The kids are alright
We found an awesome farm today off of Rt 2 in Concord. Killer pumpkins. Many were over 150lbs.
Beautiful Day
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
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.
Summer camp
The girls finished camp today. They had an absolute blast.
This camp was a big hit with the kids. It was beautiful place.
The horses were their favorite part by far. They went riding every day. And they also learned how to take care of horses too.
Car Wash
It's not kind to mother earth and I know we used up way too much water.
But today the kids wanted to wash the cars. I filled up a few buckets, connected the hose and then watched them have the time of their lives.
Dolphins visit
Yesterday afternoon we were hanging out on the beach and we saw a whole bunch of dolphins come right by our house.
My brother in law, Brian, took a bunch of photos fortunately.
Check out how close they are to the shore.
The kids were going crazy with excitement. And so was I.
Good day at the beach
We are at beach with our family, lauren's sister's family and Nana this week.
The waves were fantastic today. Lots of body surfing, boogie boarding.
Tomorrow I gotta try my nephew Timmy's skim board
To the beach
We are getting ready for our beach vacation - leaving tomorrow and out until Aug 5th.
Bikes, golf clubs, running gear, kids stuff and the kitchen sink are coming along.
Light blogging and even less email (if any).
But I'll be twittering away and I'll probably upload a bunch of vacation pix to flickr
Back from Maine
We had a fantastic vacation up in Maine for the past 4 days. Spent a lot of time hiking, biking, eating and swimming.
I'm glad we made the trip. This is Ellie at Cadillac Summit. Here's a link to all of the photos from the trip.
Acadia is pretty sweet.
Acadia National Park
We are going to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor in Maine. Tomorrow through Sunday.
I'm really looking forward to it. It's supposed to be a beautiful place.
Blogging will be light. But I'll probably be twittering so check out my twitter badge on the right sidebar or here is my profile page on twitter. And I'm sure I'll upload a photo or two to flickr during the trip.
Beautiful Summer Day
Today was gorgeous in Boston.
We took the ferry over to the islands. We had never been there before but it was much fun. First we went to George Island, took a tour of Fort Warren and heard all about the lady in black legend.
After lunch we then took a ferry over to Lovell Island and hung out at the beach. Total blast. A few hours later and we randomly ran into our neighbors and their kids.
After returning back to Boston we walked over to the North End and had dinner at Giacomo's. The spicy calamari was awesome. It was worth the wait.
Beautiful summer day with the family.
Vonage woes
My parents had been Vonage customers for over a year.
They had lots of service quality problems but they kept it going.
Finally they switched a few months ago to Cablevision's telephone service. They had their number ported over. Vonage kept billing them.
This afternoon my mom called to cancel the Vonage service. They said they couldn't because the phone was in my dad's name.
So my dad calls this evening. After talking to a variety of customer service agents and endless hold times, it ended up taking him an hour and twenty minutes to cancel his Vonage service. Unreal.
Vonage is in trouble. The stock has dropped over 80% since their IPO. Lawsuits with Verizon and Sprint aren't helping.
But horrible customer service like this experience is far worse than any lawsuit. Word travels fast.
New Charles River Run
This morning we went to go cheer on Lauren and two of her friends in the New Charles River Run in Cambridge.
She did great.
We were all cheering her on. You can see Sophia in the foreground.
Babe Ruth's house
We went on pretty decent family bike ride today.
Lauren had James on the back basket
Sophia was on her bike
Ellie was on our trail bike hitched onto me
And we rode by the Babe's old house.
C'mon Babe. We need your help. Our team is 10.5 games behind those damn Red Sox.
First day of summer
Met the kids after work yesterday at the pool
James enjoyed the party at the club to celebrate the first day of summer. that kid has a sweet tooth. wonder where he picked that up from.
And here is my Ellie (5) training for summer Olympics 2016
Weekend in NH
Every summer we go away with our friends, the Jorgensen family, for an extended weekend. Luke and Reiko are our friends from undergrad. Their 3 kids are adorable and about the same ages as our three kiddies. It's pretty cool to see our kids friendships develop with each other.
This weekend we went up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire (ok, green can be as beautiful as brown). The White Mountains are just a few hours north of Boston. Beautiful country.
Friday we explored and had lunch at Otter Rock along the Kangamangus. Saturday we went to Story Land. And today we went hiking at the Lost River Gorge. That was my favorite. Lots of great caves and cool waterfalls. This cave was the hardest and most fun.
Awesome fathers day weekend. Great getaway, great friends, great memories.
Another great soccer season
Sophia's soccer team finished up today. They actually have one more game but we are going to miss it.
We had a blast. The girls have improved a ton. And they are a fantastic group of girls. I also enjoyed coaching with Dave and Chris.
Today we had some great passing and tons of hustle. Sophia had a sweet left footer for a goal. Nice way to end the season.
Without training wheels
We took off Ellie's training wheels a couple of weekends ago but didn't really get much practice time.
