Family Day #2.

The fish are running!  Head down to the Locks to see massive amounts of salmon right now.  We did this on our Family Day today.  We love The Locks and feel so blessed to have it so close.  It's great/free entertainment.  The boats were beautiful, the day was warm and the fish were jumping like crazy!

Fish ladder. 

We could have watched the fish jumping all day long... 

...and the seals chowing down (Boo!).

Gas Works.

Their dad's working today & this mom's tired of the same 'ol parks... So, I loaded-up the kids & we spent some quality time together at Gas Works.  We had a hoot exploring, checking out the city views & running around.  I love my kids.  & this city.

Working hard or hardly working?

Over the last month I've flown to a few meetings for work.  When I was full-time BK (before kids) I went to some great locations like San Francisco a few times, Chicago (fav!), & Montreal (fav!).  I certainly didn't think I wanted to travel since being back part-time.  However, this last month proved me wrong.  Meeting #1:  San Diego.  Coronado Island to be exact.  Hotel Del on Coronado to be even more exact.  Pinch me!

I flew down early landing at 9:30am.  This meant I had exactly 9 1/2 hours before I needed to be anywhere.  Ready?  Explore!

So, I walked into this famous hotel, 

Checked-in in this lobby, 

And, got a key for THIS room....  Oh, what's behind those curtains you ask?  

BOOM.  I had this view.  Bananas, I tell you.  I was going bananas.  

This tiny morsel of a window had a direct west facing view of all beach.  

Corner room on top floor, anyone?  This is why one should always check-in early & smile at the staff.  I was in paradise.  (Paradise alone, wishing my family was with me but, it was still paradise for about 30 hours.)

At this time I had about 8 hours to do a bike tour of the island, read, lunch, swim, walk on the beach & eat ice cream, MooTime ice cream.

Rented a bike for 3 hours & toured this tiny yet scenic island.  

If you have never been to this island off the coast of San Diego, it's a must see.  It's basically half navy base and half ga-jillion dollar homes with some fancy-schmancy hotels along the beaches.  We usually make it out there on every San Diego trip but, have never stayed longer than an hour or two...

(Lifted this map from internet.)  

This is the Coronado Bridge, (the 2nd most popular bridge to jump, following the Golden Gate & leading in front of our Aurora Bridge...)  Other than that sad fact, it really is beautiful.  

After riding, I hit the pool & read.  But, when you're in such a beautiful place like this, I felt guilty being at the pool & not sitting at the "real pool" 50 yards away.    

So, I hit the beach.  

My room is pretty much in the center of this photo, top corner.  

Sunset.  

Sunrise.  

I will go back someday... 

Meeting #2 was Phoenix.  It was the exact opposite.  Great hotel but, no view, totally boring downtown location.  NOTHING to do.  I mean, nothing.  There were about 2 stores open in each "shopping mall".  I don't know how many times one can walk into Urban Outfitters or Charming Charlies but, I'm sure I set the record.  It was a good meeting but, overall lame location.

Fortunately there was a DDD restaurant here.  This place & it's bacon was my saving grace.  

 Without a minute to spare - I flew home, ate dinner with the fam & was around to give my son his birthday gifts before tucking my big 3 year old into bed.

Happy Birthday sweet Axey Benj.  Mama loves you! 

All grown up.

You'd think I would have noticed...  after almost 5 years living in our home, I never thought of tossing up curtains or laying a rug.  It hit me one day & I couldn't get the idea out of my head, until it was done.  Huge thanks to my mom for helping me shop!  And, huge thanks to The Hubs who didn't freak when I came home with 5 bags of options...

We love our new room.  It's softer, more inviting & suits us well.

Before.  

After (with new lamp, rug, curtains).

Night night.

My sparkly oven vent filters.

My house faces west.  The sun comes up & shines in showing every smudge on the windows & every dust bunny on the floor.  It makes me want to clean everything!  My favorite cleaning project today?   Cleaning my oven vent filters.  I didn't realize how dirty they were until pulling them out & getting a closer look.  I'm embarrassed to say that they hadn't been cleaned in 4 1/2 years!

Gross.

What's my natural, super easy remedy?

