we spent a couple weeks in Chelan, and as evidence by the ridiculous amount of photos, we had the best time. we’ll be back for a few more weeks in august so stay tuned for part 2. 
chelan 2013 (part 1)
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Category Archives: vacation
chelan in photos
these photos make me so happy! we were beyond fortunate to be able to spend 4 weeks over there with friends and family, minus the week i spent with the just the girls. i loved getting away from life’s distractions (internet, tv, social commitments, errands, chores, etc) and being able to really spend quality time with my kids like i never have before. it was good for my soul-and most definitely the girl’s too. they haven’t stopped talking about memories from chelan and when we can go back again (girls trip in sept?!!!).
typically, we’re there for a week at a time, so it’s all about soaking up every moment of sun, pool, and lake time. having spent so much time there, we were able to branch out and do things we’ve never done before. we went for coffee runs and morning walks, we went blueberry picking, and played at the park everyday. we got ice cream almost every night and went for drives looking at pretty orchards and dream houses. we found new fun spots to play at the lake, and went and made our very own lake chelan tee-shirts (which was something i did every year growing up). we visited with friends who were also in town, and hit up the waterslides-which was the girl’s favorite thing of all. we pretty much had the best time ever, and i have a million and one photos to prove it.
click (here) to see the rest
we’ve been busy…
doing a lot of this…
i’m not sure how we got so lucky this year, but we’re spending 4 out of 5 weeks at one of my very favorite places-my family’s vacation house in Chelan. Many, many more pictures to come!
palm springs video-take two
is this working?
[vimeo 41085417 w=500 h=375]
palm springs vacation
we recently got back from spending 8 wonderful days in palm springs. it was the BEST time, and many, many special memories were made. The weather was perfect {90’s and 100’s} so we spent every waking minute at the pool. We packed our video monitors with us, so we were able to take the big girls to the pool during lyla’s morning nap, and brian and i were able to have quiet time there during afternoon naps. There was a really fun park that kept us entertained in the evenings, and after the girls went down at night Brian and I watched movies, thank you very much redbox.
Of course I took a ridiculous number of photos-which i blame entirely on how cute my little ones looked in their rompers and summer wear. but, some things i didn’t take pictures of that i want to remember: morning walks, french toast breakfast everyday, the sweet sight of finley and adalaide sharing a bed, iced coffee by the pool, and dinner and milkshakes at Ruby’s.
My photos aren’t that great. I still don’t know how to take a picture in bright, glaring sun. But regardless, I love every single picture-for the memory it represents. Check out the photo album for many, MANY more.
and in true paparazzi style, here is our video. make sure you click on the settings icon so you can watch it in HD 
or watch it here
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n_HsM34OYI?rel=0]
ocean shores
Brian and I had decided that we weren’t doing any trips this summer, cause it just sounded like a lot of work. Then summer {i use that term loosely} came and i got a little sad that the girls wouldn’t be enjoying any beach/water fun because mommy was lazy and didn’t feel like packing a bazillion things. So, i got my mom on board for a little road trip and we took the girls to ocean shores. No housework, no internet, nothing else demanding my time and attention. just each other. it was really a special week for me, and i think for the girls too. a few of my favorite pictures…
and here’s a little video too, of course…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muxvLexuuo8?rel=0&hd=1]
you can also watch it here
wish you could have come b.
thank you mom, and i love you.
more pictures in online album.
huntington beach
We just got home from a delightful trip to the beach. The weekend we arrived there the US Open surfing competition was going on. I wish I’d taken some pictures of the event because it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. We heard 500,000+ people turned out, which is quite a lot of people on one little stretch of beach.
I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, and I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to pick my favorites. Some are just photos I like, and some are memories that are just special to me.
Like my girls in matching jammers.
One night we took a trip to Balboa, which is a family tradition for Brian’s family.
We had dinner out on the pier at Ruby’s, and got to watch a beautiful sunset.
This was Finley’s first time on a “ride”. She wasn’t too keen on it at first.
