Spring in the Mountains

Last weekend we returned to Vogel State Park for another Gillies/Gross' camping extravaganza. Joy had her camping face on from the moment we got there.

Not one to waste time, Abby Jane got in her very first s'more even before the Gillies arrived Friday night!Saturday morning hanging with Daddy. In her new camp chair. We decided Blythe and Joy qualify for their own now. Not that they sat in them much. Abby Jane prefers the purple one to her own orange one.Aunt Betsy has two boys, but she is a gem with my girls, even scooping up a Joy in a less-than-precious moment (not the one pictured here) and lured her away with the offer to find some butterflies. It's called Aunt Betsy magic.I like this picture because of all the little people camp chairs and tricycles pictured for our total of five kiddos, four and under.Both mornings, we went for a lovely hike around the lake. Sandy and Ken drove up Saturday morning and arrived as we were beginning on Saturday. Blythe took in the hike from my back.Joy vacillated back and forth between Jake's pack and her hiking buddy of choice, Mimi.

The oldest three are chasing Bop Bop, who has disappeared out of view here. He is a Pied Piper with his grandchildren.

Our family (go here for my blog on our last trip here- I love comparing how much the girls have grown!)
All that backpack riding can really wear a Blythe out.
But she was awake later in the day as we helped Abby Jane with her form on the putt putt course. (P.S. Cade, at four, has a golf swing that most grown men would covet. Seriously.)
One of my personal highlights of the weekend was seeing everyone play in this creek. It was mountain spring cold, very shallow, and perfect for splashing and playing in!

Blythe and Joy were soaked completely through. The girls are going to be T.R.O.U.B.L.E. at the beach this summer!
"We're busy eating apples, here, Mom."

Around the campfire Saturday night... and of course, the after kid-bedtime adult time around the campfire accounts for a big percentage of why everyone should go camping. GREAT, GREAT time, undistracted conversation, just enjoying relationships. S'mores and wine are a great combination for said adult time, too.
On Sunday morning, Bop Bop had bubbles ready for when the kiddos needed some distraction before we were all ready to go on our hike. Eating the bubbles became more popular than popping them.
We were standing up on the bridge (where I am when I took the picture) and Joy goes, "Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh." I notice she is lacking a sandal. Sure enough, we see it come out the other side of the bridge, and Jake wades in to rescue it. What I also like about this picture is my husband's security in sporting the very practical- though-potentially-from-the-90's Tevas. Hey, no Tevas, and we might be one Joy sandal fewer in our household.
Mountain Laurel was still blooming. I have to say, this is one of my favorite pics from the weekend. We surely love the Gillies family, and I loved capturing Betsy and Paul just enjoying their precious boys on a beautiful day.

The lake we walked around both mornings...

Jake and Joy

Blythe kicking back with her daddy...

Mimi and Bop Bop plus five hooligans!

While we were packing up, Betsy and Sandy entertained all the kiddos with ice, ice chests, and water. It was beyond a classic moment. Yes, Blythe and Joy are the only ones who remained fully clothed (though soaked) because if we take off their clothes, they think they're getting a bath and want get completely "mick mick" as Joy says our family's term of "nick nick"... good times, good times.

We were so thankful to escape to the cool of the mountains with such precious family as we begin summer!

Sweet Spring Week

Monday playgroup to the zoo: five moms, ten kids.

Don't we all identify with this gorilla mama sometimes?!

Some moms and kids not pictured...

Tuesday: first trip of the year to the farmers market! Flower lady trying to make friends.
Clover crowns...
Afternoon walkTradition is to touch the stop sign before coming home...
Look who we ran into on our way back down the street...Wednesday park playdate with dear Auburn friend Lauren, who we hadn't seen since she returned from a year-long mission trip around the world.Thursday morning: watercolor in PJs...Kicking at swim lessons...Child labor...Soon joined by three neighbors only too eager to help...

Friday was a date for Abby Jane with her Grammy and a trip to singing and dancing time for just me and the twins.

The lack of blogging is due to finishing a new summer dress for Janie and reading "Same Kind of Different as Me." I finished the dress on Friday and the book yesterday. I knew nothing about the book going into it, other than that everyone who read it had raved about it. I have no shame about wholeheartedly jumping on that bandwagon!

