little black journal

Shane, Juliette, and I went over to Jack and La Verne’s last night to eat nachos and watch the election coverage, our moods hopeful as we pulled into their driveway.  I donned my “I Voted” sticker and Juliette asked if we were going to watch Hillary on TV.  The vibe was warm and cheery as we walked in, Jack uncorking a bottle of wine, Nance putting together a salad, the Rust boys giving us the NBC play-by-play from the den.  La Verne was wearing her Hillary socks.  Shane immediately popped open the laptop and glued himself to Nate Silver’s electoral map, but I paid little attention to the count until Shane announced with concern, “We’ve got a Michigan situation.”  We watched Hillary’s chances of winning drop from 80% to 60% and continue to spiral downward.  There was an enthusiastic cheer when the results from Colorado came in, but our joy was short-lived.  By the time we left Jack and La Verne’s house at 8:00, things were bleak.  Very bleak.  I was anxious and frustrated and frankly, baffled.  It occurred to me as we turned onto our street that come January, Juliette’s first inaugural experience would likely be watching Donald Trump take office as our president.  And I started to sob.

I know, I know, Hillary was far from flawless, but I fiercely believed in her message of inclusion.  And everything about Donald Trump’s message felt counter to the values we’ve tried so hard to instill in our daughter.

From the time she was a baby, we have told Juliette that she was wonderfully made, that she is strong and beautiful and capable.  And now America has elected a man who says horrible, vulgar things about women, who has been caught time and again treating females like objects to be judged and/or conquered and/or disregarded.

We enrolled Juliette in her current bilingual preschool because we wanted her to be part of a diverse community, for her to revel in the ways God has created his people with a variety of skin colors and languages and rituals.  And now America has elected a man who preaches that minorities should either be feared as thugs or terrorists, or should be disdained for taking advantage of an American “handout”.

We have reminded our daughter that she is blessed beyond measure, that it is her duty to speak kindly to others, to share her belongings openly, to offer a hug to a crying classmate or give up her swing to the little boy quietly standing by the playground.  And now America has elected a man who shows little concern for the people on the margins, angrily silencing anyone who dares not share his views.

With more fervor than ever, we will speak messages of love and unity and generosity over our child.  How it aches, though, to know our nation has elected a man that will not do the same.

We thought Juliette had gotten her trick-or-treating fill in Seabrook, but when I asked her if she wanted to head out on Monday evening for another round with the boys, her eyes lit up with that irresistible twinkle.  So we grabbed her costume, headed over to the Rusts, and fluffed her feathers.

Jules was a little timid at first, but with the Hulk, a fearless fireman, an astronaut, a ninja, and a bird-creature-man thing (what exactly were you, J?) by her side, she quickly got the hang of asking strangers for candy.

After each house, she’d peer into her bag and exclaim, “Look, Nancy!”, thrilled by her growing stash.

It was chilly and wet that evening, but the kids weren’t the least bit deterred by the rain.  I found myself patting Shane on the back for his foresight in mixing a round of hot toddy’s for the grown-ups to take along on the walk.

Bag full and feathers drenched, we called it a night.  Juliette picked out one treat to eat on the way home (M&Ms for the win, always), and with that, Halloween 2016 was in the books for our little flamingo.

Shane’s had a string of flex days and vacation days that have granted him several Fridays off in a row, and we’re reveling in the extra family time.  Also reveling in sunshine when it sporadically breaks through the clouds.  We spent last Friday romping around Carkeek Park, on a search for the biggest leaves and the best shells we could find.  This place has it all.

I mean, come on.

COME ON!

Our super-sunny Friday was followed by a Saturday of relentless rain.  We passed the hours with some solid indoor activities, though, like a visit to our new neighborhood bakery for macarons and Kouign-amman’s.

And storytime with La Verne at the neighborhood bookstore.

Shane came through in a clutch when he offered to set up the tent in the living room.  Juliette was over the moon about the prospect of camping in November.