She told me that the “horsies were mad at her”.
our little beach baby was happy as a clam to chill under an umbrella
because the waves break twice, it is the perfect place for little ones to frolic around safely.
brian and i celebrated our 4 year anniversary while we were there.
we went on a date that i will never forget i love you, babe!
i love you, babe!
we got up early one morning and went to a beach in newport that is a popular spot for body surfers.
the waves get huge and break right at the shore, so surfing isn’t allowed.
brian was the only one there without a wetsuit on, which was C-R-A-Z-Y
considering the sun wasn’t even out yet.
finley absolutely loved playing in the sand.
building castles, being buried, and looking for shells kept her busy for hours.
she fit right in with the local girls with her roxy romper, boots, and sunglasses.
thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to brian’s family for hosting us,
and especially to his grandma for giving us her bed.
i’ll post the rest of our photos {yes, there’s more} someday soon in the online album.
and now i better get back to the hugest pile of laundry you’ve ever seen.
vacation
We had the BEST time on our vacation. We started the trip with our friends, the Hage’s, and then we had some time with just our family, and we finished off the vacation with my family. It was beyond wonderful for us to have so much time together… just relaxing, no connection to the outside world {except for when we tuned in to watch the bachelorette, of course}.
what fireworks? they had too much fun playing in the back of the car.
the little burger shack has the most amazing strawberry ice cream.
i may have indulged in it once or twice…or four times.
the girls loved the water! it took finley a little while to work up the nerve to swim on her own.
once she did, we couldn’t keep her away from the water.
pretty good self-timer shot, if i do say so
i love how pale the baby stayed. i was a sunscreen psycho!
adalaide was so easy going. she napped at the beach, poolside, in the car, and in the stroller.
our big girl went down the water slides all by herself. she was quite proud!
finley wanted to wear this dress the entire trip. i drew the line when she suggested sleeping in it.
i’m not a huge fan of purple, but i might become one. i love the way adalaide’s skin/eyes look in this outfit!
waiting for her turn on the jet ski
tuckered out on the way home
here’s a few videos, and you can check out some more pictures in the online album.
can’t get enough of this laugh!
finley on the water slide
finley swimming
maui
To say that i was a little anxious about flying to maui with finley would be putting it mildly. As you may or may not know she’s not the most laid back kid in town. Let me just tell you…there was a divine intervention on both plane rides. Our little fiery, rambunctious child was an ANGEL! No fits. No tears. No pacing the isles. Thank you, Lord! Of course, it had a little something to do with the enormous bag I packed stuffed with food, and the portable dvd player we borrowed. But still, I was one proud mama! It was icing on the cake when we discovered that the man sitting next to my dad was the CEO of Ergo baby carriers. Side note: I’ve always an Ergo carrier, and thought about asking for one for my birthday. Finley outgrew her Bjorn a year ago and now we have nothing. Brian describes a scenario involving me leaping over the chairs to tell the nice man how all my friends have one and looooove theirs. Apparently, my enthusiasm paid off, because he offered to send us the new sport carrier that he designed. HOORAY!
With the first plane ride under our belt, we headed to the beach. Finley was absolutely terrified of the sand. Every time her feet touched the sand, she’d cry “ewwwww” and ask me to wash her feet. She even tried to clean the sand off by licking her feet (much like a cat) which only made it worse because then she had a mouthful of sand. We were determined to get her liking the sand, because nothing and i mean NOTHING was going to hinder our beach fun. The next day i left her shoes on while we walked up and down the beach. We watched other toddlers running and playing and enjoying the sand and it’s like a switch went off. I took off her shoes and she ran through the sand and water like it was the best time of her life. HALLELUJAH!! She had so much fun splashing in the waves and going out in the deep water to swim with us.
We spent our days suntanning, body surfing, swimming in the pool, playing at the coolest park i’ve ever seen, eating yummy meals out, feeding the fishies, watching whales (soooo neat!), going for walks, watching the amazing sunsets, and checking out different beaches around the island. Regretfully, we didn’t take pictures from the first half of the week, but we took lots during the last half. Check out the rest in the maui album.
first family vacation
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. we just got back from 9 glorious days in lake chelan. for those of you who know how much brian works, it was a REAL treat to spend so much time with him. and without our weekly committments and responsibilities we didn’t have anything to do but relax and enjoy our family. we had so much fun celebrating the fourth with lindsey, jeremy and logan, playing in the pool and reenacting lifts from our favorite dance routines from SYTYCD, reading senseless chick lit novels (yes, even brian), snacking all day every day, playing games, and acting silly with our favorite kids Hunter and Hailey. perhaps the most exciting news of the trip was that finley is in fact capable of taking naps outside. always an avid sun tanner, i was nervous that having a baby meant that i would have to trek home for naps…but PTL, despite the noise, heat, and light she took marathon naps down at the beach in her little carseat under the umbrella. hooray! she was such a happy baby all week-a tooth even came in and we didn’t even know it! All in all, our first family vacation was full of so many wonderful and hilarious memories! Check out the album for more pictures..