Mother's Day

Better a late post than no post! On Mother's day, Jake started his day of sweet celebration by letting me stay in bed while he helped Janie get up and come join me in bed while he got out the fixings for this delicious surprise... Breakfast parfaits are one of my VERY favorite things!!

Joy was a little under the weather, so we decided it would feel the most like Mother's Day if I stayed home from church with her and got a rare opportunity to love on this chunk of love by herself, while Jake took the rest of the crew. I don't think she was as sick as she let on.
I made this outfit for Blythe a while back, but you won't find the pattern offered on 418 Stitches! It was my first time to do pants, piping, or a sash, and all in all it took me FOREVER, though I'm sure a second round wouldn't be as bad. :) I love it on my girl, though!
When everyone else got home, we had a picnic lunch and playtime in the front yard...
followed by an attempt at the classic mom/kids picture...
"Attempt" and "classic" being the key words there.
My mom came over that night for a cookout and her first and our second viewing of "The King's Speech". I am so grateful for my precious family and wonderful husband, for the opportunity to be a mom, and for the blessing of my own mom and other wonderful moms around me, challenging me daily and enriching my life!

Bonjour, Montreal!

To say we had a fabulous time is an understatement! The following blog post falls under my "this is my family album" clause.

To begin with, our flight to Montreal was my magical transition out of mama world - of managing logistics, upholding schedules, and being the resident expert on three small human beings - to just being Jake's wife. On vacation. In a French-speaking city.

It was divine.

Here was our first sight upon landing in Canada: an hour-long wait through customs. But guess what? I had no one to entertain but Jake and I! Amazing. Long line, schmong line.

Montreal's weather was as expected- rainy and in the 40's every day except Friday, when we left. Even with as much of a sunshine person as I am, the weather made our week so much more of an adventure!

Our hotel was fantastic: it was right where Jake's conference was being held (the purpose of the trip), and also right in the middle of downtown. Along with using the metro here and there, we did a huge amount of walking- which was fabulous. We love pedestrian urban cities! Another thing we did a lot of... trying to speak French. I think I only had one transaction that was entirely in French (meaning they didn't break to English upon realizing I was no Montreal-er). I was proud of that one. Here's the view out the front of the hotel.

Dinner on our first night was at Wienstein and Gavino's. I insert Jake's picture here, because he maintains that MY salad that night was his most memorable meal of the trip, in a good way. He discovered goat cheese.

Tuesday morning, I went for a run that turned out to be my only outdoors run during the trip. But it was so neat to run through Old Montreal, by the port, then just chasing down anything that caught my eye.

I found McGill University that way, and we walked through campus when Jake had a break from sessions on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon was when the rain started, and I retreated to what became my FAVORITE coffee place for some "therapy"...

This picture is significant because I bought this cute, preppy apple green umbrella right there on St Catherine's Street that first full day. Two days later, it broke as I walked through sleet and huge wind gusts. It was fun while it lasted.
After Jake was through Tuesday afternoon, we took the metro to The Plateau and Environs. We loved it. Where we were staying was sort of like the Montreal version of Time Square- very busy, flashy, big stores, lots of shopping, etc. The Plateau was more like a less exclusive Upper West Side- cute cafes, shops, parks, more quiet.
We had our favorite dinner experience at L'Academie. You could bring your own bottle of wine, which we did, and you could tell from the vibe that it was the local fav. A classic moment while there: after me attempting to roughly translate the French menu for Jake, we discovered that Jake's menu was in English... and he was trying to figure out why on earth I kept referring to various dishes in French! Delish meal with fabulous company- great night!
On Wednesday, we took the bull by the horns and decided to brave the cold drizzle and go for the hike up Mont Royal, which overlooks the city. We were asking our concierge some questions about the hike, and she stopped and said, "Now... you do know it's raining, right?" But we were determined to not let the weather keep us from a good time. It was a good call, as the rain was intermittent and light enough to keep away any crowds, but still allow great visibility. Here's part of the view from the top- so pretty! That rainy mornings was one of the trip's highlights.
Excuse the waterlogged-look...

The beginnings of spring in Canada!

