Travels | Amy Scott's Thoughts

Making Summer Memories August 3, 2022

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:59 pm

My dreams are coming true! It finally feels like summer – both in the weather and our activities! While shopping, I’ve seen fall and even Christmas items out, but I’m not ready for that! It feels like our summer has just begun. Usually, I’m all about fall, but our June and July were too quiet. We’re ready to embrace all the summer vibes while we still can. We are starting school at the end of August, so we really have less than a month left of summer. I’m hoping we can make the most of the time we still have!

This last week was a bit of a rollercoaster. We had our minivan in the shop for thankfully a quick and cheap fix. We had our floors partially torn up to try to “fix” them again. We have a certain spot that continually breaks and has everyone puzzled. We’ll see how long this fix lasts. I had a homeschool co-op planning meeting. I will be teaching a one week class on cookie decorating and then teaming up with a friend to teach eight weeks of drama to our younger class. Teaching drama will certainly be an adventure since I’ve haven’t been on stage since high school… But the class is made up of 5-9 year-olds… I think we’ve got this! If not, it will be dramatic in more than one way!

The boys have enjoyed pool parties with friends and family. Jeremy took them to the local area spray parks on one of our hottest days. (We just came off seven days in a row above 90 degrees – very rare in our corner of the PNW.) Jeremy and the boys went on a scouting adventure on Monday in preparation for hunting season. Jeremy let them tagalong last night to National Night Out hosted by our local police department. Our church provided inflatables and the whole event was full of freebies and fun for families. The boys had a blast! They also started swim lessons this week, because it’s just not summer without swim lessons!

My special adventure this week was a getaway with my forever friend, Maggie. I drove up to her neck of the woods north of Seattle. We got a hotel room (with fantastic AC and comfy beds). On Friday evening, we had dinner at Claim Jumper and dessert at Crumbl Cookie. Saturday morning, we drove out to Lake Stevens so we could visit Jenny Cookies Bake Shop. I spent way too much on cookies (and a t-shirt), but it was such a fun and tasty treat! Maggie and I went to Panda Express for lunch and then walked laps around the air-conditioned mall. There is nothing quite like time with a forever friend enjoying good food, long walks, and chatting non-stop!

August is here and we have filled it to the brim with good things. We are making all the summer memories we can! Because we are trying to pack so much into August, our routine is a bit off, which means I’m a bit off. I figure it’s for a worthy cause. There is so much summer fun still to have before we buckle down with school books!

This was the last picture we took and it was worth the wait. I love the sweet relationship my boys have with their GG!

Having the best time ever at National Night Out!

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Camping, COVID, and Canceled Celebrations July 7, 2022

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Travels — Amy Scott @ 10:52 am

Last Thursday, we took off for camping with Jeremy’s family at Schafer State Park. Camping is always an adventure. I’m amazed at how much we pack to have as many comforts of home as possible. I’m not a tent camper at heart (I dream of owning a trailer), but I know my family enjoys it. I tagalong and do my best. The bathrooms at this campground were nice and cleaned often, so that made a world of difference. The boys loved fishing on the Satsop River and Graham was my hiking buddy. It felt so good to finally hit some trails this summer. I was able to read a book and chat with family. It was a great trip until Owen started to feel sick on Friday afternoon. When it became apparent we had a sick kiddo, we packed up camp in a hurry. Poor Owen had a flu bug that lasted through Sunday which happened to overlap with our next family drama.

It took over two years, but COVID finally came to visit our family. Jeremy tested positive on Saturday and went into isolation since the boys and I tested negative. I moved into our playroom on an air mattress and held down the fort while Jeremy recovered. This meant we had to cancel our plans to celebrate the 4th of July at the beach with friends. We also had to cancel hosting a birthday dinner for my father on the 5th. Living through a pandemic has a taught our family flexibility with canceled plans. We are stay-at-home professionals. We were disappointed to cancel such fun plans, but we also knew we could handle the unexpected time at home.

