Sequoia and Kings Canyon

Back in April we took our first little trip as a family of four. It was wonderfully chaotic, as to be expected. Rain was in the forecast, but to our surprise it snowed! Of course, we didn’t pack for that, nor did we have chains (and they are damn expensive!), but we adapted pretty well and enjoyed the adventure after the initial feelings of, “Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!,” subsided. It was good to be small next to the giant Sequoias and to breathe in the cool mountain air. And, as always, it was fun running around with Eliot. He tends to throw all caution to the wind so I always have two choices: either stress the hell out all the time or roll with it and enjoy the ride.  The latter is almost always the better choice. 🙂 Oliver was chill, even after all that driving (which he absolutely despises!). My kiddos are my best teachers sometimes.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Advertisement

Happy Friday: Todd Lake, OR

_DSC2659

Happy Friday to all!

Is it possible to make Fall weather happen with positive thinking??? I’ll do anything to bring in the sweater weather…it is time to retire the flip-flops and shorts for a while, don’t you agree?

Here are a  few photos from Todd Lake, one of our favorite spots up near Bend.

It’s a must see if you are ever up in Central Oregon.

🙂

Image

Image

 _DSC2625

_DSC2631

_DSC2680

Family day at Oak Glen

It’s finally Fall! I couldn’t think of a better way to welcome in the season than with a trip to the apple farm. I’ve been coming here at least once a year for my whole life if you can believe THAT. It hasn’t changed a bit either. I guess that’s where a lot of the charm lies for me. It still smells like farm animals and tastes like homemade apple goodness like it always has.

Last year when we stopped in I was very  very pregnant so this was Eliot’s second visit, though this was the first time he could actually enjoy it I guess…but who’s to say he didn’t enjoy my scarfing down that apple dumpling last year?

Sharing a picnic lunch  under a sky filled with white puffy clouds and making friends with goats and bunnies and pot-bellied pigs with the whole family.

Filling our bellies with fresh apple cider and apple cider doughnuts.

Watching my baby boy raise his chubby arms triumphantly as he finally stands up on own in the grass.

Feeling the love of family together.

A lovely day indeed.

Seattle

We love Seattle.

It’s almost too good to be true.

(The one thing that might keep us from moving up there someday is the theory that it will be swallowed whole by a tsunami…but…every place has its up-sides and its down-sides. Right? 😉 )

Seattle: Jarvis and Monica

We were fortunate enough to spend a week in beautiful Seattle with these two.

They are the most hospitable friends, opening their home and taking us all over the city (which we LOVE by the way… Seattle is jam-packed with all sorts of goodies: bikes, trails, hydroplanes, wild flowers EVERYWHERE, front yard chicken coops and vegetable gardens, beautiful parks, awesome public transit system, green, green, and more green, cool weather  (I love the fact that I had to make Eli a beanie in the middle of JUNE) hot coffee and Mighty-O doughnuts…

Seattle. Oh, how we miss thee!

Thanks Jarve and Monica for the wonderful visit. 🙂

...

Camping Big Sur

Erik surprised me with a camping trip for my birthday present this year.

Best gift ever.

And it was extra special because it was Eliot’s first camping trip! It was so fun and beautiful. Eliot was a trooper in the cold and the long drive. Surprisingly, it’s really not that hard to camp with a baby. Hooray! I’m sure we’ll head back up there as soon.

This was just enough to wet our appetite.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Film: Berkeley, Aptos, Salinas, Monterey (October 2009)

It’s almost been a year since we hit the road and traveled up beautiful highway 1 for our 2nd anniversary celebration. I am just now getting these rolls processed. In this case, “Better late than never” is true because I like the element of surprise in all of this. Remembering wonderful things that got pushed to the very back corners of my mind is good for my spirit.

Rome: Continued…

I know that I said I was finished with my Italy posts but I lied. Our Rome photos have been neglected until now because when I think of Rome, I think of “HOT!!!!” and I’ve been trying hard to think of cool and refreshing thoughts in our 100 degree weather here lately. But…it had to be done so I did it. Here’s a taste of Rome for you. Erik shot  some of these.