Saturday, August 26, 2017

Week in Review 8. 26.17

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The eclipse at the start of the week was pure magic. Molly was at Jump Start (a practice week of Kindergarten) and we happened to be finishing up our parent tour when the eclipse happened. I pulled her out for 5 minutes and we watched it together on the playground. It was amazing. Then Scott and I walked home in the eerily quiet with darkening skies. No birds were making noise, no cars were driving and the shadows were simply amazing. 


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Exercise

I got in 5 workouts this week - one boot camp classes, a barre3 class, a November Project (their 2nd Birthday bash) workout, a City Cycle session and a Greenlake walk. It's funny that I worked out so much because I didn't want to work out at all. I was excited to see City Cycle on Classpass because I've been looking for a cycle class closer to the house but didn't want to shell out the big bucks. Win-Win! 



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Food

In a hilarious twist of fate, we received a One Potato box this week. I had decided to cancel the service and went in and skipped all deliveries. Then I went and cancelled the service. Somehow a box was still delivered to us. I have to say the food is amazing and delicious but the inconsistencies of the service makes it a no-go for me. Maybe I'll try them again in a few months to see if they've worked out the kinks.


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In other food news, we had three potlucks this week which honestly was a lot of potlucks. I'm not that big of a fan of potlucks. The food is always lukewarm and I feel like you either get too much or not enough. 


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The Girls

This week, Molly did Jump Start with her new school. Jump Start is a week-long, half-day program for kindergarteners to learn about their new school and for their teachers to learn about them. She loved it and was a bit confused since after Jump Start, I took her back to her preschool. She told me she was both a preschooler and a kindergartener and I said for this week that was true. 



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Molly also had her preschool graduation and it was so wonderful. They gave them certificates after they slid down the slide and served cake. They also had a photo opp area with balloons. The kids were thrilled. 


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Maggie got a new bed this week and there was mass excitement. We had to rearrange some other furniture in the room and it is a bit cozier now. I, however, love that we can lie down in Maggie's bed with her. The converted crib made it hard to lie next to Maggie. The first night, Maggie and Molly slept together in the new bed. It was pretty adorable. 


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Other Goings On

I finished up the porch project this week and got my brooms and mops organized. There really isn't a great place to store them so the back deck is the right place. Hanging them up means they stay cleaner and neater. 

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I'm still working along on The Minimalist Game. It has gotten harder as the dates have gotten higher. However my pantry is now clean, the bathroom drawers are neat and my closet is looking so much lighter. I'm hoping to tackle my yarn stash this coming week. 

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Stories Published

Seattle Refined: The 5 Best Hotel Pools in Seattle


Seattle Refined: On Gravity Hill outside of Prosser, cars roll uphill BY THEMSELVES

Seattle Refined: LimeBike vs Spin Bike: Which one is better?


Seattle's Child: Giving Back: Volunteering with Your Kids

Seattle's Child: The Benefits of Journaling for Kids and Parents

Seattle's Child: It's Never Too Late to Learn Something New
Friday, August 25, 2017

The Epic Family Road Trip

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This summer, my family spent 17 days driving our trusty Subaru Outback east toward the Western National Parks and then south to California. It was an epic adventure. It was the stuff of memories. It was the first of many future road trips. Buckle up! This is a long and photo heavy post that has taken me way to long to get up.

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We first headed to Spokane where we had dinner with my Uncles, Aunt and Grandma. From there we got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Glacier National Park. The drive took longer than anticipated so we arrived in the park shortly after Noon. As I made PB&J sandwiches in the trunk of the car in the scorching heat, I laughed and told the girls, "We were making memories here!" They stared at me with questioningly looks while my husband laughed. As a kid, my family took many road trips and I have vivid memories of eating cheerios out of yellow melamine bowls while sitting on the hatch door of our Honda civic. There was also the episode with the birds and Cheetos at a rest stop somewhere in Arizona that always brings my family to belly filled laughter.

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We hurried over to the shuttle stop for the Sun to Mountain road after making a pit stop of our own to find a long and very slow line. We waited for an hour before catching a bus to Avalanche Creek where we discovered, we needed to wait for a different shuttle to Logan Pass. We were meltingly hot at this point and beginning to feel quite cranky. I was rethinking my decision to add Glacier onto this trip. We waited another half hour for the shuttle and then finally were on our way up the road.