So yesterday we went out to practice. Ellie was pretty nervous and she wanted me to run next to her in the beginning. Then it just clicked and she got it. I'm glad I had my camcorder.
She was on cloud 9. We were so proud. Sophia and James were cheering for her too.
Weekend in Long Island
We are visiting my parents in Long Island for this memorial day weekend.
The weather is amazing and we are having fun playing tennis, bbq and hanging with grandma and grandpa.
I uploaded a bunch of photos today to flickr.
Wii are family
We have had Xbox and PS2 for years.
Those machines only get a workout when my nephews come over. Usually Kevin destroys me or I get a break once in awhile and take him at Madden 200x.
Then we picked up the Nintendo Wii
Howard, Lindsay and howard's son are hilarious in this Wallstrip show covering Nintendo and the Wii. So funny.
Wii are having fun
Last month I tried the Nintendo Wii for the first time.
It was a total blast. I wanted to get one for our house but it's been sold out everywhere. And I really didn't want to overpay on ebay.
On Friday Lauren and I went to a fund raiser. The first item auctioned off was the Wii
I won the it and we are having so much fun (yeah, I overpaid but it went to a good cause :)
Sophia's favorite so far is baseball as the photo shows. Mine is tennis. Ellie loves boxing. Lauren just smiles at me.
New blogger in the family
My brother Amin is a doctor in Maryland
I've encouraged him to start blogging since he's super passionate about photography and other stuff.
He started today with 3 posts. I liked his review of a new lens he recently picked up.
If you are into photography and related gear than you should check out his blog and photos.
A note from sophia
Sophia dropped this note off on my desk at home today before running outside.
She wanted me to refresh her playlists on her ipod.
She's 8.
Translation:
To Daddy
iPod-
-Hannah Montana
-Wake up on a Saturday night (by Hilary Duff)
-Jessica Simpson
[on the second page was]
-Ashley Tisdale
-I do anything you want me to (she meant "Sundress" by Ben Kweller)
Soccer season underway
Spring means many things to me
One of my favorite signs of spring is watching the girls play soccer
Sophia is in 2nd grade and it's amazing how much faster and stronger they have become since the fall season.
Today, Sophia's team played the Orange Popsicles.
Great game today. Good passes, great goals and lots of action. Here she is (blue, #1) making her move.
Ellie's season started this weekend as well.
Her group is the 5 year old girls bracket where they run like mad, smile a lot and kick it everywhere. This photo of their silly faces about sums up the joy of 5 year old soccer
James is a genius
We were all getting a kick out of James latest discovery last night.
Happy Birthday Oliver
My nephew Oliver is 4 today.
What a big boy.
love,
bijan, lauren, sophia, ellie and james
Happy Birthday Sophia
Our Sophia is 8 today. That was too fast.
Here's a 4 minute video with photos from her first weeks all the way to recent week. Lauren noticed that most of the photos here were taken when she was much younger.
I guess I still think of her as my little girl. I probably always will
An afternoon at the playground
We took the kids to a local playground after lunch today.
The girls made some new friends, played an extended version of tag and james thought he was so cool on the big slide.
More pictures here.
Happy Birthday Mom
It's my mom's birthday today.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Heartbreaker
Our youngest daughter, Ellie, has had the same stuffed bunny since she was 1. She's now 5 (and a half she'll tell you). And she's been sleeping with this bunny every night.
Well it's starting to fall apart. And I thought she didn't care.
But when i tucked into bed tonight I found a note under her pillow. She must have asked Sophia to write it.
It said "Dear Bunny Fairy, could you please bring me a brand new bunny to sleep with. Love, Ellie"
This girl breaks my heart.
Webkinz craze isn't slowing down
Our kids first introduced us to Webkinz in December. I blogged about it then.
Well my kids aren't bored of it yet. They now own more pets and have more stuff going on in their virtual Webkinz world than ever. Their buddy lists are booming. I'm sure they would spend more time and money on this if we weren't setting limits.
Todays NYT describes the Webkinz craze. I like the idea of marrying physical products with online services. In the Webkinz case there is a very light integration between the virtual and real world.
I think we will see more toys and CE products that have a closer relationship to their online counterparts.
It's inevitable. And it's exciting to think about the possibilities.
Little James
Recent picture of our little one next to me and Lauren
Kids in b&w
I've first got the shutterbug in college when I took my first photography class. I loved spending time in the darkroom making photos and experimenting with light. I've since traded in my analog gear for digital gear but still love it more than ever. But I'm not very good. I'm still a hack.
Last month we had a real photographer take some photos of the kids. I thought they came really nice. Here is one of my favorites.
Happy birthday Amin
Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Amin!
How not to talk to your kids
My friend Ana sent me an email this morning and included a link to a recent article about the powers and peril of praising your kids too much.
It's an interesting article and definitely worth a read. I don't agree with how it skims over some important questions. And I would hate to see parents read this too quickly and goto the opposite extreme. That isn't the point. The article and corresponding research is really about how to praise - not if.
