The Berliners

2012 was a whirlwind of travel for the Berliners. We've been so lucky to travel to a bunch of places and share that experience with Lucas. He's one lucky kid and a pro now at airports. He knows the drill of checking in at the airport, going through security, getting a bucket and putting his jacket in, walking through the security device. On our last trip home from Vancouver, the ladies behind us commented on how he seemed to know what he was doing. He even got a bucket for them. He's also learned to carry his own boarding pass and passport which he proudly shows at the gate.

2012 we've been on 18 planes and 3 trains, travelling to 13 cities WITH a 3 year old! For us, that's a huge accomplishment and it can be done with a preschooler. There are times when it's challenging, but you just go with the flow (drink lots of wine), enjoy and cherish all the fun moments (which there are plenty!!).

Some travel highlights from the year...

Jan - Vancouver

First time Lucas saw snow! Sledding at Grouse Mountain, he went down one time with Todd but they fell off their board, so he wasn't keen on going again. He did love throwing snowballs and making snow angels.Vancouver Pics & Post

Feb - Oahu, Hawaii

Stayed at the Disney Aulani Hotel, where they were filming the Kelly Ripa show. Sat in the audience, saw a bunch of celebrities, lounged in the lazy river with our floaties. Lucas woke up every morning wanting to go into the pool and ocean. "let's go to hawaii" as he would say. We also attended Helena & Kevin's wedding in Waikiki. Hawaii Album Link

Spring - Europe

On our way from San Francisco to London!

London Eye

Big Ben

Tower of London

West Hamstead Flat we rented.

Lucas fell asleep in the stroller so we went to an English Pub.

Hanging out in Park in front of Buckingham Palace

London Bridge Boat ride

We took the Eurostar to Belgium. First stop was Brugge the town of Belgium waffles, beer and chocolate.

Canal ride with daddy.

Climbing up the Belfry Tower

View of Brugge

One of the many chocolate stores

We took a train to Brussels and stayed for 1 night before we hopped on the plane to Barcelona, Spain. It was such a rainy day that we only made it out to the center of town.

Todd lugged this with us on the trains. Got big muscles from it.

We flew from Brussels to Barcelona and rented a car to drive to Roses (Catalonia), where our friends lived and where our friends Agnes and Patrick were getting married.

Rented a little car to get us around. Todd liked driving manual.

Castle in Costa Brava.

Farmhouse we stayed at.

Lucas hanging out in the fields.

Sunset in Costa Brava

Overlooking the mediteranean sea

Gaudi Musuem

Wedding we attended in Roses, Spain. Beautiful bride Agnes.

Lucas & Trevor hanging out in front of the Dali Musuem.

My friend Gertrude & Xavi's baby. She lives in Spain.

Hiking up to see a castle.

Barcelona - Fountains everywhere

Barcelona - churches everywhere.

June - Vancouver & the Dong's Visit SF
Back to Vancouver to visit family and friends and attend Edward & Debbie's wedding. We also celebrated Father's Day with Todd & my Dad at the Keg Steakhouse.

Todd very happy on Father's Day with his Lobster & Steak.

Lucas & Nikolas

Granville Island

Ferry Ride in Granville Island

Granville Island Public Market

We love it when the Dong's come visit us from Vancouver. Jen and Juliet and her family always visit us in San Francisco at least twice a year and we have so much fun together. We always manage to do so much with the kids and when we look back, how did we do it?

Happy Hallow Park, San Jose

Walking in our neighborhood Noe Valley. Coffee & Playground.

Dolores Park

Cable Car Musuem

Chinatown

Golden Gate Park Paddle Boat ride

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

Bi Rite Ice Cream

PPQ Crab Night

July - Los Angeles, A Bollywood Wedding
We attended Todd's grade school friend's wedding, Raj & Jaspreet in beautiful Malibu. Such a colorful, festive and happy occasion. I felt like I was in a Bollywood movie with the dresses, decor, dancing and flowers. Our friends had it a their friend's estate in Malibu which had a stunning view. Lucas sat through the 4 hour morning ceremony. Thank goodness for ipad!

After Party in Santa Monica

We also spent some time in Santa Monica, where Lucas won the impossible ring toss. We brought back a huge turtle, twice the size of him!

Malibu Beach

Hollywood!

Griffith Park

August - Napa with Poh Poh
My mom had never been to Napa before so Lucas and I decided to take her. It was a beautiful sunny day which started with lunch al fresco, and then off to wine tasting.

Lucas had grape juice while we had a flight of tastings.

December -Turks & Caicos
Such a beautiful place and the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to, Providenciales is the island we traveled to. It's known for it's beautiful beaches, resorts and diving (3rd largest barrier reef in the world). The island is located southeast of Miami, Florida, just below the Bahamas chain and just to the east of Cuba and Dominican Republic and Haiti. It's was quite a trek for us to get there, 12 hours of travelling time but worth it.

Our daily schedule consisted of hanging out in the pool, making lunch and the rest of the afternoon at the beach, and then dinner out. Every morning Lucas woke up asking "can we go tot he pool/beach now?". They drive on the left side of the road so Todd got a kick driving the rental car over their dirt roads. It's not a large island and only a few main paved roads, 1 large grocery store and tons of banks (oddly tons of Canadian banks) with their main industry tourism. We really enjoyed the boat ride which took us snorkeling and beach hopping. The captain and his crew were so much fun , playing reggae music, dancing, drinking, snorkeling. Their main delicacy is conch, and Todd and some others went diving for, which ended up being our lunch for the day. We also celebrated Lucas' 4th birthday while we were there - cake, ice cream and the beach. Lucky kid. Writing this, I'm already missing the place (minus the scary mosquitos!). Full album here

Dec - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Vancouver!
When we got back from the Turks, Lucas and I hopped back on another plane to Vancouver the very next day to an entirely different climate. Last year, our family and friends came to San Francisco for Christmas so this year we celebrated in Canada. We also welcomed our new nephew Aaron, who is the cutest button with so much hair! We spent time with family, friends, ate till we couldn't anymore and caught a few movies too (thanks to babysitting). We also threw Lucas' 4th birthday bash in Vancouver - another post.