Celebrating 10 years of marriage – Kauai, part 2

Part 2 is days 5-7 of our amazing 10 day trip. Day 5 was May 17th, the day of our 10th anniversary, and we celebrated it in style!

Celebrating our 10th anniversary

We started the day with a tour at the Steelgrass Chocolate Farm, where they grow a number of tropical fruits and vegetables, including, of course, the cacao tree. The tour includes a chocolate tasting (yum!) where you blind sample 11 different dark chocolates and try to identify their flavor notes - similar to a wine tasting.
From there, we drove up to the North Shore for a quick stop at the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge and then on to the St. Regis resort in Princeville where we had a couples massage at the spa and an amazing anniversary dinner at the Kauai Grill, watching the sun set over Hanalei Bay from our table while we dined.

Proud owners of 2 beautiful pieces of art

Day 6 was a low-key day trip to the south side of the island. We shopped the art galleries in Hanapepe and picked out a couple of beautiful pieces as anniversary presents for ourselves. Day 7 was a rainy day, and we were back up at the North Shore where we drove all the way to the end of the road to Ha'ena State Park.

This link to the photo album will take you to the first picture of Day 5 at the chocolate farm. Enjoy - aloha!

Celebrating 10 years of marriage - Kauai, part 1

 At the beach of our hotel in Kapa'a

To celebrate our 10th anniversary in May, Joe and I took a wonderful 10-day trip to the site of our honeymoon: Kauai, Hawaii. We had an amazing time (of course), exploring the island that we both fell in love with 10 years ago. There are some activities we repeated - the same luau, visited some of the same restaurants, visited our favorite beach (what I call "my happy place") - and some things we tried for the first time. We took a zillion pictures, or so it seems. I've narrowed them down to our favorites and have posted pics and video clips from the first 4 days of the trip in the Kauai - May 2013 album (hover over the pic to see the title/description). Enjoy our little piece of paradise with us. The rest of the pictures will be coming soon. Aloha!

It's a Small World - but it's a lot of pictures!

At the Magic Kingdom
with Grandma and Papa

In November, the Vandermark and Belousek families took our annual family vacation together; this year was a trip to Disney World. We timed the trip so that we could catch the very end of Epcot's Food and Wine Festival, where we grazed our way around the world (yum!) and the very start of their Christmas/Holiday festivities. We had a fabulous time, of course - so many fun things to see and do! One of the new things we tried on this trip was The Pirates' League, where Joe, Cole, Zach and Alex all were transformed into pirates, even taking a pirate's oath!  We also made our away down to Kissimmee, FL, where the new Legoland amusement park opened up; some very cool things to see there.

Our fearsome pirate crew

I take a lot of pictures normally, but I went really camera-happy on this trip.   There are lots of fun ones in the WDW - Nov 2012 photo album, including interactions with Disney characters, pictures captured on the rides, all the cool rides and exhibits at Legoland, some cool videos from the Osborne Christmas lights and a stunt show at Hollywood Studios, and of course, our crazy pirates.

Fun in the California sun - Part 2

The happy couple celebrates their union

 The remaining photos from our trip to LA have been added to the LA/Katie's Wedding album. They include a stop at one of Joe's favorite parks as a child, the amazing Heritage Park in Cerritos with an island that contains a playground hidden in an 18th century Boston town.

Also in the album are pictures from a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and a stop at Sunset Beach for some play time in the ocean and on the sand.

But most important of all - and the reason for our trip - was the beautiful wedding of Katie and Iose. After a ceremony at the LDS Temple earlier in the day, Katie and Iose exchanged rings in the lovely Gibbs Butterfly Park, followed by a reception at their church, where a mix of American and Samoan traditions celebrated the happy occasion in fantastic style.

Fun in the California sun - Part 1

With Katie and Iose at the
entrance to Disneyland

The Vandermark crew took a trip out to LA in mid-July to celebrate the wedding of Joe's sister Katie and her now-husband, Iose. We had so much fun at the wedding and during the rest of our time there, visiting and playing with the whole family.

The first batch of photos from the trip in the LA/Katie's Wedding album include a day at "the happiest place on earth" (aka Disneyland) with Katie and Iose and some video game fun at the Chuck E Cheese (check out Z&A's jam to "Slow Ride" :)). More pics from the trip, including Katie and Iose's beautiful wedding, are coming soon!

Family trip to DC

Dressed up and ready to celebrate

We took a family trip to Washington DC over New Year's to celebrate the wedding of Joe's sister Mary Ann and her new husband, Nelson. We had a wonderful time at the wedding, spending time with much of Joe's family - such a good time, in fact, that we actually forgot to pull out our camera so we'll have to wait until we order some of the official pictures to post them. In any case, it was a lovely evening, and we are so happy for them!