My parents were sweet and bought fireworks for us. We had planned to watch the fireworks on the beach, so we didn’t have any at home. The boys loved the small display and seemed to enjoy the holiday even though it wasn’t the big celebration we had originally envisioned. Tuesday was my dad’s birthday. Owen requested we make a cake and enjoy it in his honor. My parents also delivered pizza. It was like we had a birthday dinner celebration – just in separate houses.

Yesterday morning, I also tested positive for COVID. Even though Jeremy isolated right away after testing positive, I had been in very close contact with him during his contagious period before showing symptoms. I’m not thrilled about starting the isolation timer over again, but it has worked out for the best. I felt crummy yesterday, but Jeremy was starting to feel better. He was able to assist the kids (while trying to maintain a distance). The boys are still negative, so we’ll see if they can get away from this virus or if our family will draw this out.

Thankfully, I woke up today feeling much better. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I feel almost 100%. My plan is to rest today because I don’t want to go backwards. This summer certainly hasn’t turned out the way we expected. We had trips, activities, and outings that I thought we would happily checking off our summer bucket list. Jeremy has some time off in August, so we have hope for summer adventures still to come. September and October are fairly nice in the PNW. The summer bucket list might have to transition to a fall bucket list. We can do our best to make plans, but life happens! We take the disappointments in stride and look ahead with hope.

My quiet time entertainment on the 4th of July. Nothing quite like hanging out on an air mattress in the playroom.

Parachute men are a 4th of July favorite!

Pizza and cake in honor of Grandpa’s birthday

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A Very Bookish Birthday January 18, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 5:43 pm

Friday was my 36th birthday! I love birthdays! I adore a day where I get to set the plan and pick all the places to eat. Mostly birthdays are about food for me, but this year, I had another theme – books! I’m definitely heading into 2022 and 36 with books on the brain. My birthday plans this year revolved around visiting bookstores in Portland, OR as well as stopping at a few other favorites like Target and Costco. I love a trip to the big city!

My first bookstore of choice was Powell’s City of Books on Burnside. The flagship store of the Powell’s empire is funky and fun. Jeremy helped the boys each pick a new book (their children’s department might be my favorite part of the store) as I wondered quietly through rows of books. If visiting one Powell’s wasn’t enough, I also visited their Cedar Hills location and the Amazon Bookstore. It was a really good day! To be cozy while reading, I updated my sweatshirt wardrobe and came away with a super cute reusable cup from Starbucks. It was a victorious and very Amy shopping day! So many favorite things!

To make our outing a bigger adventure, we opted to spend the night in the city. Our boys are always up for a hotel experience especially if there is a pool! We planned to take off the next morning for Camp 18 in Elsie for breakfast and a day at the beach. However, our beach plans changed due to a tsunami advisory. We still made it to breakfast at Camp 18, because we have priorities, and food is high on the list! Instead of heading to the beach, we ran some errands and took off for home earlier than expected. January has been wild! The first weekend had compact snow and ice still on the ground. The second weekend had flooding and now the third weekend had a tsunami advisory. Kind of makes me wonder what might happen next…

Our trip was sandwiched between family dinners with my parents and Jeremy’s parents. I feel very loved and celebrated! Like I said, food is a big deal for me when it comes to my birthday. I am always grateful when I don’t have to make dinner! The birthday menu (spread out over the weekend – it feels important to say that) included my favorite foods like pizza, orange chicken, mac and cheese, French toast and waffles. Chocolate, lemon, and red velvet cake were also consumed! Plus, a free birthday drink from Starbucks is always a treat!

I’ve also been book shopping online. I pre-ordered a new release from one of my favorite authors, Roseanna M. White. I also placed a Thrift Books order. I will admit that I’ve never been a fan of “used” items, but I’ve recently found a fondness for used books. First, they are cheaper. Books have gotten expensive and buying used gives me more bang for my buck. Also, I now like the look of an aged and well-worn book. Gives me cozy vibes! Thrift Books has quickly become a favorite for me. Not only do I get a great price on used books, but they have a reward system that allows me to earn free books. I’m all about free books!

Okay, indulge me one more bookish moment, I also reorganized my bookshelves yesterday. My system was loosely based on genre and it wasn’t working for me anymore. I decided to arrange alphabetically author. This was fairly simple with fiction because I have so many series’ in my collection. Non-fiction took a bit more work, but I like the finished project. I have room to grow my home library and a logical place for my future purchases. Also, I got rid of quite a bit of dust that was hiding behind all my books, so it was a fresh start in more than one way!

Now that all the big birthday celebrating is behind me, we are looking at a business-as-usual/have-to-be-a-grown-up type week. A three day school week means the workload is heavier and we have to focus more. I have my COVID booster coming up on Thursday. Nothing like heading into the weekend with the potential of feeling crummy. I’m optimistic the good book vibes and leftover birthday cake will carry me through!

My mom is so sweet! She orders me this chocolate cake from Safeway each year and it’s become a birthday tradition. A yummy tradition!

Watching for the streetcar in downtown Portland

Thankful for this man! He made my birthday/bookstore dreams come true!

Pool time! I’m not a water bug, but after my time in the hot tub, I love watching these guys play!

These are a few of my favorite things! Books from Powell’s, journals and two sweatshirts from Costco, cup and two sweatshirts from Target!

Reading his new Magic Tree house book from Powell’s

Graham was very excited to take his new Christmas game over to Nana & Papa’s. He aske me to take this picture.

Graham thought I was making an obstacle course for him with books!

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Happy New Year! January 4, 2022

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Parenthood,Recollections,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 11:48 am

We made it to 2022! This week is back to school for the boys and I and back to work for Jeremy. We loved our month of December with Jeremy on sabbatical. Our family had so much fun with all the Christmas activities and celebrations. Like most, we weren’t ready for the vacation vibes to end. We have an intentionally quiet week at home to help us ease back into routine.

We wrapped up 2021 with a shopping trip to Portland. Even though the roads around our house were snow/ice, the freeway was fine and the roads improved as we went south. The stores were hit hard by Christmas, low staff, and low stock. The snow certainly didn’t help. The boys each got LEGO sets and then we hopped online to shop for the items that were missing in the stores. Mostly, we just wanted a day to get out of the house after a few snow days. Our shopping tradition after Christmas isn’t about the items we purchase, it’s about spending the day as a family in the big city.

Our weekend was all about snow and family. We celebrated my sister’s birthday on New Year’s Eve. Jeremy attached the sled to our riding lawn mower and that became a big hit on Friday and Saturday. We had some of the cousins (and their parents) over on Saturday for games and snow fun. After we played at our house, we dropped the kiddos at Nana & Papa’s house and the parents went to see the newest Spider-Man movie. I haven’t been to the theaters since Frozen II in 2019! It was good to get back to the movies, but I honestly love streaming at home just as much (probably even more). It was a treat to go on a double date and have some kid-free time with other adults – this rarely happens in my world.

As I reflect on 2021, I am grateful. The beginning of the year started quietly with COVID restrictions and stay-at-home orders revived. We celebrated Jeremy turning 40 in the spring with a “spring break” trip to Oregon. We thrived in homeschooling and wrapped up preschool for Graham and 1st grade for Owen with a family celebration at the end of May. Our summer was full of local-ish adventures. We visited the WA/OR coast, Mt. Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We enjoyed swim lessons in the month of August. We started our second year of homeschooling in the fall. The boys turned 8 and 6 in October with family adventure days to the Space Needle and Top Golf. November was our magical trip to Disneyland. December wrapped up the year with Jeremy’s sabbatical filled with family time and Christmas adventures. Despite the hardships of living in a pandemic world, our family experienced so much goodness in 2021.

