Tales from the Solecki Adventures

Ella the creator

2010-11-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

This is Ella. She is our little "creator." Everything from a paper house for her stuffed animals, to checkerboard dance floor the size of her room. A couple of days ago it was hats. Not just one or two, but a set of 10...in case a friend came over. So, here is her little brother, who gets to benefit from her creations. I love that he plays along so well. In the picture he is on his "pirate ship" looking through his "telescope."

Today, while stuck inside all day because of rain, she decided to create once again. This time, she chose to leash some of her stuffed animals with pipe cleaners. Here she is taking them for a walk...or a spin.

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

P.S. Yes, she totally dresses herself...today was one of my favorites :)

Math

2010-11-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

It has been almost one year since a family post, and in light of that, I (Angie) will try my hat at this whole "blogging" thing. I have been waiting to post about something deep and meaningful, however, anything of great significance has eluded me. Instead I will write about our bedtime ritual. Our routine is fixed, filled with the usual stories, teeth brushing and prayers, however, we have turned a new corner and included a new piece to the bedtime puzzle: math.

Somehow in the transition to Kindergarten, Ella has become addicted to math. All the time, she is counting to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's...first in English, then in Spanish - in the car, at the dinner table, in the park, and now, in bed. In her room, she has a little scene on her wall of a doll house including some flowers, clouds and trees. She thought this would be a perfect way to do math in bed. The problems began small...adding the flowers to the trees, the windows to the doors, etc. However, she grew tired of the same questions, so we have moved away from the cute dollhouses scene, and into some higher numbers (yes, still addition and subtraction, but by that time in the day I really don't want to think about the answer to 83+17). But that was still not enough. I am now making up word problems about turkeys and Christmas, and have just thrown in money. Maybe we'll move onto fractions next...all I know is that by 1st grade, she will have outsmarted both of us!

2009 Family Slideshow

2009-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here is our video for the year... Well it doesnt actually contain video this year. Our video camera died right after Christmas last year, and we have been saying since January that we will get one next month... now we are saying we will get one next year...

So this year we only have pictures for your enjoyment! Here is perfect chance for you to waste 18 minutes of productivity...

Massive Photo Update

2009-11-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't had time to post many photos for the last 6 months or so. It has been a little hectic for a number of reasons.

1. I have 3 kids.

2. The house has been under construction since March (it is now finished and will get some pics up soon.)

3. I have 3 kids.

4. It was summer and we were having fun.

5. It was fall and life was hectic.

6. I have 3 kids.

7. I like to keep you in the dark.

But, all that has changed now, so here comes some serious photos from May till now.

I am not going to bother with any fancy photos to entice you. Here are the links. Enjoy.

Recent Photos from the Fall Season 2009.

A bunch of Misc. photos from our Summer adventures.

Our 4th Annual Bilotti Tahoe Trip in July 2009.

A family camping trip to Lake Siskiyou up at Mt. Shasta

Disneyland with Nate and Ella back in May.

Sorry no pictures of the fun Sam was having while staying with the grandparents.

Enjoy all of the pictures.

Almost done!

2009-10-16T12:27:00.001-07:00

There are a few small details left on the house project... I will give you a full slideshow update of the project when we actually have a clean house. So once the kids go to college i will get that up...

Till then here is a before and after of the front

School's Baaaacckkk!

2009-08-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Since we have been on summer break since May, we are now jumping back in to the fall! I know it is only August, but the beginning of school is supposed to be in the fall...

So this week:

Ella started her first day of her second year preschool...

She joined her good friends Miriam and Grace at the school.

Nate made his first gift for an elementary school teacher. A picture of stars for h

Pretty much all of the little apprehension he had evaporated when he saw his best pal, Ben, walking to school as well. They are in classrooms right next door to each other.
Ben and Nate on the first day of Kindergarten.

Sam for the first time will be the king of the castle while Nate and Ella are away! He is very excited...

Nate and Sam

2009-07-03T08:09:00.003-07:00

Everyone thinks they are clones... here is a pic of Nate and Sam at the same age for you to decide.

And here is the whole clan of monkeys for your enjoyment...

A non remodel post...

2009-07-03T07:47:00.001-07:00

Since it has been a while since i have posted anything other than remodel updates, I thought i would give you some glimpses of the kiddos and what they have been up to.

Sammy turned 2

Nate graduated from pre-school...

Nate got rid of the afro.. He inherited my "sweat" gene, so it is far more pleasant with no hair.

Ella turned 4 and got to have 2 weeks of birthday parties...

We finally convinced Sam to shave his head for summer cooling.

Before and after for you...

Sam's Birthday Bash

2009-06-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Sam's second birthday! Hard to believe the little guy is already 2, tho I am pretty sure he thinks he is 4.

We had a few friends and family over for some quick cupcakes after dinner.

We are not into the big birthday bashes ~~except for me~~ so this was a perfect way to celebrate!

Sam enjoyed his cupcake and loved having his candles ~~blown out by his older brother~~ to blow out all by himself.

~~We had no idea that our roofing materials would get delivered while we had a bunch of tractor obsessed kids over for the party!~~ Because we are such good parents we also planned a nice little suprise and arranged for a tractor to come to his party. It was the perfect thing for a little guy's bday! As the kids were leaving I heard one saying that he was going to ask his dad to have a tractor at his next birthday!

Remodel Photo Album

2009-05-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Many of our fans, (well the 3 of you without facebook) want to see the photo updates from our remodel. I have been updating my facebook album almost every day, so you can click below to check it out. You don't need to join facebook to see the photos!

