Seaside Adventure

This past weekend we headed to the coast for a little family time. Colin always talks about the beach.  We took him when he was 2 and he seems to remember it very well. He is always asking when we can go again...so 3 years later we finally took him again. So sad...but to our defense it has been a very busy 3 years. Plus, it was a long drive from where we were at in Virginia. The coast is a lot closer to us here in Oregon, so I can see us going more frequently. We decided to head up to Seaside since we needed to be in the Portland area anyway.  I love Seaside!!! It was one of my favorite places as a kid. 

It rained a lot on our drive up there but then once we arrived it backed off a bit. The time we spent on the beach was rain free and actually decent weather. The pictures make it look cold but it actually was not bad. Not warm like the east coast, but good for the pacific northwest beaches. 

Meli loves to keep us on our toes.  It is like her 2 year old mission - well she has been doing it since birth, so lets say life mission. Our hotel was right on the beach, which made it so nice not to have to lug the kids too far.  Once we stepped on that sand, she made a run for the water...and just kept going. Unlike Colin, who ran away from the water, Meli ran towards it. Will took the first turn to run after her. He saved her from getting wet from the incoming tide (not a bad one) but he unfortunately got pretty soaked.  More so then he wanted to anyway, which was to not be wet at all. We were able to prevent her from getting wet a few times, but she eventually got what she wanted and got in the ocean. Shoes and all. Our cute little stinker. I thought the coldness of the water would keep her from doing it again...nope...she just ran right back in. Colin was the only dry one but he was pretty sandy, so we headed back a bit early to take warm baths/showers before going out for dinner.

After getting cleaned up we walked around the boardwalk and shopped around.  Will went into a store that made him realize he had been to Seaside before. He actually had bought our carved wooden chest from there. His memory sometimes! He does not seem to remember a lot of the places he went during his brief stay in Oregon (with the exception of the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which he is very excited to take Colin too)...Oh well, I will just have to show it all to him again.  Not that he saw a lot of Oregon. Just the northern part.  The next day we played on the beach again and then took Colin to the Aquarium to see/feed the seals.  Sadly, some of the ones that I remember are no longer there. A baby seal was born two days before, so we got to see him swim around.  Very adorable.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Mother's Day

Per the norm of the last few months, I am yet again behind in my blog entries. Plus, I have not gone to the storage unit to look for my camera cord. There are so many pictures I want to share from the past month...I will try to make it there soon. I have definitely been keeping myself busy - I am starting the exciting job search, adjusting to being a temporary stay-at-home mom, getting back into my work-out routine (I was doing not so well when we started to move), working on Colin's "homework" (cannot believe he will be starting school this year), entertaining two extremely active kids, seeing people that I have not seen in years, and looking for the place that we will call home. We did find a place and area that we fell in love with!  So fingers-crossed that it works out.

This was the first Mother's Day in probably 7 years that I have been home for. It was nice being able to spend the day with my mom. We had a BBQ so that Will could see my younger brother's house...and his dogs. Poor Will is not a big fan of dogs.

Have I said before how spoiled I am?!? I am sure I have. The kids and Will surprised me with a tree of life necklace that I had my eye on at the Irish store in Occoquan in Virginia. I did not expect it at all.

It was a perfect day to celebrate one of the best parts of my life, motherhood.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

My Little Sunshine is 2

On the 10th of May, our sweet baby girl turned two!!! It just blows my mind that she is already a toddler and on her way to becoming a big girl.  We were still adjusting to the move, so we did not go all out or anything. It was nice to be low-key and have a little get-together with family.  She has really been into My Little Ponies, so we went with that theme. It was pink everywhere! She has brought such a girlie touch to my life! She is still at the age that she does not really understand what is going on, but she had a blast.  As usual, she made out like a bandit and got some really neat gifts. Colin even got some cool toys from everyone. Spoiled kids!

