Staycation

With the 4th of July being in the middle of the week this year, Andy and I decided it'd be best to just take off the rest of the week. It worked out excellent! We got a lot of time in with M&M this year and did some really fun stuff and also got to spend a lot of time with the kids before we shipped them to San Diego for two weeks. They are gone now and the house is so silent. Deafeningly silent.....and big......and did I mention silent? It's nice to be able to sit and read uninterrupted and lay like vegetables next to Andy but there is definitely a huge gap in our lives without Ava and Mason around. But they will have fun and we will too and it sure beats sticking Ava in daycare for 40 hours a week the whole summer! Anyways, back to our week last week! We had a great 4th, saw lots of family, and enjoyed the warm weather. And ate. LOTS!

Ava getting ready for the annual bike parade

Mason rode his big boy bike this year!

Love my sister

Andy made Mason a festive hat

This year's block party had a snow cone machine and a pop corn machine! It was so fun!

Playing yard games

Soaking up the rays



We took M&M to Alderbrook while they were here. We were joined by Pat, Mindy, Sophia, and Aurora. It's so infrequently that we all get to spend time together and we had a good time! I love how well the girls and Mason play together. And how sweet it is to see Andy be "Uncle Andy". It's clear that Aurora may have stolen his heart a lot. Wish we lived closer so we could see them more often!

These kids loved the pool!

Looking like drowned rats

It's amazing what a year makes - last year Mason was so timid in the pool and this year he was in there for hours

Alderbrook was fun......but maybe more so for the kids. I think we were all just zoning out.

We're on a boat!

such a cutie pie

They were so excited about their breakfast - as were we! We found a keeper of a breakfast place!

A day at the races was had on Friday. Mitchell found an antique  car show race at the raceway and we checked it out! It was hot and gorgeous and fun to see all the classic cars running the track. As much as Alderbook was a kids place - this was not a kids place but the kids were good sports about it. I enjoyed getting some sun as the majority of my life is spent behind a desk inside. I actually don't look like a ghost anymore!

it was a little loud for them

it's tradition to serve strawberry shortcake - it was super tasty!

not quite a race fan.........

Whoops, pretend this was above

love these guys so much

LOL


So...yesterday was the big day of kid ship off. It was so much more traumatic than I anticipated! Parenting can be sort of a love/hate relationship but when it's relieved from your shoulders it's such an odd feeling. I was happy to have Jazz be there to give me a hug as the kids drove off to fun and our other great friends took us out to the country to scope out campsites and keep our minds busy. It helped, A LOT! We had a great day exploring and are excited to camp kidless this next weekend! I just keep reminding myself that if I lived in the same city as my family did that overnight trips would happen all the time and we'd get a break all the time. Since we don't, the break is just compounded into 2 solid weeks of a break. It helps me gain perspective on the fact that my kids are such a huge part of my life and when it's gone there is this gaping hole in my heart- it's weird to realize how much freedom there is, too. Andy and I are carpooling so we can just scoot off to happy hour in Portland after work - or go run up Mt Tabor if that's what we feel like. It's a super great but scary thing.

Mt Adams

We're free! We're conflicted about it but we're free! :)