• One large pot boiling water
• Add in 1/2 cup (give or take) of baking soda (S-L-O-W-L-Y - b/c it fizzes quite a bit)
• Toss in the filters for a few minutes (checking them now & then)
• You'll soon see a filmy grime on the top layer of your boiling water.  (This oil washes out easily after you're done.) 
• Pull out & rinse when sparkly clean.  

Bottom half was only dipped-in for 20 seconds & look how clean it's getting! 

TA-DA!  

I'm pretty sure one can get by cleaning the entire house (well!) with a vacuum, diluted white vinegar & baking soda.

Growth Chart.

I finally found a place in our house to start a growth chart.  But, I'm in serious need of some cute ideas.  I'd like to transfer this info onto a portable growth chart incase I want to move it around in the house. I'm thinking of making this.  However, I want to be able to write-on their names (not pin/nail anything to the board...) So, I'm not sure what I'd write with to help it show.  To be continued... 

Linens (& my 300th post!)

I have this thing about linens.  Post college I started collecting linens every trip I took.  It was an easy, small, useful souvenir to pack.   This has morphed into keeping the focus solely on dishtowels.  Word got out & I started receiving them as gifts.  I love using a towel and thinking:  "Vera gave me that one when I house-sat"; "I remember buying that in Nice & I couldn't decide on the color"; "we bought that at a great kitchen shop in Whistler"; "Melis gave that to me for my birthday"; "my aunt Livy brought that back from Sweden for me"; "this was my grandma Olsson's that she never used & it made it's way into my drawer"; "this was the first dishtowel I bought in Portugal"; "We had 10 Euros left in the Amsterdam airport & used it to buy this one". You get the idea...

Before kids I would iron my dishtowels.  However, that ended 4 years ago & the only time I add to my dishtowel collection now is if they are gifted to me or if I buy them on a "trip" to Anthro... (Both are equally exciting!)  I don't have 2 towels that are a like & they all have a story.

I'm now reinstating this ironing chore.  I love ironed dishtowels & you just don't see the cuteness of these towels if they're all wrinkled.  All is well in my kitchen when my towels are pressed (& there is Tillamook in the fridge).

Nutcracker 2012.

I surprised Laila with a trip to the Nutcracker.

My life.

I love getting home from work in time to greet these warm bodies as they wake-up from naps... even before the first smile shines though. 

Lucky me.

Feel completely blessed to get to head to this view for a swing with the kids before bed.

Our weekend.

We celebrated our 8 year anniversary Saturday.  My aunt & uncle offered us their condo in Alpental for the long weekend.  Sadly, we could only use it for one night.  But that 24 hours was the best 24 hours I've had in a looooong time.  It was so good for my soul to get up in the mountains, snowshoe with my family & swim in a really hot outdoor pool as the snow dumped down on us.  It was magical.  We slept in bunk beds, baked some cookie dough, explored the area & watched the snow fall & fall & fall & fall.

I took L on her first snowshoe hike.  She loved it & did so great.  No complaining, no whining, she just walked with me & stopped occasionally for a quick snow-angel.  My heart was full.

The next day we threw Axel in a backpack & put snowshoes on the 3 of us.  We did a longer hike.  Lai did okay for almost half of it & then joined her brother in the other pack.  The whining began.  But, we kept the course.  (I would rather be in the mountains with whiney kids than at home with whiney kids any day.)  Needless to say, by the end of our excursion Ax was walking with us, Lai stayed on daddy's back & I found myself saying; "we are going to finish our hike & we are going to like it!" Ultimately, I know we were all really glad we powered through.

Thank you Aunt Sue & family for the use of your condo.  I cannot tell you how many times we've heard, "when can we go back to our special home?".

Our prayers are with the families of the 4 that lost their lives in avalanches this weekend.  

Breakfast brilliance.

Bored with the same-old breakfast stand-bys?  Try this super easy savory oatmeal!

Oatmeal  (For one serving, I used 1/2 c oats with 1 c water.)
While oats are cooking, whip up an 'over easy egg'.
After oatmeal is fully cooked, mix with as much chopped fresh spinach as you'd like.
Pour oatmeal/spinach combo into your dish.
Place a few slices of cheese over the oatmeal, I use Tillamook (of course) medium cheddar but, swiss or mozzarella would probably be yummy too.
Then place your cooked egg on top.  Wa-la!

