Pictures from Q2 2020

The second quarter of 2020 has been… different! We’ve been in lockdown for most of it because of COVID-19, so we haven’t had much opportunity to get out and do much.

We’ve been making the most of our time at home though. Both Ellie and Jack have helped me to till and reseed the lawn, Ellie has been busy doing remote learning, and we’ve ventured out of the house a handful of times.

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Our first family camping trip

This summer, we finally had the equipment and the support to do what we’ve wanted to do since moving to Portland: go camping.

We were invited by some friends to go car camping with a whole bunch of families, which sounded ideal because there would be plenty of confident hands assisting us, and lots of other children for the kids to play with.

So, off we went. We went to Barview Jetty Campground on the Oregon coast, which was flush with the amenities that would make Martina in particular comfortable, such as running water, flush toilets and hot showers.

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Lilac Days

We had heard about this small lilac garden in Washington, about an hour away from us, that had the most beautiful display of lilacs, so we took a trip up to see them and we weren’t disappointed.

The kids humoured us as us adults walked around, but they made the most of it too, and enjoyed smelling the lilacs, not to mention that we got some adorable pictures of the kids.

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Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in Portland

We live in the PNW because we love everything about it, and we live that reality out. At every opportunity, we’re out seeing all of the beautiful sites around us.

For whatever reason, in the first two springs here, we didn’t get a chance to make it down to Tom McCall Waterfront Park to see the cherry blossom trees blooming in early spring, but we didn’t make that mistake this year.

We have a lot of cherry blossom trees here in Portland and they’re just a beautiful adornment to an already beautiful city.

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Monster Jam [VIDEO]

Ever since Jack has been on the scene, the interest in monster trucks in our house has gone through the roof.

So to treat the kids, we took them to see Monster Jam at the Moda Center. The kids definitely needed their ear protection (the sound really reverberates inside the arena), but they had a great time watching them do their tricks.

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Family pictures 2018

After we discovered Jess and Jon at Cascade Photography last year and fell in love with the great job they did on our family photos last year, we asked them to come back and do some more photos for us this year.

Fall is a perfect time for family photos in Portland because the leaves are beautiful and colourful and of course we can include those pictures on our Christmas cards.

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July – September 2018

While we didn’t explore quite as much as I would have liked this summer, we certainly got out and saw some new places. We did a few hikes, explored some new places and did a few activities like riding the OregonĀ Coast Scenic Railroad.

With Ellie starting school, she participated in fun run at school. We also got a new addition to the family: our first dog, Miles, whom Ellie has fallen in love with. Continue reading “July – September 2018”

April – June 2018

As the weather cleared up and Ellie completed her fifth trip around the sun, her personality just keeps coming out more and more.

These photos help to show how much she’s coming out of her shell and that she isn’t afraid to be her, which I love. I don’t want her to ever apologise for being who she is.

She upgraded from her balance bike to her first real bike at Christmas and once the weather cleared up, she was able to start riding around and she’s getting pretty good at operating the bike by herself. She’s still got training wheels / stabilisers on for now, but those’ll come off soon enough with how well she’s progressing. Continue reading “April – June 2018”