CLICK HERE TO GOTO TO OUR SECOND FACEBOOK REMODEL PHOTO ALBUM!

CLICK HERE TO GOTO TO OUR FIRST FACEBOOK REMODEL PHOTO ALBUM!

Addition update

2009-05-01T19:59:00.001-07:00

The construction on the house is coming along. This week the concrete was poured and the floor jousts installed. Of course once, the siding came off, it started to rain. Monday the plumbing gets started!

We also decided that we might as well get rid of the stovetop that drives us nuts and go back to good old gas while we have the plumber around so we picked up this stovetop...

Beauty Queen

2009-04-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

No words to describe this:

Progress!

2009-04-21T20:35:00.001-07:00

After way too many hours of digging, blisters and wheelbarrows full of dirt, we have finally started "building" our addition. Check it out:

off we go!

2009-04-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

The whole family is heading on our youth mission trip this spring break.

You can read about the adventure on the youth mission blog:

Click here to read our updates!

B

and so it begins...

2009-03-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

For those who have been following my facebook status and wondering why all the excavating, here is your answer... We have officially started our remodel and addition project. We will be adding a new master suite to the front of the house, raising the ceilings in our entry and hallway and vaulting a portion of the kitchen...

We love our house and neighborhood but these houses built in the 60's are dark.... we are adding a total of 13 windows and 4 skylights.... will be awesome when it is finished...

To start, we need to excavate the area of the footprint of the addition as well as tear off all the rock that was on the foundation and siding of the house...

Here is the before photo of the area we will be building out:

Here are some pics of where we are at:

Sunsetarama

2009-01-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Nate, Sammy and I went out to the park for a late afternoon hike as the sun was setting... Here are the pictures...

2008 Family Video

2008-12-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are waiting to post bail, or are stuck snowbound with a functioning computer i give you 30 minutes of diversion.

And now....

The 2008 Solecki Family Video!

A Christmas Miracle

2008-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

We were enjoying a fine Christmas day yesterday. It was sunny and fairly warm compared the the recent weather.

Nate came up with the idea of spending every Christmas with a trip to the snow. Angie said let's go for it and we loaded up and headed to the snow. 20 miles from home we pulled over and played in the snow.

We also brought our firepit and warmed ourselves up when it got chilly. The next thing we knew, it was pouring down snow! The kids were ecstatic! We were having a white Christmas. After a couple hours, we piled into the car and drove back home. It snowed until 10 miles from home. Then the clouds parted and we returned to the sun of Chico... Truly bizarre, but a perfect day.

Fall Photo Update

2008-11-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

We have been loving watching the trees change and the leaves fall. Currently we sit as the rain pours down in our first major storm of the year. Here are a few photos from the fall as we enjoy the season!

CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW FOR A SLIDESHOW!

Chico Airfest II

2008-10-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

The last 2 years we have had Angie's folks up for the Chico Airfest airshow in September. Angie's Dad, Nate and Ella and I have gone down to the Chico Airport to watch the planes and see the all of the action. Here are some pics from the day.

"Papa" and the kids enjoying the show...

Nate getting to fly a small helicopter that some guy built in his garage.

This year at the airshow Nate was able to sneak into the driver seat of a garbage truck... This may have been the day's highlight...

Watching the CDF firefighters take off. Moments later we were pelted by thousands of small pieces of gravel as the helicopter lifted off...

Each year they have a "heritage flight" with a vintage and newer military plane. This year featured a super cool P-51 Mustang and an A-10 Warthog.

Nate and Ella looking sweaty...

The day ended with an awesome show by the Canadian Snowbirds. Pretty amazing to watch...

someone misses mommy.....

2008-09-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Recently, Angie was gone for the evening. Ella was missing mommy and found a picture of her that she was looking at. A while later i found her asleep in the doorway of her room in this position:

Mt. Lassen Camping Trip

2008-09-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Last spring Nate started talking about wanting to go up to our local volcano, Mt. Lassen. We followed the online progress of the snowplows till the road was open and then just got busy with other things... A week or so ago Nate reminded us that he was back in school and we had told him that we would go to Mt. Lassen sometime during the summer. He was declaring that summer was over and we needed to uphold our end of the deal... So we packed up the trailer and headed up the hill from Chico...

We camped for the weekend at High Bridge campground... It is a great place, right on a creek that flows by the only campsite for a hundred yards or so...

It was one of my (brian's) favorite trips of recent memory. We had a ton of fun hiking through the National Park and enjoying the bubbling mud and steam pits. On Friday night we hiked a couple of miles to Boiling Springs Lake, which is an entire lake that is boiling. On Saturday we hiked 3 miles to Bumpass Hell which is a collection of geysers and boiling mud pits... Nate thought it was one of the cooler things around...

CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO ALBUM OF MORE PICS!

End of Summer Photo Shoot

2008-09-09T22:15:00.001-07:00

Angie had the kids at the park the other day and took some great portraits... Here they are for your enjoyment...

Pinecrest 2008

2008-08-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

Every year we spend a week camping up at Pinecrest Lake near Sonora. We head up the hill with Natalie and Sam and their family (Angie's Sister, Sam's sister's family and a family who are friends. This year the kids were all over the place! Riding scooters, skateboards, and bikes mixed with lots of rock climbing...

Click here for the slideshow:

Ella's first day

2008-08-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ella had her first day of preschool. Since she had been looking forward to it pretty much since Nate's first day a year ago, there were no tears.. Just smiles.

