A fun way to end 2007!

A spontaneous invitation from our friends, Mike and Cindi Bentz, led to a picturesque flight around the Puget Sound this afternoon in their plane. We took off from Renton Field and saw some of the most amazing views of Seattle we've ever enjoyed! Vince and Miles even got to take turns at the controls. What a memorable way to spend a sunny winter's day, not to mention a nice end to the year.

Merry Christmas!

What a fun Christmas! Knowing full well that we might regret the decision later, Miles received his first drum for Christmas this year. (We figured it was better than the spatulas and garbage can that he's been using up to this point!) Once he figured out that he should use the sticks--rather than the spatulas--he went to town. He received a different drum from his Uncle Phil and Aunt Tiffany and has figured out how to set up the two drums and two crash cymbals like a miniature drum set. Ahhh...can't you just hear the crashing and banging now?!?!?

Miles Visits Santa!

Recent Happenings

Here's what's been going on around
the Caruso house lately:

Miles got a "big boy" bed and is no
longer sleeping in a crib. He loves it!

A giant birthday card arrived all the way
from Ghana. Thanks, Sarah!
(Miles is saying "cheese" in the picture...
hence the strange expression!)

It snowed a little today. Very fun!
(Just glad it wasn't a day we have to
make up in June!)

A moment of thanks on Veteran's Day

To our family members who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces, we'd like to take a moment today to thank you. Happy Veteran's Day.

Veterans:
Ken Hewitt, US Coast Guard
Herbert Koellner, US Army Air Corps
A.K. Hewitt, US Army Air Corps
Walter Hewitt, US Army
Jerry Caruso, US Navy Reserves
Hank Caruso, US Navy
Joe Caruso, US Marines
Miles Hotchkiss, US Army
Peter Webster, US Air Force

Currently Serving:
Phil Caruso, US Navy
Chip Hewitt, US Air Force

Miles' official two year pictures

Miles Turns Two!

Happy Halloween!

Miles loved being a tiger for Halloween this year!

He got to wear his costume all day at Barb and Don's house and then we joined the Wales family (Jesca, Jason, Austin, Braden, and Hunter) for Miles' first trick-or-treating experience. Austin and Braden showed Hunter and Miles what it was all about and once the two little guys figured out that they would get candy at each house, they were psyched! (Although after a couple houses Jason did have to go get the wagon for them.)

By the end of the night, Miles had a VERY full bucket of candy that he didn't want to part with.

Score: Stairs - 1, Marcy - 0

Some of you know that I took a not-so-graceful fall down our stairs on Sunday.

I'll spare you the gory details, but after a trip to the ER I was referred to an orthopedic specialist. I've been hobbling around on crutches for the last couple days and have a very stylish (not really!) grey cast on my right foot. Yesterday's appointment confirmed that I do have a fracture and will have to continue with the walking cast for the foreseeable future.

At least I'm off the crutches.

Now....if I can just figure out how to drive...

A wet autumn day!

We spent Saturday morning getting soaked and having fun at Remlinger Farms! Steve, Kara, Kalynn, and Joella were over from Wenatchee, so we loaded up the kids and went with Grandma in search of pumpkins. Miles especially enjoyed the fire truck, riding the train, and his first pony ride!

Renton-Nishiwaki Exchange: Part 2

The second part of the 2007 Renton-Nishwaki Exchange just wrapped up with a ten day visit to Japan. Although it was definitely difficult being away from Miles and Vince for so long, it was an amazing experience and I had a wonderful time.

Some trip highlights included visiting elementary and junior high schools in Nishiwaki, touring Himeji Castle, visiting Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, shopping in Kobe, and an overnight trip with my host family to Kinosaki (famous for its hotspring baths). Many of the students were able to go to Osaka and Universal Studios Japan during the family days. However, the best part was certainly seeing our friends from August and having them show us around their hometown. (Among other fun facts, we found out that Nishiwaki is the geographical center of the country, which allows the city its claim to fame as the "Belly-button of Japan.")

I'm still fighting some serious jet-lag, but here are a few images from my trip. Hope you enjoy!

(If you move your mouse over the slide show you'll see the captions.)

Marcy's Home

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it home from Japan last night, safe and sound. Although, after a 24 hour journey home and with my body being 16 hours off, I am more than a little tired today...so I'm off to nap while Miles is asleep.

Stories and photos to come soon....

:) Marcy

Score: Miles - 0, Ground - 1

Miles is continually testing the law of gravity these days and this week ended up with some road rash to show for his efforts. The next day as we walked through the store with him, we got lots of knowing looks from other parents who knew--without even asking--exactly what had happened. Apparently, he's not the first kid on the face of the earth to faceplant into concrete.

He has also recently acquired a fondness for the word "no" and has a pretty impressive ability to go limp and fall to the ground when he’s not getting his way. It was bound to happen, wasn't it?

Miles is very good at being almost two.

Renton-Nishiwaki Exchange: Part 1

Earlier this month we welcomed guests from Nishiwaki, Japan. Renton and Nishiwaki have been sister cities for over 30 years, and a student exchange program between our two school districts has been going on for well over a decade. A delegation of two adults and 14 junior high school students stayed with Renton students and their families from August 16-August 25. While they were here we packed in as many fun activities as we could in Renton, Seattle, and the greater Puget Sound region. In October I will be traveling with one other adult and the 14 eighth grade students who hosted guests to visit our new-found friends from Nishiwaki.