While we were in town, we did get a little sight-seeing in, spending a day at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum with Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie and Uncle Iose. The museum is a kid's dream (big and little), featuring some of the biggest milestones and best artifacts of the history of air and space travel. We also took a brief walk down the National Mall to see the Washington Monument (from the outside, since the building is still closed). See the pictures in the Washington DC album. We're looking forward to our next trip out to DC when we can take the time to really explore all the other great landmarks and museums that DC has to offer.

Dells Part 2

On the train and ready for a ride

Continuing on from the last post... The following day, we spent a day at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, which was the winter headquarters of the Ringling Bros. circus for many years. Zach and Alex even got to be *in* one of the circus shows, staring as an elephant and a tiger!

That evening, Joe and I escaped..er... went out for date night, enjoying a wonderful dinner at a cafe in downtown Dells and then playing some mini golf.

The next day was "Train Day" with lunch at Buffalo Phil's, which brings out drinks and food to guests via model trains. When they're not carrying food, they deliver smiles with favorite character toys and gadgets like bubble makers. There's also an arcade there, so we had some fun playing games after lunch. From there, we visited our favorite train museum - the Riverside & Great Northern Railway, where Papa and Joe are members.

The final day of the trip, we had fun playing around our resort - go-carts, mini golf (indoor and outdoor) and the outdoor waterpark. We did it all!

Check out all the rest of the pictures in the Dells 2011 photo album .

Dells Part 1

The Vandermarks with Paul Bunyan

The 5 of us took a fantastic family trip to the Wisconsin Dells in August with Grandma Pat and Papa Bob. We stayed in the Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort, where we were able to enjoy all sorts of fun things - indoor and outdoor waterparks and mini golf, go-carts, arcade games and more. We also visited some of our favorite Dells attractions: the Ducks, the R&GN Railway trains, Mt. Olympus amusement park and Circus Museum.

We took a ton of pictures so I split them into batches. The first couple of days, including some swim time and arcade games at the resort, a WI Duck tour, rides at Mt. Olympus and dinner at Paul Bunyan's Shanty, have been posted to the Dells 2011 photo album. Enjoy!

When you wish upon a star...

When last I wrote, it was winter, still cold and snowy, and Cole had just celebrated his 15th birthday.  Now, it's already almost the end of June, and Cole is beginning to drive, having just acquired his permit this week (yikes!).  It's so cliche, but wow, time flies!
During that time span, the usual comings-and-goings have occurred, but there have been two things of note.  First is a big change for Zach and Alex - rather than having a nanny, they now attend the preschool/daycare at my office.  Some mornings are a little tough and they definitely miss seeing Debbie all the time, but they are really having a great time with their new friends and teachers at the "school at Mommy's work."  They do a lot of fun things there - they even had a petting zoo there this week and learned to make ice cream from Ben and Jerry's a couple weeks ago (I was a little jealous).  And best of all, I've even gotten to have lunch with them a couple times - it's really nice having them so close!

A family portrait with Minnie and Mickey

The other big event for us was a special trip with Grandma Pat and Papa Bob: Zach and Alex's first visit to Disney World. We had a great time - the boys are already talking about our next trip to see Mickey. :) They particularly enjoyed the character meals, where your favorite characters walk up to your table for pictures and autographs.  My favorite moments of the entire trip were when Alex got to meet his beloved Eeyore and Zach, his dear Pooh Bear - it's that magic, seen through the eyes of two little boys, that Disney is all about.  We of course took a ton of pictures to capture all the fun, and you can find them in the Disney World - May 2010 photo album.

Alex and Zach practice ball
control by kicking around the
cones while Daddy watches

In other news, the Preschool Sports season has started again for the 3- and 4-year-olds. The kids played soccer (or some chaotic version of it) for the first two weeks. They've got team pictures next week and then move on to teeball in July. Zach and Alex are the Green team again, although they'd be quick to tell you it's the Dark Green team, not the Lime Green like last year.  And best of all, they have "Coach Daddy" on their team, as Joe is one of the team coaches; Joe is loving the opportunity to be involved in their sports!  Pictures from the season so far are in the May - June 2010 photo album.