Ellla is surrounded by some of her closest friends at school. We have pretty much taken over. Nate, Ben, Grace, Camille and Miriam are all there together. Below is a picture of her best pal Gracie. (Who is currently having a sleep-over and her and ella are still up at 10:15pm playing in the queen bed they are sharing...)

Ella definitely didnt want to leave her brother's side tho. He knows what to do at school so she is sticking by...

Under Construction

2008-07-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

So we finally started the project of ripping out the decrepit old wood deck in the backyard. Before went went on vacation Angie, Eric, Aaron and I spent a couple of nights working in the smokey skies and heat ripping out the deck so that the concrete guys could get started. This morning they poured the slabs... So here are a couple pics of the progression of construction.

Next week they will add all the brick in the spaces and around the landing by the door... And we will once again have a functional backyard!!

UPDATE: Here are some pics minus the wood forms - Next the final product! after the brick is all installed next week.

AND THE FINAL PRODUCT! YAHOO!

Lake Tahoe 2008

2008-07-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from our annual trip to Lake Tahoe with Angie's parents and her sister's family. As always it was a great trip.

We spent lots of time at the beach, walking, playing miniature golf, hiking and riding the lifts at Northstar Ski Resort and puking our brains out...

Yes, a highly contagious stomach flu ran through the family like a wildfire in butte county. There were 12 of us on the trip and 11 of us spent significant time feeling quite unpleasant. But alas, the trip overall as still great!

Here is the annual photo. We have a Solecki family photo sitting on this same rock every year since we have been married... 10 years! We have more than doubled.
Click here for a photo slideshow of individual pictures from Lake Tahoe or watch the artsy video of the same pictures set to music below:

Smokey Update:

2008-07-09T12:40:00.001-07:00

Firetrucks are everywhere... Furthest California company i have seen was Calexico... Here is the most recent map:

View Larger Map

8 a.m.:Roads socked in by smoke

Extreme smoke conditions exist on Highway 99 south of Chico and into Oroville.

E-R reporter Roger Aylworth reports visibility on the highway is as low as 100 feet in some places, and smoke is like a very thick fog all the way to the ground in Oroville.

Welcome to lung cancer land...

B

the beat down...

2008-07-08T07:15:00.001-07:00

For those of you who always seem to think our kids are perfectly behaved:

Picture 1: A perfectly fine day of swimming in the backyard hot tub to stay cool.

Picture 2: Sammy after being donkey-kicked off of the deck face first onto the brick after trying to snuggle up with ella on a warm blanket. I am sure he will try to hug his sister again eventually... sisterly love at it's finest.

Makeover Day

2008-07-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

So after this morning's trip to pic berries in the park it was time for a haircut for Sam. Nate was pulling Ella and Sam through the park when a women commented that he must be so strong to pull those two girls in the wagon. Since I also suffered for many years as a young toddler with a girl's haircut, i could not allow the torment to continue.

Here is the before photo: Is it Sam, Samantha or Krusty the Clown?

Angie went to work on him while the rest of us distracted him with grand hand gestures and "cookies". (which in our family are known to most people as graham crackers...)

The damage:

The finished product: Sam has returned. And our little Nate "mini-me" clone is back more than ever...

And the journey continues...

2008-07-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

I know that many of you have heard by now that I have been called to serve as the new youth pastor at Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Chico. After 5 months of process, we are super excited about jumping back into church ministry and I will officially be starting July 21st. It is amazing to see how things have come full-circle and I will be a pastor at the church where I really started years ago.

Tomorrow i get to go hang out and meet some of the students and I can't wait for the fall to kick off and see the year start rolling!

A couple weeks ago the news was announced and I was introduced at church. You can listen to the audio below by clicking on the little play arrow:

June 22, 2008 - Bidwell Introduction

Back from paradise.

2008-06-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

The word we used to summarize almost every moment of our 8 days in Hawaii was "PERFECT!!!" Talk about a great week in the fun and sun... Here are some highlights:

Just spending all day with one another minus all of the normal distractions of kids, work, and regular life.
Sitting on the veranda of the Moana Surf-rider hotel while drinking coffee or fruity beverages with small pastel umbrellas.
Attempting to surf in the waves of Waikiki, or paddling way too far off shore while paddle-surfing.
Lounging on the beach with a good book and a great view.
Sitting in our 41st floor condo watching the sunset from the Lanai.
Being total "LOST" geeks and visiting set locations all over the island.
Angie managing to snorkel in Hanama Bay without attacking me and drowning me whenever fish approached. (far different experience than our honeymoon in Tahiti 10 years ago..
Deciding on the spur of the moment to go see a movie and even getting Popcorn and a soda.
Spending time with the Farrells before they move back to the mainland.
More time on the beach with good books.
Walking up and down the entirety of Waikiki Beach over and over again.
Staying out well past bedtime.
Realizing that we love our kids greatly, but love each other more.

Here is a little slideshow for you to enjoy:

On vacation!

2008-06-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

See you on the flip side... Angie and I are off to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary... We might return in 8 days.. Until then I leave you with the following images to make you jealous...

The kids...

2008-05-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent pics of the family...

and so it begins....

2008-05-19T22:05:00.001-07:00

Tonight we took our first trip of the year to our neighborhood swimming hole... We would have made it sooner but have been out of town... We walked to our little "jungle" path and dove into the pool. The water was clear, warm and we enjoyed ourselves greatly... It is going to be a great summer... Having a natural body of water within throwing distance is priceless...

