camping with two babes, two jack russell terriers and a few crazy friends pt.1

last month we went camping for the first time as one big happy family. christopher was really excited to give it a go. i on the other hand was a little more apprehensive. (i tend to be a bit of a worst case scenario worrier...what if the baby cries all night long and bears come looking for said crying baby? OR what if the dogs chase a deer and we lose them forever? OR what if harper falls down a cliff?...that type of thing.) but, worried as i was, i knew that we would have an absolutely incredible memory making adventure. and we did. and after four fun filled days, we made it home safe and sound...and all got a really good scrubbin'. we took a lot of pictures and bare with me, but there are two parts. i really tried my best to narrow it down!

^^a little hike to a beautiful waterfall (that i was standing in front of.) oops!^^

^^this kid loves the tent. and it is the biggest tallest tent i have ever been in!^^

^^emerald lake. looking pretty emerald.^^

^^my sweet mountain men.^^

 ^^we did some pretty crazy 4x4 trails. with the kids. and the dogs. they are awesome.^^

^^roasting hot dogs. since there was a burn ban in colorado, we took the coleman stove and did all of our cooking off of that.^^

 ^^dream cabin.^^

such a fun adventure. part two up soon. 

seattle: part 2

these are the last of the photos from our trip to seattle. we spent our last few days wandering around the city and taking in more of the pacific northwest's beauty. it really is a lovely place to spend a spring vacation.

by this point in our trip, harper was more than a little cranky. maybe just being out of her normal routine, or from being seriously stimulated by all the newness, but it was rough. every time we got in the car there was a fit, mama lost her patience and daddy got fed up with mama losing it. it was rough. but then we got out and stretched our legs and all was well.

it made me really appreciate the traveling that i did with my family growing up. my parents took us on a vacation at least once a year from a very young age. we mostly drove, but went all across the country and saw more than our fair share of state capitols and historical landmarks. on one particular eleven hour road trip my brother asked "are we there yet?"before we got outside the city limits (we lived in a very small town!) traveling with young children isn't easy, so thank you, mom and dad for putting up with our ridiculous shenanigans and showing us the world.

wishing you a lovely weekend!

:: images from ::
:pikes place public market
:beecher's handmade cheese
:kerry park
:trophy cupcakes - seriously so good
:parsons garden

the island

the island was amazing. no words. just images and the faint smell of the salty ocean in my memory.

p.s. if you are in seattle or visiting, i highly recommend taking the ferry to the san juan islands.

Our Trip to Seattle: Part One

Hello there! We are back home and settling back into our routines and work. We had such a wonderful time away in Washington with Christopher's brother, Taylor. Seattle is surrounded in beauty and we did our best with an almost two year old to explore as much of it as we could. (sometimes this was not so easy, but more on that later)

On our first day of vacation we drove to the mountains and spent the afternoon wandering around the little town of Leavenworth. We sampled the local pastries, stuck our heads in a few shops and headed out on a walk in the woods where Harper collected rocks and we took in the fresh mountain air.