Rounding out the rest of the trip....

Wanted to get the rest of the trip and a few photos up before I forget...

Matt's posted a bit of a slideshow on Picasa

From the California Redwoods, we headed up the coast of Oregon, staying in Newport and having dinner at Sylvia's Beach House. It's listed in 1,000 Places to See (I didn't know that before hand) but it was a great time and excellent, if not amazing, food.

Saw a gorgeous sunset over the beach from our hotel room (thank god for hotel rooms! and real beds and real showers that don't run on quarters).


Headed up to Seattle and stopped in Portland to Nathan and Penelope (and get the good news!). We arrived to see Rebecca and Maya and grab some grub at Matador (a cool bar/restaurant with awesome seating and decor) before Jeff got home.

Next day we spent with Jeff, getting delicious coffee and pastries (double baked almond croissant!) and I picked up a Lavender cupcake along the way. Went into Pike's Place Market but alas, Matt forgot the camera that day, so no photos.


Next day, we went to Alki and got more coffee and walked around the beach like neighborhood and by the time we were done, I was done with walking! We stopped at Lincoln Park and sat on a bench, chatting and relaxing before Jeff had to go to work. Matt and I then headed out on our on downtown to REI (the original store aka the mothership) and the the EMP (where we got in free because Matt's so darned cute!). Then back to West Seattle for some amazing pizza and ice cream (cupcakes were sold out dammit!).

Then headed to Crater Lake or more precisely, our campsite at Joseph Stewart. A stop for gas had me gloating that I got to use my Safeway points to save $.10 a gallon on gas! Yipppeee!!!!! That night we went to a "presentation" on civil war guns, etc as they were having a reinactment the next day.



Crater Lake the next day was amazing! I had a tough time walking at such high elevation but we managed to walk a bit and get some great shots and great views (from a rocking chair! too). The fog/wind/coldness started to come in, so we took a short drive and then headed back towards camp, stopping at a natural bridge and a little cafe for amazing pie!

We thought we might stay for a battle (civil war reinactment) on Sunday morning, but we were ready to head home...

All in all a great trip!

A little Road Trip to Seattle

Day 1:
Left the house by 8:30am, with car re-positioning complete! Only left-behind item thus far is my SIGG bottle full of apple juice/water.

Turned off the 101 to get to the 1 around Cloverdale at which point Matt suggested we keep going until Boonville to get gas. Also around said time, he asked what my maximum mileage was on a tank of gas. I responded 305 last time I filled up and we were on, oh, about 325.

Matt swears he saw a fake horse, to which I debated heavily, resulting in a turn around to verify, by golly, that the horse had moved and was indeed real.

Coasted into Boonville thanks to 8% grade for next 2 miles. First pregnancy comment the minute I stepped out of the car.

Stopped by the Farmer's Market where they were giving away free kittens! Kittens!!!


Continued up the 1, stopped at a beach and saw a guy bring 3 large fish, of which one was a really red snapper, to his car. Also saw a girl put her dog on a boogie board and push him around- so cute!


As we were almost to the 101, we spotted the Drive Thru Tree!! Yeah! I couldn't believe it! It's still open. We drove through, we made it, we loved it!

Stopped in Arcata for dinner and had some yummy, yummy organic ice cream. One scoop of vanilla honey lavendar and one scoop of mint chip. Delish!

Saw a few elk, including a huge bull elk, in a meadow!


Got to our campsite, which rocks and backs up to a little babbling brook/creek. Started to put our tent up and a tent pole broke. We rigged it with 2 pens, a tent stake and duct tape. Thank goodness for duct tape.

Took a walk around camp, then played cribbage (Matt won) and then off to bed!

First Mother's Day (Pre-Baby of course)

Although I received many Happy Mother's Day thoughts/wishes, it's still a bit surreal. I am Sibley's mom, and that feels real, so I was able to feel genuine through my dog. The baby is moving about some (more and more each day) but it's still light stuff.

Just wanted to record my doings on my first "Mother's Day:
* Went on a hike with Karaliese and Amy. Talked for a couple of hours, ate some great breakfast with Lelands new egg mcmuffin maker and then talked with Karaliese some more!
* Hung out at Ron and Sue's, drinking water in the shade, just relaxing- it was so fabulous!
* Watched Matt and Sue plant Sue's tomatoes in her brand new raised bed garden
* Watched American Idol from last week. I'm bummed Allison left.
* Ate London Broil for the first time
* Came home and watched an episode of Weeds
* Crashed!