Even Sammy loved it! He is definitely a Solecki.

Sam goes for a walk...

2008-05-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day we went up to the Monastery and Winery in Vina. It is one of our favorite places around Chico. I finally got around to capturing a little video of Sam running around. And yes we do realize he looks like he should be retired and living in Key West, FL.

Sam's 3.2 seconds of fame

2008-05-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sam now only has 14:56.80 left on his 15 minutes of fame.

Curse of the 3rd

2008-04-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

I was just reading Jake's blog about Ben starting to walk. That reminded me that I should probably mention that Sammy has also began this new phase of locomotion.

Since I am a terrible parent I failed to mention to all 3 of you faithful readers of my blogs that Sammy is now walking and starting to run all over the place... He has pretty much given up crawling at all over the last week... If i actually take some photos or video I will post for you to enjoy...

Let the forehead bruises commence.

B

The Bike

2008-04-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Jake Early Chico Print

So if we were going to name this weekend, it would have to be the "Weekend of the bike..." Nate was a maniac. On friday he and i trailered up the other two kids and went for a ride. He decided he wanted to go for a long ride so I told him to lead. He kept going till we found ourselves all the way in upper park at the Bidwell Park Easter Cross.

Now for those of you who don't know Chico, that is a long way of cruising the trails.... It is also the beginning of my favorite technical mountain bike ride, "The North Rim". We kept going until the other two kids had concussions in the trailer from the narrow, rocky single track... Then we turned back... By the time we pulled into our driveway we had ridden over 7 miles. The next day he wanted to show his mom, so he and Angie headed out on the bikes again for the same ride...

Yesterday, he wanted to go further and go on a "real mountain bike adventure." So he and I packed up our gear, snacks and went for it! The little guy rode the single track and gravel road (that many adults cant even ride) and we made it all the way to Bear Hole, a swimming hole up the canyon. Round trip it was about 4 miles off road... Just now he said he wants to go further next time... so we may make it to Utah next... All said the kid rode nearly 20 miles this weekend... I was rather impressed!

Nate adjusting his helmet after a water break

Riding through Upper Park

Nate taking charge on the "single track"

We made it all the way to Bear Hole, time for a snack!

Enjoying the creek and the snack...

Spring Break 2008

2008-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

10 Days of fun in the park, friends and easter... What a great vacation!

Click here for the entire photo album!

Sammy and Daddy

2008-03-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

Angie took Nate and Ella down to Sacramento today to visit the train museum. That left Sammy and I here in Chico to live it up on the first day of spring. So after watching a number of March Madness basketball games, we went up to Upper Bidwell Park. We have been spending a ton of time up there in the great weather. I would estimate i have been into the park literally about 20 times in the last week.

Sam and I headed up into the canyons for a nice little hike. (or snooze, if you are sammy...)

Visiting the Forest

2008-03-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

Nate, Ella and I went out to the grand opening of the new Sherwood Forest Disc Golf course for kids in Bidwell Park on Saturday. We arrived a few moments after the hoard of kids snatched up all of the free discs. So we watched 200 kids open the course while mine just repeated, "Where is MY frisbee" over and over again.

Luckily we ran into the course organizer, Lon Glazner out in the parking lot and he saved the day with 3 discs, likely salvaging the entire weekend from tears, weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

We returned last night minus the crowds and played our first round of disc golf. I think that Nate might have a future in disc golf. The kid can huck a disc nearly as far as I can. Ella might have a future in horticulture. She likes to notice and preferably pick every flower she sees.

Here are a few pics:

January & February Photo Update

2008-02-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since i updated all of our fans (well all 3 of them...) with some photos. The family has gone through a couple rounds of the plague as well as being housebound due to inclement weather. Though we did have a couple weeks of skitzo weather where it felt like spring and we were able to spend some time in the park and head up to hang out with the monks on their winery. Good times.. enjoy..

Click here for the photos:

The tooth fairy man....

2008-01-22T10:40:00.001-08:00

Nate found a book last night about the tooth fairy and was reading it in bed. He was very excited about a picture of the tooth fairy and it led us to the following conversation:

Me: Nate, do you even know who the tooth fairy is?
Nate: Sure. He is the guy who comes and takes your teeth?
Me: What do you mean? How does he do that?
Nate: Well, he waits till you fall asleep and then comes into your room and takes your tooth.
Me: What? How does he do that?
Nate: He watches you till you open your mouth while sleeping and then takes your tooth.
Me: How?
Nate: When you start snoring he jams his little knife in and takes one.
Me: Doesn't that hurt?
Nate: No it is a special soft knife...

At that point i was disturbed and left him to ponder his demented thoughts alone.... As you are all well aware of my dental phobias, i didnt need to add to them.

B

through the eyes of a 4 year old...

2008-01-08T20:15:00.001-08:00

Have you ever wondered what your 4 year old sees while he goes about his day? Well we gave Nate a camera earlier this year and told him to just take pictures as he pleases. At the end of the year we downloaded all the pictures and he chose his favorites which we compiled into a quick little video. Now you know what a 4 year old looks at. Every picture included was taken by Nate himself...

Some random video clips...

2008-01-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have lives and don't want to sit through our 30 minute 2007 video... Here are a couple of priceless clips...

Nate goes to a multi-cultural, performing arts preschool that also is a spanish immersion program. For the Holiday party, they sang a nice rendition of "Soy Una Pizza.

It is very apparent from the following video that Sam is not starving for attention from his siblings... I wonder what kind of counseling he will need someday....?

