A Trip To The Mountains

A couple of months ago, Bobby and I, along with the two kiddos still left at home decided to head to the mountains. We ended up going on a hike that had stunning views at the top, but it was not without its challenges. On the way up the mountain, there was a pretty steep incline for much of the way up. Andy and Bobby left Elizabeth and I in the dust (which we were okay with) and got to the top quite a bit before she and I did, but that was a-okay with us. At one point we were counting steps in order to reach our step goal before we could take a break. We were definitely huffing and puffing together while the boys just scooted up the hill with little fanfare. 

The cloud cover was so, so cool. The afternoon weather was forecast to be storming that day, and you can see the clouds just pouring over the mountains bringing with them the rain.

I feel really lucky that we get to live so close to a mountain range. It is nice to be able to just head out on a Saturday and explore new trail after new trail. 

Little Man

 We welcomed Miles home fifteen days ago, and it seems that my life has been consumed with all things puppy since then. I seem to be handling the brunt of the work for various reasons with Bob and the kids helping out when they can/are asked to. 

I will not lie - I am tired. Miles is still getting up at least once a night, but sometimes it is twice a night. I have no idea how in the world people my age have small children who don't sleep through the night because I am functioning at a very low level due to my lack of good sleep. 

I keep reminding myself that this period of time will not last. That someday I will be able to get out of the kitchen and living room areas (which is where Miles is blocked off during the day), and I won't have to watch him like a hawk for signs of having to go potty. 

Miles is growing day by day. He is noticeably bigger than he was. His fur is growing out unevenly and his big floppy ears and paws are becoming just a smudge less awkward on his growing body. He is so, so cute. 

I am trying to embrace this time of having a little man even though it is a bit hard right now. Soon he will be grown, and I know that I will wish for these little days once again. 

For right now, I am just focusing on getting this kid potty trained. 

Sarah's Make-A-Wish Trip

In September of 2021, the North Carolina chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted me to let me know that they would like to grant Sarah a wish. I was beside myself and instantly burst into tears because I knew that this opportunity was once in a lifetime for Sarah, and I also knew that she would soon age out of the opportunity to have a wish granted to her. (The maximum age a recipient can be is 18.) 

When I got off of the phone with the foundation, I let Sarah know who had just called. She was speechless. I don't think that she ever even considered herself eligible for something like this, let alone being picked for a wish out of all of the eligible kiddos. 

Step one in getting a wish granted is for the child to decide what he would like to wish for. In order to keep parents from pressuring kids to pick something of the parents' choosing, the foundation interviews the child alone to get an idea of what she is interested in/might like to do. Sarah could pick anything. A scholarship for college, a bedroom makeover, a trip with the family anywhere in the continental US, a golden retriever puppy, a shopping spree, meet a celebrity, etc...She was able to ask for just about anything she could think of with no parameters around cost. 

For someone like Sarah, this was an overwhelming and stressful challenge. She initially decided that she would like to go back to Oregon and visit Sky View Horse Ranch, and have the organization teach the family how to ride a horse, since it had been such a pivotal experience for her, but after multiple attempts by Make-A-Wish to reach someone from Sky View, and receiving no response, Sarah had to choose another wish. She was pretty heartbroken about this as it had always been a dream of hers to have us learn how to ride by the same organization that taught her how to do so independently. It appears that after COVID the organization just vanished. 

After weeks and weeks of thinking of different options, Sarah made the choice to go to Oregon anyway and spend 6 days/5 nights (the amount of time allotted for every Make-A-Wish trip) on the coast a little bit down the road from Cannon Beach. (Much to Josh's dismay as he was rooting for a trip to Key West, or someplace like that.) We ended up making our trip in June of 2023. (COVID had backed up the wish recipients' trips, so we had to wait quite a while before we were actually able to go.) 

What a time! Everything was paid for. Spending money for Sarah, food, gas, flights, rental car, rental house, excursions (should Sarah choose to do one/some), the pet sitter fees, and on and on. We were able eat out at all of our favorite restaurants and visit all of our favorite places. 

Elizabeth, Josh, and I spent almost all of our days at the beach. (We spent our last day near our old stomping ground and downtown Portland.) Sarah spent a day with her friend Hannah while Bobby and Andy went to Mount Hood to hike. The weather was pretty chilly even though it was June. Most of our days were sunny with the exception of one day, but that was okay. We stayed in a house on the ocean and were able to hear the waves from our bedroom window and see the ocean from our (almost) floor to ceiling living room windows. 

 It was so amazing to be able to go to all of our favorite beaches. It was weirdly quiet on the beach. There was often no one else on the beach except for our family. None of us minded this though. 

 The Oregon cost is one of the, if not the, most beautiful places I have ever been to. It was as if nothing had changed in the five years since we had last been there except for us. 

Sarah had a really nice time. She loves the beach as much as I do, so it was great for her to be able to walk on her favorite beaches and not have a worry in the world. 

