First Day of School!

We have been here in Oregon for just over 2 months and are finally settling in! We've painted, decorated, organized, and even got a dog!! The neighborhood is filled with kids and our kiddos are absolutely in heaven! The weather is brisk compared to Key West, but we have been having some beautiful days. We are ready for visitors! ;)


Today was the first day of school! The kids could not wait to get to school! Not one argument this morning of getting dressed or brushing our teeth! Woo! They ate breakfast and they asked every 5 minutes when they could go to school.

Noah starts school around 7:45am. We got there and his teacher was super sweet. She told us to go down to the cafeteria and eat breakfast. The line was super long and it was almost 7:45, so we headed back. We got to see the gym and explore the hallways a bit so it all worked out! He went right in without a problem, straight to the computer actually. He is so use to playing on the computer at his preschool, he thought he could in this class. Unfortunately it was his teacher's computer, but fortunately they have a computer lab that they are going to tomorrow which he was pretty excited about! 

Moving on! There was a little boy who came into class who seemed a little unsure about going to school. He was pretty sad and you could tell he wanted to go home. I mentioned to Noah that this little boy was sad and it would be so nice to introduce himself. Without a wink, he pops up from coloring and says "oh! sure!". It was the sweetest thing and I could not be more proud of him! 

We didn't stay very long, we said our goodbyes and he happily gave me a hug and kiss, told Kam to have fun at school and to draw him a picture.

When I came back to pick him up, Noah was in tears! Of course, my head is spinning thinking was someone mean? Did he do something wrong? Did he hate today? NOPE. He was crying because he couldn't take the bus home lol!! Poor kid. I tried to tell him he gets to take the bus on field trips but it didn't matter. SO tomorrow he gets to ride his bike to school and mommy gets to run. Hope it's not too windy!! ;)

Kamryn goes to school at 9am, so we went back home and hung out for a little bit. Once we got to school, Kamryn was very excited. She was her shy little self but she went right in without a problem. She hung her backpack and jacket, washed her hands, and went off to playing. I honestly didn't know what to do with myself! She didn't need me! She had this in the bag! So I gave her a kiss goodbye and told her I would come get her in a few hours and she whispered, "okay mama". I'm so grateful she has one of our neighbors in her class. She is a little older but Kamryn absolutely loves her so it was good start. 

When I came back to pick her up, she was playing outside with all smiles!! The fact that she was playing with someone else made me happy. When I spoke with her teacher (Cathy), she quickly mentioned that Kamryn was very shy but heard her giggly with her new friend a couple times. That is where Cathy realized that Kamryn has that famous "stink eye". Ha. I reassured her that Kamryn was having fun, the "stink eye" was probably because she caught her attention. So funny. 

It was a good day for Kam though, she just takes a while to warm up. I don't blame her! She is the youngest in her class at 3.5. The class goes up to 5 year olds. 

So happy my kiddos had such a great day! I am so proud of both of them! Tomorrow, Kam is going to start gymnastics and Noah starts soccer! Can't wait! 

California!!!! LAKE TAHOE!!

We made it to Lake Tahoe!! Woohoo!! , 

We arrived on June 20th and stayed for a couple days at Greg's parents' cabin. I can't believe we made it to California! 21 Days on the road and we finally made it! SO close to home to see our families and it feels so good! But first, a little more vacation, a place we feel comfortable, a place we can just relax, and a place we are familiar with. What is the first thing the kids want to do?? 

HOT TUB of course!!

The next morning, we headed out for a little hike to Angora Lake. Ahh but did we mess up! This place was awesome and would have been perfect if we would have brought lunch and swim suits (well for the kids at least because the water was COLLLD). It was a beautiful 1 mile hike, with a neat little lake and waterfall at the end. 

Can I just tell you, these kids LOVE water. So we explored downtown South Lake Tahoe and then found a spot to play in the lake. Let me tell you, it is hard to find a place in South Lake Tahoe where you can just go and put your feet in without paying! Well, we eventually found a dog beach (lol) which then led us to a pretty neat playground. A playground that probably had the best view of any playground!! 

Off to Petaluma!! 

Blogging life on the road!

The Arches!!! Moab, UT!!

Don't mind me, our trip to Utah was only a month ago (June 17th to be exact)! lol! But I want these memories written down so I am going to go ahead and blog about these beautiful arches and the memories we created during our 2 day stay!

The drive into Moab was so beautiful, we were in awe. But by the end of the trip, nothing beat the beautiful arches, I'll tell you that!

We arrived in Moab in the late afternoon and it was hot! We came in knowing that the whole weekend was going to be in the 100s. Luckily we came from Key West where humidity is so intense, the dry heat in Moab made it not so bad. Shade was still nice to be in though! We stayed at a KOA and it was great!

We spent the rest of that evening setting up camp, BBQing a big ole' steak, and then going for a bike ride around the camp site. The evenings were sweaty but any breeze felt so good!

The next morning we got up and headed out to the Arches. We decided on Landscape Arch and later drove over to Double Arch. The drive up to Landscape Arch was about an hour through the Arches. Landscape Arch is an easier hike for the kids but, again, a little toasty!

Balance Rock

 Onward we went to hike to Landscape Arch!

The kids hung in there as much as they could. Kam always scores in the backpack. Noah started off not really in the mood but hung tight! 

We found this cool rock to sit on and take a break/have a snack. The kids loved climbing up and down this rock. At this point, I told Greg to go check out the higher points (that weren't safe, or even possible, with the kids). I figured it would take him 20-30 minutes. Lol! I was wrong....

After about 30 minutes, the kids had to go to the bathroom, so I packed everything up, popped Kam in the backpack, another backpack in front, and Noah by my side and away we went. Although it was hot, I was so proud of Noah and his patience. Not one complaint the whole mile and a half! 

Turned out Greg got a little lost on his little journey in the Arches! But not a bad lost I would say. He found plenty more Arches and pretty wild views. I'm so glad he had the chance to explore a little more and see these incredible arches! Unfortunately, he made mostly videos and I can't upload them on here, boo!!

The next Arch we hit up was the Double Arch! Now THAT was cool and we got some pretty neat photos to prove it! It wasn't a hike of any sort. At the parking lot, you had the Double Arch and Parade of Elephants on one side, and the other side you had North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch (which we didn't make to due to major exhaustion by the kiddos. I don't blame them!)

After all this beautiful fun, we took the kids to ice cream, cooled down with some beverages, and went swimming!

That was pretty much our trip in Moab! We packed up and made one last stop on our way out....

DINOSAURS!!!! On our way into Moab, we past by this place called Moab Giants. All we saw were these huge dinosaurs off the side of the road and knew we had to stop there on our way out! This place included a walking path to see over 100 full size dinosaurs, 3D movie theater, kids play area, cafe, and a small museum. 

Another fabulous stop!! 

On to Lake Tahoe, CA!!!! (

....well a stop at a hotel, then Lake Tahoe!! haha