Back in the Swing of Things

I arrived home on Sunday. James and I traveled 2,338.5 miles in 11 days and boy, was it fun! There is too much to capture and instead of worrying about it, I am just going to put some notes down and move on. Otherwise I will never get back to blogging on a regular basis if I keep trying to catch up.

We stayed one night in Forks, which is where the book Twilight is set. We did a few wonderful hikes in Olympic National Park and I could have stayed there for much longer. James rode on my back in the Ergo, which I could not have done without on the trip. On all of the hikes, he pretty much either watched what was going on, leaning backwards to look at the trees, or he would fall asleep on my back. There were a few times he fussed, but not so much that a little bouncing didn't put him into a better mood.

We also went to the ocean and had a nice time feeding the seagulls...of which James was not too thrilled with when they came close. So we mostly watched from a distance.

Another highlight was being able to visit our friends Will and Linda Royston in Eugene, Oregon. We shared a few meals together and it was so nice to see them.

Our last day we spent at Redwoods National Park and then driving through the Avenue of the Giants. What a great way to end the trip.

Now I am home and we are definitely in the swing of things. Kids are doing school, I have already gone to a bookclub, I will be hosting Bunco tomorrow night, then on Friday go to my in-laws for pizza after the kids are done with a homeschool event. And life goes on.

This afternoon after lunch, as we were all just sitting around doing various things, my house felt so peaceful. I am very blessed to have this house and the life I lead.

Happy Easter

This is our last night in Seattle and boy has it been fun so far! James and I stayed in Medford, OR on Thursday night and arrived in Seattle Friday evening. When I checked into our hotel, I asked for a connecting room with my sister, who was arriving later that evening. They upgraded me to a corner suite and it is fantastic. We have been fairly low-key in terms of activity level, but that is just right. We have gone to Pike's Peak Market twice, Gum Alley twice, walked around the Anime convention a number of times, walked along the waterfront, went to a sculpture garden, walked over to the Space Needle, visited a glass blowing shop, eaten a lot of yummy food, picked up Daniela from the airport, and connected Sarah with her orchestra group from her high school.

I hope to put some photos up later, but right now am using Ethan's computer....so no photos yet!

Stay tuned to hear about where we go next!

Packing for Road Trip (and some pictures)

I leave tomorrow for a road trip with James. We are driving to Seattle, where we will be meeting my sister Annabelle, my brother-in-law Ethan, and my niece Sarah, who will be arriving Friday night. On Sunday, my cousin Daniela will be flying in from Switzerland, and Sarah will be leaving with to tour with her school orchestra. Then, Annabelle, Ethan, Daniela, James and myself will drive back to California, stopping at various places in the Pacific Northwest such as Olympic National Park. We will also be visiting our good friend Will Royston and his wonderful wife Linda. We should be back by Sunday, April 19. I am looking forward to this, but with a bit of trepidation because I have no idea how James will do on a road trip like this. But, I guess the best way to find out is to do it.

Here are some pictures-
Annabelle with James

We hung a swing in our backyard that James loves.

Here is William!

James went with a bunch of other little ones to Habitot....he is there in the middle sitting on Emma's lap.

What happened to posting regularly?

Not sure what happened to my regular postings....oh well. This last week my dad had some disorientation that was unusual for him so he needed to get some tests done at the hospital. That was a weird experience. So now we await more tests, but he seems to be back on track.

Other than that, a fairly uneventful last week or two. Maria came home from San Francisco, Ken came home from Philadelphia, so everyone is currently home. James and I are now next on the list for departures. I plan on driving up to Seattle with James next Thursday to meet my sister Annabelle and brother-in-law Ethan, along with my cousin Daniela from Switzerland. We plan on meandering back to California stopping at various places along the way. It will be interesting traveling with James....he hasn't gone on a long road trip like this before.

We had the Petras family over for dinner last night which was great. I know Amy from Community Bible Study and it was neat meeting her husband for the first time and spending time together. I so enjoy having people over for meals and hanging out time.

San Francisco

Maria went to spend a week in San Francisco with ReImagine with 11 other students and 4 adults. "ReIMAGINE is a Bay Area Center for Life Integration based in San Francisco. We fuel initiatives integrating spiritual formation, community building, the arts and social action. As a collective of artists, activists, educators, tech professionals and social entrepreneurs we invite people into conversations, projects and community experiences that explore the question: 'How can we cultivate a way of life together that leads to greater wholeness for ourselves and our world?'" If you want to read more about what Maria will be doing, click here.

James and I drove to the Mission District with all the luggage and sleeping bags. My sister Annabelle met me there and we walked around, somewhere between 3-4 miles. We went to lunch (yummy Machaca), Mission Dolores, garage sales, and a park. It was a fantastic day.

Here is Annabelle (or should I say Auntabelle) and James at Mission Dolores.

Here I am with James at Mission Dolores Park, where there were so many things going on. James hung out in the swing for more than 30 minutes and then got to ride his newly aquired ride-on toy that I bought at a garage sale. Annabelle commented that it was like being in a picture book of a perfect day at the park. There was jump roping, slack line walking, dogs chasing balls, kids playing, kites flying, music playing, people relaxing, families throwing balls around and more going on. I love being immersed in an atmosphere like this.

Impulse Hospitality

I am not sure how to even highlight all the things I get to do each day. One of the main things that happened today was after CBS I invited some people from the nursing mom's group (pretty much whomever I saw at the end) to come over to my house for lunch...I had leftover lasagna, sandwiches, and I made a quick box of macaroni and cheese. It was so much fun hanging out in the backyard, watching the various kids run and play and swing. There ended up being 5 other ladies, with a total of 15 kids running around. I am so blessed to have a house that I can open up to other people impulsively.

Fun-Filled Day

What a great day. James and I went to a Music Together preview class, of which Maritez and Heather attended, along with a lady I didn't know but would be at my house later in the day. After the class we went to playgroup, which is always fun. We then popped over to a park to meet up with Heather, Maritez and Amy....James at that point was tired, so he just slept in my arms. After we went home, I cleaned up the house and set the table for bookclub, which was at my house this evening. Then we all went to church where Maria and William and I went to a presentation about medical reasons for sexual purity. It was a very well-done presentation with a lot of factual information and not a whole lot of scare tactics. Then, Ken left to speak at the Community Outreach Center and headed off to airport to fly to Florida. The kids and I came home where I finished getting the house ready for bookclub. Bookclub was great- there were seven of us sitting around the table and talking and laughing and eating till all hours of the night....and we even discussed the book a bit. I highly recommend the book, Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It sure made me think and consider and ponder various things and has stayed with me.