Our very early flight (like 5 or 6 am) was delayed by an hour +. Josh is trying to catch a nap before we board 

Killing time waiting for our delayed flight to take off. 

Still waiting for our flight to board...

Finally on board! Portland, Oregon bound.

I have never been on a flight before with so many waiting planes on the runway waiting for permission to take off. I want to say we sat on the runway for about 45 minutes waiting to leave Dallas - where we had a layover. (There were planes waiting as far as the eye could see. It was crazy!)

A part of the Great Salt Lake in Utah taken from about 30,000 feet in the air. 

Another view of the Great Salt Lake - if you've never seen it (and I hadn't before this plane ride) it is huge! This photo is one tiny piece of it. This is the end of it, but prior to this it just kept going and going. 

Mount Hood

I believe this is Lost Lake. We visited this spot a couple of times while we lived in Oregon. It is not easy to get to with a lot of windy roads and just seems to pop up out of nowhere. Looking at its location from the plane I can see why it is called Lost Lake. 

A view of Mount Hood and Lost Lake together. The patches of land that do not have trees are areas of land where the trees have been logged. From this distance, it doesn't look so bad, but up close these logged sections of mountains are quite hideous. 

The Pelican Brewery was probably our favorite place to eat in Cannon Beach, Oregon when we lived in Portland. It used to have good food, good beer, and at a good price. Now...not so much. It was $20+ for a mediocre hamburger and fries!

First look at the view of the ocean from our backyard. 

Another backyard view. 

I could learn to live with these views every day. 

The main room in house we stayed in. 

I loved the windows in the hallway. They let in a good amount of light which was super nice as the dark wood paneling on all of the walls would have made the house very dark without the abundance of windows. 

A 

To the left is our bedroom, in front of you is the kids' bedroom, and to the right is the opening into the kitchen.

This is taken from the same spot at the previous picture, only facing to the right. There is a door to the right of the picture going out into the backyard. The little cubby you see on the right has hooks for coats and some storage. In front is the main living area.

Another view of the main living area. 

The kids' bedroom. It was quaint and had its own bath - which was very nice. 

The boys took a hike on their own on the Monday of our trip. 

Mt. Hood

This is the backside of Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Timberline Lodge was featured in the movie The Shining. The front of the hotel is what is featured in all of the outside shots of The Shining hotel.

This is Mt Hood in June. We have visited the mountain when it is entirely covered with feet and feet of snow. The fact that there is still snow on it in June is amazing, but what amazes me more is how much snow blankets the mountain in the winter months. 

Another view from our backyard. 

My whole world. 

We took a pic of the kids in front of Haystack Rock on our very first time we came to the Pacific Ocean when we moved here in 2016, so we wanted to duplicate it before we left to go back home to North Carolina. 

This is the original pic. 

Exploring the Pacific beach for the first time in years. 

Andy took this pic of Bobby and me. This was taken, I believe, on the third day of our trip. It was a rainy/cloudy day most of the day and the beach was deserted. We walked for miles on the beach mostly as a family, until Josh had it with the sand and went back to the house. (If you know, you know.)

The fog was so cool. It eventually got to the point where Andy and I could barely see 10 feet in front of us. (Everyone else had turned around and gone back to the house by the time the fog got really bad. Andy and I were the only ones willing to keep walking.) 

The Pacific coast is so beautiful. In my mind, it beats the Atlantic coast hands down. 

Joshua looks so tiny standing in this archway. 

Hug Point Beach

Hug Point Beach

Waiting for Andy and Bobby to finish exploring the rock formations around Hug Point. 

My girls. 

Indian Beach

So many muscles!

Fun fact about Indian Beach - one of the beach scenes from the movie Twilight was filmed here. 

Another view of the ocean from our backyard. 

And another view...

An evening stroll on Arcadia Beach (Sarah's favorite beach.)

There is actually a pathway on these rocks that connects Arcadia Beach to Hug Point. This is only accessible at certain points of the tide. 

Us on the road/path that connects the two beaches. Arcadia is on the left and around the bend (and out of the picture) is Hug Point. 

Some of us could have stayed here indefinitely. Others (Josh/Elizabeth) were ready to go. 

Pretty flowers in bloom on the rocky ledge that separated our backyard from the ocean floor. 

185th Street was our old exit. Our townhome was about 1.5 miles down the road. 

Downtown Portland.

I am pretty sure this is the Willamette River, but it could be the Columbia River. Either way, this is still downtown Portland. 

Mt Hood in the distance overlooking Portland. 

Of all of the cities I have ever been to (and I would consider myself to have been to quite a few) Portland is my least favorite by a wide margin. The city is gritty (in a different, less appealing way that Cleveland and Pittsburgh are) and dirty and full of homeless encampments all around the area. I don't feel entirely safe anywhere in that city. 

Last night....

My loves.

My whole world. 

At the airport heading home. 

All ready to take off on our overnight flight from Portland, OR to Charlotte, NC