I woke up Meli on her birthday with the same phrase I use most mornings, "good morning my little sunshine". She was just that, a ball of sunshine. Both of our kids have a very happy disposition.  They have their grumpy moments (especially Mae) but overall they are very energetic (very) and happy kids.  When I greet them in the morning, I call them both my "little sunshine". The times where we go in and actually wake the kids up and I get to witness the cuteness of them stretching and greeting their day...it just makes me so happy and really comprehend how lucky I am.  At first, I thought I should come up with another phrase for Meli, since I already used "sunshine" for Colin - but it just really fits for both.  They are so happy in the morning and they truly are the sunshine in my life.  It can get stressful at times...and sometimes it feels like Will and I move from one stressful moment to the next  - but through it all these two bundles of joy and rays of light just shine so much happiness on us.  Will and I are so blessed with two amazing kids.

Happy birthday, baby girl!!


The past few weeks, Mae's words have just blossomed. She is using sentences too.  She says:

Come on (daddy or mommy)
Hurry
Daddy, eat
Please
Sorry
Ponies
Dragon...grrrr
On
In
Me mommy (my mommy)
Go fast
Cupcake
Chicken

She can also count to five. Not always consistently but pretty well.

I am sure I am forgetting some...

So, I know this is late but Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl. My camera cord is in storage, but I will post pictures hopefully soon.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Finding a Routine

We have been here for a little over a week now...and we are getting into a routine...a little bit.  The kids took a few days to adjust to the time and different surroundings...but now they act like they own the place. We made a quick visit to my hometown so that we could see Grammie and explore one of the parks. Colin got to play on an old train that I loved as a kid.

We have also been exploring the area that we are temporarily staying in. The next picture is a historic covered bridge. The kids loved it.  Colin thought it was so cool that trains use to drive through it.



The weather has been beautiful since we have been here.  I was preparing myself for rain, rain and more rain...but not yet. It has allowed the kids and I to take our daily walks and play outside.  In the mornings, it starts out a little chilly, but I love that.  I dislike when mornings are instantly hot and humid. Those kind of mornings can make running not so fun. It is weird not having a job right now...but I am enjoying the time with the kids...and am starting to look for possible positions.

We are still in the process of trying to figure out where exactly we want to live.  What we had originally thought - seems to have changed a bit...we will see. Will started back to work the first Monday we were here.  It is so neat that his work is letting him telecommute. It is so crazy how much the workforce is changing.

Meli on one of our early morning walks

 I  forgot to mention that Will and I entertained ourselves during the drive across county by trying to find a license plate for each state.  We ended up seeing all of them except Rhode Island, Louisiana, and New Mexico.  Arizona almost escaped us but we found it as we arrived at our final destination.  We even found one for D.C. (surprisingly not in Virginia but in Indiana), and a couple for Canada. 

                                                ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                           The B Family

No More Car

I just have to say how nice it was to go for a run this morning. Being in a car all day for several days can make one feel very lazy and yucky. Here is my new view for my morning run. So beautiful!

Day 5: We Made It!!!

The drive from Idaho to Oregon was...blah....Besides a pretty view. Each time we actually did see a rest area we were in desperate need for one. The same for Eastern Oregon. We drove through Bend, which is such a pretty view, in front of us was the three Sisters mountain. So pretty and covered in snow. Will did not realize the drive would consist of such an extremely long windy road.

We got to our final destination around 3 PM (PST). Meli, of course, had her first major breakdown...in true Mae style for her first meeting of P-pa. That girl knows how to make a first impression. Poor girl woke up wet and hungry though. Plus, she was in a totally new environment. Thankfully, Mae gets through her rough moments fairly quickly and was playing and jumping around within a few minutes. In time to meet Mi-Ma.
So we had a day of catching up with part of the family and getting organized in our temporary digs. I was so to wake up this morning with the realization that I do not have to get in the car! Well, maybe just to go to the store...

Oh one funny story was when we got gas in Oregon. We both forgot about not being able to pump your own gas. Will is not a fan of this. I appreciate the job creation and having someone pump my gas when it is rainy or snowy...but otherwise I would prefer to do it myself. The gas attendant washed our window and I totally forgot if you were supposed to tip! It has been way too long. So then we were scrabbling to google the etiquette!

Day 4: Are We There Yet?!?