Thanks to the pandemic, my expectations for goal setting have gone way down. Last year, my goals were to beat my 2020 reading total and to decorate sugar cookies once a month. I succeeded in both those goals and had a blast investing in my hobbies. As I look to 2022, my current goals are to read the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books for the first time. They are on most recommended reading list that I encounter. I’m ready to find out why. I plan to change how I keep track of my reading and how I rate books. I will also tweak how I blog about my reading this year. My one serious goal for 2022 is to get back to church in-person. I have reservations about in-person church, but it’s important that our kids get back into a faith community. Because of homeschooling, it will be beneficial for them to be in a classroom environment with peers again.

That about does it! Wrapping up 2021, welcoming 2022. I don’t know what’s on the horizon for 2022. I am believing that the same goodness I found in 2020 and 2021 will be present in 2022. God’s faithfulness never falters. Life has taken unexpected turns with the pandemic, but I’ll just keep doing the best I can with what I’ve got. God can work with that. He makes up the difference. I can go into 2022 knowing that God goes with me – before me, beside me, behind me. I am not alone and I can do this with him.

Introduced the kids to World Market. The boys fell in love with this chair. Our big purchase from this store was coconut syrup from Hawaii.

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Welcome Winter December 21, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 6:24 pm

It’s officially winter! Now the weather actually matches the season. It’s been so cold and it looks like it’s about to get colder in the PNW. Everyone in western Washington is holding their breath, wondering if we’ll have a White Christmas. My weather-obsessed hubby is actively following the forecast and sharing all kinds of updates with me. I’m of the I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it mentality. The idea of a White Christmas sounds cozy and picturesque, but honestly, it will mess with my plans, so the snowflakes can hold out a bit. I’ll welcome them around the 28th (as if the weather would take my plans into consideration – ha).

I’m coming off an organization high. I realized this afternoon that I’ve purchased 21 new cookie cutters this month. I might have a problem. My cookie cutter drawer needed an overhaul to make room. I parted with a few to make everything fit… but I will admit those were duplicates…. which begs the question – how many gingerbread people, snowflake, tree, or star cookie cutters does one person need? My current answer is many… but I’m working on it. Along the lines of organization, we picked up more storage cubes for the boys’ closet. Jeremy assembled them this morning and I’ve been reworking the closets this afternoon. It’s the time of year to consolidate and/or purge. I often try to make space for new toys before the holidays. When it comes to potential clutter, I like to be proactive. I’m a firm believer in every item having a home and now the kids closest can accommodate more stuff. I love getting rid of things and making space in my house, but I also very much understand stuff management. Good storage lets you keep the stuff you love in a useful and practical way.

So, what have we been up to? This last week has been a fun one. We’ve had a cookie decorating playdate with friends. We visited my Grandma and drove through a large light display near her house. We finished up school. We are now officially on Christmas break! We went out to breakfast to celebrate on Friday. Saturday was spent shopping for upcoming family gatherings and picking up the aforementioned storage cubes (thank you, Ikea). Sunday, we had our first Christmas gathering with my immediate family. The boys’ Christmas dreams came true when they opened their LEGO Mario and Luigi sets. We enjoyed a pizza lunch before opening presents and bundlets from Nothing Bundt Cakes afterwards. Yesterday, we went up to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. We met up with friends and the kids adored the parade and “snow” (aka bubbles). It was a chilly, but festive outing. So many good Christmas memories being made!

Now we’re counting down to more Christmas celebrations this weekend. We still have a few Christmas experiences to check off the holiday to-do list. We hope to look at Christmas lights in the area, watch White Christmas, and make Christmas cookies. Then it will be 3 days of Christmas celebrations ending with a shopping day in Portland (as long as the potential snow doesn’t change any plans). We are very excited for this next week! It’s going to be a good one (even if the snowflakes decide to make things interesting)! Maybe we will have a White Christmas after all?

