Zoe, Stella and Family: 2016 - The Year I Neglected the Blog

Greetings to what are probably my dwindling readers out there in blog land. What was once a product of regular attention has taken a backseat to the likes of facebook, whatsapp, icloud and anything else where you can share in three clicks or less (not to mention we are now raising two!). Photos and videos can tell beautiful stories themselves, but there are many more memories to be shared behind them.

2016 was a crazy year for the world, but still a great year for the Pan-Zarwis. Without further ado, here's the recap.

January: Nikki's first marathon, Disney World
Nikki continued to expand her running repertoire by running her first marathon. The whole Pan-Zarwi crew went down to support her by sleeping and eating waffles with Winnie the Pooh while Nikki ran 26.2 miles all morning. We hung out around mile 26 in Epcot Center to cheer her on and grab a photo before she finished out the race in style. The public support was heartwarming and the medal at the end was fantastic! After the race we came home to a snowy Rutherford.

Febuary 2016: Valentine's Day at White Castle! This year we brought the kids again, and Stella got wasted on a crave case...just kidding, it was a regular milk-induced nap. Fun times as always! It's fun to share the experience with Zoe too. And people get really into it, bringing wine and dressing up.

March 2016: Welcome Tommy Jaksich, born March 7th at 1141pm, 8lbs 2oz. Rema labored for about 20 hours before that little beefcake popped his head out into the world, but all went well. Hard to believe he's one year old already, and doing one-year-old things. We also celebrated Zoe's 5th birthday, who was starting to learn to write in pre-school. She was pretty good at writing her name! She had a One Direction birthday party, complete with One Direction cake toppers, napkins and plates. My parents' neighbor even got her some signed swag and a 1D yearbook. She loved it! Dad also got into the running game, running a Phillies 5K on March 26. I took the Phanatic down!!

April 2016: Let the Florida Fun begin! We made not one, not two, but three trips to Florida from April to May. The first was a trip to Yiayia's in Holiday, where we spent a long weekend playing at Celebration Station and the Jungle House. The weather wasn't quite beachy yet, but was still mostly nice. We brought Stella back to NJ with us but left Zoe for an extra week of fun with Yiayia. Nikki was honored as one of Crain's 40 Under 40 and we attended a party in the '40s' honor. Ultimately the family met back up in Orlando where Nikki and I ran the Dark Side half marathon together. Daddy trained a ton for this one, but I had no idea how much there was to stop and see during a Disney race. Stopping for photos with Darth Vader and Chewbacca was totally worth it, and I ran another race for time two weeks later. April was super fun!

May 2016: Half marathon for Daddy (1:49, personal best!) at the Jersey Shore on May 1, Greek Easter the same day, and then Disney Cruise the next day! That was easily the best of May. The cruise was nice, but the kids are kind of in-between ages to really make the most of it. Word to the wise with a kid that's not potty-trained or under 40 inches: some options are limited. Zoe was too short to go with me on the tube ride on the top deck, and I am not allowed to go alone. And she was lonely in the kids camp, even though it was awesome. Stella was great with the babysitting service! Nikki and I stole just one hour for massages and about 45 minutes for the Castaway Cay 5k, but otherwise spent all our time with the kiddies. Still, it was fun to be together. The back half of hte month was warm enough for trips to the boardwalk, including a day with our little neighbors Alex & Amelia (Alex is in Zoe's kindergarten class). All four of us also walked a 5K together in Point Pleasant! Zoe did not enjoy it, even though we pushed her in the stroller the whole time!!

June 2016: Zoe's preschool graduation! She had a great time with her two good friends Hailee and Eva (twin sisters), but sadly they live in another town. The kids recited the pledge of allegiance, sang a couple songs, accepted their diplomas and called it a pre-school career. We also celebrated Stella's second birthday! The theme was Tiny Hungry Caterpillar. One thing's for sure: this kid can eat. She's behind on speech, but taking speech therapy sessions weekly. We've got sign language in the meantime.

July 2016:

Lots of fun holidays in July, including Auntie Alia's 30th birthday in Cape Cod, Mommy's birthday and our 10th anniversary! We celebrated our anniversary by visiting Turks and Caicos for a long weekend without the kids. Providenciales and Grace Bay are picture perfect, and driving on the wrong side of the road was a trip. I went to Cooperstown with my friends Josh, Andy and Rob for the first time since 2010 to see Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Piazza inducted, and we bumped into our friends RJ and little Alex up there. Zoe also learned to ride a bike in Cape Cod!

August 2016:

August had some lazy summer days down the shore, and a 5K inside Yankee Stadium. Zoe did some YMCA soccer and had about eight cavities filled around her entire mouth. Apparently her teeth are so close together that even her good hygiene is often not good enough. We incorporated fluoride mouthwash!

September 2016:

Zoe's first day of Kindergarten was lots of fun. We parents also had back to school night and a lot to learn with a structured schedule and homework assignments. Zoe loved every minute of it and acclimated quickly to Mrs Kratzer's class. She learned how to 'earn gumballs' by being thoughtful and attentive, which has translated into good behavior at home too. She hit the ground running with letters and numbers, and is on her way to reading words. It was also still great weather for the beach and my birthday celebration. And Stella started the Little Gym and ballerina classes at Backstage PAC in town. Zoe earned a running medal too! James, my Dad and I also went to Beirut for the first time together since 2000. And it was my birthday! And it was our friends Josh & Jess' Wedding in Battery Park! Wow, it was a busy September.

October 2016:

The Wiggles Live, Mommy/Zoe day in NYC for Columbus Day, AC Half Marathon for Nikki, Sesame Place and Halloween!

Nov 2016:

Nikki did an amazing job to help coordinate a fundraiser event for SOS Children's Villages in NYC. We had tons of family there, and Nikki's colleague Brian was honored. Thousands of dollars were raised to help fund SOS's programs for a loving home for every child around the world.

There was also voting and turkey and Disney and running, naturally. And Daddy's 20yr high school reunion (we all still look pretty good).

Dec 2016:

Finally, some fun in 2016 :) This year we had four Christmases in two days: one in Tenafly, one in Rutherford, one in Township and one in River Vale. Not to mention additional ones the rest of the week with godsiblings and other relatives. Half the stuff went to the attic for piecemeal distribution! Also, Nikki had her big Asia/Australia trip for 10 days. We all missed her at home, but we make it work. Save for Stella's catching a bug at Liberty Science Center and vomiting at least ten times over 48 hours, we all survived. It was super gross. :P