Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Annual Vacation in Washington State | 2018









Welcome, friends! I can't believe it's been a year since my last blog post. My life has been a wee bit hectic this past year and the ol' blog took a permanent back seat. Hopefully I can make time for most posts in the coming months. 

The kids and I traveled to Washington for a quick visit earlier this month and I am thrilled with the photos I took, both at parent's house and at Mt. Rainier National Park. We stayed at a beautiful resort near the Crystal Mountain Lodge for two nights. The boys loved hiking, the fantastic onsite pool, and of course the beautiful views of Mr. Rainier. 


We also spent a lot of time with Abby and Carter. Evan and Jack are so good with their cousin and Carter adores them, too. I love this photo of the three cousins together. So sweet. 



Evan and I brought a huge box of toys with us for Carter and he LOVED his new Switch and Go Dinosaurs. I think they were Jack's from when Jack was 4 or 5. Carter is a huge dinosaur fan and these dinosaurs are perfect for him. Before we flew home to Washington, Carter had convinced his mom to buy him another dinosaur to add to his collection. He is so hard to say no to! 




We had a wonderful time and the boys are already talking about our next trip to Washington. 

I still have a ton of photos of edit from our trip, then I need to send them off to the printer so I can scrapbook them! I'm thinking about making a mini album, but I'm also considering making individual pages plus a digital photo book for the boys (and one for Carter) so they can look at the photos whenever they want to. 

Thanks for stopping by! I promise to be back soon... much sooner than a year. :) Have a great week! 








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Friday, July 29, 2011

Summer Vacation 2011

The kids and I returned home yesterday from a week in Washington State to visit family and friends. We are all exhausted, but our trip home was worth every yawn from the boys.

The boys and I met Cousin Zach and Aunt Abby at the park for a play date last Wednesday. I couldn't believe how big Zach has gotten! And he is such a cutie, too. Evan loved racing around the park with his cousin. Evan still talks about going to the park with his "big cousin Zach."


On our last full day in WA, the boys and I met up with some dear friends of ours at a park in Auburn. I haven't seen Karen or the kids in over 18 months, and I was delighted to spend a few hours with them. Evan claimed he doesn't remember Aidan and Ethan, but they hit it off right away. Look at those smiles! Seeing them made me miss Pullman... they were a big part of our life while Mark was in school.


Jack and Jocelyn are exactly 5 weeks apart. I just can't get enough of her cuteness. :-)


Jack wanted to swing, but the infant/toddler swing was being used by Jocelyn. He insisted on trying the big boy swing, and he did great holding on. He scared me half to death, but he didn't fall off. He kept saying "whoa!" and laughing. Goofy boy.



Evan wants to do everything Grandpa does, including golf in the front yard. I'm not sure why he has such a grumpy face? Maybe he's tired of Mommy taking pictures of him.


Monday we took a trip to the Seattle Aquarium. We met Cindy, Ray, and their daughter and grandson for a few hours. I knew the temperature would be cooler in Seattle, but I was not prepared for 62 degrees and pouring down rain. The kids were real troopers and I only heard a small amount of whining when we were walking through the rain.


Evan took a great picture of Abby, my Mom, and me, but it's on her camera. Hopefully she will send me that picture so I can post it here (hint, hint Abby!). But I do love this photo of Abby, Grandma, and the boys. Evan couldn't be happier than when he gets to spend time with Abby and Grandma.

Isn't this sea anemone cool looking? Such a pretty green.


This little boy is a big fan of his Auntie Abby, too.



My parents treated us to a night at Great Wolf Lodge last Saturday night. Evan and Grandpa hung out in the wave pool for almost 3 hours, while Jack and I wandered around the toddler/pre-school area. I wasn't expecting the water park to be so loud, but it was a fun two days.


Miss Kaitlyn celebrated her 6th birthday last week, and we were lucky enough to be in town to celebrate with her. Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!


Friday night I cooked a big dinner for some family friends. The boys were less interested in the Ranch Style Chicken I cooked, and more interested in playing in the backyard.


At the Puyallup Library:



What could be better than curling up on the couch with Grandma? Playing Angry Birds, of course! Evan is addicted to the game, and he has installed 5 or 6 versions onto my iPod. If I had a nickel for every time Evan asked to play Angry Birds, I would be a very rich woman.



We also had a lovely BBQ with Mark's parents, lunch at the Olive Garden with Uncle Tom (and my Dad), a mini play date with Evan's girlfriend, Jayden, and a quick trip to the South Hill Mall. I can't believe all that we did in 9 days!

Have a wonderful Friday, friends.
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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Disney


Photo by Mark Taylor.