Piping bags filled with colorful frosting gives me a warm fuzzy feeling!

I was okay with these snowflakes last week. They were fun to wake up to, but didn’t cancel any plans!

A yummy confetti bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes. My favorite flavor would be their lemon, but their seasonal peppermint chocolate chip was also good!

The boys enjoyed a very LEGO themed Christmas gathering. LEGOs always keep them busy with building and play! Now I have to be careful to not vacuum them…

Loving the Christmas vibes of these flowers!

Dinner at P.F. Chang’s before Snowflake Lane

Waiting for the parade to start with friends!

They might be bubbles, but they sure do make the moment magical!

Making as many Christmas memories as possible!

December’s cookie cutter haul brought to you by Target!

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The Start of Sabbatical December 7, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Getting Creative,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:23 pm

As of this last Friday, Jeremy is officially on sabbatical for a month. Our family is thrilled to have extra time together during this festive month. We certainly started this sabbatical off with a bang. On Friday, the boys decorated a gingerbread house while I made gingerbread cookies to take to a moms’ only Christmas party. The kids had a blast with all the sugar. Owen licked the frosting more than he decorated with it. The moms’ only Christmas party included a book gift exchange which is my love language. Being a wild, crazy, kid-free mom, I got home after 11pm (which is unheard of for me these days).

On Saturday, Jeremy’s parents invited the boys over to spend the day with them. Nana and Papa were watching some of the cousins and it was very thoughtful of them to include our boys. The boys love time with cousins family time and it gave Jeremy and I chance to Christmas shop without them in tow. I feel very good about where our Christmas shopping is at now. We started late this year, but it didn’t take us long to get it done…. well… almost done. We have two more gifts to purchase, but in the grand scheme of shopping, that’s not too bad. I had a delightful time selecting wrapping paper to match each family – Disney characters for our boys, LEGO for the cousins, Santa dogs for my family. Jeremy and I savored a yummy lunch out and reveled in the quiet conversations we were able to have while driving.

Sunday started with Christmas lesson and craft that Jeremy brought home from church. We did cocoa bombs (which were a gift from a friend) and then did our advent candles. We did advent in the morning because we planned to be out late that evening. We took off after lunch for Jenny’s Cookie Bake Shop in Lynnwood. I’ve been following Jenny for a year now and I’ve been decorating cookies from her Cookie Class book. It was a dream come true to pick up a treat from Jenny’s and see her bake shop in-person. After cookie munching, we went over to visit my forever friend, Maggie. We had dinner with her family before bundling up to do the Wild Lanterns at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. The wild lanterns were so neat!!! Way cooler than the usual Zoolights experience that I’ve come to expect at most zoos. It special visit my friend in her neck of the woods. We are very rarely ever north of Seattle. It was an awesome adventure wandering the zoo with our families.

We were able to keep our school routine yesterday even with Daddy home as a distraction. Jeremy started a burn pile in the yard and it motivated Owen to get school done quickly. We are two days into school with Daddy home, but I think the flow will be Jeremy works on a project while we do school. He is currently reorganizing our garage was I type this. I wonder what project will be next. Yesterday, I had coffee with a friend in the afternoon and then were able to get our boys their first dose of the COVID vaccine. It was a bit complicated getting them an appointment in our area, so I was grateful for the last-minute appointment we snagged. The boys and I hope to return to in-person church attendance in January and this vaccine is a step toward that goal. We celebrated with pizza, cookies, and ice cream!

After a super big weekend filled with holiday fun, our week is looking fairly quiet. We have a few outings we are hopeful to make happen while on sabbatical. Some are weather dependent so we are waiting and watching the forecast. Being on sabbatical means we have flexibility to wait for good weather days. I love getting out and about, seeing people I love, and doing something new. I equally love being snuggled in at home! It’s been a great kick-off to Jeremy’s sabbatical. I’m looking forward to all that still lies ahead!

