On August 1st, the kids and I boarded a plane to Oregon to visit my mom and stepdad and give Daniel a chance to finish packing up our house and moving us to Austin. The trip was originally planned and booked before we knew we would be moving. We usually make our Oregon trips long since it's quite expensive for us all to fly out there and we want to make the most of our time together since it's so infrequent, and Daniel couldn't miss that much work, and it's challenging to work remotely like that, so the original plan was for Daniel to stay back and catch up on work and rest. HA! It ended up being quite different. But the timing was kind of perfect because kids would have been pretty antsy during the packing and moving and unpacking process, so even though Daniel had to do it mostly by himself (we had some awesome friends and family chip in too!) he kind of preferred it.
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| Leaving bright and early!! Luckily we got there with plenty of time to spare because, PSA, if you are traveling with a child under 2 don't forget to bring proof of their age, like a birth certificate or shot records, we had no idea they were getting strict on this rule since we have been traveling with babies since Selah was little and have never been asked, so it was quite a shock to get there and them asking for Blake's birth certificate... we were like "Uhhhh, no, we do not have that." Talk about feeling frantic! Luckily Daniel was able to pull something up on his phone that they accepted, but I was starting to panic and wanting to go home and give up. |
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| Heading into security |
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| Dallas airport has a fun playarea that we stopped at for a bit while we waited for boarding...we also grabbed some donuts! |
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| Oh goodness...did y'all know flying with three kids 7 and under by yourself is a lot of work?? Because it is!! But after the seatbelt sign went off I was able to switch Blake to the carseat and put Owen on my lap and whip out some snacks and for a few brief moments everyone was content and I was able to snap some pictures |
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| We finally, finally, finally (finally!!) made it to grandma's!!! I was already dreading our flight home haha but knew we had 18 days of fun ahead of us first and time to regroup! I told my mom when we got off the plane that I must really love her lol <3 |
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| breakfast! |
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| playing with my old Barbies! |
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| coloring on the back patio |
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| This is the face of someone eating a warm, homemade chocolate chip cookie... |
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| this is the face of someone whose mom told them they can't have another warm, homemade chocolate chip cookie. |
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| Gilbert House Children's Museum |
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| The airplane room was his favorite! |
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| Walking to the park |
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| Their "spider web" |
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| little monkey |
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| playing with Uncle Casey's old toys!! Boba Fett! This boy was on cloud 9! |
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| Kinect dancing, Selah loved this game!!! |
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| She also loved solving this ball puzzle thing... I couldn't figure it out but she mastered it! |
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| Ta-da! She kept asking me to rearrange it and make it harder, I thought it was hard enough just to scramble it up, little miss smarty pants! |
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| This kid was out in nature and loved every second of it |
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| exploring |
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| The trees were huge and gorgeous and the kids loved playing in, on, and around them. |
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| Finding the perfect sticks |
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| The beach was just a short walk away... it was my favorite because I could see and feel the beautiful sunshine!! As gorgeous as those trees are, they block all light and warmth, and I NEEEEEED light and warmth, I'm like half reptile I guess. |
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| busy, busy, busy |
to do with a one year old whose just woken up in a tent at 6:15 in the morning with no where else to go?! Well, you get him out of his pack n play and try to snuggle with him in your nice warm (it was in the 50's...brrrrr!!) sleeping bag,
and when that doesn't work you let him walk around the tent, jump on other people's sleeping arrangements, and scream and giggle and cry... Sorry all other campers, I tried!!! All in all though, I was pretty thankful for the night we had because that was the only time Blake woke up. Last year on our camping trip he was up all night long, which meant I was up all night, which meant we kicked him out and he had to go home with Daddy a day early. This year, although he woke up early, he still slept all night long. Progress.
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| Even though we woke up to rain, we still found ways to have some fun!! We ate a yummy breakfast, cooked out in the rain but still delicious pancakes and sausage! And coffee!!! While breakfast was being cleaned up, I walked with the boys in the rain/mist to the information center where Owen colored, Blake walked around touching stuff he wasn't supposed to touch and climbing on things he wasn't supposed to climb, and I drank more coffee. Then we went to Walmart for a few items. THEN we made our way to a super fun aquarium!!! |
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| Touching the sealife... SO COOL!!!! |
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| After the aquarium the sun burst through and we made lunch back at the campgrounds |
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| Our camping experts |
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| Me and my momma |
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| hiking |
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| climbing |
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| Owen was hesitant to climb that high so we all went with him! |
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| Back at the beach!! |
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| We all took turns flying a kite!! SO EXHILARATING!! I've never flown a real kite before, just those cheapo ones, but these real ones, whoa, they're fun!! |
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| The Olympics had started the night before we left for camping, so I had to do some sand acrobatics to pay tribute to the event... I love me some Olympics!!! |
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| Sand angels |
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| Every night of every camping trip includes s'mores...it's a MUST! |
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| Thank goodness for the on-sight playground, it helped keep sometimes antsy kids busy during down times. |
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| I took the kids to play here while my mom and stepdad were cleaning up camp and getting us all packed up and ready to head out... I was so ready for a warm shower and a warm bed!! That first night the kids slept longer than they've slept in a very long time... so if you're having trouble getting your kids to sleep well, take them camping for a couple days! |
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| Visiting grandma's school |
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| Watching some Olympics and eating ice cream |
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| Someone got a little bored with the Olympics so he got out his coloring book and crayons |
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| Watching gymnastics late into the night with this sweetie |
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| Out for a nice afternoon with my mom and her friend while her friend's daughter babysat the three kids...she's one brave babysitter, and she did amazing!! |
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| Cinnamon roll pancake...and yes, it does taste as delicious as it looks! |
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| drying off after some pool time |
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| Our second and last weekend we went to the local Scandinavian Festival |
Blake loved playing with these blocks and building them up
over and over and over
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| cousins |
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| Since I was flying solo I was able to do things like look out the window and take a picture of the breathtaking view, |
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| and read a book, I literally read this entire book during the flying process there and back, IT WAS AWESOME!!! |
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| Saying goodbye to our old home right before signing the papers and heading to our new home |
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| Back in Oregon!! We went on one last hike at a nearby park. |
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| And just like that, 18 days came and went, and it was time to say goodbye, the last part of our trip my grandpa flew in from Fargo and it was so special to get to see him again and for him to see the kids, he hasn't seen Owen since he was 18 months and he's never seen Blake, so I was so thankful he made the trip to see us! |
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| On the first flight home there were a lot of empty seats (unfortunately this was not the case for our second, longer flight, boo), so Selah had a window seat and whole row to herself, she loved every minute of that freedom. |
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| And since Selah moved to her own row, this guy got to have his own seat as well :) handsome little man! |
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| And since Owen got to have his own seat, it meant mommy got to have her own seat...yippy!!! |
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| Look at that girl over there, drinking her sprite, munching on some snacks, reading through a magazine, so grown up this one |
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| My precious little bookworm, I hope she always loves school and learning! Reach for the stars sweet girl!! |
Our summer came to a close and I was thankful for the start of the fall routines. Selah's in first grade and gymnastics, Owen goes to preschool two days a week and soccer. Blake hangs out with his momma :) Life is always crazy around here, but it's also really, really good. Now to plan for all the holidays coming up! Ah!
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