Back to School

Charlie, Luke, and I all had our first day of school last Monday and we survived!! I feel like we have been gearing up for this day all summer, but thankfully all went smoothly.  Justin took the day off and played Mr. Mom for the day, which helped a ton! Here we are before I headed to school...

 Good luck Mama!

 Once I left, Justin took Charlie and Luke to their school...

 Getting ready to go to his new class!

 He was just moved up to a new classroom--the preschool room! He was so excited because they have 'train tracks' in this room- he already built half of the box in just a few minutes!!

 Sweet Luke waiting patiently to start his first day...

Luke did great with his first day.  His teachers are wonderful and his nickname is already 'Happy Luke'.  Not a bad thing! :)

While Charlie and Luke were having a great first day, I was enjoying my first day back too with my sweet class.  We had a great first day together!

So glad all of our first days went wonderful! It was hard being away, but I'm hopeful that once we get into a routine it will get easier.  Praying that the rest of the school year goes just as smoothly as day one did!

First Movie!!

Last weekend, we took Charlie to his first movie 'Planes'! He loves any form of transportation lately so we thought this would be perfect!

Dad and Charlie before heading in

 We had to get a picture in front of the Planes sign...

 His favorite part was the popcorn!!!

 Before the movie started- I don't know who was more excited, Charlie or Mama! :)

He did good for most of the movie and loved seeing all the planes.  Thanks to Uncle Adam for watching Baby Luke while we enjoyed our time with Charlie.  Such a fun day! :)

All good things come to an end......

Well, my 5 1/2 month maternity leave has come to an end.  Tomorrow I head back to inservice and school officially starts the following Monday.  I had the longest possible leave I could have, and for that I am grateful! I loved staying home with the boys during my leave and honestly I can't believe the time is already here to go back.  We have learned and grown so much as a little family over these past 6 months and these boys have taught me so much about being a mom.  I'll miss them so much while I'm back at work, but I know it will make us cherish our evenings and weekends that much more.

  "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

~Dr. Seuss

Anniversary Getaway!

Warning: This is a Charlie & Luke-free post! Last weekend, Justin and I traveled to Portland (no boys!) to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  Portland has always been on our travel list for many years, but we were never able to make it work.  The flights were open and the timing was right this year so we left last Friday. Once we arrived to PDX, we rented a car and drove to the beautiful Oregon wine country and checked into our bed and breakfast.

We then headed to a neighboring town and hung out on this cute rooftop patio before dinner- the views were so pretty and we were ready to relax!

The next morning we woke up to the most incredible views from our patio- we were loving Oregon already!

After a yummy breakfast, we headed out for our day of wine tastings.  First stop was Brick House Vineyards.

You had to make reservations for wine tastings at this vineyard.  When we arrived I had no idea it was going to be just us and the wine maker. It made for a very intimate wine tasting. :) But, all the wines were wonderful and we learned a thing or two about the wine making process.

Next stop was lunch at this cute little market in Dundee- I loved this place!

Dundee Hills...

Alexana Winery

Our last stop of the day was at Colene Clemens Vineyards- it just happened to be our favorite of the day! We drove up a hill to the most amazing views.....

We did not want to leave this place!

The next morning, our plan was to wake up early and head to Portland.  We loved the wine country so much that we booked one more wine tasting at Soter Vineyards before heading out.  All the reviews I read said it was a must, and I'm so glad we went.  This was by far our favorite winery we visited.  We drove up a hill and we were greeted with a glass of rosé and the most beautiful views!

These were our favorite wines and we even bought a few that they are shipping to us in the fall.  We can't wait to receive them!!!

After the tasting, we sadly left the wine country and headed to Portland.  They had the 'Bite of Oregon' going on downtown along the waterfront- which was a local food festival.  We went there in the afternoon and spent the evening in the Nob Hill area--thanks for the recommendation Christina!  We were loving Portland already, it reminded of us of being back in Austin!

The next morning we woke up early for a day of hiking- the weather was perfect!  First stop was Bridal Falls...

Then the famous Multnomah Falls- beautiful!!!

Last hike was a bit longer on the Oneonta Trail

After our morning and afternoon of hiking we were hungry! We headed across the Columbia River into Washington to this local brewery for some yummy pizza.  The views again were incredible!

We then headed back into Oregon to check out Mt. Hood

Our trip ended with ice cream at Salt and Straw. They had the most interesting flavors but it was so yummy! I had the honey balsamic strawberry with black pepper and Justin had the Sea Salt Caramel and Honey Lavendar.  Sounds gross, but oh so good!!! 

We had such a wonderful, much needed, and relaxing time away! But, we were also so anxious to see the boys and have our family of 4 back together again.  Our flight was due in around 2:45ish on Tuesday afternoon.  We were flying non-rev and were bumped from that flight and made it home around 9:30ish Tuesday night because of the storms in Dallas.  The boys were already in bed and we could not wait to see them in the morning! Thank you to all 4 grandparents for taking such good care of Charlie and Luke while we were away- I know they had a blast!