a late summer retreat

After several reminders that we live in Vermont and haven't even gone camping once we decided to pack up and go for a long weekend - leaving all our would-be projects aside and taking a moment to breath.  Luckily we were able to stay at a friends cabin in the woods of Sugar Hill, NH - thereby eliminating the need for half our camping equipment and meaning that we didn't have to strap Adele to the roof of the car...(packing a car for camping was tight before acquiring a dog and a new baby!).  And let me tell you...it was lovely.  We hiked, swam, saw two moose, a bear (well 99% sure a bear) and even had some pancakes at Polly's Pancake Parlor.  Life was good!

perfecting his stair climbing skills

and fast crawl

still laughing...
this is when I noticed Owen was chewing on a huge glob of candle wax....
look at that goofy face

Saturday morning Isabelle had a tough time understanding why on earth we would want to go camping after getting so many sweet little chicks in the mail the day before.  That was until mama came to the rescue with flower crowns and daddy helped build a fairy village in the woods - then...and only then...was she convinced camping was alright.  Later that day we hiked Lonesome Lake trail and took a quick dip in the lake - Isabelle walked all by herself (almost) the whole way up...we were so proud!

a flower crown of wild flowers

a heart healthy breakfast: bacon, eggs and potatoes cooked in bacon fat...

hard at work building a fairy and gnome village

Owen splashing in lonesome lake

enjoying a snack after a long hike

sunrise from the cabin

a tired dog

We had a great mini retreat and are excited to be "retreating" again this weekend (this time down to RI for a much anticipated wedding celebration!).  Thanks so much to the Jarzombek family for letting us use the cabin for the weekend!!

and well i can't leave you without a harvest photo right?

and of course there was good reason to come home...two days away from our garden and this was half the harvest

first ride in a canoe

This past weekend we worked hard to forget our packing and moving stress and headed up to Sandpoint, ID for one last camping trip this summer with our wonderful friends Laura & Carter and their pooch Hailey (i know...i sort of have had enough camping...).  And well we decided to take one of our landlords' canoes along with us for some boating fun.  Isabelle of course had to get a new life vest - and of course she would only wear the one with pink and purple (which just so happened to be the most expensive one...hmph).

isabelle sat comfortably in her hippo chair

and off they go!

This little canoe trip has excited both Aaron and Isabelle about the lake that we will be living on for the next 9 months in NH (Mascoma Lake).  And well for me.... it just gives me anxiety - I could barely watch as they paddled away in that canoe...

This is officially my last day of work and Isabelle's last day of daycare and since we are having some temporary issues with internet at our house I'm not sure when the next post will come.  Will try to get in a few but unfortunately it is "game face" time.  The next month will be filled with packing, flying, driving, and unpacking....  I can't believe I am saying this (when September is generally my favorite time of year) but...I can't wait for October!

Dates:

Moving truck comes: Sept. 7th

Mom comes: Sept 9th

Moving truck leaves: Sept 12th

28 week Midwife appointment: Sept 12th

Mom, Isabelle, me and the cats fly out: Sept 14th 

Aaron & Joel drive east: Sept 15th

I drive up to NH: Sept 20th (ish)

Moving truck arrives in NH: Sept 22nd (ish)

The chaos starts: NOW!!!!!!!

Yikes.  Please send positive thoughts our way.

Vacation ~ Part 3 ~ Olympic Peninsula continued & Mt. Rainier

And well here are the last few bits and pieces of our vacation - enjoy!

a silly lady enjoying the water in her undies

forget the undies...lets just run around nudy booty

Hoa rainforest

hoa rainforest

big cedar!

a tree bridge

one of my favorite photos, isabelle just before sunset on Rialto Beach

momma & isabelle @ Rialto Beach

running off any last bits of energy

an amazing sunset (i must admit i had to be dragged to - thank you aaron)

World Largest Yellow Cedar (i think)

Mt. Rainier (took my breath away)

aaron went on a (well deserved) solo hike up Mt. Rainier (I think Mt. Hood is in the background)

marmot! i guess aaron almost stepped on one!

wildflowers along the way

fields of glacier lillies

As mentioned previously we are up to our ears in packing and planning for the big move.  I have to say I am honestly not ready to leave Moscow and it is going to be a sad goodbye.  Every time I think of leaving this place and people I get a bit choked up - Moscow has been really good to us.  (Don't get me wrong I am so so happy to be moving closer to our families and east coast friends - just that moscow has really special place in my heart).