The little guy sure is a cutie...

2007 Solecki Family Video

2008-01-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Each year we compile our video and photos into a nice little video of the year. Here you can watch it over and over again whenever you are having difficulty falling asleep.

Click here to watch our video highlights of the 2007 year!

Fall Colors

2007-12-15T21:45:00.001-08:00

I was going through some pictures from the fall and came across this one from when the trees just started turning colors this fall. You can only imagine what it looks like across the street in the park where there are about a million trees...

Solecki Family Pic

2007-12-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

We actually got around to take a picture of the entire Solecki Clan at thanksgiving... Feast your eyes on these samples of genetic perfection:

Yosemite 2007

2007-12-11T21:01:00.001-08:00

We took our annual trip to Yosemite for Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we decided to leave the camper at home this year because we were worried that little Sammy J would turn into a Samcicle in the cold... As always we had a great trip!

Click here for the photo album

All I want for xmas is....

2007-11-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

The conversation started as you would expect most of them to. I believe it went something like this:

Angie: "Nate, what do you think you could use for christmas this year? Would you like a new truck or anything?"

Nate: "No, i have lots of trucks already..."

Angie: "So is there anything you can think of?"

Nate: "I want a bio-solid mixer!!!"

Angie: "A what....?"

What in the heck is a "bio-solid mixer"? We had no idea.
Where did Nate come up with this idea? We had no idea.

All I know is that i have heard him run around the yard and pick up a bunch of leaves and smash them in his hands screaming "BIOSOLID!!!" I figured it was a reference to some obscure superhero.

So Nate and I got on the old information superhighway and started looking around. I asked him as many questions as i could think of about his dream gift and we began looking at various responses from good old Google.

After a bit of time Nate screamed "That's it!!! My bio-solid mixer!!!"

Here is the image I found on the screen....

Yes, my boy's dream gift is a composting tumbler. It must be because he was born in Davis. It's in his genes. Our davisite friends will be so proud.

And yes we still have no idea where he came up with the idea.... our guess is at preschool.

B

8:24 PM UPDATE: I have discovered the source for Nate's Biosolid obsession. We got a little toy truck at some point that came with a little DVD that our kids have enjoyed a few hundred times. It is entitled "Where the Garbage Goes" and apparently it has a section on Bio-solid Mixers and it has entranced the young jedi.

Sammy Gets a Trim

2007-10-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

It was officially time for Sam's comb over to go away tonight. Our resident barber got out her scissors and took care of things... (You can click on the images for a larger view)

Here is the official "Before Photo"

No, I am not sure why the "barber" is trying to cut off my boy's ear...

The official "after photo"...

September 2007 Photos

2007-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some misc pics from September. We got together with the entire Bilotti Family for a little reunion before Anthony, Andrea and Andrew move to Japan for 3 years... Here are a couple of pics. You can also see some enjoyable days in the park and Nate's birthday pics in the photo album. Click HERE FOR THE ALBUM!!

Happy Birthday to the Boy

2007-09-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Nate is now four... Way to go little man...!

Take me out to the airshow.....

2007-09-03T09:36:00.001-07:00

Tom (Angie's Dad), Nate, Ella and I spent saturday morning out at the airshow.. The kids had a great time. As did us non-kids...

Click here to see some pics of us enjoying ourselves.

what a comedian...

2007-08-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

So Nate learned a new joke the other day and has enjoyed retelling it innumerable times. It goes a little like this:

Q: Why was the dog sitting in the shade?
A: Because he didnt want to be a hot dog!!

Much laughter and then he continues with his own creations:

Q:Why was the cow sitting in the sun?
A: Because he didnt want to be a tree!!

Q: How come the lamb was sitting in the sun?
A: Because he didnt want to be a telephone!

Q: Why was the monster sitting under the black water?
A: So he wouldn't melt and turn into a green brick!!

Funny kid....he may make no sense, but he sure is a funny one!

Pinecrest 2007

2007-08-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

We spent last week up at Pinecrest Lake camping with the friends and family... here is our group photo. I will post more pics soon!

Good thing the kids take after their mother....

2007-08-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Aren't they remarkably cute...?

Lake Tahoe 2007

2007-07-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

We recently had our 2nd annual Bilotti Family trip in Lake Tahoe with Angie's folks and her sister's cool family. We had a blast lounging around the cabin, sitting in the hot tub, hiking, playing poker and pool, swimming and playing at the beach and just enjoying good old lake tahoe!

Nate learned how to drive a wave-runner and loved cruising around Lake Tahoe at 35mph with his dad on the back...
Ella and Nate enjoyed figuring out miniature golf in Kings Beach... I think they beat the rest of us old folk.

And yes, we did get our annual family photo on the exact same rock overlooking the lake. 9 years in a row we have been there for our anniversary or right around that time. We just keep adding people to the pic... here is the 2007 photo: CLICK HERE FOR A BUNCH OF PICS OF THE WEEK!

The Kiddos

2007-07-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of the big brother and sister giving their little bro a little love. Or they are just violating his personal space. You decide.

Oh and Nate and Ella have now officially changed Sam's name to "Beebs"....

Honey, where's the spatula??

2007-07-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took our travel trailer on it's maiden voyage to see what we forgot to stock it with... Minor things like a spatula where discovered to be missing while the flapjacks were on the griddle.... We went to Lake Oroville, a fine campground nowhere near a lake... The kids loved sleeping on the bunks and we are all set for our week in Pinecrest the first week of August.