Mark, the kids, and I have been on vacation in Orlando for the past week. I wanted to enjoy this time with my family, my Mom & Dad, and my Uncle, and not spend all my time online, which is why I haven't updated my blog in over a week.

I'll post next week with more Disney photos and a layout or two for Karla Dudley. She had 4 new releases last week that I can't wait to create with! I like working with digital templates because they make the creative process so quick and easy. You can see her latest releases here.

I'll be back soon!
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

So Happy to be Home.

I knew when the kids and I left for the West coast I wouldn't have time for blogging, the internet, or anything scrapbooking related... I would be too busy! Both Evan and Jack had photo shoots (check out Terri's blog for a peak at Jack's... so cute!), Abby's graduation, a party, lunch dates, shopping, play dates, and lots of time spent playing with Grandma & Grandpa.

When we got home tonight I was ready to work on a layout for Karla Dudley Designs. It felt really good to work with a current photo of Evan (from our trip), and play with a couple of Karla's new products:


[Supplies used - White cardstock: Cardstock Essentials. Frame: Frame Essentials No. 2.Brads: Frame Essentials N. 2. Stitching: Digi Essentials. Background brushes: Digi Essentials. "Play All Day" brush: Handwritten - Summer. "Summer" brush: Handwritten - Summer. "2010": Digi Essentials No. 5. Arrow: Digi Essentials]

During our l-o-n-g trip home today, a couple of funny/embarrassing/cool/weird things happened, and I want to remember them. We started our day at 4:20am (pacific time), and we arrived home at 8:00pm (eastern time)... so hopefully this is written coherently! I'm so, so tired!

1. Abby and I were trying to get through security in Seattle, and I was struggling with bags, car seats, shoes, jackets, blankets, kids, etc., etc. I looked behind me to apologize for taking so dang long and totally did a double take... Jay Buhner was standing right behind me! I must have looked like a spaz because he gave me this half smile and helped me get our bags/gear/crap through the x-ray machine. He was super nice, but both Abby and I agree he isn't as tall as we thought he was :-)

2. A woman on our second flight (who was traveling with 8 month old twin boys) asked us if Jack was an actor. I said no, and she said she thought Jack was the baby from the show Dexter! I haven't seen the show, so when we got home I did a google search, and sure enough, Jack looks just like him! Abby thinks Jack is way cuter, though, and I have to agree.

3. During our layover in LA, we had to go down a huge escalator with all our stuff (and the two kids). I stepped onto the escalator, followed by Abby. Evan was supposed to follow right behind Abby (with his own carry-on bag), but he freaked out and wouldn't get on. I'm hollering at him to get on the dang escalator, but he wouldn't... so I start to panic. The escalator is at least three stories tall, and I didn't want Evan to turn around and run the other direction. So I frantically tell Abby to turn around and go get Evan (I had my hands full with Jack and Jack's car seat)... so there goes Abby: running up the escalator as it's going down. Evan decides to sit down and take his shoes off and send those down the escalator instead! I finally make it to the bottom of the thing, and I look up to see Abby trying to make it to the top, and a security guard is asking Evan if he had been abandoned! He did look neglected sitting at the top of an escalator with no shoes & a carry-on bag. Abby finally made it to the top to rescue him and they made it to the bottom safely (and with both of Evan's shoes). I was laughing so hard (after Evan was safe and sound, of course!).

4. Our second flight was full, so we couldn't bring Jack's car seat on the plane. Abby was also sitting three rows ahead of us, so I was a little panicked about being by myself with two kids and only two seats. The flight attendant said we could ask the gentlemen sitting by the window if we could change seats so Abby was sitting with us, but he politely declined. He was really nice, but said he wanted to be by the window (and Abby's seat was an aisle seat). Evan spent the net 30 seconds fidgeting, rearranging, adjusting, and squirming, and the guy changed his mind and asked to switch seats with us! Way to go Evan... being a wiggle worm got us three seats in a row!

5. We were on a bus from the Alaska terminal to the Delta terminal, and we were passing by some construction at the airport when Evan turned to Abby and said "we are in the desert!" My other favorite Evan-ism from the day is "we are about ready to land this baby!" as we were descending into Cincinnati.

The trip was so much fun, and I know Evan is going to miss his grandparents. Good thing they are visiting next month!

xoxo,
Erin.
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Photos From Our Trip.

It's really late but I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from our trip to Rockaway & Tillamook, Oregon.  We had a wonderful long weekend on the beach & I hope we make it back next year when we visit from Cincinnati.

Jack hanging out in the hotel room.

Evan had so much fun playing on the beach & getting his new sweatshirt super sandy.

Walking on the beach in Rockaway.

Evan's bruise/cut is getting better everyday!  I love how happy he looks on the beach... totally in his element.