Starting December off right with a trip to Christa and her train neighborhood.

A dream come true for this cookie lover!

A game with friends before Wild Lanterns

So glad our families were able to do this fun outing together!

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The Magic of Disney November 21, 2021

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Parenthood,Recollections,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:01 pm

I’ve been dreaming of taking my family on a Disneyland vacation long before I was married and had kids. Disneyland is a classic family vacation filled with magic! My first Disneyland experience was in the 5th grade and I’ve been obsessed ever since. I’ve visited Disneyland multiple times, but nothing can quite compare to that magic of a child’s first visit. Now that I’m a parent, I’ve been slowly watching Graham (my youngest and shortest son) grow with Disneyland in the back of my mind. I’ve been waiting for that milestone moment where he would be tall enough to go on most of the rides. We reached that perfect height this summer and I promptly suggested we take a Disneyland vacation!

This trip came with other first time experiences for the boys such as their first flight and first time to Southern California. The whole airplane heard them loudly exclaim over palm trees as we got ready to land. The boys enjoyed their first flight and were excellent travelers. My parents joined us for the adventure so we took up an entire row on the airplane. Graham flew down with the grandparents and Owen sat with Jeremy and I. We switched kids for the flight home to mix it up. Once we got into LAX, we picked up our rental car and took off for our hotel, dinner at In-N-Out, and grocery shopping. We went to sleep in matching Mickey Christmas pajamas that I bought specifically for this trip and the holiday season.

Our first day was at Disneyland! The park was all decorated for Christmas which made the experience extra special. Our strategy was to start with the smaller rides in Fantasyland to get the boys warmed up. Things started well with our first ride on Alice in Wonderland. Then Jeremy diverted from the plan when he saw the Matterhorn Bobsleds had a 5 minute wait. We might have traumatized the kids with the yeti on that fast-paced, jerky ride. Oops! Owen loved Big Thunder Mountain, but that was too intense for Graham. At one point during the ride, Graham told us his heart was racing. Both boys loved Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters the most. Part of the fun of the first day was introducing Graham to Disney churros. I got a tasty Gingerbread cookie shaped like Mickey. We watched the Christmas Fantasy Parade. Our kids are now obsessed with the song that played a dozen times on repeat. We didn’t do the big rides or anything spooky. I thought I might miss them, but I didn’t. I had so much fun watching the boys enjoy themselves that I didn’t mind sacrificing some of my past must-do rides.

Our second day was at California Adventure. We did Radiator Spring Racers right when the park opened because the wait time for that ride is insane. The boys loved all the rides at Cars Land. Honorable mentions would also be Goofy’s Sky School, the Pixar Pal-A-Round, and Soarin’ Around the World. One of my highlights was the Boudin Sourdough Bakery at the Pacific Wharf. I enjoyed a sourdough bread bowl with mac & cheese for lunch. We also bought a pull-a-part loaf of bread in the shape of a Christmas tree. The loaf turned out to the huge! Oops! We were able to munch on it throughout the week and then we packed it home. After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a rest. Everyone napped so we would have enough spunk to make it through the evening. It’s magical to see the parks all lit up at night especially with the extra Christmas lights and decorations. After an evening of rides, we made our way to Salt & Straw in Downtown Disney for ice cream. We got back to the hotel in time to watch the firework show from the window at the end of the hallway.

We park hopped on our last day. We started the day in Disneyland. We did a few new rides and repeated some favorites. We secured a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance which was a bucket list ride for both Jeremy and my dad. Even though the boys have little Star Wars knowledge, they enjoyed it. In fact, all the Star Wars rides were a hit. Actually, almost all the rides were met with enthusiasm. Just not the Matterhorn. It became a running joke that we wanted to go back to the Matterhorn and the boys would groan. Our last day was also our shopping day. Both boys settled on bubble wands as their souvenirs. We napped in the afternoon and then started our evening at California Adventure. We revisited a few favorite rides before heading back to Disneyland for the firework show. We waited for the show while munching on snacks of churros, Dole whip, and popcorn. As we walked out the park that night, Owen got a bit teary. He didn’t want to leave and honestly, I didn’t either! Owen quickly cheered up as he got use his bubble wand for the walk back to the hotel. We filled the roads around Disney with bubbles! It was like taking a bit of the magic with us outside of the parks.

