Month in Review: March 2011

In which we start the month with a trip to the coast, Louisa starts smiling, and we celebrate some birthdays.

Month in Review: August 2010

August, 2010, has a trip to Newport, the Food Allergy Walk, and Inen's second birthday.

May Recap, Part 3: Nye Beach

As I mentioned earlier, we visited Nye Beach during our Newport trip. Here's a video of me being silly while Korie walked along the beach with Inen strapped into the Ergo Baby Carrier:

May Recap, Part 2: Inen Says "More"

When we were at Newport on vacation in May, Inen did the "more" sign! He asked for more O's (in the video below), and later on when he was playing with Korie's foot, she moved her foot away, and he signed for "more" then. We are so proud of our little boy!

May Trip to Newport

Last month we took a little vacation. It was our summer vacation, despite it not yet being summer. That's just the kind of family we are. We went out to the family getaway place in Newport for a long weekend, to take a breather before the busy summer season with school and the Newberg Public Library summer reading program started.

It was a great weekend with lots of walking and hanging out. We feel very blessed to have a place we can go to that isn't home, but feels like home when we're there. We save money by bringing our own meals and cooking our own food. There's lots to do within walking distance or a short drive, but it's relaxing enough that we don't feel like we have to go out and do something. It's just nice to look out at the view of the water from the deck sometimes.

While we were there Inen managed to sign "more" for the first time! At night, however, he did not sleep well at all (it being a strange place). The next morning Inen got up early, and I got up with him, got showered and dressed, and we gave Korie a chance to sleep for a while by taking a walk. Our favorite coffee shop in Newport is the Coffee House, just a short walk from the condo. I got an espresso con pana, which I think they make better than anywhere else. On our way back Korie called to say she was up, so we met her part way and walked back to the Coffee House with her. We were reminded that the further one gets from Portland, the harder it is to find food that does not contain dairy or eggs. Unfortunately, we were there on a Saturday morning when it was packed, and after waiting in line for a while, discovered that everything Korie thought she could eat was cooked in butter. However, our original plan was to go Monday morning before we headed back to Newberg. We decided to stick with this plan, and finding no one in the place a little after opening on Monday morning, we were able to order food cooked in oil just for Korie. Yay!

Also, my mom came out for a day to visit with us and see the old town area. We had a good lunch at the Rogue Ales Public House and a good walk around the old bay front.

It was a great trip. Even with the lack of sleep. Sometimes it's just nice to get away.

Here's a little bit of the trip in pictures:

Newport or Bust

October 7 marked the second wedding anniversary for Korie and I. In celebration, we took Inen with us to Newport where Korie's family has a condo they are able to use there. It's one of my favorite places. The first time Korie brought me there, I fell in love with the area. I've never been much of a beach person, but this spot on the pier at Yaquina Bay is simply charming. It worked out well for our anniversary: It's familiar and homey, so we could feel comfortable bringing Inen. And it's great that we have our own kitchen there so we don't have to break the bank eating out.

The weather was spectacular. We did a lot of walking, visited our favorite breakfast haunt (The Coffee House, best coffee in Newport), went to Nye Beach, the Sylvia Beach Hotel (an author-themed hotel that opens unoccupied rooms to the public on Sundays), and worked on designing our dream house after watching far too much HGTV while Korie nursed Inen. It was wonderful. Here's a little slide show of the trip: