Halloween 2011

Halloween 2011.  Are you sure its ok for me to take this?

ok good.  Because I really want it :-)

This year we had a few parties to celebrate Halloween.  Siena went as a puppy dog and absolutely loved her costume.  I was afraid she would not wear the hood but once she realized that she was a "woof woof" she was sold!

We kicked off Halloween weekend with our annual pumpkin carving at Mehdi and Rachael's.  Feriel took home the "best" pumpkin award but Siena and Baba sure did give it their all.



Our next stop for Halloween parties was trick or treating on California Ave. in Palo Alto.  Cousin Isabelle joined us for this one and the K9 Unit was out in full force.  We had the sheriff and her trusty canine watch dog.

This trick or treating was during the day and the temperature almost reached 80degrees!  Our puppy dog started losing her costume just a few trick or treat stops in.  The heat aside, the girls had a great time.  Siena had M&M's for the very first time and she could not be torn away from them.  Isabelle played games and showed off her athletic ability on the Bean Bag toss.

Our final party for Halloween was "Trunk or Treating" with the Marku cousins.  "Trunk or Treating" is a new twist on the traditional trek around the neighborhood to get candy.  Instead the kids all trek around the school parking lot and participating families have the cars backed in, decorated and stocked with candy.  Siena was a little skeptical at first but Zia Antonella helped her forge this unfamiliar territory.  In no time, she had the drill down and was in search of more M&M's!

Zia Antonella

Lydia and Siena

Cugini Marku

We finished up the night eating pizza and having cake to celebrate Mama's birthday!

End of Summer Fun!

We recently joined the Elks Club in Palo Alto and the best part of the club is the pool.  Siena and Baba have been taking advantage of the end of season warm weather we are experiencing and swimming as much as they can.  In addition to swimming, there is a whole lot of throwing going on in the pool too.  As you can see from Siena's face she is not at all bothered by this.  As a matter of fact as soon as she hits the water she is making the "more" sign for Baba.  

Ping Pong at the Elks

Its not just swimming at the Elks.  There is ping pong, monkey bars and even basketball. 

 Today we went for the first time to Bol Park here in Palo Alto.  There are 2 donkeys that live near the park.  Siena and her friend Oceane were mesmerized by these donkeys and had a blast feeding them through the gate. 

Oceane and Siena

We have really enjoyed the end of summer and beginning of fall this year.   The weather has been perfect.  Soon we will need our sweaters but for now its swimming and parks! 

Siena and Isabelle Monkeying Around

Since last summer when Isabelle moved back from France these 2 monkeys are thick as thieves.  Siena gets so excited to see her on the weekends.  As soon as I mention Isabelle's name she is eagerly waiting at the front door for her arrival.  We recently took a mini vacation to the mountains to celebrate the end of summer and Isabelle's start to "big girl school"....kindergarten at the Lycee.  They had a blast in the jet tub at the house.

Isabelle is already teaching baby Siena so many things....especially her love of books and reading.

Back in Palo Alto this weekend these 2 were having a blast shaking their bum and showing off their latest dance moves.

When these 2 cousins are together there is lots of laughter and plenty of "Regular Monkey" fun!

Our Summer Vacation

View from our house in Durres

We returned last month from our summer vacation to Albania and Italy.  This was Siena's first trip to our summer home on the Albanian coast in Durres.  The water in Durres is the Adriatic Sea and it was just beautiful this summer.  It was nice and warm and perfect for swimming.

The cousins at the beach

The best part of our trip was spending so much time with our family that lives so far away.  This was the first time Siena had seen her first cousin Majkell since she was only 3 months old.  He quickly became her best buddy and almost beat out Baba for being her favorite man to hang out with.

The Boardwalk 

After our long days at the beach sometimes we would walk over to the boardwalk in town.  They have lots of restaurants and rides.  Siena wasnt so crazy about the rides as you can see by her face here!

There was no shortage of ice cream on this trip.  Siena even started to recognize "a collori" (albanian for dessert) in no time.  The time that Siena was able to spend with Nana Milie, her cousins, Auxhe Sokol and Tesia Jana really improved her understanding of the language.  The whole family was thrilled and couldn't believe how much Albanian she understood.  I wish that was the same case for Mama...maybe one of these years Siena will teach me.
Even with the beautiful sea right outside, Siena's favorite activities were right at home with Nana Milie and Baba.  She was quite the little helper around the house.

She also had a blast in the hose in front of the house...

We took a break from the beach and flew to Venice for a short get away.  Nana Milie came with us and we visited with our cousins Mary, Leta and Marco.  It was very hot while we were there but we still had a great time visiting this beautiful old city.  Here is a picture of the whole family at the famous Piazza San Marco.

We all had a great time on our trip and enjoyed spending so much time with our family.  We wish we didn't have to fly over 12 hours to get there but it was well worth it once we arrived.  I hope Siena is able to spend many summers with Nana Milie and continue to learn the Albanian language and traditions (or should i say superstitions...and there are many!) :-)

My Gym

  

My Gym.  Palo Alto, CA

This morning was our last class at My Gym.  For the last few months, every Saturday morning Siena and I went to her class as she learned new skills and most importantly got to play!  I think one her favorite things at My Gym were all the balls.  There was a pool of balls, basketballs, big balls, little balls...you name it.  She loved throwing them and practicing calling them out..."bah".  

Without a doubt her second favorite thing in class was the trampoline!  Ever since her visit with Mamere and Paw Paw where she had her own personal jumpy castle, she loves to jump on the trampoline.  Sometimes it was hard to keep her in circle time to sing and dance because she loved to dart for the trampoline instead.