Click here for the slideshow

Samuel Jacob Solecki

2007-06-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Samuel Jacob Solecki arrived today after a 2 hour labor and delivery. He weighed in at a hefty 8lbs 12 ozs and was 21 inches long! He will make a good linebacker someday... Here are a couple of quick pics. I will update with more when we get home tomorrow sometime!

Click here for the photos!

Some Pictures from May 2007

2007-05-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

We certainly have had a lot of stuff going on during the month of May. Here is a whole batch of photos. Here is a little sneak peek of what you will find:

We spent some time in Davis with the Foster's.

We went to Danville to see our new little nephew, Jack.

Lots of pics from working in the yard.

My family came up with my cuz's Andrew and Jason, Aunt and Uncle Harika and Ernie and my nephew Julian.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PHOTO ALBUM:

Easter 2007

2007-04-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

We spent easter in Chico with our good friends, The Tillmans. We had a nice little easter egg hunt around the yard...

Check out the pics here!

Pullman 2007

2007-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Two adults, two kids and 30 hours of driving. Sounds like a recipe for a movie comedy starring Robin Williams. Over spring break we loaded up the Armada and took off for exciting Pullman, WA. Nate and Ella were amazing in the car. Nate spent a ton of time taking pictures out the window of the "big mountains" and Ella enjoyed singing along to Veggie Tales all 359 times we listened to it.

We enjoyed hanging out in Bend, OR on the way up and then spent the week hanging out with our good friends Jake, Rachel and Lucas Kerby. On the way home we did the entire drive in one day. Leaving Pullman at about 9am and getting back to Chico after midnight. Again the kids did great.

Click here for the photo album

Solecki Farmer's Market

2007-02-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

We started installing our garden. The kids are now dirty non-stop from playing in the dirt...Soon the garden will flourish with sweet vegetables, meat, and ice cream...

We could also use it for a child containment area...

#3's First Photo Shoot

2007-01-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well as you might have heard we had our Ultrasound last week and here are the pics... Click on them for bigger versions.

Looks like he might be a thumbsucker like Nate:

Nice Profile!:

and the ultra-sound results are........(drumroll please....)

2007-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

ETA: June 5, 2007

Snow Time

2007-01-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Click on the photo for a slideshow of pics.

So we drove up the hill a bit yesterday to take the kids to play in the snow. They needed a chance to use their snow gear they got for Christmas. Ella was a bit skeptical at first, but found out she could eat the snow and then was thrilled. Nate just loved running and diving head first while attempting to slide on his stomach. He also said throwing snowballs into the river was a highlight.

Phase 1 Completed

2007-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

Years and years of fun is coming. We have completed Phase 1 of the Solecki Treehouse.
Click for a larger version.

The New 2006 Year End Video

2006-12-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the year again. We have posted our newest family video from 2006.

Check it out here!

And here is a copy of our yearly Christmas letter:

It is amazing how much can change in one year. Without a doubt, we would be obliged to name this last year as “The Year of Change”. We have been surrounded by change on what seems like every possible level.

Of course, the most obvious change was our move to Chico, CA. We have talked about the possibility of moving to this small northern California community for some time. It is a stunningly beautiful place, nestled in to the canyons which stretch up into the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains. We live a few house away from one of the largest municipal parks in the USA and we are literally a hundred yards away from endless walking, hiking and biking trails into the wilderness. During the summer we spent a good amount of our time cooling off in our swimming hole which is right down the street. We certainly miss many of our close friends from Davis, but thankfully we have had many visitors and are meeting some great new friends and are starting to feel at home here.

The cause for our move was that after nine years of pastoring at UCC in Davis, I changed to a new ministry at a small private secondary school here in Chico. I am serving a number of roles as the spiritual director/campus chaplain & bible instructor at Champion Christian School. It has been a great time of being immersed in the lives of students while trying to stay on top of all the study required in order to write our spiritual curriculum and teach four bible classes. It has truly been a ton of fun and you just can’t beat the schedule and routine of the school calendar! I have enjoyed being back here in Chico. The close proximity to the outdoors really feeds my soul. Our daily treks in the park and my attempts to return to mountain-biking form have been true highlights.

Angie has had her hands full with the two kids running around like crazy. At least she now has a huge yard and giant park nearby to wear out the kiddies. She also recently went into the family business (no, not the Italian mafia). She has been licensed and trained as a financial advisor with Bilotti Financial. She has enjoyed helping friends and new acquaintances understand and plan for a more financially stable future. Call her if you are interested in becoming a gazillionaire. Angie continues to adjust to our new phase of life in Chico and has made a number of close friends with kids about the right age for ours to play with and occasionally beat up on.

Nate seems to have changed from being a toddler to a little man over the last year. He loves exploring the park and yard. He and I have been busily working on the world’s coolest treehouse in between riding bikes and exploring the nearby trails. He is surprisingly kind and loving towards his sister and continues to tower over most kids his age. It is hard to believe that he will turn 4 in the coming year! Watch out preschools! Here he comes!

Ella has grown into a full-fledged toddler over the course of the last year. She loves to run, jump and explore the corners of the house and the yard. She especially loves to twirl and has recently adapted her brother’s love of singing. We are beginning to adjust to how much of a little girl she has become. She loves dolls, strollers, shoes and of course the telephone.

We look forward to the coming year. I am sure we will continue to experience a number of changes. The most drastic being the introduction of Solecki baby #3 in early June. I can only imagine what life will be like when we are outnumbered by the kids. Continue to keep updated on our adventures at www.solecki.net

Brian, Angie, Nate, Ella and #3 Solecki

636 Vallombrosa Lane, Chico CA 95926 (530)892-8764

Big Contest starting now...