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The Sun to Mountain road is intense and beautiful. Everywhere you look is gorgeous and breathtaking. We picked up some passengers along the way who had encountered a bear on their 2 mile hike. The bear encounter turned it into an 8 mile journey. They were hot and out of water and a little bit grumpy. Maggie soon turned their frowns into smiles as she quizzed them on their hike and their bear sighting. She had a great many questions and it was fun to watch her interact with strangers.

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At the top of the road, we disembarked at Logan's Visitor Center. The entire family was wearing sandals which we quickly discovered were a poor choice when we headed out on one of the short hiking trails. The paths were still covered with snow and it was so cold trudging across the frosty ground. After heading to the visitor center to warm ourselves up, we headed back to the shuttle stop. We made a surprising discovery and found a mountain goat just hanging out by the stop. They are such fun creatures to watch. The ride down was much quicker than the ride up though we did end up waiting at the Avalanche Creek stop for quite awhile.

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Once we finally made it back to our car, we headed to West Glacier for dinner. As Maggie was being her worst self, the family next to us gave us high-5s and said, "OH man! Have we been there!" It was nice to hear some encouraging words. We headed back to the park to check out the campground areas for my story and enjoy some cold ice cream on a hot day. I had booked a room in Columbia Falls, MT which was a short drive from the park. The hotel was extra swanky and I was really surprised. I was also disappointed that I hadn't allowed more time for us to enjoy the hotel. The girls and I did get a swim in and we all made sure to load up at the breakfast buffet before heading to Yellowstone.

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We decided to head toward Yellowstone through Missoula. I was already starting to miss good coffee and hoped to get my fix there. It ended up being a long, slow drive due to multiple construction sites but we were rewarded with awesome coffee and a fun playground for the kids. After getting our wiggles out, we headed to Butte for lunch. Whenever we drive through Butte, I feel it is necessary to stop at Pork Chop John's and get a pork chop, no matter the time of day. Luckily we hit Butte, right at lunchtime and our bellies were well-rewarded.

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We arrived in Yellowstone and I nearly cried.  Yellowstone is my most favorite place on earth and I knew the girls wouldn't love it the same way I do but I wanted them to be impressed. Luckily they were and they had such a good time. We spent 2 1/2 days in the park and it was just right. 

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We saw the geysers, we did some hikes, we saw lots of animals, I got up early and saw Yellowstone Falls in the silence of the morning. It was an amazing visit to Yellowstone and when patience wore thin, we powered through for a good time. 

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We next headed to The Grand Tetons which are always breath-taking. I'm always amazed at just how beautiful the tetons are. I always forget their majestic stance.

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We hit up a boat cruise on Jackson Lake before heading to Jackson Lodge where we discovered a pool. The kids were so excited. Hotel carts and pools were their favorite things about the trip. I was excited about the pool because it was so hot which was making me very cranky. 

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On our second day we found a lake that was only 6 feet deep at the center. It was freezing but the kids swam in it until their lips turned blue and we made them get out. Swimming was such a joy on this trip. Molly is a great swimmer and Maggie uses her floaties like a champ. It meant I no longer had to watch them with an eagle eye which is stressful. I may have said to Scott quite a few times on this trip that I was so glad to be out of the baby/toddler stage. These independent kids are quite awesome! 

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We headed into Jackson Hole for lunch before returning to Jackson Lodge for the night. The sunsets were gorgeous and we tried to catch every single one. 

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From The Grand Tetons, we headed to California. Scott needed to be in San Jose for work and we decided to road trip along. By this point, we were all thrilled to stay in one place for more than two nights. Five nights felt like a dream! 

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While Scott worked, the girls and I hit up Happy Hollow Farms, The Monterey Aquarium along with some days just hanging out at the hotel pool. Our hotel was aces. It served an amazing breakfast along with a full dinner most nights. 

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I was able to have dinner with a friend from high school. That sounds trite. She is an amazing friend who I've had the honor to know since junior high. She moved to the Bay area in our 20s and it is a treat to see her whenever I get the chance. It was also a treat to have a few hours away from my children at that point in the trip. 

