I aint' gonna lie

but life has just gotten in the way of posting. It isn't that I don't want to share all the joys and chaos life in the De Blasi house brings, but, in reality - I just forget.

So, an update (of 5 months.....). We are settled into our house. We really like it, the kids like it, the dogs like it, it's all good. School for me ended (yea!), I had sinus surgery (boo....this is what happens when you live in an area with the highest pollen counts in the country), we signed Miles up for kindergarten (what the what?), we had both sets of families visit (although, my parents came to help out during my recovery - not so fun for them). The kids continue to take swimming lessons and LOVE it, it honestly is the only activity they don't say they don't want to do (hello soccer and gymnastics I am talking to you). They are so close to getting it - but Miles tends to let his legs sink when he kicks and Ella just kicks so slow she never goes anywhere.

We haven't traveled much lately. We did go up to the Alderbrook Resort for a weekend to celebrate father's day. It was something out of the movies. I highly, highly recommend it. I took my first trip (by myself) to support some family friends during a tough time. But, I got to go to Santa Cruz (love it there) and got to fly by myself (did I mention that I did this by myself?), oh the good old days of walking into the airport, up to the gate with just a carry on, and then getting to listen to MY music or watch MY movie. It was a little bit of heaven, not gonna lie.

We have a few more little trips planned for the remainder of the summer (hey Medford we are coming your way next!). Soon it will be September and back to the routine of work and dinner (for some reason making dinner is one of those adult things I hate the most). Miles will be in school and that will be an amazing experience for him (he is so excited, he is convinced that he is really big stuff and likes to remind Ella of this). I am really happy for him and excited, I don't have any anxiety now, but ask me in a month and it will be a whole different answer.

I'd like to say I will stay up to date on our adventures (because honestly, every day with an almost 4 year old and a 5 year old is an adventure), but you have seen my track record........until next time!!

looking for crabs in the Hood Canal

Kayaking in the Sound

Ms. Molly

Working on our garden

selling ice cream in the back yard

Sunset at Alderbrook

Santa Cruz

exploring the Redwoods

he said this was his happy face

drinks at the fire pit

Goodbye Portland

collecting flowers at Grammy's

boating at Detroit Lake for father's day

Zoo Train

Collecting shells

My mom helped me design our back yard gardens

making progress on his swimming

I have nothing to say to this.

"let's go down to the water, just to look" they said

soccer practice (see everyone playing in the background?)

Our first bounty. 

Grandma and Grandpapa came to visit from New Jersey

Dahlia Festival

One of the most amazing things about this area is the diverse crops that grow in our region. It seems like there is a festival for EVERYTHING! One of my favorite festivals is the last weekend of August and first weekend of September. The Swan Island Dahlia festival is really incredible - it doesn't help that Dahlia's are my favorite flower.

Camp Sherman Adventure

Awhile back Mike set up a family trip to Camp Sherman, Or. just outside of Sisters, Oregon. Although we were just home from our week in Tahoe, I was pretty excited to go to the central part of our state - it is really pretty and has so much to do. We stayed a the Lake Creek Lodge, in a nice 2 bedroom cabin, which also allowed dogs, a huge plus for our family. The cabins and amenities were amazing. There was a nice grassy area and creek right in front of our cabin, and a great swimming pool behind it. There were trails around the cabins and the Metolious River was close by.

The first day, we (actually I) decided to do one of my all time favorite hikes at Smith Rock. It is such a magical place and since the weather was so clear (no fires at that point) we would be able to see the three Sisters mountains, Hood, Bachelor, Washington and Jefferson. The last time we hiked the trail we did it when Miles was about 9 months and it was October. This time: 2 dogs, 2 toddlers and hot, hot weather. Needless to say - it wasn't as magical of a hike as I had planned in my head. We ended up having to carry both kids on our shoulders for the one mile(-ish) assent, it was pretty steep and the kids were not agreeable to do the climb. I carried Ella back down as Mike wrangled Miles (who did walk!!), Tank and Molly (who both just wanted to get into the river). Needless to say, not a hike we will do anytime soon - in fact, I think it scarred Miles because now if we even mention the word hike, he has a mini-meltdown.

The next day we played it low key and went into the town of Sisters, which is really charming and had great donuts (according to Miles). Later we took a "walk" along the Metolious to let the dogs get some well earned swimming in.






Before we left Camp Sherman, we visited the fish hatchery, which was a surprise hit with the kids. They loved feeding the fish and seeing all the different salmon and trout.

Overall a great quick getaway for our family and definitately worth another visit.

Weekend on the coast (pretty much a Goonie weekend)

This past weekend, we headed over to the Oregon coast to enjoy some beach time. First we headed to Cannon Beach for their 50th annual sandcastle festival. After 3 attempts to leave out house (food, backpack and then a 20 mile round trip back home since I couldn't remember if I turned off my flat iron) we finally made it to one of my all time favorite beach towns. Cannon Beach, the town is super cute, houses are perfect and the beach is wonderful - it is the site of the famous Haystack Rock (featured in my favorite movie of all times). The sandcastles were meh, some were pretty amazing, but there weren't many and the beach was so crowded it was hard to get 2 little ones close enough to enjoy them. In fact, both Miles and Ella preferred to just sit and play in the sand. After cruising the most dog friendly town, we headed up the coast to Astoria to spend the night. Best part of the evening was the amazing sunset at Fort Stevens.

The next morning we headed out to enjoy Astoria, which in my opinion is a town on the verge of becoming an amazing little community. There are great new restaurants, stores, remodeled hotels and each house is more amazing than the next. Of course, what is a trip to Astoria without a visit to the Goonie house (there were 10-15 cars parked with gawkers - I was almost embarrassed at how excited I got). We ended our afternoon with a trip to Astoria Column (the views were incredible) and a visit to the Scandinavian Festival (in spirt of my parents who are actually in Norway right now).