She spent much of the day in there, watching a movie, (not) napping, reading books and tucking all of her stuffed animals into her sleeping bag.  The novelty wore off by late afternoon, but hey, we made it through a mostly-homebound day without tears, yelling, or anything getting broken.  That’s no small victory in our house!

Rain or shine, November is off to a very good start.

October ended on the highest of notes, with a weekend at the coast with the Chens and Rusts.  Shane, La Verne, and I all had birthdays last month, and we were due for a getaway with the gang anyway, so helllooooooo, Seabrook!

This is a porch view I could get used to.

Since we checked in on Friday with only a couple of hours of daylight to spare, we dropped our bags and jetted down to the beach to maximize our time on the sand.

These two haven’t seen a whole lot of each other recently – together again and it feels so good!

The fellas set out for a brisk jog while the moms hung back with the kids.

LaV has a knack for the action shots:

I love these misty coastlines that seem to stretch on forever.

Jules was incredibly proud of her “chocolate sand castle” (see pile of poopish mud at bottom right).

“Daddy’s back!  Daddy’s back!”

Nancy, LaV, and I took our turn jogging and then I snapped a few more pictures of our filthy kids before heading up to the house for dinner.

Shane and Jason beat us back to the house, eager to crack open a couple of cold ones on the porch.

Magic, I tell ya’.

Friday was LaV’s birthday, so we raised glasses of champagne to her, gorged ourselves on Jack’s delectable pasta, and then closed out the night with chocolate cake and an epic sugar-induced dance party.  These people got moves.

Saturday morning brought a foot-high stack of pancakes (thanks, Jack!), and cold, crisp sunshine.

We had planned to hit the indoor community pool, but with blue skies like that, the beach beckoned.

Muddy and chilled, we decided to head over to the pool after all and warm ourselves in the hot tub.

By the time we got back to the house, the skies had clouded over and big fat raindrops started to fall (just as Jack threw our lunchtime burgers on the grill).  He still managed a perfect char, though, and we retired to our rooms for naptime with full bellies.

We were tired.

The town of Seabrook hosted trick or treating for the littles on Saturday night, so the kids donned their costumes and grabbed their candy bags.  Juliette’s flamingo outfit came together at the very last minute – that’s 20 feet of pink feather boas and a whole lot of safety pins!

Seabrook is a funny little town, full of row after row of perfectly-kept homes with perfectly-kept lawns and a charming little main street with a candy shop and a pizza parlor, all relatively new but designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia.  It was a little eerie, like we’d landed on the movie set of Pleasantville.  The people sure were friendly, though!

Biggest pumpkin ever!

The kids made out like bandits – Juliette kept looking into her basket, eyes wide, like she couldn’t believe how lucky she’d gotten.

She savored the one piece of candy she was allowed before dinner and then I hid the rest of her loot, hoping she’d forget about it (she didn’t).

We shared dessert that night with some friends that were also in Seabrook for the weekend, tucked our exhausted trick-or-treaters into bed, and then stayed up into the wee hours of the night, polishing off a bottle of Port and covering a gamut of conversation topics.  These late-night chats are so few and far between.

We were all a little bleary-eyed on Sunday morning, but Jack perked us up with yet another home-cooked meal.  His chilaquiles are insane.  The kids busted into the game closet and did us the grand favor of entertaining themselves while we sipped our coffee.

With only a couple of hours left before check-out, I was determined to breathe in a little more of that salty air, so Shane, Jules, and I headed outside to take the fat bike Shane had rented for a spin.  I felt a little silly on it, like I was riding a motorcycle with no motor, but dang, that’s a smooth cruise.

I’m so glad we tossed Juliette’s bike into the trunk as were packing up on Friday, as she wanted in on the action.

I LOVE THIS GUY.

Eventually, regretfully, it was go-time.  We picked up coffee from the town bakery, visited a couple of random Seabrook landmarks, and bid farewell to our beachfront abode.

What a glorious, friend/food/fun-filled weekend.  Kudos to Jack for feeding us like royalty.  Kudos to the kids for playing so well together.  Kudos to Nance for keeping the late-night chats hilariously spicy.  Kudos to my mom, Shane’s mom, and LaV’s mom for birthing the three of us in October.  And kudos to the Washington Coast for being awesome.  See you soon.

It’s been a dark and stormy month – when I went in at 7:00 yesterday morning to wake up Juliette, she rubbed her eyes and sleepily asked, “Is it still night time?”, confused by the sun-less sky out her window.  October has been full of wind and rain and only a handful of sun breaks.  But man, when that golden sun breaks…

The clouds cleared as we were leaving church a couple of Sundays ago, so we popped over to Ravenna Park for a stroll.  It actually started drizzling again once we’d wound our way down to the trail, but I insisted we press on.  These leaves won’t be around much longer!

I know, Jules!  So lovely, right?!

Shane had last Friday off, so the three of us headed over to Bellevue Botanical Gardens to take a deep breath after a very traumatic dentist appointment (just a check-up, but you’d think our girl was getting a root canal!).

Run free, kiddo!

We spent awhile bouncing our way back and forth across the suspension bridge, stopping every lap or two to toss leaves into the creek below.

And then a rousing game of hide-and-go-seek in the woods.

THIS.  This is why I’m so thankful that my work week ends on Thursday.

Saturday was perfectly rain-free, so we seized the day and drove up to Snohomish for a day at The Farm at Swan’s Trail, on a quest for the perfect pumpkin.

So many to choose from!

We loaded up our wheelbarrow with three pumpkins and one three year old and called it good.

Ok, ok, one more!

We jetted down to Lincoln Park after the pumpkin patch to watch the Rust boys show off their fancy footwork on the soccer field.  Get it, Gryff!

Shane had to work most of the day on Sunday, but we squeezed in a family romp through Kubota Gardens before he clocked in.  This place is most definitely at its autumn peak.

I spy…

Ok, so apparently October wasn’t so gloomy after all!  (Typed as the rain patters against our living room window.)

The older I get, the less exciting my birthday becomes – I know, wiser and deeper and yada yada yada, but really, I wouldn’t mind staying in my early thirties for a few more years.  So when I saw my 35th looming on the calendar, my first inclination was to keep it fanfare-free – maybe just go out for pizza and then come home to put on my stretchy pants and crack open a pint of ice cream.  That felt like a missed opportunity to do something special in such a lovely time of year, though, so Shane booked us a last-minute rental in Yakima and we set out on Friday for a weekend celebration in wine country.

We arrived a couple of hours before we could check into our house, so we spent some time strolling along the Cowiche Canyon Trail, peeling off our sweatshirts as the sun blazed overhead.

No golden oak trees or bright orange maples here, but these scrubby fall colors were beautiful in their own right.

We arrived at our Airbnb mid-afternoon and were greeted with this stunning view from the front porch.  Well done, Shane.

We ate dinner Friday night at Cowiche Canyon in “downtown” Yakima.  I slurped down one of the best margaritas I’ve ever tasted and Juliette’s chicken and rice came with an unexpected side of french fries, so we both left there very happy.

Shane went for a run on Saturday morning while Juliette and I stayed back at the house and enjoyed the view of that hazy early sunlight grazing the treetops.

We grabbed breakfast and beverages at North Town Coffee…

And then got on with the day’s main business:  WINE!  Yakima is chock-full of wineries and we kicked things off at VanArman Vineyards with sunshine, a glass of Merlot, and a hammock – SO GOOD.

I wasn’t quite sure how we’d manage wine-tasting with a three year old in tow, but with lawn games and wide open spaces like this, it’s actually pretty grand!

These rows between the vines were the perfect racetrack.

Seriously, SO GOOD!

Our second stop was Dineen Vineyards – I was worried we wouldn’t find another place nearly as kid-friendly as VanArman, but when I spotted this swing, I figured we’d be welcome to hang here awhile.

Another bonus?  Wood-fired pizzas served right next to the tasting room.

And soccer!

