The Last Days of Summer

School starts September 1st.  Eight more days, but who's counting?

We spent some more time in Door County earlier this month.  There is enough to do there that we can easily find something new each time we go, but we've definitely found some favorites as well.  Peninsula State Park, for example.  Milena enjoys the water, Claire enjoys the sand.  There are boats to rent and trails to hike.  A tower to climb, a nature center, lighthouse, snack shop. Something for all of us.  Milena is pretty happy with any of it, and in general won't leave willingly.  Luckily for us, she's pretty content to be carried off as well.

We visited the park twice while we were there.  The first day was overcast, but perfect for sitting on the beach.  The second day was beautiful, and we made sure to stop at as many overlooks as possible.  And we made Claire get out of the car each time so she could enjoy it as well.  She even glanced up from her book a few times.

We played some mini-golf as well.  I have to say, I am pretty awesome at mini-golf.  I know because I've beaten Mike 100% of the times we've played.  I also took this picture of Milena and realized she's a full on toddler now.  She looks more kid than baby.  I think that may have happened overnight, but now she's running instead of walking and she's fine on the stairs.  She's talking all the time, even using some real words.  She's big, all of a sudden.

We ended up cutting the Door County portion of our trip a bit short and stayed with my family for a few days.  It had been a while since we'd seen them.  Also, the heat and humidity broke and we enjoyed a few fantastic evenings and nights playing around outside.   

Warm Days

Its been hot, and I generally don't like the heat.  However I do like it when its warm enough to skip a bath and play in the sprinkler at 8pm instead.

I know I'm not the only one.

A Big Week

Last week was a big one.

We tried to go to Oregon on Thursday, but severe weather kept us home.  We tried again on Saturday and had much better luck.  We arrived right on time with a few new how-tos for traveling.
1. If you begin travel at night and your plane gets delayed, you don't have as many opportunities to get out the same day.  Pretty obvious.  This lesson cost us two days of vacation.
2. Traveling at night with a 1 year old sucks.  I'm sure this lesson cost several strangers several hours of sleep.  For anyone reading this has ever been on a plane with a crying baby, believe me, the parents feel really really bad about it and would do just about anything to make it stop.

In the end it was all worth it because we had an awesome time in Portland and then at a beach house in Seaside.  It was Milena's first time at the beach since she's been mobile.  It might be an understatement to say she loved it.

The weather was overcast and foggy the entire time, but it was still beautiful and it didn't stop us from visiting several beaches, walking around down town, and just doing the family vacation thing.  Ecola State Park was one of my favorites.  It looks just like the Oregon coast looks like in my imagination.

Fort Stevens was also really nice.  There was a big sand dune for running down, a big shipwreck to explore and what looks like miles and miles of beach.  The way it runs of into the mist, it looks like you could walk forever.  Milena walked around smiling the whole time.  Claire was off wandering on her own.  She was so busy all week, I was lucky if I could get a picture of her running off to explore/pretend something.

Also this past week we sold our Maine house, so thats big news.  And the day after that was our anniversary (eight years!), so there was much cause for celebration.  Our flights home were thankfully during the day and went as smoothly as expected.  I am looking forward to February, however, when Mike an I will get on a plane to Germany without the kids.  Its been a while.  

Many thanks to Maighie and Emily for coming up with the idea and then setting it up.  We had a great time and can't wait to do it again.