When Mom and Dad Are Away...

George will play!
I know for the vast majority of the people who read this blog (mainly grandparents and great-grandparents), you may feel deprived of George pictures.   You may be wondering what George did while we were in Seattle/Portland.  Well...he spent lots of time with Saty and Pop!  My mom did such a great job of sending 'Daily Pics' and Clay and I would race to see who could download them first.  Here's a glimpse of the fun George had:

George got his first glimpse of stairs...and he liked them.

Still intrigued by the stairs:

He got to go to Publix for no other reason than to ride in the cart.

Do you see the excitement?!

He was introduced to The Walker (separate post to come later) and wondered how 

The Walker would do with the stairs.

Luckily Saty saved him right before he went down the stairs.

George loves his Pop.  They are both old souls that just seem to prefer the simpler side of life.

If this is not Clay Cochran reincarnate as a baby, I don't know what is!

And then he was introduced to the baby pool...and bubbles.

 There was no doubt that George got the full 'Grandparent Experience' while we were away.

He had undivided attention, got to eat a cinnamon roll for an entire meal, and had fun on-demand all day long.  It absolutely blesses Clay and me so much that George's grandparents are chomping at the bit to get to do all of these things for him.

Then George came home to boring-old-home, with just Mom and Dad. In 24 hours he developed a mild case of the flu/stomach bug.  I'm wondering if he was just homesick for Satyville?!

Anyways, in other news.  George has started eating people food and drinking from a sippy cup.  This may not seem like big news, but to Clay and me, it means hands-free meals!!

Oh...sweet water!!

 Bathtime has shown George's agility.  

For some reason he loves to stack his toys on the faucet.

Last weekend we had an early dinner and took George to a playground nearby.  This seemed to remind him of his dear Saty & Pop's house, so he perked right up.

George is generally a happy baby.

He often uses his walker for other purposes.

I've had a few emails with things like, "George is the happiest baby!", or people at church will say that "he never cries".  While I do think that George is a silly and happy baby, he definitely has his moments.  For those that may need proof that George can be fussy, here are a few that I captured on camera:

I think the only thing to take away his blues is some Mama Zo 'shuga shuga!!!"

Lastly, here are two pictures that just melt my heart.  This summer has been restful, relaxing, and soaked up in sweet family time.  On Wednesday of this week, our family is getting bigger with a new niece for Clay and me, and a new cousin for George.  Okay Frannie- we are ready to meet you!!

  

Happy Monday, y'all!

Seattle

After getting in to Seattle Thursday night, we decided that we'd go for a hike the next day.  We went to Seattle (and Portland, really) to visit our friends, Allison and David.  Allison and I went to high school together, and we just love any time we get to spend with them.  When we decided to go on a hike, both Allison and David assured us that this would be a pretty easy hike.  Based on my working knowledge of hiking, I wasn't intimidated, because hiking is just walking for extended periods of time in the woods, right?!  Maybe in Alabama, but we were in Washington.

 Lucas the Wonderdog getting ready for the hike

 Everyone is all smiles and goofing around at the beginning.

Notice that I am in the back of the line at this straight uphill ascent to the top.

Now, there are a few hours, and several thousand feet in between this picture and the next set of pictures.  I'm not sure that I really understood this at the time, but we were going to summit this mountain.  On our vacation.  We played games, had really great conversations, and pondered at the people who were running the trail we were struggling to walk with poles.  You read that right.  People were summiting this mountain for leisurely exercise.  I guess that's the difference between southerners and north westerners.  

Anyways...I digress.

We finally reached the top, and we were literally in a cloud.  (Disclaimer: We were, literally, in the cloud.  My brother has pointed out that sometimes I misuse the word, literally.  This is an appropriate use of the word)  We ate lunch on top of a rock, in the cloud, overlooking the town below.  It was incredible.  

 Almost to the top...

 Finally at the summit

 View while the clouds were around us.

 Allison thought this would be so funny.

 Then everyone wanted to feed the birds- so the birds hung around us for a while.

 I love Clay's face in this picture: pure joy.