My guest was Sawa Yamagami. Our whole family loved getting to know her. In fact, Miles became her little shadow, following her around the house all the time. I can't wait to meet Sawa's family in October.

Here are some of the fun things we did during their stay:

A highlight of the trip was attending a Mariner’s game and getting a tour of Safeco Field:

Back in Business

Trying on daddy's shoes.


Banging a drum at Renton River Days.

Good news! The camera is fixed. Now we can continue to barrage you with pictures of our daily goings-on. I know, I know...just try to hold back your excitement.

According to our unofficial, at-home measurements, Miles is now 2 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs in at 25 pounds. He's a lean, mean, talkin' machine. (Well, not really mean, but it's fun to say.) And the world is his drum. He loves to bang on everything!

For those of you who've been up nights worrying about it, you can rest assured knowing that Miles' hair has grown quite a bit since our experimental haircut in Colorado. In fact, it might even be time for another buzz with the clippers. (Hopefully not so extreme this time!) Keep your fingers crossed!

Oops!

Some of you may be wondering why we haven't updated the blog in a couple weeks. Well, as it turns out, digital cameras do not do so well when dropped on concrete. (Ouch!) So our camera was mailed off to the repair shop last week and we should have it back in "10-12 business days." We'll see.

In the meantime we're keeping busy with other things...Vince is enjoying his last couple weeks of free time before band rehearsals start up. He's been logging plenty of quality time on his new NCAA Football 2008 game and can't wait for football to start. I've been busy planning for our hosting responsibilities as part of the Renton-Nishiwaki Sister City exchange. (I'm co-leading a group of 14 middle school students on an exchange to Japan in October; our Japanese counterparts will be visiting here later this month.) Miles keeps us in smiling. His favorite phrases right now are "Oh, Man!" and "oops." It blows our minds to hear him put together short sentences and phrases.

Hopefully we'll have some new pictures to post soon!

The Carusos go to Colorado

On July 4th we headed to Colorado for 10 days. Our goal: to relax, take in a few sights, and catch up with old friends. We had a great time! Some trip highlights included a ride on the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak (14,110 ft), the Coors Brewery tour, a day at the Denver Zoo, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, lunch in downtown Denver, visiting Fort Collins and Pueblo, hanging out with friends, Miles' new haircut, and escaping the Seattle heatwave that struck while we were out of town.

Here's a little bit of our trip:

Sightseeing in Colorado

The Denver Zoo

Friends in Colorado

A quick get-away to Lopez Island

A couple days after school got out, several gals from work--Carrie, Sarah, Anna, Sheri, and I--were able to get away to Lopez Island for a little relaxation. We stayed at Carrie's family cabin. And although Miles and I were only there for one night, we sure had a great time. Plus, Miles got to take his first ride on a ferry!

The Caruso Family is off to Denver in a couple hours and will be gone for about 10 days. We're looking forward to some fun family time and will definitely have stories and photos to share when we get back.

We wish you all a fun and safe 4th of July!

A Day at the Zoo

A few pictures from our day at the Woodland Park Zoo. Miles especially loved the "sleeping roar" (known as a jaguar to the rest of us), elephants, gorillas, and penguins.

We're home!

As some of you know, we headed out last week to attend Phil and Tiffany's wedding in Virginia. We arrived home late last night (thanks again, Jes, for the ride from the airport!), got a few hours of sleep, and headed off to work and daycare today. We had a great time.

(Click on photos for a larger view.)

Look what Miles can do!

Miles turned 18 months on May 5. At his check-up he measured 32 inches tall (60th percentile) and weighed in at 23 pounds, 9 ounces (20th percentile). He's a bundle of energy and here are a few of our favorite (and not-so-favorite) things he has been doing lately:

• has moved up to a booster seat instead of a highchair
• clearly declares "all done" and raises his hands up in the air when he doesn't like something
• he tells people "bye-bye" after they've already left the room
• can identify stars, circles, and various barnyard animals
• he LOVES to read books
• helps buckle his car seat
• he helps feed Basie by carrying the cup of food over to the bowl and dumping it in...mostly
• pretends to smell his feet and says "Eewww, Yuck!" when we take off his shoes
• he loves to watch his Wiggles DVD while standing about 4 inches away from the screen and rocks out in his car seat when we play his Wiggles cd
• tells us when he wants to go upstairs, downstairs, and outside
• can walk up and down the stairs while holding a hand for help
• points out EVERY balloon he sees and says "That's a balloon." (It actually sounds a lot like "ats a boon"....not to be mistaken for "ats a poon" which means "That's a spoon.")
• can point out his ear, nose, hair, hand, foot, eyes, mouth, and tummy
• he likes to play with the basketball and calls any round object a ball
• loves fruit, pickles, macaroni & cheese, popcorn, and anything sweet
• goes crazy for bananas
• likes to walk up to Basie and say "Hi, Doggy!"
• claims things as his own by saying "MINE"
• LOVES to climb, especially in and out of chairs...over and over again
• likes to go down the slide at the park and squeals "weeee" when we push him in the swing
• he knows the DVDs go in the player and tries to put them in on his own
• has been known to stuff remotes, toys, and/or his hand in the VCR

Mostly he keeps us on the run and laughing. And every day we are amazed and entertained by his developing sense of independence and growing vocabulary. This parenting thing has turned out to be pretty fun.

Wishing you all a wonderful Mom's Day!

Enjoying a Little Sunshine