Here are some other fun skills that Siena was able to try out in class:

Balancing

Tumbling

Swinging

Climbing

Sliding

When we return from our trip this summer she will start her new activity on Saturday mornings...swimming!  We plan on giving her a head start at the beach in Durres this month.  Hopefully she will love the water like a little fish.  

A Few of her Favorite Things

Siena is becoming more verbal and expressive everyday.  She is also learning some simple sign language so her communication with us is really ramping up! Officially her first word is duck although it sounds something like "uk".  Here are a few of her favorite things as well as some new words.

BALL

Siena loves to kick, throw and now catch the ball.  Baba is hoping to teach her some tricks and really groom her to be a soccer player.  I think the jury is still out but she is already better than mama!

BUBBLES

We spent some time with Cousin Isabelle last weekend and blew bubbles for the first time.  Siena loved it.  Today was a perfect bubble blowing day so I took her outside with some bubbles to give it another try.  Not only did she blow her first bubble, but she also started saying the word "bubble"  while we were playing.  If you listen closely you will hear her say one of her first words....bubblebubble!

Perfecting her skill

BALLOON

This was another "new" thing for Siena.  She played today with a balloon that another Town and Country merchant gave her.  She had a blast chasing it and trying to catch.  We will have to work on this big word.

And last but certainly not least...one of her favorite things and favorite words...

BABA

Siena wakes up calling for Baba, she "calls" him on the phone when he is not around and just has a blast doing anything with Baba.  She loves to spend time in the back of Douce France eating and drinking and waiting for Baba to come play.  

Fresh Squeezed Juice for Siena at Douce

Monkey Business at Douce

The Places I've Been

 We leave in a few weeks to for our summer vacation to visit family in Italy and Albania.  I started thinking about all the places Siena has been...especially in just her first year.  She is quite a world traveler with an impressive passport already.

  Her first mini trip was when she was only 1 month old.  We went to San Francisco for a "staycation" to celebrate Baba's birthday.  I think most of the sites of San Francisco were lost on Siena but she sure did love the bathtub in the hotel room.

San Francisco, CA February 2010

  Her next trip was a big one...Louisiana and Albania! She was only 3 months old when we hit the road to introduce her to all of her family. Our first stop was Baton Rouge.  This is where Siena was baptized.

Baton Rouge, LA April 2010

 We stayed in Louisiana longer than we expected.  There was a huge volcano erupting and we could not fly to Albania until all the smoke and ash cleared.  While waiting we took a road trip to the beach.  This was Siena and Baba's first time to the famous Gulf Coast!

Gulf Shores, Alabama April 2010

Mama and Baba will never forget this trip.  Siena slept the longest she ever had in Pensacola, Florida.  I guess all the sand and water made her very tired.

    After many plane rides and long hours of flying, we finally made it to Albania.  Gyshi and Nonna met Siena for the first time.  While we were in Albania we visited Baba's hometown of Shkodra.  He took Siena to visit his famous lake.  One day he will have many stories to tell Siena about Lake Shkodra.

Tirana, Albania April 2010

Lake Shkodra, April 2010

  Finally we made it back to California.  We didn't stay long before the 3 of us took off for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  We relaxed, slept and went to the beach.

Cabo San Lucas, June 2010

After our trip to Mexico we stayed in California for a while but once the fall season came we were back on the road. 

In September we met Mamere and PawPaw in Orlando, Florida.  Siena stayed with Baba and her grandparents while Mama had a work meeting. They took advantage of the warm Florida weather and went swimming!

Orlando, Florida Sept. 2010

 Then in October we had a our big Raider football weekend in Denver, Colorado.  Even though the Raiders lost, I think this was Baba's favorite trip.

Denver, Colorado October 2010

We spent Siena's first Thanksgiving in lovely Las Vegas, NV with Nanan, Uncle Grump and Cousin Isabelle.  Who would have known that an 11 month old and a 4 year old could love Vegas so much. We even took a gondola ride thru "Venice" at our hotel. 

Las Vegas, NV November 2010

For Siena's first birthday in January,  we all flew to Raleigh, North Carolina.  Mama had to go for a work trip and the rest of the family tagged along.  We had a special birthday cupcake in our hotel room and while Mama was in meetings, Baba and Siena took a trip to the children's museum.

Raleigh, North Carolina January 2011

  Not too bad for just one year!  Mama and Baba love to travel and we hope that Siena shares that passion with us as she grows up.  We look forward to taking her to visit her "homelands" of Louisiana and Albania to learn more about her heritage but we also hope to show her many new parts of this wonderful world we live in. 

Gjyshi Kel

Nonna, Siena and Gjyshi April 2010

Last week we received sad news from Tirana.  Gyshi Kel had passed away.  Gyshi lived a long life and saw many things during his time in Albania.   Gyshi was a strong man both physically and in his mind.  He raised his 3 sons (Baba, Axha Sokol and Axha Alfred) to work hard and always stand strong for what they believed in.  Gyshi started working to help support his 7 brothers and sisters when he was only 8 years old.  He was driving a truck thru the streets of Shkodra when he saw Nonna on her bike.  He loved to tell us the story that the moment he saw her he knew she would be his wife.  That is the kind of determination that Gyshi Kel always had.  

Life was not always easy for Gyshi and Nonna.  During the years of communism they both had to work long hours and even wait in line for food to feed the family.  Gyshi always taught his sons that no matter what the most important thing in life was your family.  

In the last few years Gyshi really enjoyed spending his free time with all his grandchildren...Brigitt, Majkel, Lydia, Kevin and Siena.  He always wished that we lived closer but had fun on our visits.  

The Marku Family July 2009

When I was pregnant with Siena he told us that if he met her he would feel like he could end his journey in peace.  Thankfully last spring he was able to meet Siena when she was only 3 months old.  We will always have that trip as a memory and so many stories about Gyshi to share with Siena.