life lately // august

Oh, August. It came and left so quickly, it seems! But in between, there was MUCH fun to be had. We spent the majority of the month of August traveling. Which was heavenly. I love love love being on the road and exploring - and honestly, I had been aching to get up in the mountains, in some cool lakes, and in the salt water for some time, so the time we spent traveling was very healing for me. It was just what I needed. My favorite hash tag is #adventureisgoodforthesoul

and it is!

So, I selected a handful of photos from my phone to share about our adventures. I did take some pics with my "big" camera, too - but I have no idea when I will have time to look at them. Honestly, if you really like following along the adventures of our little family, just follow me on Instagram (tyshadenae) because you'll see a lot more of what's going on. I just committed to at least writing something down once a month here on our old family blog, because it's the only form of journaling I'm doing these days, so at least it's something, right?

Anyway...our first trip was to Utah. We went for a family reunion on Jacob's side, but we also got to see two of my siblings one day, and some of my really good friends. Thanks to Jacob's family for being flexible and letting those visits happen. And for the fun time together! I won't lie. My favorite thing we did in Utah was just BE in the mountains. We got to go hiking a couple of times - once just our own little family, and once with some of Jacob's extended family. It was heavenly!

I made sure ahead of time to pick a hike where we would run in to some Aspen trees. We really wanted to show Aspen her namesake trees. 

Here she is! Aspen in a grove of Aspen. Be still my heart! Really, it was a special moment. And it was even better when the wind blew gently through the leaves and Aspen looked up and said "look, Momma - the leaves are all SPARKLY!!!" 

That girl...we just love her so so much!

We were home for just a few short days before me and the kids took off for the Pacific Northwest. We really wish Jacob could've joined us, but someone has to make sure we pay the mortgage, so Jacob stayed home to work. Actually, the original purpose of the trip was for MY work. A friend/client wanted to fly me out to shoot her wedding, so I ended up adding a bunch of mini sessions for old and new Seattle clients and my mom talked me into bringing the kids along and extending our stay. So, we flew into Portland and went to my parents house in Bend. Then, I left for 3 days and went up to Seattle to take care of my photography business. It was the absolute weirded thing driving away from my babies, without my husband. I don't think I had been alone hardly once in the past 5 years since having children. It's a good thing my work kept me insanely busy and focused, because it was very difficult to be away from them all. Kudos to working moms who have to do it every day, or travel and be away from their families. Perhaps you get used to it after a while, but man oh man was it tough for me! 

Anyway, the kids were AMAZING little travelers. I had been pretty nervous about flying alone with all three - mostly because Hazel was to sit on my lap - and if you know Hazel, sitting is not something she really likes to do. I was amazed how awesome they did and thank my lucky stars for the secret super power that nursing has on airplanes. I'm also thankful that we sat by some super nice people - the last leg of our flight back to Austin (from Denver) was a smaller plane with two seats on each side of the aisle. Sawyer and Aspen sat together, and me and Hazel sat by a man - who thank goodness was like the nicest man in the world! Hazel loved him and would even let him hold her - and he amazingly didn't mind passing her back and forth or me nursing her to sleep. In fact, he even saw Jacob waiting for us in baggage claim and said "is your last name Carter? You have the sweetest family." What a blessing!

So...when you're a child, your Grandparents home can be a very magical place. I know going to my Grandparents homes was always special. It was so fun to see my own kids enjoy that special time with their Grandparents. 

We went hiking, shopping, helped Grammie in her greenhouse, watched Grandpa work on building his new shed (ahem, small house out back if you ask me - a small family could live there!), we saw a few old friends (Lori and Dan, our beloved neighbors, and two friends from high school - Sammie and Carrie), and got to play with Aunt Jamie and a bunch of fun girl cousins (my brother Dan's girls). We went to the High Desert Museum, rode Grammie's horses, played in the back yard. So many things, so much fun. And we learned the Hazel is a dog lover. Aunt Jamie would be so proud!

One morning I took the kids out to the old tire swing next to the forest next to my parents house. It may be time to replace the rope soon - but it was still good for a few swings. We also found the skeletal remains of a dear, which the kids thought to be fascinating. The rest of the day, they collected dry sticks which were pretend bones. Mostly dinosaur bones. Sawyer is thinking paleontology may be his future line of work, along with being a Daddy, of course. 

One afternoon Grammie took Aspen and Sawyer on a special date to the movies. They saw "Planes". And later that night, the fun continued as Grammie babysat my kids so my Dad could take me out on a Daddy-Daughter date. I wasn't sure if he did those anymore, but he does ;) He took me to a delicious Thai dinner, and then we saw the movie about Steve Jobs. I haven't been to the movies for EVER, honestly for a few years. We don't own a tv, so I really had to scramble to figure out what was playing. Not too much seemed very interesting to me, but Jobs was just geeky enough for me. And besides, the music was good, too. It was so fun to go and be able to chat with my dad, without interruptions. (thanks mom and dad!)

I snuck up on the girls "playing" the piano one morning. Cutest sisters - I just love these girls of ours! Made me want to get a piano off Craigslist or something just to let them sit there making "music" and being so cute together!

The kids love the High Desert Museum and the little homestead there. Here they are pretending to do some "school". Which reminds me...so we decided (after we had already paid some nonrefundable fees, sigh) to forego preschool indefinitely for our kids. Instead, I'm going to do "homeschool" pre-k and preschool with them. We're doing a blend of Charlotte Mason and Waldorf-inspired approaches. We're all excited. And since I'm the teacher, I decided not to start until October. It's mostly art and nature based. We've got some fun stuff to look forward to, but it will be pretty low key. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that a year from now our firstborn (and only) son, will head off to Kindergarten! How crazy and how fun! I am looking forward to making the most of this last year with him at home full time. It is a gift, for sure, to have him another year!

One afternoon, we went up to Scout Lake. It was HEAVENLY, so perfect! The kids had a blast! So did I ;)

We had many marvelous adventures in Oregon. Our last stop before heading back to Texas, was the Oregon Coast. We spent one of the most perfect days in history at Cannon Beach. It was so warm, so wonderful. The perfect ending to a most wonderful visit with my family. We missed Jacob and were ready to go home, but it was such a treat to be able to enjoy those two weeks in a place that is dear to me, with people I love so much. I'm so thankful my kids are so easy to travel with, and I know they're also grateful for the time we got to spend at Grammie and Grandpa's house. I must admit, family reunions are fun to see everyone - but having more one on one time is so special and important, too. I feel like the kids really get to know their grandparents when they get that one on one time. It definitely made an impression on Sawyer, who burst into tears as we were driving away from their house. He kept saying, through sweet little sobs, "I wish we could live closer to Grammie and Grandpa's house". I'm pretty sure Grammie had a tear or two, too. I'm glad my kids love their Grandparents.

And now we're back home in Texas. It's still hot. Like triple digits. I'm trying to finish painting out house - and also trying to work on all the sessions and wedding I did while in Seattle. SO BUSY. I want to get that off my plate, as well as the painting so everything is a bit more organized and settled before we start school in October. In the meantime, we get to enjoy more swimming, and the anticipation of more adventures. Because, don'tcha know...adventure is around every corner!

I hope everyone had a marvelous and magical summer!