This might be one of my all-time favorites:

We were closing in on naptime and wanted to check out one more place, so we zipped over to Bonair Winery for a final taste.  No brick ovens or soccer balls, but this place had ducks!

And all the grapes a girl could eat.

I could have happily done another few rounds, but…

So we headed back to the house to cozy up on the couch and doze a little.

A snack with a view…

We ate dinner at a small Mexican joint and spent the rest of the evening at the house listening to the Giants game.  They didn’t come through like we’d hoped, but still, it had been a perfect day.

Sunday was my birthday, which meant I was free to linger in bed as long as I pleased while Shane took Jules-duty.

I eventually rallied, though, eager to do a little more exploring before heading back to Seattle.  We snapped a couple of last pics from the porch and set out for the day.

Our first stop was the Yakima Farmers Market, for fresh-picked apples.  And Kettle corn.

We ate a hearty diner breakfast and drove toward the mountains, stopping a couple of times along the Naches River to take in the fall colors.

We had hoped to do some hiking up at the pass, but as soon as the road climbed upward, the skies turned gray and the rain started to fall.  So rather than mountaineering, we pushed through to Seattle and settled for a stroll at the Arboretum.

Not a bad back-up plan!

This little pond is one of our favorite spots, and I’ve never seen it look lovelier.

Juliette drew pictures in the water with her walking stick while I sat back and counted all the different shades of green.

We capped off the day with cocktails, chicken wings, and coconut sticky rice at Soi.  Happy hour, indeed.

Cheers to a very promising start to year 35!

OCTOBER, you trickster, you…always arriving before I’m quite ready for you, making me melancholy over the passage of summer but then wooing me with your color and crispness.  These first couple weeks of Fall have been good to us, with plenty of sun and just enough rain to save me from having to water the plants.

I’m afraid paddle board Sundays are a thing of the past, but bike rides are lovelier than ever.

And gosh, these arboretum strolls…on a sunny evening, this place is magic.

The kids harvested (inedible) berries one Sunday evening while the grown-ups cracked open a bottle of Sauv Blanc.

MY WORD, kids!  Lay it on thick!

It’s been a few months since I’ve had a work-free, kid-free day to myself, so I called in tired one day last week and headed out to Twin Falls for a little refresh.

These gorgeous gushing falls are just 45 minutes from Seattle, and on this cloudy Tuesday, I had them nearly to myself.

The sun peeked out as I was heading back to the car and the forest positively glowed.

So I stretched out on a big smooth rock and read for awhile, savoring that rare feeling of taking my own sweet time.

Me-days are grand, but Mama-Jules days have their own charm.  We spent past Friday at Volunteer Park, romping in the sun and taking in the view from the Observatory.

Jules was having some…digestive… issues yesterday, so we stayed close to home, but by 4 pm we were all climbing the walls, so we headed over to Kubota Gardens for our annual leaf-fest.

We were a bit early for full-on reds and golds, but hey, green is good, too.

This girl was thrilled to be free!

Oh, and how ’bout them GIANTS?!  Sunday afternoon baseball tea parties are a thing in our house now.  And October baseball is the very best kind of baseball, so don’t let us down on Wednesday, boys!

Juliette turned to me when we were walking home from lightrail the other evening and said, “Mommy?  I’m sad because the leaves are coming off the trees.”  I feel ya, kiddo…it was indeed one heck of a summer.  In addition to the camping trips and the family vacations through the mid- and north-wests and that fun impromptu getaway at the coast, there was much savoring of summertime in Seattle as we made sun-soaking part of our weekend routine.

After years of insisting that I am not comfortable on two wheels, family bike rides became a new favorite pastime.  We did Lake Washington Boulevard and the Sammamish River Trail and the Burke Gilman and, on one gorgeous Sunday, a 6-mile stretch of the Green River Trail.  One of the advantages of hauling Jules in the bike trailer is that we can also load it up with a picnic lunch for a mid-ride break!

Friday family dinners with the Rusts have become a mainstay in our calendar, rain or shine.  Shine is extra-good, though, when we can pick up BBQ and eat outside.

