Welcome Sofia!

Our new au pair, Sofia, arrived last Friday!  She is from Colombia.  She is 20 and is studying geology in school.  We are very lucky to have her.  So far we've gone to Pike Place Market, Museum of Flight, Living Computer Museum, and practiced Spanish.

Late Summer

Alex and Julia really showed a lot of independence this summer.  They did a number of weeks with no nanny, including one week where they took the city bus to camp.  The got good at cooking (not cleaning).  Best of all, they flew by themselves to Minneapolis to see the Stewart side of the family.  Meanwhile John and Joanna spent a night on Whidbey with the Gills and got a good bike ride in.  Julia also had a number of tournaments with the Gunners, her new team.

Scotland and London

We did a magical 8 day trip to Scotland and London in July.  Highlights included the Scottish Highlands (beautiful scenery!), Harry Potter walking tour in London, Thames Boat Cruise, playing with the birds in St. James Park, and Wimbledon.  We got to be experts at the underground and ate a lot of pizza.  Julia now wants to go to all the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, ideally with a press pass to take pictures.