In addition to all the Disney pics, here are all the other photo albums from the past few months, since I have lapsed on posting them:

March - April 2010 - Karen's birthday, fun in the kitchen, a day at the zoo
Easter 2010 - egg hunt, Easter gifts, egg decorating
Target Field - April 2010 - Joe went to Game #3 at the new park with our friend Phil
Kwo Ue's birthday party - a great day with friends
May - June 2010 - playtime at Chuck E Cheese, Joe's birthday, Father's Day and Preschool Soccer
Twins Game - May 2010 - date night at the game with Phil and Heather

A family stay-cation

A family portrait in a beautiful garden

I have to say, I'm really not a big fan of the term "stay-cation" - it's just too much of a trendy buzzword for my taste - but it is a word that pretty well describes what we did for our vacation this year. Instead of going to the Dells like we did the last couple years, Grandma Pat thought it would be a good idea to just hang out in town and enjoy some of the fun things the Twin Cities have to offer.  We got to sleep in the comfort of our own beds (and save a bunch by skipping the hotel), which was nice especially for the boys.  So what did we do?

The first day was Papa Bob's birthday, so it was fitting that we spent the day at a train museum.  We went to the Jackson Street Roundhouse, where they have restored engines and cars of all kinds on display to give visitors a glimpse of life on the rails.  We even got to see the roundhouse in action as they brought an engine out to give visitors a ride on a real caboose.

The next place we visited was the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park at the Mall of America. Zach and Alex had a great time on all the rides - they are pretty fearless. One of the funniest moments happened on the Frog Hopper ride. As Zach was getting off the ride, his shorts caught on the seat and he ended up upside down with the shorts still hooked (I still can't believe they didn't come off!).  Amazingly, he thought it was hilarious - and so did we!  We managed to get a pretty good picture of that. :)

The next day we went to Como Park, which houses a zoo, a conservatory (both of which are free to the public), and an amusement park for younger kids called Como Town. It was the first time in a long time that any of us had been to Como, and we really had a good time.  Como has more of the traditional zoo animals than the MN Zoo, of which we are members and therefore go to a lot, which was fun to see.  Z&A loved the rides, of course, and can't wait to go back.

Then we had a low-key day.  Mom and I drove up to Fargo to shop at a specialty store there and see how campus had changed at my alma mater.  Joe and the boys were busy too, planting a new birch tree in our front yard.

The rest of the week looked like this: First, it was off to the Water Park of America (right next door to the Mall).  Our little fishes loved the slides in the kids' play area.  They also have some fun slides for the big kids too, as well as a lazy river and a place to surf (which we didn't try).  The next day, it was the Scott County Thresher Festival, where Z&A were in tractor heaven, and a stop at a park most here know as "Chutes and Ladders".  Our last outing was to Stages Theater to see their production of "The Wizard of Oz." This was the first live play Zach and Alex had seen, and they were completely enthralled, which was cool.

Check out the pictures of all the fun in the Stay-cation 2009 photo album.

Water and go-carts and trains, oh my!

A couple weeks ago, the 5 of us spent a week relaxing and playing at the Wisconsin Dells with Grandma Pat and Papa Bob. This year we stayed in a condo at the Chula Vista resort, which is located just a little north of downtown Dells right on the WI River. It was so nice to get away and spend time together as a family!

We had a fantastic time playing at the resort's indoor and outdoor waterparks, where they had all sorts of cool water slides for big and little kids. Unlike last year, Z&A were thrilled to play in the water - especially Alex, who seems to be a natural in the water (he was trying to swim on his own by walking on his hands). This made our time in the water a whole lot more fun. Cole really had a good time too - his favorite slide was the 8-story tall straight-drop body slide; he went on that over and over.

This year we also went on a tour with the Wis. Ducks, which takes you on a land and water tour in an old army vehicle called a Duck, drove go-carts at Riverview park, got in a little mini golf, and of course visited the Riverside & Great Northern Railway, where we got to visit with longtime family friends and train buffs, the Chmuras.

Check out the pictures from the trip in the Dells 2008 album in the Vacation gallery.

In unrelated news, check out the photos from a recent golf outing Joe went on for work. He and a couple co-workers decided to have some fun as a foursome and dressed up in costume. You can tell they had a great time. :-)

A family vacation to the Dells

We spent a week at the Wisconsin Dells at the end of July with Karen's parents at the end of July. Sadly, Cole couldn't join us for this trip, but we had a great time.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the condo at the resort, which was something all the grownups needed. The resort, Wilderness on the Lake, was really nice. They had some nice water play areas there, although the boys - particularly Zach - weren't too sure about it because they didn't like the spraying water. Alex warmed up to it after a while and really had a good time.

While they weren't too excited about the water, the boys loved the trains at the Riverside and Great Northern Railway, a organization that both Joe and Dad B belong to, and the deer park, a Dells institution where you can walk among and feed deer. They also had a blast at Paul Bunyan's, a family-style restaurant where we celebrated Dad B's birthday. Here Zach and Alex had corn on the cob and fried chicken on the bone for the first time - they really liked that and did really well. Zach finished one cob of corn and made a good dent on another!