He was so happy that we went on this hike, 

and even happier that the birds wanted to eat out of his hand.

Even though the clouds were still there, this is my favorite picture from this day.

 Al and Dave at the top.

And Lucas.  The Wonderdog.

We had resolved that the clouds were settled in for the afternoon, so we started to pack up.  All of a sudden, the clouds parted, and the sun came out, revealing the most expansive view I have seen.  It was definitely worth the hike.

After coming back down the mountain, we started to make plans for that night, since it was the last night of our vacation.  We stumbled upon a little treasure in this mountain town, The Dairy Freeze.  Everyone got a milkshake, and it was delicious.  We noticed the most incredible view of the mountain we had just climbed right in front of us!

Friday night we went to Ray's Seafood for some fresh, local seafood.  We had sablefish, calamari, and shrimp and crab cakes.  Everything was so delicious, but the view was incredible!

After dinner, we went to most delicious little dessert place, Hot Cakes.  They specialize in s'mores desserts, but Clay and I had our eye on a dark chocolate and salted caramel milkshake.  Since that didn't sound rich enough, we decided to top it off with a salted chocolate chip cookie.  I have a deep love for desserts, and this little combo blew my socks off.

Saturday morning we got breakfast and took it to the park next to the locks- where boats come in and out, and the salmon swim upstream to get to the ocean.  

 Just hanging out at the park.

 View under the Locks Bridge.

 Salmon going up the ladder trying to get upstream.

Last picture of the trip!

This was a trip to remember, for sure.  We absolutely missed George, but it was so great to just be with Clay, and be the couple that started our little family.  I absolutely love traveling with Clay because he keeps a level-head when things get tense, or we have 15 minutes to board our plane and we're still in the security line (this actually happened this trip), or I want to buy a souvenir that makes no sense whatsoever.  But he also makes me laugh so hard (and if you know me, you can finish this sentence), and when we're out of town, that's just what I need.  We laughed more in Seattle than I have in a really, really long time.  It was the most perfect getaway, and we came home rested and relaxed.

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th!

Vacation!

For Christmas this year, my parents gave Clay and me a trip, just the two of us, to wherever we wanted to go (within reason).  We decided that we'd go up to the Portland/Seattle area, and split our time between both.  George stayed with Saty and Pop, and we missed him so much!  But it was so rejuvenating for us both to have some concentrated time just the two of us, where I was just a wife, and Clay was just a husband.  It was awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that our trip will be split up into two separate posts.

Our flights out there were delayed, so by the time we got to our hotel in Seattle, it was 1:30am (3:30 in the morning in Birmingham).  We had to get up early to catch our 7:30am train down to Portland.  Needless to say, we slept most of the train ride.  

 View of our hotel at 1:30am.

Brief moments awake on the train ride.  It was so beautiful!

Once we got to Portland, we actually headed out to Newberg, Oregon, which is in the heart of the Oregon wine country.  I wish I could post the 100+ pictures I took there, but I would think that might be boring to you.  We felt like we were in Italy, and out in the middle of nowhere.  The views were incredible, and we definitely embraced the laid-back lifestyle of Newberg.

 View of the valley behind us

 Grass seed ready for harvest

The Willamette Valley

We thought we had seen the most beautiful views, and then we got to The Black Walnut Inn, where we stayed.  I walked out onto our little terrace, and the views literally took my breath away.  

 View from our balcony

 Baby grapes beginning to bud

 Black Walnut Vineyards

 Black Walnut Inn 

View of the Dundee Hills from the Black Walnut Inn

Heading to our anniversary dinner!

Anniversary dinner at The Painted Lady.  Unbelievable.

Thursday morning we slept in, had breakfast at the Inn, and toured around the Willamette Valley for the remainder of the day until we had to catch our 6:15pm train back to Seattle.  

If you squint hard enough, you can see Mt. Hood in the distance.

Clay and I both love to travel and experience new places. In our four years of marriage, we've come to tell a difference between a 'trip' and a 'vacation'.  Oregon was the perfect start to our vacation.  

Tomorrow...Seattle!