fall update & portland, finally

Hello, are you there? Happy Saturday, and yay weekend!! Apologies for my long absence.

If you’ve been following along on Instagram you know that summer’s end came quickly and we were so busy enjoying every moment in the US with our friends and family that I missed catching you up here. It was a glorious few weeks with so many people around to play with Reese, almost too many amazing coffee cafe trips, shopping, and time to just relax. To top it off, we got to spend the last few days on an Iceland and that was also super cool.

Now we’ve been back almost a month and Reese and I have been trading sicknesses every week since then, and now Martin has joined in. First Reese was sick before we left for Portland with a seemingly never-ending fever and then a cold. While in the US she recovered just to a cough. Then, the night we got back my throat started to hurt and that led to several days of exhaustion, fever, and what I thought was strep throat before it turned into a nearly lost voice, chest cold, and finally double pink eye.

This week Reese has had the stomach flu/rotavirus all week and it seems to have spread to Martin today. They’re passed out on the couch and crib, respectively, and I’m just crossing my fingers I can skip this one. Plus, trying to figure out work and crazy project deadlines during that time has been interesting. I’ve been out the door for work by 6:15 too many mornings this month, and not able to enjoy walks to pre-school with my favorite girl like the one above from a few weeks ago. Let’s just say it hasn’t been our month. Luckily, my mom comes in week to visit and help us a bit. (Yay!)

So, as a first step on catching up, here are a few more highlights from our Portland trip . . .

Reese celebrated turning two with a fabulous farm-themed party hosted by my sweet sister. She was a little jet-lagged but still managed to corral a few ducks in the pond, hold her stick horse, unwrap so many new favorite toys, and make friends with Sally. On her actual birthday, she got her first haircut (not just a mullet trim), and happily shopped around with us, trying to steal a sip of every coffee she came across.

We also managed a few date nights: a delicious dinner at Ava Gene’s, which we highly, highly recommend; ice cream trips to to Salt & Straw, tasty despite the long lines; and a night out to listen to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, a belated birthday gift for Martin. And, I’m still thinking about the s’mores mocha from Water Avenue Coffee. I think I’ll just have to go make another latte and cuddle up to write a few more blog posts.

Enjoy these pics and more on Swiss summer hiking, Iceland, Chamonix, and my latest wish-list coming soon!