Joe and I also got a little time alone and played a couple of fun rounds of mini golf.

Check out the Dells 2007 album in the Vacation album for all the great pics.

A family trip out west

At the beginning of the month, we took the three boys out to visit Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie, and Auntie Mary Ann in LA and Grandma Marilyn, Grandfather Dan, Great-Grandfather, and Auntie Amy in Tucson.

It was an interesting trip to say the least. I would highly recommend avoiding traveling with 2 small children when they are sick, teething, and overtired. Alex cried for about half the flight out to LA and a good part of the car ride out to Tucson. Both got treated for ear infections about halfway through the trip. We switched hotels after trying to put the boys down to sleep the first night in LA because of water problems and the need for a suite so we had a place to go when putting the little guys down (lucky for Cole, he stayed with Grandma Pam), and then they were up every couple hours. We took the boys on drives up the 605 to get them to take naps.

From a travel perspective, it was the trip from hell. But honestly, it was a fantastic trip. Cole had a great time going to the beach with Auntie Katie and Auntie Mary Ann - he found a huge shell there, the kind you rarely find on the beach. He played lots of great games and pool with Grandma Marilyn, Grandfather Dan, and Great-Grandfather. And Zach and Alex were able to meet Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie, Great-Grandfather, and Auntie Amy for the very first time. For as many challenges there were, it was worth every second of that to spend it with family.

Check out the photos from the trip in the LA and Tucson 2007 album in the Vacation album.

Vegas, baby, Vegas!

Joe and I just got back from a little weekend get-away to Vegas, and we had a fantastic time. We traveled with Mark Kantor, a poker buddy and former co-worker of Joe's, and his wife, Yvonne, and Rich Kanter (no relation to Mark), a long-time friend of Mark's, and his wife, Yukimi; we stayed at the beautiful Bellagio on the Strip. In addition to the obvious poker and slot machines, we saw the Blue Man Group (very unique show), toured the Strip, checked out the Ansel Adams show at the Bellagio's fine art gallery, and took advantage of the fabulous salon and spa (I had two massages, talk about being spoiled!). We didn't do too well at the casino, but hey, we had a great time!

Check out the pics we took in the Vegas '06 album in the Vacation gallery .

New Photos in the Photo Gallery

Lots of new pictures have been added, including:

Baby Vandermark x 2 - more from their first day to current
Albums of the baby showers
Our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii and other vacations
Lots of pictures in the Family album and the Friends album from the past few years
Additional pictures from our wedding

Joe's trip to Vegas

I spent the last weekend in Las Vegas with some friends and we had a great time milling about each casino playing a variety of games. Some of the games, including craps and Pai Gow I've never played before, while BlackJack, Slots, and Poker I've plenty of experience (good and bad). We didn't go to any of the big Las Vegas shows, maybe next time if/when the spouses come with us. I can't even tell you how much whiskey I drank, although I'd be willing to guess the casinos handed out well over $400 worth to me.

For those that don't know me all that well, Poker is one of my passions. If I could, I'd do it for a living. Some that know my level of play will tell you they think it's possible, but I don't think Karen would go for it ?. My most memorable moments during this trip were spent at the Belaggio.

I spent half the day on Saturday playing in their poker room. The place was bustling and I recognized some professional players, and among them, some of my favorite players. Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey were playing "heads up" no more than 10 feet from my table. I sat directly behind Marcel Luske (an entertaining gentleman, and extraordinary poker player) as he and several other pros were playing in a satellite tourney for an entry (and prize money) to the upcoming (next day) Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

I came back to the Bellagio Sunday afternoon to find a very long wait. As luck would have it, a $20-$40 Hold 'em table had just opened, so I decided to try that out. During the twenty-five minutes I played at that table, I played 4 hands and won them all. Shortly after my forth hand, my name was called for $8-$16 table and I decided to move (I feel more comfortable at that limit).

Grabbing my chips and filling nearly 2 racks (100 per rack, $10 chips), I headed to the cashier to get smaller valued chips and cash some in. I stepped away from the table started walking, while gazing down at my new fortune. As I made my way around the tables, I nearly bumped into someone. With a smile, he said something along the lines of "hey there partner, nice fresh chips you have there!". Looking up, I was surprised and in awe, that "guy" was Doyle Brunson, perhaps the most prolific poker player in the world. Next thing I know, I chatting with him and Johnny Chan (another famous Poker player) about Minnesota weather. Silly me.

While the entire trip was not only relaxing and entertaining, this little moment at the Bellagio is something that I will never forget.