Some points are obvious but I find myself guilty of much of this.
Hopefully I'll figure this out. I'm learning every day.
Crazy Love
Lauren and I were married 12 years ago today. We met in undergrad actually but ended up dating years later.
We are Van Morrison fans. Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket fame does a great cover. Here's Crazy Love
Happy Anniversary Lauren.
Snow Angels
We finally got some snow in New England this week. Kids are digging it. They even got a snow day this week.
I took a few pictures of the girls and James today with my new killer telephoto lens.
More Nephews
My brother's kids are so cute. Recent photo of Oliver showing his kid brother some fancy moves.
Happy Birthday Kevin
Wishing my oldest nephew a very happy birthday today.
And many more Kev.
38
Today is my birthday.
Having a birthday at the end of a vacation week with my family feels good. And this song feels right.
In My Life by Richie Havens.
I love the original by John and Paul but this cover by Richie Havens is pretty special to me.
Anyway, I hope you like it as much as I do.
Aloha from Florida
The sun was out today and we went swimming this afternoon. Swimming in February outside is good for the soul.
This evening we went to the Polynesian Resort for the Disney Luau. It was a bit cheesy but there was one guy who did some amazing tricks twirling torches.
Overall it was extremely highly entertaining for the kids. Afterwards they danced all the way home.
A day at the Magic Kingdom
We spent the entire day at the Magic Kingdom today. From the time the park opened to the closing fireworks show. Fun and busy day. Meals with the characters, fun rides, parades and other activities.
Sophia's favorite was Splash Mountain (she did it 3 times). Ellie's favorite was Thunder Mountain. Lauren was a fan of Space Mountain. James loved the Dumbo ride. My favorite today was the ice cream after dinner.
I love this photo because somewhere (I think at my parents house) there is a photo of me and my brother taken 30+ years ago at DisneyWorld in a similar pose. I gotta find it.
Lots more photos from the day on my flickr photostream.
Disney World vacation - Day 1
We are having a ball at Disney. Last night we were all in the mood for sushi. We had dinner at Kimonos. The food was excellent and the service was really good.
Today we had a character breakfast and then spent the day at SeaWorld. The weather is a bit cool (62 degrees) so the park was pretty empty which was very nice. Sophia and Ellie did the roller coaster about 6 times in a row. James didn't go on any rides today but he loved all the people watching and had fun watching the various shows we went to.
Kids are having a blast and so are we.
Balance
I've been wrestling with life balance forever. Sometimes I feel like I'm winning and other times I feel like I'm losing. But I know the melody I'm going for and I'm trying to stay in tune. (disclaimer: to the person I was IMing with at 2am about work last night please don't turn me in)
One of my favorite things about blogging and reading blogs is the honesty and transparency that exists in the written word. The insight is powerful. Especially when it's from someone that you like and respect.
Brad had a great post about life balance a few years back. At the time I didn't know Brad but I remember reading this post and bookmarking it. The honesty and insight was moving. And since then I've gotten to know Brad and it's even more helpful to me.
I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow for a week. Kids are excited and it will be fun to spend so much time with them and Lauren. And less time with my work. I'll probably still blog from the trip but less frequently.
More skiing
Girls had their 2nd lesson today and by lunch they took their first chair lift ride with the instructor. So I grabbed my skis and we all skied the afternoon at Nashoba Valley Ski. Lots of sunshine, snow and smiles.
It's going to be really fun when James gets a little older so the whole family can enjoy it together.
Irish night out
My irish/italian wife was itching to hear live irish music. So last night we went to The Burren in Davis Square, ordered a few pints ofGuinness and enjoyed some irish music. Lively crowd, happy music. It was really fun.
Afterwards we had a late dinner at a place next door called Martsa on Elm. The food was just okay (probably wouldn't recommend it) but 20 minutes into our meal Lauren noticed that we were the oldest people in the restaurant. Sobering.
Beautiful Day
While James was hanging out in the lodge, Sophia and Ellie took their first ski lessons today. We took them to a little place less than an hour from our house.
We couldn't get them off the mountain. They loved skiing. It was such a thrill watching them get better throughout the day. Sophia already gets a lot of the basic technique and keeps her weight nicely forward. Ellie is our daredevil. Slow is not an option for her.
Here's a video of her before lunch.
Freaky weather - part 2
It was actually 70 degrees in Boston today. Unbelievable.
We walked everywhere and spent a bunch of time in the Public Gardens. Kids had a ball. People were wearing shorts and even the cherry blossoms were blooming.
Few pictures on our flickr account from today.
That was quick
Advice Needed: Disney World vacation
Our family is going to Disney World in Feb. First time. We just booked & confirmed the hotel & airfare last night.
Thanks to Lauren we have a plan/schedule mapping out the days we are going to the Magic Kingdom, MGM and SeaWorld.
But we need dinner recommendations. Any suggestions/advice would be great!
ps: my kids don't know about this trip so please don't tell them.