Sabbatical Trip Post #1

We've made it to California. We are at a Thousand Trails camp just south of Chico, CA. We spent the day playing in the lake, watching Ethan do paddle boat races, doing bumper boats and swimming in the pool. Jacob loved playing in the lake and on the beach. He even liked the bumper boats - especially when he and Dad were hitting Mo & Ethan.

Before we came here, we were at Crater Lake, OR for 2 nights. We all loved it and thought it was beautiful. Unfortunately the boat dock was broken, so we couldn't go to the island. We did our first hike with Jacob in the back pack and that was an interesting experience - I didn't realize I needed to do more 'training' for our sabbatical! But we made it up the side of the crater. Jacob loved camping here - he was eating durt and was brown within 1 hr of arriving at the site. When he is in the trailer and anyone is outside, he gets mad - just wanting to go outside, it's cool to see him enjoying it so much

The drive has gone well - exept if you're George the Tahoe - he is not liking all the hills, so we are going to take him to Chevy tomorrow to make sure we're not abusing him too bad. He hasn't had any problems, we just want to make sure he doesn't have any! Jacob is doing well with the driving, but has had limited naps lately, so we're trying to have some consistency (however you do that traveling 3600 miles in 3 week, i haven't quite figured out yet!). Jason is doing the driving and has hit a few espresso stops, which we are documenting of course! The trailer is a bit squirly especially on the major highways so it isn't easy driving, he is doing great. He even drove it around Crater Lake counter clockwise - which was too scary for me - no guard rails and a major cliff about 1 ft away. I think was is nearly in tears the entire 5 miles of badness!

And of course blogger won't work for me to add pics, so I will have to do that another time - sorry!

We Made It!

Well, after working for over 7 years at Intel, both Jason and I have started our first sabbatical. What does that mean for those of you who don't live in Intel speak? It means we have a 8 week paid vacation!

To be honest, I'm a little scared as I contemplate what life will be like without work for 8 weeks. But I'm positive by the time I get to 2 weeks I will wonder why they don't give us 10 weeks!

So, you ask what will you be doing with your time? Well, that's not hard to fill.

As many know, we bought Harry our travel trailer a few months ago in anticipation of our sabbatical. So we will start Sunday by doing a 3 week road trip with both boys. We are going to visit yosemite, grand canyon, monterey, crater lake, florence....we estimate 3500 miles and over 70 hours of driving! We'll see how the boys do!

Then we will come home and Jason will finish his MBA and gradutate the first weekend of September.

Then Jason and I will be leaving the boys at home and heading to a resort just outside of Cancun, Mexico for 9 days.

Then we want to do some service projects in Portland.

Jason's last week will be spent cleaning the garage and planting trees and relaxing. I will be getting my program managers certification. Don't worry, I will have a week after that to have my last week of relaxation.

So, that's what we're up to. And I'm sitting here watching the opening ceremonies for the olympics, which is always my favorite time of the year - woohoo!

We Made It!

Well, after working for over 7 years at Intel, both Jason and I have started our first sabbatical. What does that mean for those of you who don't live in Intel speak? It means we have a 8 week paid vacation!

To be honest, I'm a little scared as I contemplate what life will be like without work for 8 weeks. But I'm positive by the time I get to 2 weeks I will wonder why they don't give us 10 weeks!

So, you ask what will you be doing with your time? Well, that's not hard to fill.

As many know, we bought Harry our travel trailer a few months ago in anticipation of our sabbatical. So we will start Sunday by doing a 3 week road trip with both boys. We are going to visit yosemite, grand canyon, monterey, crater lake, florence....we estimate 3500 miles and over 70 hours of driving! We'll see how the boys do!

Then we will come home and Jason will finish his MBA and gradutate the first weekend of September.

Then Jason and I will be leaving the boys at home and heading to a resort just outside of Cancun, Mexico for 9 days.

Then we want to do some service projects in Portland.

Jason's last week will be spent cleaning the garage and planting trees and relaxing. I will be getting my program managers certification. Don't worry, I will have a week after that to have my last week of relaxation.

So, that's what we're up to. And I'm sitting here watching the opening ceremonies for the olympics, which is always my favorite time of the year - woohoo!

Jacob's 1st B-Day Party

It was a few weeks ago, but the pictures are still cute! I meant to do this while I was in China for 2 weeks, but didn't get it done...obviously.

We had a 1st B-Day party for Jacob on July 12th. It was a baby pool party and he had many friends over to enjoy the pools. We had a great pool for the little ones, a bigger pool and a biggest pool, so everyone was happy. We even filled them with hot water to ensure fun!

I made a fish cake and a boat cake, which I must admit turned out pretty cool. My mom and I had a great time making them. Jacob even ate all his fish cake this time - we leared to entice him with cheese and to not put on icing!

Jacob also had his first kiss with his friend McKenzie Tracy - I was thinking he was going in for a big push and a bite, but he ended up with a big hug and a kiss. You can see me below trying to seperate them:) I think he really likes her. The other day we were playing and i was holding both of them, he started blushing and getting all embarassed, then broke out a big hug again. Gonna have to watch those two.

