Bacation!

Our first vacation (or bacation if you ask Matthew) as a family of four was to Portland, OR. We got there on a warm and sunny afternoon. Doesn't Janie look so pretty?

After a quick stop at the hotel to unload, we took a short scenic drive to Multnomah Falls. Matthew LOVED seeing the waterfall.

Jane slept.

We had dinner at the restaurant overlooking the falls, then headed to a fish hatchery down the road to meet Herman - the 10 foot, 70 year old sturgeon. We were all exhausted after a long day of travel, so back to the hotel we went and off to bed.

Surprise!

On the last day of our visit Jackie suspiciously sent us out of the house. We went to check out my brother's new home and give the boys some more face time.

We returned to a surprise "little get together" for my birthday. Jackie and Aunt Beth had made little foods of all kinds - brussel sprouts, Cornish game hens, mini cupcakes, you get the idea.

Family photo op! My little cousin Shannon (now a towering 5'7") got cut off on the left.

California Part 2

Friday night we went to my dad's place for dinner (Vince's Spaghetti .... yuuummm!) Caleb enjoyed playing the piano while Matthew sat there looking frightened.

Ah, the Matthew Grahams all together: Caleb Matthew Graham, Gary Matthew Graham ,and Matthew Graham Hardwick. Cute!

Grandpa with Matty.

What a day! Matthew went out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Don't worry, we didn't leave him sleeping on a pillow on the couch. It just made a cute photo!

Matty's first trip to California part 1

Matthew was terrific on our first ever airplane trip. I requested that we sit next to an empty seat ti give us a little more space. The gentleman at the window seat was a sweet old man with multiple grand and even great grandchildren. Matt and I read books and played quietly. He filled his diaper, so i had the pleasure of using an airplane bathroom changing table. Super! He fussed a bit on the descent, so I tried feeding him. He did better with a pacifier in his mouth. We arrived on time and had a few hours to visit before hitting the hay. Here is Matthew being adored by his Uncle Gary and Aunt Jackie.

On Friday I got to visit with my dear friend Patty and her two darling girls. My indecisiveness surrounding car seats arose again as I watched Patty bring in her one year old still fitting nicely in her carrier. Arg! We had a great time catching up and seeing how our little ones have grown.

Matthew spent most of the 95 degree days in just his diaper. He LOVED that! His first two teeth have broken through (early, I know) so he was chomping everything he could. He fell asleep while chewing Grandma's fingers that evening.

My little brother cracks me up. Two short years ago he was a young kid always looking for ways to shock and go against the norm. Now he is a husband and father full of advice and baby stories to swap. I really took note of the changes in him when he casually wiped a booger from Matt's nose. :) My how times have changed. This is one of Matthew's favorite cuddling poses - cheek to cheek.

What I Hate About Washington

I hate that my family is not here! How cute is my nephew Caleb? In this first picture he is laughing and smiling with me. We had so much fun hanging out together while everyone else buzzed around us getting ready for the shower. I will post shower pictures separately. :)













Here he is helping his mommy by holding her purse. We went to see Caleb's first movie - Horton Hears a Who. He had a fun time sitting on my lap and jumping up and down.




For Jackie's birthday we all went to dinner at Mimi's. Oh to be 22 again ... We had a wonderful dinner followed by an amazing dessert of Bananas Foster and Bread Pudding. We ordered two desserts for the six of us and still brought home leftovers! For the grand finale of the trip, Jackie, Jennille, Caleb and I headed to the Long Beach Aquarium. We had a great time watching the sea life and feeling some too. I'll post some pictures of our underwater friends separately.

Babymoon!

It's Valentines weekend and after reading and hearing about this new popular trend called a babymoon, we wanted to try it. First the thought was to do another big road trip, but that would take too much time and a lot of expense. So we decided to stay more local, as there are already so many great things to see in this beautiful state of Washington.

We chose Leavenworth as our destination of choice. It is a small Bavarian village nestled behind the jagged peaks of the Cascade mountains. During the 1960's when the major railroad stopped passing through their town, the residents had to find a way to keep their community from becoming a ghost town. "Let's make it a German village and expand tourism." Everyone agreed and so became the town.

From the inception of the trip, I wanted to find a place that felt like home and had a place where people could gather at the end of the day and play games; like a bed & breakfast but bigger. The Enzian Inn fit all the criteria and more.