2006-11-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

So my friend Steve Hoffman, thinks the name of our photo blog stinks, "Tales from the Solecki Adventures" See chat log below:

[11:37] Steve Hoffman: your pictures are good
[11:37] Steve Hoffman: i like looking at them
[11:38] Steve Hoffman: there's kevlar
[11:38] Steve Hoffman: what a nice pic
[11:38] brsolecki: oh on the oct pics?
[11:38] brsolecki: yea
[11:39] Steve Hoffman: i love it
[11:39] Steve Hoffman: Tales from the Solecki Family
[11:39] Steve Hoffman: that's not a good title
[11:40] Steve Hoffman: you have to come up with something better
[11:40] Steve Hoffman: like
[11:40] Steve Hoffman: tales from the Solecki Crypt
[11:40] Steve Hoffman: or something

So for the New Year I will have a new title for this happy little webspace. "Tales from the Solecki Adventures" will be no longer. But i am leaving it to you to come up with a new name for this page. The future is in your hands.

The name I choose will earn the creator a nice little prize. Please comment away with your ideas...

-B

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

I am in the final hours of my first school schedule vacation. And boy, was it great. We spent a few days in Danville with the Solecki Family and then headed up to Yosemite for our Annual Bilotti thanksgiving in the valley.

Click on the picture below for a photo album of the week

Just before thanksgiving we got ourselves our own travel trailer, so next year we will actually get to spend the week camping in our own little home away from home.

October Photos

2006-11-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick photo update. Some pics from the fall and from Nate's 3rd Birthday Party.

Click here for the photo album.

October Update

2006-10-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE FOR THE SEPTEMBER PHOTO ALBUM!

Well, it is about time for an update. We have been enjoying Chico a ton and love spending time as a family in the park. We hang out at the local swimming holes and hike/bike/walk the trails daily.

It is truly amazing how refreshing it can be to go for a walk in the beauty of Bidwell Park after a long day. (or even after a short day for that matter). We are all enjoying the leaves beginning to change and looking forward to the amazing colors that are just starting to peek out.

Ella and Nate continue to get bigger with seemingly every hour. They have become quite the wrestling pals and enjoy exploring the backyard.

Angie headed to the Bidwell Pres. Women's retreat a few weeks back and left the kiddies home with pop. We took a couple of trips out to the Chico airport to watch the U2's do "touch and goes" and to hang out at the Chico Air Museum.

Nate and Ella enjoyed running around and exploring the airplanes.

Happy Birthday to the Boy!!

Nate turned 3 last week! Yahoo! For his birthday we got him his first bike. He is already making dad proud by exploring the local single track.

Tahoe 2006

2006-08-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

We spent a week enjoying the beauty of Lake Tahoe with most of the Bilotti gang. We were there with all our runts, Tom and Anne were there of course. And Sam and Natalie were there with Mallory and one of her good friends who joins us on many of our adventures. We had an amazing time. We spent a ton of time at the beach, rented some jetski's, went on walks and hikes and just relaxed while playing games and eating good food! Click here for a bunch of good pics!

Ella turns one!

2006-06-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we gathered in the park for a night of celebrating Ella's first birthday party. On June 20th, the little lady turned one. We also were celebrating her friend Annie's birthday as well.
It was one of the last times all the gang would be together before the Kerby's and us move so we were able to actually get a group photo of all of us. Good folks they are.

And believe it or not, we were actually able to get a decent picture of all of the kids . It's a miracle!

Crazy couple of months!

2006-05-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

So you may have heard by now that we are in the process of moving to Chico. So this page has been neglected for a bit while our lives were in chaos... So here is a bunch of pics from the last couple months. In the photos you will find:

- Ella's confirmation party with the family.
- Swimming and playing in the yard
- Our trip to visit our friend Dan at the firestation.
- Grandpa's birthday party.
- Other misc photos such as bed wrestle-mania and Nate's first sculpture titled, "The Snake". (he was just putzing around the yard at a friends and we went back there and he had done it all by himself... A little picasso he is..)

Enjoy! Click here for the photos

Disneyland...

2006-05-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

So we finally managed to get down to Disneyland as we have talked about for many years. And i know what you are thinking... "The kids must have had so much fun at the happiest place on earth..." Well, i am sure they had a grand time, but they were far from Disney, staying home with grandma "B". Angie and I ditched them for a couple of days for a fun and relaxing time of riding our favorite disney rides. Our hips are still bruised from 10-15 times on the Matterhorn. Yo-de-la-de-do my butt. ouch...

All in all in was a great trip and it was fun to spend a couple of days catching up with our old friends, Ceasar and Steve. Steve took a moment to send Angie and I on a death ride down his street on a sketchy old two-seat cruiser bike. I think he just wanted to see us squirm. But we laughed a lot and Hoffy got a couple of nice pics of quite a lovely couple.

And I dont think the kids had any idea that they missed out on something pretty fun. shhh don't tell them... ;)

And then there were two....

2006-03-31T08:58:00.000-08:00

She had not moved at all. Then she slithered like a snake... And then she sprinted around on all fours... And now like the creation of a mad scientist, she stands!

I will post pics of her jumping hurdles on the track next week.

Now we are pro's....

2006-03-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated Angie's birthday and we were given the new camera we have wanted for a while.

