BijanBlog

The kids are alright

We found an awesome farm today off of Rt 2 in Concord. Killer pumpkins. Many were over 150lbs.

Beautiful Day

  James, Sophia and Ellie 
  Originally uploaded by bsabet.

We made it to Honey Pot Hill and spent the morning apple picking, going on a hayride, eating carmel apples and then hanging around the pumpkin patch.

It was simply gorgeous today.

Kids had a blast. Grown ups too.

Here Comes the Sun

On Sunday we were hanging around Harvard Square before dinner. There was this guy singing his heart out - playing one beatles song after another. It was great.

Even Ellie & James were taken by the music.

I wish my Curve could have captured video instead of just this photo.

The best song of his mini-set was Here Comes the Sun. Lauren and I were singing right along.

Here's George's version.

Happy Birthday Ellie

Today is Ellie's birthday.

It seems like yesterday that we moved back to Boston. At the time Lauren was 5 months pregnant with Ellie. And today she turned 6.

We started the day with soccer. Her team, the Pink Poodles played the Yellow Ducks. I have to brag a little here. Ellie was fantastic. She was running and working it non-stop and had a bunch of goals. This breakaway turned into a goal too.

After Ellie's game we went to Sophia's game. Sophia is on the traveling team and they played Lincoln today. Our team won and Sophia had a great left footer in for a goal today too.

This afternoon we had a fun party for Ellie and her little friends. It was a beautiful day and everyone had fun.

When I tucked her into bed tonight she said , "thanks daddy for my party. i had a great day today. i love you. good night"

Parenthood can be exhausting at times. But tonight it's pretty darn sweet.

So, what does your dad do?

Lauren and I went to the Open House at Sophia & Ellie's school last night.

Sophia's teacher told us that many kids surprisingly don't actually know what their father or mother's profession is all about. That is, they may know that their dad or mom is a lawyer, but what does he/she do all day? Or what does a venture capitalist do all day?

He asked for volunteers to come in on a Friday morning and explain what we actually do. So, I signed up. I think it will be fun. My day is in a few weeks.

Maybe i'll have the kids come up with startup ideas. Like a junior version of Y combinator day by 8year olds. No holds barred.

One thing I learned from coaching 3rd grade soccer is that I better prepare for this. Or these kids will eat me alive.

I'll let you know how it goes.

School Vacation Advice Needed

Lauren and I waited too long and are now scrambling to find a warm getaway for school vacation week in Feb.

My friend Steve suggested Beaches in Turks and Caicos. But they are completely booked.

Anyone else have any recommendations? Looking for a place with awesome pools and beaches. Non-stop flight from Boston Logan aiport. (We are skipping Disney this year.)

Thanks in advance.

-the sabet family

Update: I received three recommendations from friends by email. Atlantis in the Bahamas, Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico and Caneel Bay in St. John. Very much appreciate the info. Keep the recommendations coming! (It's interesting that email is more comfortable than comments for many people.)

Ellie's message

My Ellie (5) lost another tooth yesterday.

She called my cell phone to let me know the exciting news. But I missed the call.

My voicemail is automatically transcribed by Simulscribe and sent as an email.

Here's the message I received. That Ellie is so cute.

~~~~~~~

From: mailbox@my.simulscribe.com <mailbox@my.simulscribe.com>
To: Bijan Sabet
Sent: Fri Sep 14 16:50:14 2007
Subject: SimulScribe from (978) 443-7181 at 04:43PM 09/14/2007
 
Hi daddy.  It's (Elli?).  Just wanted to tell you that my tooth came out.  I'm very excited.  So, I really wanna know when you come home tonight because I really have a special thing, it's called a tooth that I lost and mom pulled it out.  It was super fun and I was smiling and it was bleeding and that's it.  I love you.  Bye daddy.  Bye.  Bye daddy.  Bye daddy.  I love you daddy.  Bye.  Ciao.
 

 

Family Hike

The weather was perfect today. We went on a hike to a new spot that wasn't too far from our house.

Afterwards we had went over to our favorite place for ice cream. Nice way to end summer vacation.

Family walk

  Evening walk 
  Originally uploaded by bsabet.

Summer isn't over yet but I was looking at photos I've taken since the beginning of summer.

We've had a fun summer. And a busy one. Lots of getaways. A few vacation trips. Beach house. Seeing relatives. Friends. Parties. Golf. Tennis. Camping. Biking.

But the family walk on a warm summer evening is the best.

Letterboxing

Yesterday we went Letterboxing with our friends, Luke & Reiko and their kids. We had never done this before but it was a ton of fun. (photos from the day here)

It turns out Letterboxing is a worldwide activity. Here's a quick description from wikipedia:

"Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a logbook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp on their personal logbook, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's logbook — as proof of having found the box. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count"."

We love going on family hikes so this was a new type of hike. And the kids thought it was super cool. I'm sure we'll do it again. If you want to give it a try then goto Atlas Quest to learn how to get started.