Summer In Seattle

After juggling around a host of schedules trying to get everyone down for a visit to PDX around the 4th of July and Owen's birthday, we made a last minute decision to hit the road and go up to Seattle ourselves instead.  What a great decision, as summer arrived in Seattle a few days before we did.

We're blessed to have such wonderful and welcoming family to stay with and to have both families so close that we can see everyone on one visit. We simply relaxed and enjoyed the comforts of our "homes away from home" in both Bellevue and Lake Ki. Our Seattle visit was short on pictures, but high on family, friends, and fun, with beautiful weather at every turn.

The kids found a trove of classic toys at Nana's house.

Josh, of course, took a major digger just before we left and spend our vacation showing off yet another scab on the face. Someday he's going to ask us about all his scars and we'll just have to answer, "I don't know bud. You were two."

We celebrated 4th of July with the amazing view from my parents' house in Bellevue. Jeff and Ethel stopped by to join us for great grilled shrimp and veggies and then the boys were SOOOO excited to set off some of the (thankfully small) fireworks that papa had acquired.

Well, they were excited until the fireworks actually started. Owen stuck around and enjoyed the show, but Josh ended up inside with grandma watching through the window.  Too loud!

It's not 4th of July without Strawberry Shortcake!

Owen stayed up to watch the show. Quite a sight off the deck watching hundreds of private fireworks displays around Puget Sound. The landscape simply shimmers with light as far as you can see.  After all that, the "BIG" show over Lake Union didn't live up to Owen's expectations, but he sure liked staying up late!

We lucked out that our summer visit finally coincided with Colleen's trek through Washington. The last time I saw Colleen, she had 3 boys in Everett. Now, we have seven boys between us with her Luke and Tommy each born just weeks ahead of Owen and Josh.  We had a fun playdate at Somerset Elementary. I'm so glad she's a dedicated blogger, because one visit was simply not enough catch-up time.

Amy and the boys also joined us for an afternoon and dinner up at Lake Ki. As always,  Owen and Sam were bonded from sight and even chauffeured us around the lake in the paddle boat.

Ah, summer in Seattle is short and fleeting, but when it arrives, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Splash, Pedal, Dash

We joined Jeff and Ethel for another Pacific Crest Weekend in SunRiver.  A weekend planned long before we knew we were going to be moving.  It was a strange feeling to drive over the mountains (our slowest trip ever!), and then drive straight through Bend without stopping.  

I didn't train for a race myself this year, but it was inspiring to watch all the long course athletes (half ironman tri, marathon, half marathon) run past our rental house.  We also got a bit of exercise riding our bikes around the trails to catch J&E at least 4 different times during their half marathon walk. Oh, and it turns out I SHOULD have trained to chase Owen around the kids' splash, pedal, dash.  That kid is quick on his bike!

Josh was Owen's biggest fan, with a joyful high five before the last turn on the run and then an unprompted bear hug after Owen crossed the finish line. I guess Josh has figured out how this little brother thing works!

At the Beach

Our annual Memorial Day Weekend trip to Manzanita did not disappoint this year.  After several years of squeezing tighter and tighter into the same rental house, we made the big jump to a larger house.  At this point, we are 6 adults and 5 kids and the added space was fantastic for everyone. Separate kids and adult tables at dinner? Check. Bunk room? Check. A well stocked kitchen with the space to store and prep food for our small army? Check. A separated sleeping space for our early risers? Check. Gorgeous views of the beach? Check. and..... a hot tub!

We always wonder how all the kids are going to get along. We only see the Owens Family during this one weekend a year. Nolan is exactly a year older than Owen and they usually take a day or two to feel each other out. Not this year! These two were like long lost BFFs joined at the hip from the moment we walked in the door. They were thrilled to share the bunk room, explored the beach together, snuggled on the same chair during movie nights, and were a united front in every decision. I felt like I hardly saw Owen all weekend. Frankly, it was awesome! (and gave me more confidence in our decision to start Owen in Kindergarten this fall)

Calla's early mornings put her on a bit of an opposite schedule from the other kids who were embracing later nights of vacation, but it was a joy hearing how Calla's speech and expression has progressed since we last saw her at Christmas. We also got some glimpses of the goofy silliness that she usually reserves for home. The weather had promised miserable northwest rain and cold, so we packed for indoor entertainment... games, play dough, movies...

And yet, our wonderful view ended up looking like this most of the weekend... overcast, but DRY and almost warm. Hardly a drop of rain all weekend, and it was warm enough that the boys (big and little) set to work creating a "sunken ship" out of collected driftwood.

Everyone needs a project...