Now we can take professional pictures of the kids. er, now we have a camera that could take professional-like pics of the kids. We will probably still be photo challenged. Check out the first batch by clicking on the photo...

Turkish Family History

2006-03-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

I recently got some great pictures of our family from the old days in Turkey. It is hard to fathom that the same blood of these people runs through our kids today. A lot of these people i remember spending time with growing up, but many are far older than I. There really are some great pictures in there, so i hope you enjoy...

My mom labeled them all so you have to add "Great" to the labels in order to get their actual relation to me... Family history can be fun...

Thats my Mom's mother on the far left...

Where have all the pictures gone??

2006-02-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Yes I know it has been way to long since i updated our photos on here for you to all see. It has been a rather hectic begining to 2006 around here. After 24 days of working without a day off things have finally slowed down, so here you go!

Random January Pictures:

Bathtime and Bicycles... Always make for some fun pictures for the friends and family!

Christmas 2005

We spent some time at home for Christmas as well as in Danville with both the extended families. Lots of great pictures of us enjoying the season to see.

Yosemite 2005

One of our highlights of our year each thanksgiving is packing up the family and heading up to Yosemite. We certainly love being in the great outdoors and talk about a great place to think about being thankful!

The Tree

2005-11-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

After a great thanksgiving week in Yosemite and Danville, we headed up to the mountains for our annual Christmas Tree hunt. After a couple hours of tramping through the woods we ended up with a little 15 foot tree. Perfect for the front room! Click on Charlie Brown and Linus for a nice little video of Nate showing his enthusiasm for the tree.

Grand Old Photo Update

2005-11-01T21:38:00.000-08:00

Nate's 2nd Birthday Party
I was up in Seattle for 10 days and Angie and the kids spent a lot of time at home in Danville. On Saturday morning, my alarm scared me half to death at 5am, I drove to the Seattle Airport, got on a bus, boarded a plane to Sacramento, Jake picked me up and drove me to the Amtrak Station where i jumped on a train to the Bay Area to be picked up by the family in Martinez. All for my boy's second birthday party at the grandparents. The next day on jumped on a plan and went back to the gray land of Seattle.

Misc Fall Photos
As Ella and Nate have gotten older this last few months, we have taken a ton of pics of them together. Here are a bunch of recent pics of the kids and us.

The Pumpkin Patch
Every year we take multiple trips out to our friend's local pumpkin patch with a bunch of friends. This year we spent a lot of time in the new hay bale maze.

Halloween
Nothing like forcing the kids into costumes and taking pictures. As you can see from the group shot, so much chaos always ensues.

Summer Adventures with the Solecki's

2005-08-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

So it is hard to believe that September is rapidly approaching. We have had a great August of spending time with family and spending time in the outdoors. Here is a quick photo update of what we have been up to for the last month.

Pinecrest Camping Trip
We went camping up at Pinecrest Lake with Natalie and Sam. It was our third annual camping trip with Nat and our second trip with Sam. As always it was a great trip. Since camping overnight was a bit tough with the little one, we got a small cabin near the lake and would go there after the evening fire and s'mores.

Kate Foster's Camping Trip
Our little friend Kate really wanted to go camping with us, but that seemed like a recipe for chaos. So we compromised and went camping for the day as birthday present for her. We arrived in the morning at Lake Solano, set up some tents and spent the day enjoying the river and the campground.

Hanging out in Danville with the Family
We took a couple of days off and headed home for a few days by the pool and hanging out with our families. It was a great time to relax and catch up.

Ella's First Hike
We figured Ella was over a month old and had yet to be on a real hike so we took a day for an adventure near Nevada City, CA. It was a great hike and Ella said that she hoped it was the first of many such outings.

Pictures from July 2005

2005-07-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

I think that Nate is trying to make sure we remember that he is the firstborn...

It is hard to believe that it is already nearly August! Ella is over a month old and we have had a great month full of many exciting firsts.

It has been over 100 degrees here in Davis 13 times this month, (you can read more about that on Brian's site) so we have spent a lot of time at the pool and inside the house.

Click on the pic of Nate to check out our newest photo album with a bunch of pics around the house, Ella's first bath, play time at the Davis fountains, hanging out at the train station with Nate's lady friend Franchesca, as well as some from Nate's swim lessons.

Some Videos of the little ones

2005-06-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

Click on the pics for video

So it took us a while to adjust to the fact that Nate was blonde and had bright blue eyes. Ella has the coloring you would expect from Angie and I. As you can see in the video, she also has has the curls you would expect from being the daughter of Angie.

Nate very much loves his little sister. You can see here his affection and his desire to be next to her. Whenever Ella spends time in her play gym, little Nate is right there next to her.

Ella Mazzei Solecki

2005-06-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

On June 20th, 2005 Ella Mazzei Solecki entered the world and made us into a family of four. Here she is right after she hatched! Check out more pics in the photo albums over on the right column!

Today is her 10th day birthday. So far we like her and I think we will keep her. Her big brother constantly wants to kiss her on the head and help out.

All i know is that for some strange cosmic reason we end up with really good kids. Ella is a super little girl. Angie and I are getting a surprising amount of sleep at night and would get even more if it were not for her rascally brother wanting to get out of bed at the butt crack of dawn each morning... I think we are going to have to ground him till he figures out that it is not nice to wake up Mom and Dad before 6am.

New Site for the Solecki's

2005-06-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

So i have moved the site over to here in order to facilitate easier editing. The old page required far to much effort to add and change. So hopefully we will be more faithful to keeping you all updated here.

Brian