I am also finishing up at work over the next few days, which ultimately means I am turning in my computer (which i use to do most of my blogging from).  So until we have something else set up at home posts may not be as frequent or as photo heavy - don't fret though... I'll figure something out eventually.

Vacation ~ Part 2 ~ Olympic Peninsula

Ok, as promised... more pictures.  From Seattle we drove a few more hours west to visit the Olympic Peninsula.  Home of Olympic National Park - mountains, beaches, and rainforest.  Also home of those Twilight series - the small town in which the books are set, Forks, and yes I have read the books and well if you are feeling like a teenage vampire guilty pleasure then go for it - but I have to say I'm pretty embarrassed I read them (and saw all the movies...so far).  Ok anyways back to the more important stuff - pictures:

hurricane ridge - olympic national park

Bailey Range - olympic national park

deer in meadow - flowers - broad leaf lupines

We spent one night camping at the base of Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, even though we had initial hopes of sleeping by the water our first night.  The park was great and we had amazing views of the mountains..

on the road again..driving further west

made it to the Pacific- beach littered with huge trees

isabelle navigating the beach

Yikes there are a lot of pictures from this Pacific Northwest tour...more to be posted later.  In the mean time we are up to our ears in bubble wrap, boxes, and packing tape - packing is not fun.

the weekend

We decided to avoid our my fears (moving, rentals, etc.) and escape for a one night camping trip about an hour north of us in St. Maries, Id.  It was ... in someways... just what we needed.  Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car with an unreasonable amount of equipment and set off to the woods.  We had a nice little camping spot in Heyburn State Park and were very pleased we decided to bring the insect screen canopy to put over the picnic table - the mosquitoes have nothing on the east coast... but there managed to be several hungry buggers that thought Isabelle tasted lovely...

We managed a little nature walk Saturday evening and on our drive back to our campsite we spotted a moose gulping some water on the lakes' edge.  Sunday we woke up -  practiced some team building skills... our tent is massive and easy to put up...but taking down and packing takes patience...especially when someone forgets to take the car keys out of the inside pocket......Isabelle even gets in on the "team building" by laying on the tent to get rid of the huge air pockets.

our campsite

isabelle getting all the air out of the tent

After the car was packed we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at a little sandy beach on the lake.  Isabelle loved playing in the water, throwing rocks, and splashing cold lake water on mama.

Back to reality: moving quotes, rentals outside our budget, and work....bleh.

Selway River

This past weekend we went on a 3 night camping trip along the Selway River (approximately 2.5 hours from Moscow) with our good friends the Ingwells & their "sometimes" friendly pooch, Hailey.  Aaron, Carter, and Hailey drove out early Friday to secure a campsite and Laura, Isabelle, and I headed out a little after.  The weather was beautiful and the drive was great - driving along highway 12 toward Montana is one of the most scenic drives you may ever take.  Upon arrival we were very impressed with our isolated little campsite right on the river (even equipped with an out house!).

Our campsite

Saturday we went on a really nice 4 hour hike (no one was on the trail - I think most people coming to the area were fishing, rafting or 4-wheeling) and returned to take a plunge into the icy river water - it felt so so good!

Isabelle giving momma some love & Hailey

our little family, baby bump and all..

Our camping trips have taken drastic changes in the past few years.  We have put away our light weight gear and moved on to a really big (heavy tent), a big camp stove, and yes...an air mattress.  And I have to say, for this time of our lives car camping is just perfect.  I hope someday to come full circle - break out our "out of date" gear and tent camp again some day with our family - but for now car camping is lovely.    One of the major perks being all the delicious food we ate!  Ribs, chicken kabobs, breakfast sandwiches,  hash browns and ohh the pudgy pies...delicious sandwiches grilled in cast iron mold.

We also discovered Isabelle is in more than one way like her mom.  When I was young anytime I did something a bit out of the norm (like camping) I puked.  And well between all the fun Isabelle was having and the heat (it was in the high 80's-90's) she threw up twice.  Once at night - that was not fun - and once in the morning during breakfast.  She was such a trooper though, as soon as it happened she felt so much better, brushed her teeth, and moved on.  We think she was also slightly dehydrated, the heat and sun really drained me, and I can only imagine what its effect was on her body.  In the future we now know to really push the fluids and try to keep her out of the sun and relaxed as much as possible.  

lounging by the beach at our campsite

enjoying the scenery

Sunday we did another small hike along another small river and then just took the rest of the afternoon to relax at the campsite.  Monday morning, after a delicious breakfast, we loaded up and drove home.  All in all a blissful weekend on the river.

Hope you all had a great long weekend!