Pacific City

We took advantage of the sunshine and headed to the coast for the afternoon. Hayden has been wanting to climb the dune at Pacific City since last summer, so he chose the destination. Jeff likes it there because you can park on the beach - no hauling gear through the sand!

Bayley was torn between being bored, acting like a teen, and playing like a kid. He has to maintain his cool. And it is hard to be cool when you're hanging out with your goofy brother and girly sister. Poor dude. One of these days I'll have to take a minute to feel bad for him.

Of course I thought it was quite the accomplishment that the boy spent the day unattached from his Xbox.

Pacific City has a bit of everything - the dune, a long beach for kites and Frisbees, tide pools and waves worthy of a surf board. And a riptide. The thing is no joke. So, it's not a swimming beach, but what stretch of the Oregon coast is?

We always cap off the day with dinner at Pelican Brewery. Unfortunately, the food has changed! We all ordered something different and...yeah. Won't be going back. Too bad, really. But I guess that's what picnics are for!

Green to Blue

He broke the board with an elbow strike :) I'm so proud of how he's stuck with this. He's had to miss months at a time because I just couldn't get him there around the soccer schedules of the other two. And he'll miss next month for track.

Kindergarten Graduation

You did it, Gracie Mae!

Fancy Nancy : On the town with Gracie

Gracie girl loves Fancy Nancy. The books, the accessories, the vocabulary - she loves it all. So we got tickets to the play and made a day of it.

We picked up our tickets and had a bit of time, so we went for sushi. Well, I had sushi, Grace had shrimp tempura and a great miso soup. We're not usually fans, but it was delicious. It had lotus root.

They had crafts at the theater where the kids could make themselves a tiara out of a paper plate, and there was a table where they sold all the Fancy Nancy fanciness. Grace just had to have the multi-colored tutu and sparkly sunglasses and feathered boa and...you get the idea.

She loved the play. It was fun and funny, and the kids were encouraged to dance and sing. She said it was a Fancy Nancy party. So cute.

Romantic Times Convention : New Orleans!

Every year, the leading magazine about romantic fiction holds a conference where thousands of readers convene to celebrate all things romance. At the RT Convention there are parties and book fairs and parties and luncheons and parties and...you get it.

I'd never braved the masses, but I've always wanted to go to New Orleans, so I prepared my introverted self and made the trip. Largely because my publisher promised I could throw beads off a Mardi Gras float. Can you say bucket list?


Plus, it was my birthday weekend, and Randy lives there so if I truly freaked out I'd have someone to laugh at me in the loony bin.

Things did not start as I had planned. I made it to the airport for my buttcrack-of-dawn flight, and they postponed my flight for two hours. Then six. Then...I took a flight that would get me as far as Denver, and hopefully to New Orleans by midnight. I had an eight am meeting the next day, so I was keen to get there. Plus...I had scheduled a ghost tour. Ah, well.

I made it there around two am. Luckily my roommate was waiting at the door and had found a couple of dudes to buy our drinks. Apparently, I've set a precedent with her that the bar is required after airline issues.

The conference started in full swing the next morning. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. There were so many people! Most of the authors had been there before, or were newbies. So I was in this weird place of being established, and not knowing what the heck to do. I learned quickly - give stuff away. Lots of it. These readers want stuff for them, and for their family and friends. Okay. Will do that next time.

Every time I felt overwhelmed or underprepared, I took a walk outside. Our hotel was an easy walk to just about all the bucket list things in Nola. Our first excursion was to the French Market. They have a little bit of everything there, mostly at tourist prices. But I did find a few budget friendly reader bribes - I mean gifts. Whenever I do a print signing, I like to have a few things on hand for readers who come to say hello, but don't buy a book because they already have the ebook. Given the crowds at RT, I knew the dozen treats I'd brought would be gone in no time.


Lynda had vacationed with her family there the week before, so she was able to play tour guide to a cemetery - where if you knock three times on a witch's crypt and make a wish, it comes true. We also saw Nikolas Cage's pyramid tomb. Like all good ghost hunters, we stopped for beignets on the way back.

During the weekend we also went to a voodoo shop, and an occult shop where a friend had her cards read.

On my birthday, I dragged all my girls to have our tea leaves read. Accordingly, I can expect seven years of success and overseas travel in 2015. So there is that.

The conference went well for me, but next time? I'm swagging it out!

The Giver :: On the town with Bayley

Whenever we can, we try to do things one-on-one with the kiddos. It's nice to get them alone, and they tend to be more talkative. Plus, you can do things they'd like and the others might not. The local children's theater had a production of The Giver, which Bayley read in school last year, so I thought taking in the play would be a great way to spend time together.

We got into town a bit early, so we walked over to Cacao where Bayley enjoyed his first drinking chocolate. No surprise that he loved it.

The play was great and afterwards I took him to Shigezo, my favorite Japanese restaurant downtown. He had his first bowl of traditional ramen, and even tried some of my sushi.

It's so nice to have him be old enough to appreciate experiences and be willing to expand his palate. I love this kid.

Gracious Mae 6th Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color? Purple
2. What is your favorite toy? Yo Gabba Gabba Tutti 
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite TV show? Jake & the Neverland Pirates
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? hot dog
6. What is your favorite outfit? The one I'm wearing
7. What is your favorite game? Castle Quest
8. What is your favorite snack? Peanut butter crackers
9. What is your favorite animal? Horses
10. What is your favorite song? The Alphabet
11. What is your favorite book? Ariel Books
12. Who is your best friend? Kaitlyn
13. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Chanukah
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Teddy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Scrambled eggs and toast
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Red Robin
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Pterodactyl  



5th Birthday interview...
4th Birthday interview...