After a delish lunch at a cafe we came upon after descending the mountain, we went to the Marche Jean-Talon, which I had been eagerly looking forward to. It was a huge marketplace with tables and tables laden with all kinds of produce, herbs, specialty olive oils, etc. etc. It was amazing. I could have just sat right down and eaten a second lunch right there.

Wednesday night, we joined Chris, a dear friend from Pepperdine, for dinner at a Portugese place called Ferreira Cafe. It was wonderful catching up with him and enjoying another amazing meal.

Thursday was a pretty full day for Jake, including his first research-based presentation at an academic conference! Some of the presentation material relates to his dissertation, so it was great to have had such a good experience putting forth their research.

With the day to myself while Jake was busy at the conference, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts.

The architecture through the windows was as much art as what was within the walls!

Then I took the metro over to Old Montreal, where I eventually took refuge from the cold and rain at the Creperie Chez Suzette. The following hour and a half was so luxurious. It was not crowded, given the weather, so I took up a table by a window and enjoyed a great lunch, and followed it with a wonderful coffee and book reading. Taking time with a meal, an after-meal coffee, and reading... alone... is not something that happens during my daily life, and it was cozy and delightful.

That night we joined Jake's faculty advisor Alex (with whom he presented), our friend Chris, and a new friend named Zollo, who was from Mongolia, for dinner at The Beaver Club. I so enjoyed getting to hear all of their conversation about various types of research, etc. But the best part of the meal was a unique opportunity for all of us Americans getting to share the Lord with Zollo after she asked some questions after we blessed our meal. Pray for her to continue asking questions! She is a Ph.D. student in Korea and will have continued contact with Alex.

As that was our last night, Jake and I went back out for dessert after dinner, and, for the first time the whole trip, absolutely ate more than we should have. Ironically, the place I stumbled upon in the rain and the cold earlier in the day was the concierge's top recommendation for a Montreal crepe. So back we went. I am ashamed to say we polished all of the following off. It was awesome.

Friday we awakened to sunshine!! Wow- so this is what Montreal looks like in the spring! Sunshiny walk, sunshiny park,
sunshiny breakfast spot...

and a few croissants to pick up and bring home to the moms as part of their massive thank you's. Then we bid "au revoir" to Montreal!

Though it was hard to leave such an amazing week of being AWAY and ALONE with my amazing husband... we were both pumped to get to go home to our precious baby girls!!!

The one thing Abby Jane asked us to bring back for her was... drumroll... M&M's. Not that she cared, but here's proof we actually bought them in Montreal. The pretzel kind.

The reality is that it's going to be a long, long time before Jake and I have that kind of time away again- but we couldn't have asked for a better or more perfect trip! It was so, so good to spend that time just us- not as Mama and Daddy, but as Jake and Em. Abby Jane told me this weekend that Jake is "the best boy in the whole wide whaled [world]" and I absolutely agree! I sure love my man, and it was beyond sweet to have this time with him.

Launched!

I have an exciting new venture to share with y'all, a business called 418 Stitches that was first laid on my heart in March and I am excited to launch it today!

The average age of sex trafficking victims is 11-14. I was awkward and gangly, taking tennis lessons and having slumber parties with my friends at that age. What about you?

The issues of human trafficking, forced labor, and child sex trade have been heavy on my heart the last few years, but all of our family's giving funds were allocated out.

The purpose of 418 Stitches is to generate a profit to give to various ministries working to "recover, empower, and reintegrate" those women and children caught up in "violence, abuse, and trafficking" (Hagar International: About Us).

Thank you for checking out 418 Stitches, and please pass on the site to others!

T- one hour!

Passports? Check.

Library travel books? Check.

Bag packed? Check.

Carry-on excluding any form of diapers, sippy cups, books, movie, teething objects, or year's worth of snacks in the event of a flight delay? Check.

First Grandma to arrive in approximately one hour to take over the care of our precious children for the next five days so I can tag along with Jake for a conference in Montreal? Check.

Husband of the year for surprising me just a few weeks ago with the plan for me to join him on his trip, after having already coordinated with grandparents for the girls' care this week? Check.

First time Jake and I have gotten away alone for over 24 hours since the twins were born? Check.

Do I care that it's supposed to be cold and rainy the entire time? No.

THANK YOU, MOMS! Y'all say a prayer for these wonderful ladies this week and also for my little ladies to be angels for them!