Monday, January 25, 2010

Happy Anniversary

3 years of marriage: check! This last weekend Robin and I had the opportunity to get away for a few days by ourselves, thanks to the blessing of my parents taking care of Ty, and the other blessing of our dear friends letting us use their condo in Pord Ludlow! We have been pretty low on income the past 6 months, so we were incredibly grateful for this gift (on TOP of which, the same friends gifted us some $$ to go out for our anniversary dinner!!!). We had a fabulous time spending a few days just the two of us and re-connecting with each other, talking and praying about life, and just having fun relaxing...staying up late and sleeping in...bliss.

Robin finally got a really nice camera for Christmas (through a collaborative effort of family and friends) and we were glad to have it in time to take it out and experiment with it on this trip! Luckily, for your viewing pleasure, it rarely left his side all weekend :)
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Playing with the camera while waiting for the ferry...




We stopped at Safeway once we got off the ferry, and it began a weekend of laughing, funny stories, and local humor :) As I mentioned before, funds have been "low" lately, so even though Robin had planned and schemed some things to do on our trip, I still knew money was tight and our budget was small for the trip. This explained why, when deciding on which frozen pizza to buy for dinner that night, it came down to Robin's deciding factor: "Oh, we're definitely getting this one, the price per pound just dropped below $2.00 for the Safeway Select brand." I love my husband, he makes me laugh ALL the time.

Here I am, attempting pancakes our first morning...until we realized we didn't have any oil, butter, or cooking spray, which didn't work so well without a nonstick pan. We couldn't get the first pancake off of the pan - oh well.

Since our breakfast attempt failed we decided to head out in search of some muffins before our hike we had planned. There was one little coffee shop/wine bar in town. We finally found it only to realize that it was empty and dark - closed on a Saturday morning even though we were there during hours of operation according to what was listed on the door. We walked next door to the mini mart to inquire about the cafe. The cashier said, "They should be open. Hmm, yeah they weren't open all day yesterday either. It's a small business, so if the owner doesn't feel like coming in to work, they're not open." Wow. Small town :)

Picture of the main room in the condo. It also had two bedrooms and a deck.

After we finally found some breakfast, we set out on our 4.5 mile hike that Robin had researched. There were .5 mile, 2.5 mile, and 4.5 options. Since we had pizza for dinner the night before, followed by two bags of microwave popcorn, and cookies, plus biscuits and gravy for breakfast (aka, heart attack on a plate), we opted for the longest trail in hopes of burning at least a fraction of the calories we had consumed thus far. Plus, it had a couple of "view points" listed on the map which we were excited about!

Hmm.....here we are at "view point" #1. I had to stand on the bench to even see a tiny bit over the trees. I don't think that should qualify as a view point. Moving on we anticipated the next "view point," which we completely missed all together. Apparently the view was so awesome, that we walked right by it without noticing.


Here we are about 2/3 through the hike, and ironically, these were the best views even though they weren't anywhere near the official "view points" on the map! It was really pretty being up there in the open. In the end we had a great time, a good work out, and some funny memories of the hike.

Saturday night we stepped outside the condo and down the grass to the beach to go for a walk. It was SO pretty! So quiet and calm. We both commented on how beautiful the northwest really is and that we take for granted the green and trees and mountains and water all in one place. For me, growing up boating and "beaching" in the San Juans, it is always peaceful for me to be in places like this. The smells of salt water, sand and seaweed calm my soul :) I even love the squawking seagulls.

The tide was out a little ways and we sat and watched the clams spurting water from their little tiny holes in the sand.



Here we are at our night out for dinner! The food was to die for. I had scallops and prawns and Robin had wild king salmon. Yum yum yum YUM. We were there for at least a couple of hours, relaxing between courses, and enjoying not having to rush out of there to get home because of a babysitter :)
Well, all good things do come to an end. We had such a nice time together, and it was so good for us to be able to miss our little boy! Tyson did just great for my parents, which was a relief! We couldn't wait to see him on Sunday. Here we are headed back on the ferry.

Three wonderful years with my love. We have had some interesting ups and downs, interesting financial situations because of this lovely economy and trying to build a business in financial services at the same time, and of course the constant learning curve being parents of a crazy, adorable little boy (who turned ONE year old today!!!). We feel like our three years of marriage have been full of "ch-ch-ch-changes" one after the other, but they have definitely brought us closer together and we feel blessed to be weathering the storms and experiencing the joys of life together. Here's to three years, and many many more to come!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Walk in the Park

Hello! We are overdue for a blog update - sorry! I thought things were supposed to slow down for Christmas... Instead, January has turned in to a whirling blur of events for us - including Tyson turning ONE on the 25th (when did that happen!?) and our 3-year wedding anniversary on the 27th :) Looks like we forever have a busy month of January.
Robin is out of town for a few days which leaves me home as a "single mom" with Tyson...always a fun but tiring adventure. Today we saw beautiful Seattle sunshine outside and simply had to get out and enjoy it while it lasted (and good thing we did, since as I write this post the clouds are coming back). We went for a nice long walk and decided to stop and play at the park for a little while. Ty isn't quite walking yet, and since it's been winter we haven't made too many trips to the nearby park recently, but today was the perfect day to go exploring!


Heading up the steps...but these weird yellow things on both sides are so distracting!

C'mon mom...why are you always pointing that thing at me...


I COULD SWING ALL DAY!



Just checkin out the rest of the playground...


Robin and I get to go away for a couple of days this weekend for our anniversary!! YAY! My parents are taking care of Tyson for 2 nights...which means I get to sleep in!!! That is actually highly unlikely since I haven't slept in for an entire year, but at least I can lay there in bed and not have to get up to make a certain someone breakfast :) We are very much looking forward to a couple of days away to re-connect with each other, and have a chance to miss our baby! Of course when we get back, it's party time to celebrate our little man's first year of life. How time flies...but I love my life.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

We're on our way to walking!

Happy Hump Day! I just remembered I had a great video from Kansas of Tyson learning to stand without holding onto something for the first time. We were so glad to catch this on tape! You can tell by all of the family sitting around clapping that Tyson was the center of attention and our source of entertainment for the week :) I can't get enough of his adorable little legs...
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Monday, January 4, 2010

Ty hits the snowshoe trails!

Robin and I borrowed my brother and sister-in-law's snowshoes a couple of years ago, and conveniently have not had to give them back - until now :) They are finally going to make it up to the mountain themselves, so we decided that we had better make a little family trip with Ty before we had to give back their gear! Spur of the moment decision on Sunday, in the middle of Tyson's normal nap time, so it was definitely a risk, but it paid off! A great time was had by all (until Tyson cried for the last quarter of the trek. Tired, cold and hungry - bad baby combo).

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Robin getting Ty all secured in the baby hiker (also first time use!)

The adventure begins...

Me taking the lead for a bit.

You can barely see Ty he's so bundled, but he was snug as a bug in his pack close to daddy.

My boys...just haaangin out :)

Stopping to enjoy the waterfall and water flowing underneath the snow banks.



My blue-eyed babe. Happy boy. Okay, this is pretty much the last "happy" point since he started getting really cold and tired and started to whimper/cry the rest of the way down. Oh well, at least he LOOKED cute! We all survived :)

The trip was a great success and we will do it again for sure! Just need some wool socks and warm snow pants for Tyson next time. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!