The boys showed their true northwest roots and spent most of the weekend in salty, soggy sweats and raincoats.

The only thing Owen did without Nolan's help all weekend. Pretty impressive without a mirror...

Scott and Tim took the the boys on a "pirate adventure" to hike over the mountain at Hug Point.  I heard great tales of their adventures!

Our one great benefit on the trip this year was how incredibly CLOSE we are now to the coast.  Less than two hours with Memorial Day traffic! Hopefully that means more beach time in our future.

A Break for Aloha

In the middle of all our moving craziness, we took a much anticipated trip to Hawaii to join my parents at Ko Olina.  It seems only fitting that I would interrupt blog reports of our move to toss in some pics from our trip.

I have said it before, and it holds true again: Before we had kids, we never understood the "resort" vacation - always wanting to travel with backpacks, so we could move around and explore as much as we can in a new place.  Now that we have kids, we like nothing more than going to Ko Olina, putting our clothes from suitcases into drawers, and parking ourselves for 6 solid days.  My dad puts his beach chairs in the same spot every morning and Scott and I try to take turns trading naptime oversight in the condo while the other gets some beach time alone.  This trip, we managed one excursion... to Safeway, but otherwise never left the resort. 

Granted, Ko Olina is really a group of resorts, so we walked every morning, explored the Marina, wandered through the new Disney Resort down the beach, rented paddleboards one afternoon, and even tried some of the "resort sponsored activities."  Kids story time and family water balloon toss were both a bust (but free); the spray on tattoos were a hoot... but you really can't expect us northwest white folks to keep the area free of sunscreen, so they didn't last long.


The best event by far was the lagoon fish feeding.  Owen and I took a LONG walk to get there by 7:30 one morning.  I expect to watch the staff throw food in the fish pond.  Instead, we were given fish identification charts and got to wade into the ocean with handful after handful of fish food.  The fish swarmed and jumped right at our feet!  Definitely a winner.

Not a winner was the stomach flu that hit Josh, Scott, and then my Mom over the course of the week.  Never fun to be sick, but at least when you're sick in Hawaii, you get to recover by lying on the beach. Scott also ended up spending a good portion of the vacation trying to coordinate the house purchase in Portland, but free wifi by the pool made that a much more pleasant task than it would have been from an office in the city!

We all loved getting some water time in the middle of winter.  Owen was a real fish and LOVED the ocean.  Josh was a big fan of the pool and the sand entry at the pool, but pretty frightened by the ocean waves and consequently the beach itself.   We enjoyed lots of soccer and football on the grass instead. Hopefully next time we make this wonderful trip, he'll be up for building sand castles. But really, you can't complain about a week at Ko Olina. It is a magical place!
 

We can do Hard Things

We spent the last weekend of June on a mini-vacation with Scott's parents. They rented a house in Sunriver during the Pacific Crest Sports Festival weekend. Only 25 minutes from home, but well worth it to spend a weekend with family and NOT have to worry about the to do list.

Pacific Crest has 10 different sports events. Running events from 5K through Marathon, Sprint and Endurance Dualathons, and Olympic and Half-Ironman Triathlons. They have two running events for bigger kids and the whole weekend kicks-off with the Kids' Splash-Pedal-Dash. The house we rented was RIGHT ON the trail where all the longer distance runs past, so after our events on Saturday, we got to watch all the crazies go by at mile 5 of their 13.1 mile run (note, that's AFTER a 1 mile swim and 58 mile bike ride!). Owen took very seriously his job to "give encouragement" and offered high fives to dozens of runners. And the longer into the day we got, the more appreciative those folks were see his smiling face alongside the trail.

Hard Thing #1: Owen - Splash-Pedal-Dash
The triathlon for kids 12 and under had 500 participants! They treat the kids just like the big time triathletes - number bibs, timing chips on their ankles, even numbers marked down the side of their leg. Owen was thrilled! We lined up his strider bike, found his buddy Evan, and then waited a FULL HOUR for our turn to start. They start twos from oldest to youngest, which makes sense so the big kids don't run over the littles, but we waited so long that half the kids around us were asleep by the time we reached the starting line. No worries, Owen and Evan were still pumped and jumping up and down for their turn. They climbed through the bouncy house, splashed through two wading pools, ran to transition, rode 1/4 mile bike loop, back to transition, and then a 1/4 mile run. About halfway through the run, Owen was breathing heavy and said, "Mom, this is a pretty far run!" but he ran every step of the way. His favorite parts:
- wearing his shoes and socks in the water.
- slapping high fives to other kids cheering along the run route, and
- getting a medal at the end!


