get the kids to pose together...very challenging!

Visit to Nana and Big James' house in Atlanta. We got to help Nana celebrate a birthday while there!! Yay!!

Cutie boy at Nanas

Cutie brother and sister at Nanas

Cutie Allie and Mukluk at Nanas

Showing off her dance attire! She is now in a ballet/tap class once a week, along with preschool and swim lessons! We are keeping busy and loving it!

Grandma is visiting right now, and luckily is leaving just in time...looks like we may get hit with a hurricane! Lets hope not - but if you dont hear from me for a while again on here.,..you know why!

The Animal Show

2008-08-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago we went to an "Animal Show", as Allie calls it, at the local library. Allies favorite animal was the really big spider, aka tarantula! Are you kidding me? I happen to enjoy the turtle! :)

Allie holding a strange bug in a jar...lovely...

Allies friend Kayleigh showing her some more bugs.

What do we eat afterward...bug cupcakes, what else!!

The Barasch contribution to the bug show. A spider from our own backyard. I thought we left these guys in Japan!

Nathan didn't enjoy the animal show with Allie and I. He stayed home with Dadda. But he is super cute, so had to add the picture. He already has his first tooth - arrived on his 5 month bday!

She can ride her bike...finally!

2008-08-11T07:21:00.001-07:00

When we first got to Florida, I thought Allie would pick up riding her new bike in no time. Well, she did not pick it up quite as quickly as we had hoped! In fact, she was not a big fan of bike riding when we first attempted back in February. But low and behold, with a little patience on my part, we officially have a bike rider!! She loves it!

Splash Park!

2008-08-05T04:53:00.001-07:00

What do you do when your 3 year old wants to play at the park but you live in Florida and the equipment gets dangerously hot? You go to a splash park! These are pictures from our trip there about 2 weeks ago!

After you are wet, then you head to the other play equipment, only problem is that now you slip and slide on it! Her new favorite challenge at the park - the monkey bars. Mom is not a fan...

Yes, she climbed to the top with wet crocks on...

Allie and her good friend Kayleigh

How Nathan spent the day...note the mini fan that attempts to keep him cool. Its actually works pretty good and I only paid $1.99 for it!!

Standing up at 4 months old?

2008-07-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Can it be true that both our children have stood on their own at the ripe old age of 4 months? You decide... :)

You guessed it...more visitors!

2008-07-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

The visitors are never ending, and we love it!! Greg's Grandparents and Aunt came for a visit for a few days from South Carolina! We had such a great time with them!!

Papa Great and Nathan

Papa Great, Gramma Great and Nathan

Enjoying the boat!

Checking out an F-16

Aunt Sue and Gramma Great get their turn to check out the jet

3 month pictures for Nathan!

2008-07-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

3 month pictures of the little man! A few cute brother and sister shots too!

A few more from the 4th!

2008-07-10T19:39:00.001-07:00

Thanks to our friend Cortney, we have a few more pictures to add from the 4th of July!!

Headed out on the boat to watch the fireworks!

Little man looking very fine with his crazy hair!

Our good friends Cortney (in the back), Jessica and her daughter Reagan enjoying the fireworks with us!

Allie wearing some fun glasses that make the fireworks look even better than they already were...is that possible?

Having fun with sparklers off the back of the boat!

Happy 4th of July! A little late of course...

2008-07-08T14:58:00.001-07:00

We had visitors again for the 4th of July weekend, so of course we are late with an update! But we LOVE visitors, so we aren't complaining! We had a great weekend!! Here are some pictures!! Enjoy!

Allie LOVES to feed her brother, but only for about 5 minutes. Then its someones elses turn...

Helping Nana make a strawberry pie...

Really getting into helping Nana make that pie!

Nana, Allie and Big James getting ready to watch fireworks from our boat!

Nathan liked the fireworks too - actually it was an amazing fireworks display and he really didnt flinch at all, which surprised me! He even slept thru part of it!

Nathan just loves his bath. Allie likes to help wash his hair.

This just started on the 4th of July - he sticks his tongue out constantly! Its so darn cute!

His smile is infectious!

See what I mean!! :)

Visitors!

2008-06-30T04:38:00.001-07:00

We've had a ton of visitors since we've moved to Florida, which is a welcome change since we had a total of 2 visitors in the entire 3 years we lived in Japan (my mom and Greg's sister Jenna and her family).

My mom visited for a month when Nathan was born!

Our good friend Chad, who was stationed with us in Japan, visited while he was in town!

Greg's mom and Jim visited over Memorial Day!

Greg's Dad and Linda visited in early June!

My mom and dad visited and actually watched the kids while Greg and I went to Vegas for a long weekend. Then they stayed a week longer to visit with us! It was great!

Our good friends Hijak and Amanda were stationed with us in Japan and just so happened to be in Alabama for a month before heading back to Germany! They were able to get away for a weekend for a visit to FL!

Family of 5!

2008-06-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, the family of 5 does include Mukluk - so anyone reading this don't be alarmed! I'm not sure how often I will update this blog, I guess for now I will shoot for once a week. Regardless, here are a few recent pictures for your viewing pleasure!

The 5 of us saying cheese for the camera

Our little fish jumping through hoops, literally!

Our strong little Nathan!

He is such a cute little man!

Allie and her good friend Reagan enjoying our boat!