Jacob is One and other Fun!

Wow! Well, we passed the major milestone and are still kicking! I've made a slide show of some of the fun that we've been up to the past few weeks.

Jacob turned 1 on June 20th. The day of we took a cool lego cake to his school to share with his friends - he didn't like the cake, but his friends did. The only bummer was that after frosting the cake for 2 hours it melted in the car, so we really had 'slimy lego' cake - but hey, it's the thought that counts, right! I knew i should have taken a picture the night before!

After the party at school we headed to Seattle for Jason's cousin's wedding. Amy was beautiful and the wedding was great. We visited the Boeing Air Museum, that's a pretty neato place, tons of stuff to see.

Before the 20th we had the great opporturnity to go to Colorado for 5 days (that is a rare occasion). We got to spend time with Laura and Zach and Maddox and Jacob officially took off walking. Before that day, 8 steps had been his record, but when he saw all of Maddox's toys, he was OFF. By the next day he was at 43 steps and after taht we stopped counting. It was amazing. Thanks Maddox for having cool toys!

Then we spent the rest of the time with my Family. Ethan got to drive my Dad's Bronco which was pretty sweet for him. He also got to see a little brown bear walk through our driveway. We got introduced to my Brother's Lake Shack - his RV set up with all the fixin's at his little lake. We had a great time playing in the lake and skiing, wakeboarding and surfing - yep, you read it right. See the pics!

So back to the present. Jacob is walking all the time now, which is nice for his 2+ hr naps since he's so tired. He's also started some nice temper tantrums when things don't go his way, so that interesting to experience:) I haven't captured those on camera yet, i'm sure it would make him more mad becuase then he would want the camera and I wouldn't give it to him, so that would be horrible! Little funny guy. When he's not having his 1 tantrum a day he is a hoot. He is saying Duck very well and yesterday finally started doing the sign language for more and is trying to say it. He's more cuddly (giving hugs and definitely is a mama's boy). I don't mind that. He's learning what is in every drawer and how it all looks on the floor and doesn't appreciate the child locks on some cabinets.

Yesterday he went to his first birthday party for a 'girlfriend' - Katavia who is 10 days younger had her party yesterday so Jacob and his 5 girlfriends from Mom's group played at Gymboree, it was cute, he was all over the place.

Well, i think I've written a book now, sorry to drag on, just had some major catching up to do. Enjoy the pics.

Jacob's First Strawberry!

Well, this was too cute to pass up. Suzi rushed to the car to get the camera. At tonights Forest Grove farmers market, Jacob sampled his first fresh strawberry....and yes...it got all over the place. What a beautiful night for a farmers market!

13 Days and Counting

Well, we are on the count down for the 1 year birthday - can you believe it? And Ethan is nearly a 4th grader - I'm too young for all this! I'm sure the common parent theme that will haunt me the rest of my known life.

Jacob is getting more adventurous every day, I find him across the room walking along the wall with no problem and he quickly crawls from one place to another then has learned to pull himself up on a few things, so he's up and around the couch over to the windows and back again in a matter of seconds. It's amazing. Jason was amazed when he got back from Isreal the progress he had made. Still no independent steps w/o us around, but he'll let go of the couch and walk the few steps to us when he wants. Very fun. Along with the craziness is learning how to diaper a 24 lb crazy baby upside down while crawling. This is something I've yet to completely master!

13 days till the big day. And along with that comes requests for what a 1 yr old likes, so, if you are one of those family members who needs to know what he likes, here's a list of things that Jacob is currently into, or things I think he will be into.

1. Things that stack/nest together
2. Things that make noise (unforturnately for us)
3. Things that roll
4. Alphabet stuff
5. Music
6. Wooden blocks/shapes w/o paint so he can chew and stuff on them
7. He does NOT need any 12 month clothes, if you want to get clothes, please get 18 month and above! He may need a few 12-18 month pajamas.
8. Anything mom and dad:) (computer, cell phone, etc...) unfortunately you can't substitute those.

We will be in Seattle for his big day, but we plan on doing a little party at his school before we head to Seattle. We will also have a little pre-party in Colorado this coming weekend. The we will have a proper party at our house on the 12th so all his little friends (mostly girls) can come in their bathing suits and we will have a baby pool party with a few baby pools in the back yard. Should be very cute! I can't wait to see the girls in their swimsuits!! Adults can bring thier suits too, but it could get crowded in the pools!

We will post some pics from CO when we return. We are excited to see friends, go swimming, have no rain, have warm weather, go boating with Tob & Tam and see Grammie and Grampie.

Speaking of weather, I have to take the opportunity to complain! This 50 degrees and rainy in June is killing me this year. It is so cold. I can't wait to have warm weather. Jacob will have outgrown all his summer gear before summer gets here! Pray for warmth in Portland before I start thinking I live in the North Pole. When we go for runs, I have to put a hat and gloves and a big quilt on Jacob (in JUNE!), this is crazy. Ok, I feel better now.

Have a great week.