Jefferson Spray Park continues to be the perfect place for a close-to-home cool-off.

And oh, those evenings at Lake Washington…those are what I’ll miss most as the weather cools.  We’ve always loved the lake, but since we bought our paddle board, we’re enjoying it all the more.  This girl looks good in a life jacket!

THIS.  I want more of this!

But alas, seasons change and daylight wanes, so we’ll find new ways to fill our weekends.  Frisbee golf shows some promise as an autumn hobby – the three of us ventured out to Lakewood a couple of weeks ago and while I usually play the part of the observer so as not to embarrass myself, I took some pointers from Shane and after a few holes, my discs were consistently traveling in the forward direction!

Still, I have nowhere near the power of this animal…

After frisbee golf that day, we all headed over to Pioneer Square to check out some of the early happenings at the Seattle Design Festival.  I was perplexed when Shane said he really wanted to see the 10-ton ice cube, but I’ll admit, it was cool.  Ice cool.  I so appreciate this guy’s knack for finding out-of-the-ordinary ways for us to get out together.

And now, all ten tons of that ice have melted and we’ve started wearing jackets when we leave the house.  Sayonara, summer 2016.  You were dope.

That girl has gone and done it again, turned another year older in what feels like the blink of an eye.  What an emotional roller-coaster the past week has been!  And I’m not talking about Jules…  I’m feeling all the feelings – melancholy over how quickly time seems to be passing; pride in the kind, exuberant girl she’s become; joy in watching her revel in the gifts and the cupcakes and the special time with friends; total disappointment that tantrums apparently don’t end at age two…  But the over-arching theme has been one of gratitude, for Juliette and for sunshine and for friendship.

We partied at Jefferson Park last Sunday, celebrating with wiffle ball and pizza and a few of Juliette’s buddies.

I think (or desperately hope, at least) that she has inherited her dad’s natural athletic ability!

Juliette was just about to take a whack at another one of Jason’s pitches when she stopped mid-swing and cried, “my balloon!”

Sure enough, that giant number 3 had come untied and was floating away to never-never land.  Juliette was super-bummed, but I promised her we’d do our best to find it later (and then I promptly ordered another from Amazon…).

Holy crap, they’re cute.

How do you end a perfect evening?  With a warm embrace from a cherished friend…

I snuck into Juliette’s room the morning of her actual birthday and tied the new balloon to her bed – I’ll never forget the wide-eyed look of wonder on her face as she whispered in disbelief, “Mommy!  It came back!”

Shane and I took her out for a bakery treat at Fresh Flours before dropping her off at school – I told her she could have anything in their beautiful pastry-filled display case, and she chose…yogurt and granola, which is what she eats at home every single morning.  Routine for the win.

We walked over to her classroom and I spent a little extra time with her before drop-off, wanting to ease the good-bye and give her a tear-free start to her third year (sadly, it didn’t work).

I may have left her bawling in the morning, but when I came to pick her up, she was livin’ large, strutting around her classroom with this giant birthday crown on her head.  I told her it was time to head home and she asked if she could pleeeease stay a little longer so that she could head out to the playground with her new friends.  I happily obliged.

I eventually coaxed her home and we packed some snacks and our beach gear for dinner by the lake with Shane, La Verne, and Nico.

Make a wish!

I watched these two taking in the sunset together and it was almost too much to bear, knowing that not only had our girl’s second year come to an end, but also that these summer nights by the water are numbered as Fall quickly approaches.  SIGH.

They clearly weren’t too broken up about it.

Inevitably, we tell the kids sure, they can put their feet in, and one of them ends up soaked.  Poor N was much more distressed by his wet cupcake than he was by his wet clothes, though.

Jules had a few gifts to open back at home, so we set up a throne for her on the back porch and let her tear into them.  Gift-giving is so much fun at this age, as she’s equally excited by a flashy new game and a practical package of underwear.

Happiest of birthdays, Juliette Grace!