It's Just Delicate

Matt is a gardener. A crazy gardener. But a lovely gardener at that.

Just two seconds ago, he walked into the house, Sweet Peas in hand and said "This is the greatest flower smell. It's just so delicate."

He has filled 7 vases and put them on our bedroom dresser. He claims he's responsible for the flower arrangements around the house. Just this morning, before 8am, he'd cleared 2 "old" bouquets and refilled them with new, fresh flowers, all from our garden.

So sweet.

Oh the blog world....

Internet, I've got a confession. I'm addicted to blogs... a lot of them. I had a New Year's Resolution to spend max 30 minutes, 4x per week reading blogs, but well, that went down the toilet around January 17th.

I read some creative blogs, some kid/mommy blogs and some ?? blogs.... mostly because they post on a regular basis. It's like a constant story that I get to follow. I occasionally comment and give my 2 cents but mostly I just read and enjoy.

With the pregnancy and awaiting babe, I find myself going from one blog to the next to get some perspective on parenthood and all the stuff out there. Because of the bloggers I follow, I've been on to some really great stuff- like wraps and cloth diapers and making your own baby food and taking photos to documenting life to good recipes.

Also, I've been entering in a lot more contests.... I haven't won anything just yet, but I hope to someday! Simple hosts many giveaways (it's a review site) and it's currently giving away a Kyliewrap. I'd love to win a wrap. With so many options, I'd love to get my hands on a few (made by small businesses, mostly SAHM's too!) to try them out!

An old post from a now defunct blog attempt... what else is new?

I went all out and bought a used version of What to Eat When You're Expecting. You see, it was part of a package- 4 pregnancy/kid books for $4! A great bargain! I love craigslist! But I don't really like reading it, or really have a desire to follow it. When we first found out we were pregnant Matt decided he really wanted us to eat healthy, really healthy, for the baby. Yeah sure, I did too, but I know that I'm not great at changing my eating habits- plus my eating wasn't/isn't that bad to begin with. As I browse through the book they talk about the Best Odds diet... a diet to give you and your baby the best odds at a health pregnancy. Only I think that if I follow the best odds diet, I would be one very unhappy, cranky pregnant lady, and that cant' be good for the baby, the lady or the husband, right? Doughnuts are on the no-no list- not even once a month. Cookies, fruit filled ones, are on the once a month list. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Fig Newtons (or Fig Newmans in my case- see organic!) but I need me some cookies on a regular basis. I have always eaten ice cream on a semi-daily basis. I only skip about 2 days a week, and sometimes that's because I've substituted something else that's equally yummy (like creme brulee). Sometimes I'll have both! I've started juicing so that I can get more leafy green vegetables hidden inside my carrot/apple/orange juice- the greenish tint doesn't even bother me! See I'm trying! Don't even get me started on the foods that are off limits- raw eggs, deli meat, raw fish, alcohol, blue cheese, etc. I can abide by some of these quite easily, just because I don't really care for them (alcohol and raw fish) but damn, that blue cheese is calling my name! But I've resisted so far- willpower!- but not so much with the raw eggs (a little cupcake batter never hurt anyone, right?). Ok, enough of the rant... My diet thus far today as consisted of: peanut butter on english muffin (a fine balance of carbs/protein in my book- Best Odds diet would say no-no to the white flour english muffin, though), some dried berries (yeah!), 4 Cadbury eggs (yummy!), Macaroni and Cheese, a glass of juice and some bubbly water (doctor says watch for bloating- with water, really?). Moderation people, that's what I'm talking about... can't we just live with moderation?

A Perfect Sunday during the Holidays...

Today Matt and I went over to Ron and Sue's to make Spritz cookies. She actually did all the prep work but we got to push the cookies through the tube into fun shapes- wreaths, trees, poinsettas, flowers, dogs and butterflies. It was great times!

Sibs and I chilled in the chair, in front of the big screen, reading newspaper ads under a blanket for about an hour while Matt watched football. Perfect! Oh, and we rolled over to Moraga in Ellamae- the new Toyota Corolla Stationwagon! We love her!

Then we went to Alameda with Jesse and Kristen. We got to taste some great wines at Rosenblum and then headed over to Hangar One. What a great day! I can't wait to take Jon, RedLin, and Russ there!!!

To top it all off, we went to a great Thai Restaurant on Park Street. The weird cleaner smell really put us off, but the food was great!!!!

We're watching The Simpsons by the fire and getting ready for bed, the electric blanket is waiting! Happy Kids!