I feel so great after eating this healthy meal & it stays with me for hours.  Let me know what you think!

I heart you, golden beet salad.

Golden beets

Pomegranates

Parsely

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Salt & Pepper
(we threw in grilled chicken)

What's not to love?

We ate this for dinner & breakfast!  SO good.
(You'll find the recipe here.)  

San Diego.

Just about every rainy day over the last year I heard Jason grumble under his breath... "We're moving to San Diego."  Well, that won't happen any time soon however, we did sneak-in a quick trip.  We bought a 5-day parks pass giving us the freedom to go to SeaWorld, the famous SD zoo, & the SD zoo's safari park.  We saw a LOT of animals, ate at many Triple-D hot spots & enjoyed our time away.

Jason's cousin, Alli & daughter Addi joined us for one of our visits to SeaWorld.  They drove 2.5 HOURS (one-way!) to spend time with us.  Isn't that AMAZING!?!  It was wonderful to see them, Addi is growing into such a little lady.  We were so blessed to have them by our side.  I'm pretty sure they need to move to Seattle ASAP!  :)

SeaWorld:

Day 2 @ SW (Jason's b-day): 

Tower ride - checking out the construction site

DOLPHINS!!!!
(Notice the new bling for my Curious George?)   

Gondola 

What the heck - go crazy, get WET!!!  This was such a perfect way to end the hot day at the park...

All cooled off.  

I've been to SeaWorld many times (always leaving committing to become a whale trainer...) It was sad to see that trainers are no longer allowed to swim with Shamu, (now the Shamu show is pretty lame).  But, it was nice to see the dolphin show had been updated & that they are creating a new Manta viewing & ride...  Hopefully they will also finally figure out how to create shade in that park.  All in all, I still like it & it was fun seeing both kids so engaged in all the sea life around us.  

Zoo:

When Ax was naughty on the trip, Jason would ask him if he wanted to go live with the gorillas.  

small hippo 

the world famous pandas

L loves flamingo's - they are always a must see...

L made us take a pic of her in every one of these things around the zoo & sitting on every animal statue...
I got to the point that I would hold up the camera case & make the pretend click noise... "okay, looks great!"

This however, is not a statue.  Isn't he amazing?  

I have a crush... (on the koala & the peeps behind him...)  

Safari Park:

Ocean Beach:

OB pier

 Coronado Island:

Ice cream at Moo Time.
This is actually L's first ever ice cream on a cone! 

Balboa Park:

This is me the last time we visited Balboa.  Large & in charge with Lai.
(Makes me nauseous just looking at this pic)

2 kids later, our fam of 4 is complete.  

Judge all you want (auntie A :) ) but, this leash is awesome!  Strong-willed 1.5 yo + falling often + wandering off + doesn't like to hold hands = everyone's happy when he's wearing the monkey.  

The trees in SD are so beautiful.  

California Tower (where a princess definitely lives.)

The Old Globe theater 

This place is magical at dusk.
Our entire family loved roaming the park on this warm evening taking in the scenery.  

La Jolla:

Speaking of magical... And I quote, "O! beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here!" 

Can you find the 3 seals?  

LegoLAME:

I don't regret going because now we know we'd never go back.  Compared to places like Disneyland & SeaWorld this place is dirty, run down and not worth half the price.  

L was only allowed to do a handful of rides - some of which were closed for maintenance.  
So, we lied & said she was 4 so that she could go on this one.

Gaslamp district:

I should have gone to this SALON instead of Legoland.  

To get my hair done by INGA herself!!!  Childhood besties.  It was beyond fabulous catching up with this girl even though she was with a client.  I surprised her hours before our plane departed.
Her new salon is amazing - congrats to you Inga-bear!!!
If you live in the SD area - you must get pampered here & tell her that Karlee sent ya.  

After flying to Anaheim, Austin, Lincoln, Santa Barbara, Denver & San Diego in the last year, this was the only vacation we did as a complete family & without anyone else.  It was a special way to wrap up a long year.  & I'm happy to report there are no trips in the works for awhile.  I for one am looking forward to staying local for awhile (bet ya never thought you'd hear me say that!) & completing some home projects that have been whirling around in my head.