I’ve been going through our photos and videos of the past year, putting together the highlight reel, and gosh, we played hard during age two – we sledded and danced and swam and camped.  I also read Parenting Without Power Struggles and made a New Years resolution not to scream at my child, but really, two was a blast.

And now it’s time to get on board with three.  THREE.  I expect three will hold more dancing, more hilarious chatter, more adventure.  More milestones, too – in the past few days, Jules has said good-bye to diapers and learned how to count to four in Spanish!  Yep, our daughter is THREE.  I’m liking the sound of that more and more.

This is it…one last update on our two year old, as she turns a whopping THREE tomorrow at 9:03 am.  The latest and greatest:

 

She’s a regular comedian these days, making us laugh whether she means to or not.  A few recent gems:

Said first thing in the morning (with a chuckle), as I walked into her room:  “Mommy?  Daddy doesn’t have any boooooobies!”

Said when I asked her if she had room in her belly for dessert, since she’d just eaten a bunch of chicken:  “I have room for dessert!  The chicken is in my bottom!”

Said when I asked her if she had any dreams the night before:  “Yeah!  I had a purple dream, and a pink dream, and a black dream, and a blue dream!  And there was a brown lion and he said ROARRRRRR!”

Said when we were out on a walk and a short white guy passed us on his bike:  “Mommy, what’s his name?”  I don’t know, hon.  “I think that was Johnny Cueto!”  (Johnny Cueto is a (tall, black) pitcher for the Giants, who we hadn’t talked about for weeks.)

Said with the utmost enthusiasm whenever she’s about to ask for something she knows I might say no to:  “Hey!  I have an idea!”

And then said when I invariably cave and tell her she can watch a show or have a snack:  “Yeah!  It’s going to be great!”

 

Speaking of the fact that I’m putty in her hands, Shane likes to play the hardass and “set firm limits”, but who are we kidding?  If I remember correctly, this was going on about 30 minutes after we’d told her it was time to get in bed…

 

While she seems to derive a certain amount of satisfaction from making her dad and me crazy, she’s surprisingly uncomfortable when Shane and I turn our frustration on one another.  If I get the least bit snippy with Shane, Jules is quick to ask, “Mommy?  Why are you being mean to Daddy?  Daddy, are you sad?”  The other night at dinner, when Shane and I got into what I would call a “friendly debate”, Juliette put both hands up in the air and shouted, “Hey guys!  RELAX!”  Looks like we’ve got a little peace-maker on our hands…I never would have guessed.

 

She’s fascinated with spiders and slimy creatures and all things creepy-crawly – snail and slug hunts are a new favorite pastime.

Furry guys are cool, too, if they don’t bark or jump or outweigh her.

 

She continues to be frustratingly independent, insisting on shutting her own car door and buckling her own car seat and pouring her own milk.  But she’s also acquired some fun new skills along the way, like learning how to draw faces:

And how to nibble her foods into letters (“It’s an M for Mommy!!!):

 

We pull out the Magna-Tiles every couple of weeks, and puzzles will hold her interest for 15 minutes at a time, but Purple Baby continues to be the tried and true favorite.

 

She loves playing restaurant and will take our order at anything resembling a pickup window.  This is from our camping trip back in July – so nice to have my “morning coffee” served to me while still in my sleeping bag!

 

Favorite real foods include pistachios, watermelon, and tacos.  That’s our girl!

 

Perhaps most significantly, we said good-bye last month to the teachers and classmates that Juliette has come to love over the past year and a half.  An opportunity presented itself at a great new preschool a little closer to home and we decided after much heartache to expand Juliette’s horizons a bit.  I second-guessed our decision on her last day at her old school, as Jules gave the biggest, warmest hugs to her teary-eyed teachers.  This place was so good to her!

She started at the new place last week, and it’s been…a little rocky.  Some dramatic drop-offs, some reports that she’s had a tough time eating or napping, but she’s always smiling when we pick her up at the end of the day and when we ask her if she likes her new teachers and playground, she responds in the affirmative.

Plus, she loves the new commute!  Morning train ride with Mama, evening bike ride home with Daddy!

