Mt. Rainier

We managed to squeeze in one final camping trip in at the end of September before the weather got too rainy again and Tyler had to be back at school. We have wanted to visit Mt. Rainier since we got to Portland, so we are happy we finally got there. It vastly exceeded our expectations, and we were just sad we only had one night there. The National Park was immaculate. We forgot how awesome National Parks are. We plan to head back with our snowshoes ASAP.
This was one of my favorite hikes we have done in a very long time. While it was pretty steep for my liking, it was absolutely gorgeous with so many scenery changes in only a few miles. We had snow, green fields, wild flowers galore, and rocky volcanic areas.Getting ready to go UP. Fast.We made it to the top where the view was amazing, but it was FREEZING cold.We went crazy over the wild flowers. We took about 10,000 pictures of them. It was by far the most beautiful hike with wild flowers I have ever seen. They were everywhere and made the whole hike smell incredible. We were in awe the whole time.
We love camping and the time it allows us to just sit and talk late into the night. It is so relaxing and revitalizing. It thought about raining on us, but luckily waited until the middle of the night to really get going. Sadly, the rain cut our trip a bit short so instead of hiking on our second day we just visited some cool little pull offs before heading home.
We walked down to one of the washes surrounding the mountain. While very different than the greenery from our hike the day before, it was beautiful in its own way as well. We saw some beautiful waterfalls just off the road.We walked around a few of the many lakes at the base of Rainier. The mosquitoes were awful, so we didn't spend as much time near the water as we wanted to.
We took a little 1/2 mile hike through the Grove of the Patriarchs (or something along those lines) where we saw some pretty serious cedar trees. The smell of the forest during the rain is about the best thing ever. Especially when the trees are cedar. We had a fabulous weekend. Our break could not have gone better. If you ever have a chance to get to Mt. Rainier, we highly recommend you go. It was fantastic.

It was hot in the Caribbean

It is crazy how fast this summer flew by and how much we did. I have pretty much given up on blogging these days, so I am really putting forth some effort to get these posts up. Because really, our summer was fabulous.

We went on an amazing cruise to Mexico, Belize and Honduras. It was so much fun and I loved spending time with my family more than anything. I have more fun with them than anyone else, so really it could not have been a better week. Even my seasickness cooperated with me and I held it together better than ever. Woot!

Our ship was decently large...err...ridiculously large.

We definitely ate more than 3 meals a day, but truthfully the food was meh. I am grateful I discovered the Indian food bar where I was able to eat all the naan and masala I could get my hands on.

Sadly I still don't have many photos from this trip. A took all of them and I have not gotten them from her yet. So this is just a small sampling of what we did. Tyler went zip-lining with my family in Belize through the rain forest. I stayed with A and helped her watch over C.

We also dressed up for the very fancy-smancy Captain Gala. It is a VERY classy event. Where grown ups pull out their old and undersized prom dresses. People watching at its finest.

There were also some very nice vignettes available at every turn to get your family photo taken by an amateur waiter/photographer. We opted to head out to the deck for our own little photo shoot. Please note Tyler's super hot turquoise Miami Dolphins tie. He took dressing "classy" to a whole new level. He was also wearing white tennis shoes and a brown belt with that black shirt. HOT. I know. My man has STYLE.

I do not get to spend enough time with my siblings. They are my favorite people and my best friends. One solid week with them was much needed.

Our final stop was in Costa Maya, Mexico. We visited some Mayan Ruins. They were incredible.

C baby was such a good little traveler. A might disagree, but I loved having C there to play with all week.

I don't have any pictures yet from Honduras. And had it not been so disgustingly humid I might have wanted to stay there forever. So if you are not bored yet, for a more detailed look at the cruise you can click one of the links below.

Click here to learn about the Honduras Photoshoot of Death or here for more details and better pictures from the whole trip.

Rio Secreto

So it has been a crazy month of September! One of these days I will get around to blogging about all of it, but for now I am just posting one picture from our cruise. This was our favorite adventure. We put on some sexy wet suits and hard hats and hiked and swam through the most amazing caves I have ever seen. We loved every second of this! It was so beautiful and such a unique experience. The only sad part was the price of purchasing photos. So we only left with one. But a good one if you ask me.

Mt. Hood and Opal Creek

I have really not been a dedicated blogger lately. I am going to blame that on the fact that the sun is out and not on the fact that I have just been a bit bored with blogging. Ty and I have tried to make the most out of every sunny weekend we can. His 6 week break has begun and after some serious studying we now have his board exams behind us (whew!), our 5 year anniversary done and gone (FIVE?!), and a week long rotation complete. It has been a busy summer but things are mellowing out now and we are prepping for our much awaited (3 years awaited actually) cruise.

But in the mean time here are some photos of a few things we have been up to lately. We did a little camping at Mt. Hood a few weeks ago. It was beyond gorgeous and just what Ty and I both needed. We love pulling out our camping gear and sitting around a fire all night. The Jacksons were kind enough to join us (unfortunately their daughter didn't cooperate in the wee hours of the morning and I am pretty sure Steve will never camp again). After they headed for home and their beds, Ty and I did an awesome little hike with sweeping views of Mt. Hood and amazing wild flower meadows. I was in heaven. I cannot get enough of wild flowers.

This past weekend we revisited Opal Creek after over a year. We have been wanting to swim in the pools and we picked a nice hot day for it. This is about a 7 mile hike, but it is nice and flat and absolutely gorgeous. The water is crystal clear. We could see to the bottom even in the 30 foot range. Tyler did lots of diving and swimming. I waded and photographed. It was a fantastic day.

And now the countdown to cruise time begins.

Summer Shenanagins

My sweet baby Caroline came to visit me. A came too. So all in all it was a fabulous weekend. We had so much fun playing at the pool, going to the coast, eating, shopping and all things sister weekends entail. To say I am obsessed with C, would be the largest understatement ever.

And can you blame me? She was crazy about the beach. It was the most perfect day I have ever experienced on the Oregon coast. It took C a bit to warm up to the sand, but once she did there was not stopping her. Yummy.

It was awesome to get to be there for C's first ocean expereince. She squealed and laughed the whole time. We basked in the sunshine.
We had a girls lunch at the OG. C and I are BFF now. As long as my mother isn't around she likes me best. But who can compete with grandma anyway? I will gladly take 2nd place.
Family portrait under the Morrison Bridge. {Okay, hurry everyone...make your comments about how we need to have kids stat.} We had a nice little run in with a meth head woman. Fun times. C told her off. Then we enjoyed dinner at Montage.
After hanging with A and C I decided to head home for the weekend. Hopefully I can round up some pictures from that. I love being home. I got to see my parents new gorgeous house, celebrate C's 1st birthday and Danny's 16th {WHAT!?}, and as always I got spoiled by my parents and pretty much never lifted a finger. I also got to go to lunch with these beautiful ladies. It has been over a year since we have all been together. They are 3 of my oldest and best friends. We have been friends since we were little and now we are all growed up and having babies {Carly}. That was a strange moment for me. Realizing that one of my cloest childhood friends is a mother. Wow. Anyway, it was wonderful to see them. I love them dearly. It was a busy week, but a wonderful one.