An End of Summer Trip

In celebration if our 8th wedding anniversary, Todd and I had an end-of-summer trip planned for the family. It was originally going to be a few days long, and we had a couple of destinations in mind, but when it came time for the trip, we were only able to sneak away for one night and 2 days. So, we decided to head down to Bend, OR, which is a lovely town that reminds me a lot of Boulder.
On the way down we spent a few hours at Smith Rock State Park. It was my first time there and it is just amazing. It is like being in Utah, but a whole lot closer. It was hot, and the kids were not able to hike in too far, but what we did see was absolutely gorgeous.
Afterwards, we headed to our hotel in Bend to swim, and then out for Mexican food (and a pitcher of margaritas!). The next morning (after breakfast and another swim, of course) we headed to the Bend High Dessert Museum. It was fascinating. We learned about porcupines, reptiles, and other organisms, as well as the native history of the area. It made me feel good about pulling Finn out of school to be there.
On the way home, inspired by my friend Heidi's photo (check her photos out, they are much better than mine!), we stopped at a place called Little Crater Lake on Mt. Hood. The hike was short and easy (good for tired kiddos) and we ended up at an amazing little spring-fed lake. The water is so clear that you can see all the way down-- my pictures don't show this because of the strong reflections, but trust me, it was beautiful.
Then, back home to real life. The trip was short, but fun. I am glad we managed one more quick getaway before settling in to our school-year routines.

Pin It Now!

A Family Road Trip

I love road trips. I love going places and exploring. I feel like I am often planning excursions, and dragging my family along with me.... but I know that they have fun.
On Sunday, we drove up to Mt. Rainier in Washington. Even though it is only a few hours away, we had never been, so I was so excited. The park is beautiful-- huge trees, wildflowers, glaciers... everything a girl needs. Unfortunately, it was super crowded, and one of the prettiest areas of the park, Paradise, where we had planned on doing a high meadow wildflower hike, was so crowded that after 30 minutes we still couldn't get a parking spot! So, we skipped Paradise-- great excuse to go back another time though.
We spent a night camping in the park and two full days exploring. We went on three (small) hikes, and found some solitude despite the crowds. It was gorgeous.
The last day of our road trip was spent in Seattle. Although we have been to Seattle quite a few times, we have always had friends living there, and we always did non-touristy adult things. This time was all about the family, and being tourists for a day. We saw the Fremont troll, went up in the space needle (which, by the way, made me feel quite dizzy!), visited the Chihuly museum of glass (which is amazing!), took a hike in Discovery Park, relaxed at Gasworks Park, and had dinner on the sound.
It was a perfect little getaway.

Pin It Now!

Hola Mis Amigos!

We just got back from a wonderful week in Cancun. It was amazing. My parents, my sister and her family and my family all met in Cancun and spent a week at an all-inclusive resort to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. And, my parents paid for the plane tickets and hotel (thanks mom!). I got to spend lots of time with family, Finn and Phoebe had some bonding time with their cousins, the weather was perfect, and I didn't have to clean or do dishes for an entire week. It was a true vacation.
The getting there part was a little bit hectic-- at about 7 pm the night before we left our front door lock broke. Literally. We were actually locked in the house. Luckily we found someone to fix it in a pinch on a Friday night, otherwise our pet sitter would not have been able to get in! Then, our first morning flight was quite a bit delayed and we almost missed our flight to Cancun. By the time we arrived in Mexico, I was feeling extremely lucky that we had even made it there.
We spent our days playing at the beach or in the pool (there may have been some pina coladas and dacquiris as well). We collected some sea shell treasures. Phoebe learned how to swim (my little Pisces girl).  And we ate. A lot. 
It's funny-- we never even left the resort. I am a person who like to explore new places, go on adventures, and be busy. But we did none of that. We stayed. We lounged. We did not explore. And actually, that was really nice for a change.
It feels good to be back home (to rain and 60-degree weather here in Portland), but I am pretty sad about this whole cooking and cleaning thing......

 

Pin It Now!

Home.

We got back home late Saturday night after spending a week in Texas. First a few days in Houston to celebrate the hubby's grandma's 90th birthday, 3 days at the coast with hubby's dad, and then 2 days in Austin visiting all sorts of friends, old and new. There was a lot of activity and a lot of driving, which with two kids makes for some tired parents. The kids played with their cousins, and Finn made fast friends with Todd's best friend's son. On the coast, we saw amazing amounts of shorebirds... blue herons, ibis, egrets, spoonbills..... they were everywhere. Such majestic birds. If I had it my way, I would have sat there watching them for a long time. We also saw porpoise, rode on a motorboat, and spent an afternoon at the aquarium. And the Mexican food was amazing. So delicious! However,  after about 5 days there I realized that I had barely eaten any vegetables. Seriously. Everything was beans, cheese, tortillas, and at some places it was hard to find a vegetable on the menu, unless you count the salsa. Oh vegetables,  how I missed you.
Both of our flights were eventful, to put it nicely. On the way there, while waiting to board our second flight, Todd and I both looked down for a second (really, a literal second), and Phoebe (my runner child), was gone. Panic. Where was she? She had gotten excited and ran past the boarding line, past the woman taking boarding tickets, and onto the jet way. She was standing there crying, as she finally realized she had left her family behind. This all happened in about 20 seconds, but it felt like much longer. It turned out OK, but scary. That could have been a whole lot worse if she had run a different direction. On the second flight on the way home, Phoebe fell asleep immediately, and woke up about an hour later having a night terror. Have your kiddos ever gotten those? They are freaky and terrible and really hard to deal with, even in the comforts of your own home. And it's much worse on a plane. They scream and yell and cry, but they are not fully awake, so all you can do is help them to fall back asleep. We spent about 90 minutes with her thrashing and screaming on and off (really loudly), late at night, mind you, so everyone was trying to sleep... Anyways, we felt terrible, but everyone on the plane was so nice and sympathetic. I am so thankful for the kindness of all of those strangers.
Anyways, we are home and we survived. Finn heads back to school today and I start teaching a new term tomorrow. Back to the grind, yes?

Pin It Now!

A Trip to Chicago... Burrrrr

Last week, the kids and I got to spend 6 days in Chicago visiting my family. My parents, my sister and her family, my grandma, and several of my aunts and uncles all live there, so we are always busy visiting family when we go. This time, the kids got to spend a lot of time with their cousins (my sister's kids) and it was so fun to see them all together. Makes me sad we don't live closer.
We saw a movie, went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, had fashion shows, went swimming, had a cousin-sleepover, ate too much food, played in the snow, and gathered with family.
It was great.
We almost didn't make it home until today, as the weather was so cold (-45 F, with the windchill), that we couldn't make our original morning flight out on Monday. Luckily, I was able to make it out Monday night, and make it to work on Tuesday morning.
Finn has been begging me to move to Chicago ever since we got home. I hate living so far away from my family, but feel so lucky when we get to go visit. Here are some photos of our time there:

Pin It Now!