Hard Thing #2: Jeff and Ethel - Half Marathon #3
J&E walked their 3rd (or 4th???) half marathon. This time, they SMASHED their big goal of finishing under 4 hours. The course did a full loop around Sunriver - mostly shaded and FLAT with great scenery. Scott had the kids in the bike trailer, so they tooled around most of the morning to make sure everyone was keeping pace. (Conrad and Glenna and their friends John and Elaine also walked the half).


Hard Thing #3: Alissa - Half Marathon
This time, I felt like I got the right amount of training in for my second half marathon. I did almost all the runs on my schedule (3 times/week) and even some cross training on the bike. My goal was to get under 2 hours, and I felt really good running most of the race, but when I got through mile 10, I hit a major mental wall. I realized that to get under 2 hours, I would have to run the last 3 miles in 24 minutes and there's NO WAY that was going to happen. After dragging through mile 11, I rallied and was able to cross the finish line in 2:06. I do think getting under 2 hours is attainable, but I realized that I need to get STRONGER in order to get faster. My lungs felt great (even at 4200 feet), but I just couldn't get my legs to move.

Hard Think #4: Owen - Ride a Bike
We didn't really know this was going to be part of the weekend. Since Owen turned 2, he's had a Strider Balance Bike. We've always told him that he would get a pedal bike when he's 5, but he's gotten so good on the balance bike, that we decided to surprise him with a pedal bike for his 4th birthday. We decided to give it to him in Sunriver, along with his birthday celebration with Grandma and Grandpa.
At the last minute, Scott decided to pull the training wheels off the bike... The whole point of a balance bike is that kids are supposed to be able to transition to a real bike without trainers, but we were skeptical that a 32 pound Owen would be able to lift and steady a 25 pound bike and get it started. Owen took about 22 seconds to prove us wrong and start pedaling the bike on his own. 15 minutes later, he was riding up and down the street. 30 minutes later, Scott got on his own bike, so they two of them could go for a legitimate ride, and the next morning ALL of us rode bikes to a nearby park.

Owen still needs some practice learning how to use the brake (and consequently is a little afraid of going downhill), but we're in pretty major shock that he learned to ride a bike before turning 4. I guess I better get stronger and faster - next year he's doing to be twice as fast during the Splash-Pedal-Dash!

Vegas Baby!

In April, I got the wonderful treat of taking a Gals Weekend with 3 of my amazing mama friends (Julie, Michelle, and Jen). We spent 3 nights in Vegas, touring the strip, seeing a Cirque show, shopping, eating some wonderful food and doing a wee bit of talking, and talking, and talking. We had a fabulous time, though it was pretty clear at the end of each day that we are no longer in our 20's and clearly not accustom to a late night schedule! On the other hand, we all slept like ROCKS, knowing that no little faces would be appearing at the side of the bed at 6 AM.

Julie kept her eyes out for a Groupon deal that snagged us half price spa treatments, and you can bet we took advantage of every amenity in that place - sauna, steam room, jacuzzi pool, lotions and potions, and simple taking our own sweet time getting ready for the day.

As luck would have it, in the middle of Bend's never ending winter, we managed to hit an 80 degree day in Vegas. We walked down to the pool at 9 AM, and attached ourselves to lounge chairs until they kicked us out at 5 PM. Yes, that's a full 8 hours lounging and reading by the pool. Yes please!

So here are the photos...


Oh, I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Hello-ha!

We enjoyed another wonderful week in Ko Olina (on Oahu) with my parents and my brother. The plane rides over and back were pretty rough with a toddler that won't read books, watch a video, color, or sit still for ANYTHING, but Owen was a dream traveler and Scott and I just took hour-long shifts wrestling with Josh. The work was well worth it to enjoy the picturesque setting and 80 degree sunshine for 7 straight days. Lovely!

It was the first "full" family vacation we've all taken together since Scott and I got married. Owen enjoyed learning about cribbage from Uncle Todd and giving him the "stink eye." Plus, once you have kids, vacationing with extra adults around is always a welcome treat - a date night for us, extra entertainment for the boys, and lots of laughs playing games and watching my parents learn about Angry Birds after the kids crashed for the night.

Other highlights:
A visit to the North Shore to see the big waves and amazing surfers
Watching larger than life athletes stroll past our resort (Pro Bowl Week in Ko Olina)
Owen picked up two new words: Mahalo (thank you) and Hello-ha!
A phenomenal date night dinner
A golf day for the big guys
Walking to get ice cream with the little boys
The four of us successfully sharing a room all week
Owen was an amazing trooper walking all over the resort and up and down the beach
Reading. By the pool. By myself.
Pool - beach - pool - beach - pool!

Bring on the pictures...