States: WY & ID

Today we all were kind of over the whole "driving across country" thing. All around a bit grumpy, but still the trip has gone so much better than expected. No major meltdowns (until Miss Mae's in the hotel room)...I am so impressed with the kids. Meli had trouble with the 45 minute drive to Grandma's...so this is very exciting. The big guy upstairs must have decided to give the B family a little break.

The view was pretty, but the day was uneventful. The only thing I took note of was when I tried to show Colin a plateau...he told me "no that is a volcano mom". He was very adamant about that point.

Before the trip we bought Colin a used DS player. We felt he was still a little young so we decided to go the cheaper route. He saw it a week before we left, but we told him he could not have it until we started our trip. So he waited patiently (for a five year old)...and then we could not get it to work. Poor guy. We finally were able to work on it yesterday, so he got it on the second to last day. He loved it though and we did not hear a peep out of him. This also allowed Mae to watch the movies she likes.

We stopped in Boise for the night. Will was very excited to see a Jack in the Box. I cannot wait to cook a meal. I am tired of fast food and restaurants. This aspect of the trip makes me think that my grandparents had the right idea having a camper for all our trips we took when I was kid...I mentioned it to Will and he was like "hell no"...I guess it would age us a bit. Ha ha.

The pictures are of Colin in Wyoming, Meli having her meltdown in the hotel, and her drinking like a big girl at breakfast.

Day 3: A Change of Scenery

States: Nebraska and Wyoming

Today we got to change our view...we went from farms and dead grass to mountains with trees and snow. Colin was so amazed by the snow on the ground. It has been a lot colder than what we have been used to in Virginia lately.

The only thing really worth mentioning today is...that I saw my first tumbleweed blow across the road. The wind has been crazy today. I did not even seen one when driving thru Arizona or Texas when we made the trek out to Virginia 6 years ago. I was very disappointed at the time. Anything else....ummm...oh Will got a ticket today. Right before we saw the tumbleweed actually. I knew one of us was bound to get one, but I kind of thought it would have been me...but to do that someone would have to let me drive! I think my driving just might scare Will.

The first picture is of Wyoming and the second is Meli playing with daddy in the hotel. She has so much energy. Poor Colin is feeling a little under the weather tonight.

Day 2: where are you 311?

States: IN, IL, IA, NE

The second day of our trip was mostly free of meltdowns. Any that happened were, thankfully, resolved relatively quickly.

The weather was a little depressing and made any stops a chore. We did stop at a rest area for the kids to burn some energy, but it was misty, windy and cold. Colin made the best by pretending he was the captain of a pirate ship at the playground. Meli was his first mate.

We saw the beautiful skyline in Indianapolis (when the scenery has not changed much for hours it was a gorgeous view), drove past a few colleges (Indiana and University of Illinois), had our first time zone change, drove through the town of Normal, and crossed the Mississippi. There were a lot windmills (probably not the correct term) for the Adair clean energy project. I thought that was very neat. We witnessed a lot of flooding in Iowa. The water was right up to the interstate. Seeing the houses that were almost covered was very sad.

In the middle of nowhere Iowa, we almost ran out of gas. We had only 3 miles to spare. It was very stressful. The few exits we passed were all farmland. Thankfully we came across the small town of Walnut!

Our day ended in Omaha, Nebraska...which Will is partial to because one of his favorite bands (311) started there. Sadly there was no obvious homage to the band. Come on, Omaha.

Day 1: Better than Expected

States: VA, MD, WV, PA, WV (again), OH, IN

Monday morning we signed the closing papers (and luck would have it - I did not have to meet the buyers...yay! i can explain that more later) and started our journey west.

We had expected Mae to have major breakdowns, but not so much. The DVD player worked its charm, the surprise bag was a hit, and both kids took a long nap.

Our excitement of the day was driving by Big Savage Mountain, Green Latern rd (Colin loved it), and seeing Columbus, Ohio skyline. Exciting.

Mae had her first experience in a hotel room. She ran around like a crazy girl! We also broke a family rule and let them jump on the two beds.

So all-in-all, a good first day.