 

Finally a random smattering of pictures I haven’t known what to do with…

A family stroll through Schmitz Park:

The face she made when her Dad asked her if she wanted to go look for Pokemons:

A post-market blackberry binge:

Seward Park shenanigans with her best bud:

The requisite wink shot…

 

Happy two years and 364 days, Juliette.  It hurts my heart a little to watch you grow so quickly.   Hot dang, though, kiddo – you’ve become an exceptional cohort.

 

We had a couple of things on the agenda on Friday, the first of which was COFFEE.  I loved everything about Sisters Coffee Company, from the velvety lattes to the deer heads mounted on the wall.  Perfect spot for a proper Grandma-Mama-Jules date.

Around the corner from the cafe is a beautiful little quilt shop – we popped in to drool over fabric while Juliette excitedly pointed to all the pretty “blankies” on the wall.

Once we’d painted downtown Sisters red, we drove over to Smith Rock for a good dose of nature.  The desert landscape was stunning and in such sharp contrast to the densely wooded Metolius River we’d strolled along the day before – this place is like the southwest of the northwest.

Lord knows I love green, but it turns out brown can be gorgeous, too.

I spy Shane and Jules…

We made our way down to the base of the rocks and then I peeled away from the group to hike up and over the cliffs.  Juliette wasn’t thrilled about being left behind, but the summit was calling my name!

I breathlessly scampered to the top and then paused for a couple of minutes to take in the view.  That spire on the left is called Monkey Face.  It took me awhile to figure out why, and then I made out the strong brow and small mouth facing out of frame – see it?

Kudos to Central Oregon’s weather for being so good to us that week.

It was a quick, steep descent down the backside of the mountain to the quiet river below.

I hooked up with Shane, my dad, and Jules and we stopped to eat our lunch in a patch of shade.

I sometimes wonder if this girl understands how lucky she is…

Hey, buddy!

We made it back to the car just as Juliette was on the verge of crashing.  I thought she might doze on the way home, but there was just too much exciting stuff flying by the car window.  Like these alpacas!  I spotted those adorable little babies and asked Shane to slam on the brakes.

I want one.

We got back to the house and immediately passed out for a solid family nap – it seemed that a week of adventuring had caught up with us.

Rested and refreshed, Shane and I skipped out before dinner for a little gin tasting at the Cascade Street Distillery.  We finished a gin/vodka flight and a round of cocktails in the space of about 30 minutes – don’t we look happy?

There are few things this guy loves more than walking out of a liquor store with a hefty box in his arms.

We ate dinner at the house and then made the short drive over to Sisters Meat and Smokehouse for a dessert of beer and beef jerky.  When in rural Oregon…

We had breakfast in town on Saturday morning and waved to the deer that grazed in the field near the house.  I sure was going to miss these guys!

We said our good-byes and hit the road to Portland around 10:00.  First, though, one more deer spotting…

And one more Sisters latte!

We popped by Suttle Lake on the way to Mitch and Kathryn’s.  Calm, clear water, a recently renovated lodge, and a lawn full of games – we’re already looking at making reservations for this place for summer 2017!

We arrived in Portland late afternoon and kicked back on the porch while the girls partook in a joyous reunion.

Ok, I kicked back.  Uncle Shane is just too fun to stay out of the fray.

Morgan and Jules enjoyed a little downtime before dinner…

And then really revved it up after dinner for a pretty intense dance party.  Miley Cyrus for the win!

We squeezed in one final adventure on Sunday morning before heading back to Seattle, loading up the bikes and scooter for a ride across the Tilikum Bridge.

I had my doubts about whether or not Juliette could make it across the whole thing, but she rocked it.

We ended our ride at Elizabeth Caruthers Park, where the girls splashed in the fountains, hoodies and all.  65-degree weather be damned!

And with that, Schnell Family Tour de Oregon 2016 was a wrap.  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for showing us the sights and stoking those backyard campfires and making us feel so at home in your little corner of northwestern paradise!