In the mornings, a full buffet breakfast was provided for all guests, with a live performance of the Alpenhorn on outside deck. Afternoons could be spent Cross Country Skiing at any of the six surrounding trails with skis provided by the Enzian. In the summer they offer rounds of golf at their Championship Putting course. At night in the main lobby, which was opened up to the two floors above, they played piano music. Also provided were indoor and outdoor pools with hot tub, excercise gym, and a racketball court.

For our room, we chose the bridal suite; actually it chose us as it was the only room left when we booked our stay. But we couldn't have asked for anything better. His & her sinks, double headded shower, whirlpool tub, wood burning fireplace, balcony, and a king sized canopy bed.

When we arrived, Erin was tired from the three hour drive and wanted a nap before perusing the town. As soon as the front desk handed us the keys, she took her's and bolted to the room while I was left to get our luggage. It took me a while to move the car around the parking lot, find a dolly, and wait for the elevator. Meanwhile, Erin get's to the room, but the bed is on stilts. At 5'2" she's not that tall, and being pregnant, she's not that agile, and being tired, she isn't thinking clearly about how to get into the bed. When she finally does achieve success in climbing into the bed, I arrive at the door and cannot figure out how to unlock it. She reluctantly falls out of bed again and helps me in, and we laughed about the situation.

In town, the shops are fairly unique with original items from the area or imported from Germany and other mountainous regions of Europe. For dining, I really enjoyed King Ludwigs, as they had authentic German fare and had a live polka band with dance floor. Erin's favorite was the Gingerbread Factory, where they made some delicious sandwiches and, of course, fantastic gingerbread cookies.

The evenings were my favorite part of the trip, everyone gathered around the fireplace, listening to piano music, drinking coffee, and playing games or puzzles. We noticed several times that they would be playing modern Christian worship songs. It certainly felt like home to us, and I'm sure we'll be going there again in the future.

The picture below shows Erin smiling because she knows she's just about to whoop me at dominoes.

Click on the images below to see them larger.

East Coast Trip Part 5 (final)

Okay, so I'm locking myself in today to finish writing about our trip from over a month ago. Then we'll get on to things like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our final major destination was Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown where we rejoined with our friends Tommy and Tara. These are rebuilt towns from America's past, arranged like a theme park.

Williamsburg was Virginia's first capitol while still under British rule. Evidence of it still exists across the street where the University, The College of William and Mary, resides. The school is named after The King and Queen of England at the time it was built. William and Mary were cousins who looked very much alike. Alumns of the college were many of our first Presidents including Thomas Jefferson.

The Governors Palace, picutred below, housed the royal appointments until the first American born Governor was appointed. And he was Patrick Henry of "Give me liberty or give me death!" fame.


Inside the Governors palace were oversized welcoming rooms for entertaining, and gardens outside for relaxing. Except I didn't feel to relaxed when I became lost in the hedge maze.

The Capitol building below is the first representation of government in our country. Members of the House of Burgesses included Patrick Henry, George Washington, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson. During the Revolutionary war Thomas Jefferson recommended that the capitol be moved to it's current day location in Richmond. The original buildings of Willamsburg were all mostly destroyed in the war, except for the Magazine (armory). In the mid thirties Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller rebuilt the town as a living history museum based on historical data and the original foundations. Today, the Virginia State Legislature meets in the House of Burgesses within the rebuilt Capitol building (below) once a year.

Next stop, Jamestown, America's first settlement by the British. The Virginia company sent three ships of men to create a settlement, find gold, and ship it back to Brittain. They were never successful in that regard.

Neighboring where the area where John Smith and his crew landed were the Powhatan Indians. We learned how they lived on the land those 400 years ago and prepared animal skins.

We were so impressed, Tommy and I had to try them on and pretended that our sister was Pocahontas.

That wasn't enough pretending for us, we now wanted to be John Smith and John Rolfe.

Here I am again as John Rolfe rowing away with Pocahontas, my wife. These boats were projects for the indian men to get away from their wives. They carved them out by lighting fires on top and carving the ashes away with shells.

On our last day we fit in some good ol' North Carolina BBQ and Sweet Tea. I don't know why the rest of the nation wants to take the sweet out of the tea. It's like putting bones into your fried chicken, it's just ridiculous!

For more information on the history of Williamsburg and Jamestown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Williamsburg

http://www.history.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown%2C_Virginia

http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown/jamestown.cfm