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We took two days to get home from San Jose with an overnight stop in Grant's Pass. We were so done with the trip at that point but still had a fun drive back. Grant's Pass was surprisingly HOT. We ended up having ice cream for dinner which was really the only thing suitable for dinner. 

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It was a wonderfully epic road trip and the kids did way better than expected. They told us they loved it but wanted to go on an airplane for our next vacation. 

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I wrote three articles on our trip for Seattle Refined - one for each park. It was an honor to get to explore these parks, spend time with my family and then write about them.

A Guide to Exploring Glacier National Park

A Guide to Exploring Yellowstone National Park

A Guide to Exploring The Grand Tetons

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Nesting, Kindergarten and Eclipsing Are This Week's Links From Around the Web

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The Art of August Nesting I do love a good nesting. It's just something that comforts me. This post spoke to my nesting soul.

On the first day of Kindergarten Molly is starting kindergarten in less than 3 weeks and I am already so emotional about it.

Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them 

Total Eclipse The eclipse on Monday was amazing!

Getting My Body Back It's not about losing 15 pounds but about feeling at home in my body.


Saturday, August 19, 2017

Week in Review 8.19.17

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This week felt like a whirlwind. Lewis, the new kitten got sick with a respiratory virus so I had to take him to the vet and then administer antibiotics along with probiotics and also a fun deworming medicine (that is sarcasm there)! He's doing a lot better but still has a few days on the meds. I set up a humidifier for him in the den and then told Scott I was officially a crazy cat lady. I think it helped him though! I also had to keep the cats apart so no further introductions were made. Mel-B did see him yesterday and quickly hissed so this might be a slow introduction. 


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Exercise

I got in 4 workouts this week - three boot camp classes and a barre3 class. Scott needed to travel on Thursday night which meant my Friday class was out. I hadn't planned well enough in the beginning of the week to get all my workouts in but 4 is still good! My friend, Shelly came to boot camp with me and had the best time. I love sharing Sync with friends. 



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Food

We had a lot of seafood this week but since we all like seafood that was a treat! We tried a new to us restaurant, The Ballard Bros. which was surprisingly good. The restaurant looks a bit sketchy but the food was so good. The fries were amazing. 


Molly's lunchbox came and we are ready to do a trial lunchbox run this week during Jump Start. She's super excited about her lunchbox and about bringing it to school which I hope keeps up as school goes on. I know we'll nail in in September but well things will slip in November. I also set up a lunch account for Molly. You can set up an electronic account and add money to it for school lunch which is so much simpler than when I was in school. I figure there will be days she wants school lunch or forgets it or something. This way she'll have funds for lunch. 

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The Girls

Both girls had their last week of outdoor swimming. We love the pool and instructors so much and will miss them. We'll be back next year though. Maggie moved up a level this week too which was exciting. 



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Molly had a big week with field trips and was therefore quite tired. It made her a bit of a pill. I think we are going to have a lot of exhaustion and emotional outbursts in the coming weeks with the transition to Kindergarten. I'm going to work to be extra gentle with Molly and even try to take her out on some one-on-one time. 

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Other Goings On

Yesterday I decided to just paint the back patio cover. Scott and I had talked about it last year but had a disagreement on the paint color. I decided to just go with what I wanted and it came out so fantastic! Black was the right choice. Now I'm debating re-painting the back door from beige to black. 


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I cleaned out the chicken coop and hauled a hay bale into it. I didn't realize how big the hay bales were though and the coop is bit overwhelmed with hay! I'm still going strong on The Minimalist Game. I cleaned out the back porch and a lot of the basement this week. There are still lots of areas to clear out but doing 10 minutes a day is really working well!  



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Stories Published

Seattle Refined: Adaptogens are hot right now - but what the heck are they?

Seattle Refined: A Guide to Exploring The Grand Tetons

Seattle's Child: Share the Joy of Knitting by Teaching Kids to Knit

Seattle's Child: Create a Backyard Oasis of Childhood Fun

Seattle's Child: The Best, Fresh Summertime Meals for Your Family

Seattle's Child: Head out on the road with 5 nearby Family Road Trips
 
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