DC Day Seven :: Tours and the trip home

In order to get tours at most places in DC, you have to plan months in advance by writing your congressperson. When Bayley made the trip a few years ago, it was a tedious process. Now it's an online form. But somehow two of our most important tours were scheduled for the day we left.

Our White House tour started the morning. The rain decided to join us, which mean wait in this line - no that line - now this line - was lots of fun. Really should have opted for those umbrellas.

Once inside, we entered the East Room, which served as a staging area for the other rooms. Then we made it to the Green Room where a staffer had a prepared bit about the history of the room (Jefferson found the rug, Jacqueline Kennedy updated the décor). There was a Blue Room, State Dining Room, and a Red Room that had a chess table I fell in love with. And that was it. We were out the door.


We'd planned on looking at the statues on the lawn, but it was raining. Instead we hid inside the Museum of American History to wait until our Capitol tour. I wanted to see Dorothy's ruby shoes, but the kids were kind of museumed out. Until we were walking through early American history and Hayden found -- Crazy King George! He'd played George in a living history exercise at school, so he had to get a photo.

The United States Capitol tour was better than we'd thought! We started by finding our congresswoman's office, and then getting a tour of the building by one of her interns. As we walked through, we realized that you could tour on your own, as they had staffers in place to describe things. We often hung back to listen because our intern was so soft spoken.


There were lots of interesting tidbits - like each state has a statue there, but the only one you can touch is the one of Helen Keller. We got to see where the original supreme court met, as well as the underground tunnels (which Gracie thought must be to avoid the rain.

In the rotunda, we touched the compass star for luck. It has some kind of Masonic significance, but we were ushered out of there too quickly to catch it. If we go back. I'd do the self-paced capitol tour instead.

Wanting to make sure we had plenty of time to catch our flight, we took the Metro back towards the hotel. We found Good Stuff Eatery - home of the toasted marshmallow milkshake. Bayley had a...you get the drill.

Non-stop flights are the only way to go when travelling with kiddos. Really makes things easier. Once we landed the kids were starving, so we hit Dirty Bird. Where Bayley... yep. Again.

DC Day Six :: Back to the city

The line for the National Archives wrapped around the building every time we thought of going. Since this was our final chance to make it inside - and because Hayden wanted to see the Constitution, we got there before it opened. And the line...was only half as long. They had a no picture policy, as most places in DC seem to.

We went to Clyde's for lunch - it was a gamble since I didn't want to pester Gabe for restaurants post-wedding. Luckily, it was delicious. A little fancier than anywhere else we'd been. From there we hopped on Metro and went to the National Zoo.

My online guides gave some good tips for the zoo. The zoo is built on a hill, so we knew to start at the top and head downhill. Because we have a nice zoo, and we'd been to the San Diego zoo last year, the kids were mainly interested in the pandas because we hadn't seen them before. Unfortunately, it was the saddest little exhibit. The pandas hunched in corners staring blankly.

The lions were loud and the birds were plentiful. We explored as the temperature dropped, but luckily a lot of the exhibits have indoor options. Gracie spied a carousel, and this time Bayley decided to join in.

And then it started to smell like rain. I wanted to buy umbrellas, but Jeff pointed out that 1) we're from Oregon and 2) that would cost more than a taxi all the way back to Arlington. So we trekked in the rain to the nearest Metro and headed back to our hotel. Grace was cold, but the boys were unfazed and practiced Metro-surfing on the ride.

We had dinner at Port City Brewing, where Gracie warmed up with mac & cheese and Bayley had a...bacon cheeseburger.

DC Day Five :: Viewing Virginia

After a celebratory brunch on Sunday, we left the wedding festivities and headed towards Mt. Vernon. On the way we stopped and visited the NRA Museum. I think this was one of Bayley's favorite spots on the trip. He's always been interested in artillery, and this spot highlighted the evolution of arms in America. Of course, he liked the Teddy Roosevelt parts the best. Hayden was much more interested in the big game trophies.

At Mt. Vernon we were able to explore the property before and after our mansion tour. We'd purchased our tickets online, but I didn't realize the time on the ticket wasn't the time for you tour - it is the time you may get in line for your tour. Crazy.

The kids were given a scavenger hunt when we entered, which helped keep us on track and sent us toward things we might have skipped. We got to see the different ways the slaves and landowners were buried, as well as different parts of the estate. We enjoyed a wagon ride around the farm, where they use period tools to do the work, just like it was during Washington's time there. I loved seeing the way the tools were manufactured, as well as the threshing room.

We made our way up towards the main house, walking past many of the outbuildings - bunkhouses, washing rooms, cottages, and slave quarters. There were a couple of surprises -- Mt Vernon isn't white, it's a sandy color, because they put sand on top of the wet paint to give it a stone look like in Europe. And the kitchen was in a separate building. We couldn't take and photos inside. Which was too bad because they had some of the rooms made up beautifully.

Afterwards, we found the blacksmith shop. They were making nails and keys. I think Grace could have stayed there for an hour, trying to figure out how it all worked. We also went through the museum, and Bayley and I watched a short film about Washington's life and Mt. Vernon. I'd love to go back when Grace is Hayden's age and has studied it a bit.

The time came to drive back and find our new hotel and drop off the rental car. We'd decided to stay in Crystal City because it was on the Metro, and right by the airport. The one thing we hadn't counted on? Crystal City shuts down hard in the evenings. It's really just a giant complex of office building and hotels. The businesses cater to that crowd, so finding a restaurant served to be harder than you'd think in an area packed with them. But we did find a Mexican place, where Bayley ordered...a bacon cheeseburger.

Another thing that proved how spoiled we are in the PNW? The beer selection could be counted on one hand. One hand. Every place out here has a dozen taps, plus bottles.