Summer 2021 Highlights

I'm slowly crawling out of the black hole that envelops me in the fall at work and puts me behind on literally everything else in life.  Hence why I'm blogging about our summer highlights in late October. The weather right now is rainy, windy and cold so I think this will be good therapy to go back and relive our fun memories from the summer via photos.  

June

Fun couples trip to Suncadia

Father's Day Fun

Celebrating Jay's Retirement

July

Family photo shoot with Ryan

4th of July

Lake Chelan

August

Camping at Lake Kachess with Spauldings and Antis'

Packwood Cabin

There were also a ton of other fun activities mixed in the middle of all this like day camp for the boys, swimming lessons, bike rides down to Snoqualmie, a trip to the zoo, family movie nights, sitting out by our fire pit, playing with friends in the alley, etc.  It was a wonderful summer!

12 Year Anniversary

In May James and I got to getaway for our anniversary.  It was a long anticipated getaway as we had to cancel our anniversary trip for 11 years because the inn we planned to stay at shut down for COVID.  Plus it was just a tricky year to get away.  So it had been 2 long years since we had a getaway just the two of us.  We were giddy to get a whole 4 days just to ourselves and reconnect.  

After exploring revisiting some of our usual and favorite anniversary destinations (i.e., Cannon Beach, San Juan Island, Victoria, etc.) we decided to do something new this year and go somewhere we'd never really explored together--Orcas Island!  

We ended up finding this adorable B&B called Otters Pond Bed and Breakfast near Eastsound.  We had a cozy little room overlooking the pond where we could watch and hear the wildlife.  Apparently a river otter lives in the pond, but he was elusive and we never saw him.  :(  But I have a love for otters so when I found this cute little place I knew it was meant to be.  

We took the ferry over and stayed from Friday through Monday.  It was a mixed weather weekend--some beautiful sunny days and some rainy cooler days which we actually loved.  The first day we got there was beautiful so we had lunch, walked around Eastsound and then headed straight for Moran State Park and drove up to the top of Mt. Constitution to take in the beautiful views.  The next day was an adventure day--we took our mountain bikes on a bike/hike trip through the beautiful trails in Moran State Park and then had a picnic lunch near the lake.  It was quite the adventure for our older bodies so we spent the rest of the day napping and resting in our room which was heavenly.  Sunday was fun because we golfed the small little 9-hole golf course on Orcas.  It was actually a challenging course!  But we lucked out with an overcast and cool morning which was helpful.  And we virtually had the course all to ourselves!  The rest of the afternoon we drove around and explored the rest of the island including Deer Harbor.  We also took a beautiful hike on Turtleback Mountain which had even more incredible views than we got on Mt. Constitution.  We could see all the way to Canada!  

In addition to our fun adventures we ate really well too.  Amanda, the inn owner made yummy breakfasts for us every morning.  And at night we ate at some great restaurants including Madrona Bar & Grill, Mijitas, and did a special anniversary dinner at The Mansion at Rosario Resort.  We also found this adorable bar in town called The Barnacle and had some fun, creative drinks.  

In our down time we found some fun movies and new shows to watch and slept a lot.  So basically it was a perfect weekend overall and just what we needed to recharge and reconnect.  Hopefully our next getaway comes soon!!

Some notes about 12 years of marriage:

As I reflect back on these 12 amazing years married to the most incredible man, I just feel so grateful.  So many memories, gifts, adventures, and so much abundance, growth and love.  Here are some notable things from our 12th year:

• We started doing marriage counseling with a wonderful counselor in Nov. 2020. We decided to do it to be proactive--to get help and guidance on healthy practices, nip in the bud any bad habits or patterns we're getting into, etc.  It's been wonderful and more helpful and needed than we realized with all the COVID anxiety and other things that came up this year
• We survived a year of pandemic, both working from home, homeschooling our kids, a remodel, and lots more and still really really like each other.  ;)  I don't know how I would have gotten through all that without James--so grateful for a partner through everything to help quiet my soul, provide help and support and keep me laughing despite the craziness
• We were reflecting during our trip that many people look at lots of years of marriage and feel like it gets boring or predictable.  But we feel the opposite.  So far it's been more rich, fulfilling, growing, and interesting.  Like wine everything in marriage seems to get better with age--our understanding of each other, our communication, our conversations, our sex life, our partnership, our rhythm, our parenting (we think??), etc.  We just really enjoy each other's company and doing life together.  It's definitely not perfect and we have our challenges (thank you again for marriage counseling), but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Nathan's 9th Birthday

Nathan is 9 years old!  Luckily his birthday was a lot more normal this year compared to last year.  He actually got to have a birthday party in person with friends!  We hosted the party at our favorite Centennial Park and lucked out with beautiful weather.  He invited about 6 friends and his grandparents to his party and almost everyone came!  Safe to say he was in heaven and it filled his cup so much to be with his friends in person--especially since he did virtual school the entire school year.  

The birthday party theme this year was Minecraft.  The kids played some games in the grass, rode their bikes around the path, did a pinata, had a dance party, and ate cake.  Grampa made an awesome homemade Minecraft theme cake.  Overall it was a simple and fun party and exactly what Nathan needed after a year of pandemic.  

Here are some fun aspects about Nathan at age 9 that we don't want to forget:

• Nathan is consistently one of the most happy, content, and enthusiastic people we know. He has a zest for life that is contagious and very refreshing with all the hard stuff going on in the world.  He wakes up happy and ready for the day and mostly stays that way throughout.  We are so grateful for the positivity he brings to our household
• Nate is a morning person where the rest of us are not.  Sometimes it takes us awhile to catch up to him in the morning, but he is patient with us.  He is usually raring to go in the morning and is great about doing the "process" on his own--getting dressed, brushing teeth and making his bed
• Nathan is curious all. the. time.  He wants to know about and understand everything.  We love his curiosity and wonderment for this world and all the things around him.  But poor guy--many times I find myself saying "I don't know."  But he asks great questions and I hope his curiosity is never quenched.
• He survived a full year of virtual school!!!  We are so proud of Nathan and all that he accomplished this past crazy year.  He persevered and even made the experience enjoyable as best he could.  Thank goodness for his incredible teacher, Ms. Ziemer (Roberts) who helped him survive and thrive.  He gained crazy amounts of technology skills and knowledge.  And his favorite subjects were science and math (depending on the topic).
• He is extremely creative and his imagination just gets bigger and better with every year. The kids in our alleyway love playing with him because he is always making up fun games or scenarios for them to play.
• He currently loves Pokemon, Minecraft, Legos, Bayblades, Zoobs, Nintendo Switch, boardgames, drawing make believe characters, and reading.  He consumes any kind of book that has interesting facts, history or information in it related to animals, biology, nature, history, or geography.
• He played flag football again this past spring and loved it!  So far football is his favorite sport both to play and watch.  He also plays soccer in the fall and skis in the winter.  He is doing swimming lessons this summer.  
• Nathan is a typical first child--rule follower, pretty mindful and obedient (except when it comes to screen time).  He is a great older brother to Cameron.  They obviously have their moments and fights, but Nathan is good about including Cameron, showing him the ropes and building him up.
• This summer Nathan is doing summer camp mostly at Camp RAD which he loves.  He's made some good friends there with kids that have come year over year like him.  
• His good friends right now are Sam, Griffin, Alden, Jazi, Teagan and friends at camp.
• These recent ages--like 7 through now have been such a joy with Nathan.  I want time to stop--no more growing up!  Just soaking up this special time as much as we can. 

Happiest of birthdays buddy and we love you!