Jumping a few waves in the freezing water!

It was getting dark when I took this photo, so it's a bit grainy, but Evan was having so much fun with his Grandpa so I had to include it.

Jack was so tired after a day of shopping & visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory!

Mark worked for two hours to build a fire pit, complete with cardboard benches.  Our fire took a long time to get going (the wood we bought was wet), but we had fun roasting marshmallows & making s'mores.

My dad took this photo of Abby and me outside the Five Rivers, where my Great-Grandmother lives.

I am so glad we decided to do a family photo.  We have so few, but I think Abby had to take thirty shots just to get one with us looking at the camera!  In most of them, Evan is hugging Jack so hard I was worried Jack couldn't breathe.  I love our cute little family!

My Uncle couldn't make it to the party, but he did send this beautiful flower arrangement to decorate the table.

Jack was one of the stars of the party.  He was such a good boy!  He loved all the attention & then took a great nap in his stroller.



I took these photos on the bed in our hotel room.  Jack's hat is just so cute!

Photos of the birthday girl are in the previous post.

Goodnight!
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Sunday, August 10, 2008

More fun in the sun in Sunriver...

Our trip into Oregon was wonderful + relaxing + not long enough. We spent five days/four nights enjoying the beautiful weather, bikes paths, spa, + pool. I think my favorite part of the trip was taking Evan to the pool everyday. He loved "swimming" with Mark and me in the big pool. Then we would head to the wading pool. He would run around with other kids his age, laughing and jumping. Of course when we had to leave he would cry :-(






My mom, Abby, and I went to Sage Springs Spa for some much needed pampering. I chose to get a manicure/pedicure, while they got massages.





I'll post pics of our trip to Palouse Discovery Science Center tomorrow.
Happy Sunday!
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I've been a bad blogger lately :-(

Life seems to be getting in the way of my blogging, scrapbooking, etc. in the last few weeks. Going to try to change that!

Evan and I spent a week on the West coast visiting with family + friends. We have a fantastic time while Mark was in Pittsburgh on business.

Before heading out of town, we drove up to Loon Lake to celebrate Grandma Taylor's 86th birthday. Happy Birthday Grandma!



We lucked out with the weather in Oregon. Our day at the beach was fantastic...until we had to leave. Evan cried and cried b/c he wanted to "play at the water"! I felt so bad for him! He didn't really want to play in the sand, he was much more interesting in the giant crashing waves! One knocked him on his butt, and I thought he was going to start to cry...until he starting laughing and said "fun, mommy, fun!"



My 93 year old Great-Grandmother, Vivian.






My beautiful sister, Abby.


After our trip to Oregon, one of my girlfriends dropped off her little girl, Kaity, for the afternoon. Evan adores Kaitlyn, and has even started calling her by her real name! For awhile he named her "lellow." We're not sure where he got that... :-) He and "Kait-in" played in the sandbox + threw balls and had a great time.


Happy hump-day!
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Sunday, August 12, 2007

Ikea

Today was a little bit crazy! Evan was up really early, 6:30am, which is at least an hour earlier than he normally gets up, so he was cranky! Abby moved into her new apartment, and Mark drove to Puyallup from Pullman. He ended up getting stuck behind a fatality accident on Hwy 26, so it took a lot longer for him to get here then we thought, but he made it in one piece.
We went to Ikea in the evening, and picked up some really cool stuff! I LOVE Ikea, and I go through withdrawals because we live so far from one. I finally got a salad spinner! And a new lamp for my desk, and Mark picked up a shelve for his closet.
Also, I wanted to let everyone know that Crop, Paper, Scissors is doing a twelve hour crop on Saturday to benefit the Shriner's, so if you can make it give them a call to reserve your spot!
Have a great Sunday!
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Wednesday, August 1, 2007

What a crazy, busy weekend!

Our weekend was packed...and our week is just as busy! Friday night we headed out to Clarkston to camp with some friends of ours: the Holmes. Derek, Karen, Aidan, Ethan, Clayton, Merry, and Sage were with us, plus tons of friends from their church. We had so much fun! Aidan did get stung by bees (three of them), and we had a skunk, who lived in the bushes right next to us, try to eat our garbage at four in the morning, but other than that, it was great. Evan was up at the crack of dawn, with all the other kids. He played ball, we stayed up late and talked by the campfire, and I took some pics:








Saturday night I went to a crop at Crop, Paper, Scissors with Bethany, and of course Kristi and Tami were there! We had a blast...I got a ton done, and it was really nice to sit and talk with friends. I have loved getting to know Tami, she is so talented, and I love her projects. The baby album she was working on is simply gorgeous!

This week has been full of appointments, and work! Have a fantastic Wednesday!
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