Road Trippin' to the Redwoods!!

This summer, we decided to head to the redwoods for our summer vacation ...

We stopped along the way in Eugene and stayed for two nights. We checked out the track at the University of Oregon since David and I are both into running these days. Unfortunately, the track was locked up, so we couldn't actually run on it. We did have the treadmill at our hotel to use though, so were able to keep running on our trip.

I had researched about the track before we went and also wanted to see Pre's rock and his trail. The kiddos were also excited to go. Sienna still wants to go to WWU, but Forest said he was going to go here and run!

In Eugene, we hit up a few parks for the kiddos to run around at, since they hate being "cooped up" in the car.

Later, we saw Pre's rock ... R.I.P. Steve Prefontaine.

We also walked on his trail with the kiddos and Sunshine. 

There were more parks to explore the next day ... 

I found my "tiny house cabin" that I will live in one day when I retire!

The next day, we drove to Arcata, California to stay at an Airbnb. 

We made it!!

After getting some authentic (San Diego style) Mexican food in Crescent City, we took the kiddos to the beach. We found some driftwood to bring home with us.

 

Then we headed to our home for the next two days, which really did feel like home (minus the chickens, roosters, ducks & geese). We stayed at a little farm cottage in the farm fields, which came complete with fresh eggs from the chickens each morning.

A beautiful garden ... just like home.

Bird feeders in our windows ... just like home. 

We took the kiddos up to Humboldt State University to show them where David went to college and at the Founder's Hall we saw two little foxes that had a den there. 

Then we headed over to guess where ... another park. Redwood Park playground is nestled inside of the trees. 

The next day, we woke up early and headed out for a hike (after stopping at Los Bagels, of course). David wanted to take us to the bridges he built while he worked on the trail crew at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. After about 1.5 miles we made it!

We stopped for a break and had some yummy banana slugs from Los Bagels!! Then we headed back since both kiddos were tired and Sunshine was waiting for us in the car. Next time, we'll hike all the way to Fern Canyon though.

After our hike, we headed over to Seascape in Trinidad for brunch. Mama's new car, nicknamed, Luna loved the view!

Later, we found another park for the kiddos! This one was in a neighborhood, but it had this really cool climbing toy that Sienna loved climbing. 

She made it all the way to the top!! 

This was our last night in Arcata and the following day, we made our way back to Eugene. On the way we stopped at Trees of Mystery.

On the way back to Eugene, we took a short detour down to Medford for a burger. The kiddos had never tried a beef burger before. Forest hated it and Sienna loved it. Mama even ate one!! The last time I had a beef burger was in 2005. 

We fed the ducks some stale bread at the pond next to our hotel.

The next day, we headed home ...

A New Year, New Experiences

Our little family is ready for a new year and new experiences! On New Year's Day, we went on a little road trip to find snow. We headed east to Darrington and built a snowman at a park there called "Old School Park." We used peanuts to make our snowman's face from the snacks we packed to bring along. 

We also took down our Christmas tree and decided to share it with the birds! The idea came from the book, The After-Christmas Tree. Sienna had checked it out from her school library to read over Winter break. We had a new experience that day! We ended up getting locked out of our house and had to call a locksmith to get us back in. Luckily, Mama had brought her phone outside to take photos of the tree.

The birds have been loving our offering to them! The pinecones are almost all empty now.

This weekend, we headed over to the Skagit Eagle Festival in Concrete. We explored the Bald Eagle Interpretive Center and found an old log cabin from 1891. The mama of the cabin planted a rose bush, which is still there today!

We also learned that a ferry was used to cross the Skagit River to Rockport before the bridge was built in 1961. The ferry was quite icy!

Wishing you a year full of new experiences and possibilities, too!

Coming Home

Wow, I can't believe it's been about six months since I last sat down and wrote a blog! I even turned my blog off for awhile and debated whether or not I would start writing again. But, something has compelled me to come back to it this summer. So, here I am. 

Rather than update you on all the mundane things that have happened since January, I will instead share with you about our summer so far, because that's exactly where I am mentally ... in the midst of a hot summer (although today, it's considerably cooler).

In June, we celebrated Sienna's 7th "birth" day twice. One evening with our little family and one day with a few of her friends she made at our homeschool group. For her birthday dinner, she chose a heart shaped pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. (We also put garlic on the half she wouldn't be eating!) For her birthday dessert, the choice was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. 

For the last few weeks of June, I participated in a summer soul camp workshop that one of my favorite bloggers, Heather from beautythatmoves hosted. It was the first time I ever participated in something like this and although I found myself unable to finish all of the projects during the two week camp, I know I will continue to work on them this summer.  

As part of the camp, we had to choose a summer mantra and create a vision board for the summer. I chose, "Peace and happiness are available in every step" by Thich Nhat Hanh.

This is my vision board in Sienna's flower bed.  

Also in June, we took a little road trip up to Artist's Point at Mt. Baker. It was quite beautiful there and we settled in for a cozy picnic.

The end of June wrapped up with a beautiful ballet and sweet tap performance by Sienna. She has become quite the dancer.

And so, that was June. It's been quite a summer already and I'm looking forward to many, many more summer adventures and finding peace and happiness in each step...