3 days in the parks. 30 miles of walking. 37 rides. A parade and a firework show. So many magical moments! We were tired and worn out, but happy in a way that only the happiest place on Earth can provide. I was definitely ready to rest, but now that I’ve had a day at home to recover, I’m ready to go back. Anytime. Tomorrow would be great. Okay, I don’t know when our next Disney adventure will happen, but I am so thankful for the experience that we just had. Disneyland did not disappoint. It was exactly the trip that I dreamt it would be. What a magical Disneyland adventure we had!

When in California, you must stop at In-N-Out

Spotting characters was so much fun! Due to COVID, you couldn’t hug them, but we still enjoyed snapping pictures from a distance.

Santa in the Christmas Fantasy Parade! I haven’t done a Disney parade in decades, but I know the boys appreciated it.

A magical day at the happiest place on Earth!

Radiator Springs racers made my hair stand on end!

Graham enjoyed spotting the characters, but didn’t want to take pictures. Owen happily filled that role.

Last Day! Also it happened to be Micky & Minnie’s birthday so we got free buttons.

The Pixar Pal-A-Round with Grandpa, Graham, and Grandma.

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Kicking Off November! November 7, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:14 pm

What a start to November! I didn’t plan for the week to be as full as it turned out to be. Lots of good things, but a bit too much after a big event the weekend before. We had no plans yesterday and our family just hung out around the house and rested. It was such a necessary day. Okay, let’s jump into the highs and lows of this last week!

Monday was a Halloween hangover day. I didn’t expect Fall Fest prep to take as much out of me as it did. The kids had decent attitudes, but I was too ambitious in our plans for the day. The craft I planned for school said age 4+ on the box, but honestly it was age 40+. I helped the kids assemble their foam tree houses and they were appreciative when I got them to the decoration stage. Ever have a child’s craft almost break you? Only me? After quiet time, we went down to the church to help Jeremy tidy up from Fall Fest. The lollipop game still had balloons attached to it and Jeremy offered the boys a chance to pop them with darts. The perks of being pastor’s kids. Thankfully, we picked up take-out from our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner. I was ready to be chill.

Tuesday had it’s ups and downs. Jeremy took the day off. He worked on a new space for Owen’s model train. As he was preparing a piece of plywood, he dropped the board on his foot. For the next 48 hours, he monitored it to make sure it wasn’t broken. I say he, not we, because injuries like that make me queasy! I almost canceled my afternoon plans so Jeremy could go to urgent care, but Jeremy promised me he was fine. Limping, but fine. I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon. The people at the dentist office are lovely, but no matter how kind they are, I dread going to the dentist. My reward after the dentist was meeting up with my forever friend, Christa, for coffee (actually, neither of us had coffee, so we met up for hot beverages). Time with this sweet friend is always a treasure! And a whole afternoon of being kid-free was amazing! I love my kiddos, but homeschool life has made me appreciate my kid-free time on a deeper level.

Our next big adventure was Thursday. My forever friend, Maggie, and I had plans to take our kids mini-golfing. It also turned out to be Red Cup Day and bonus – there was a Starbucks right across the street from the mini-golf course! I’m sure Maggie and I will meet up at Tower Lanes Entertainment Center again. What’s not to love about indoor mini-golf, bowling, and an arcade? We only did mini-golf on Thursday, but we’ll have plenty to entertain us for future outings. Maggie and I love red cups from Starbucks. We love to celebrate this special day, but very rarely do we get to celebrate it together. My kids were equally as excited for Red Cup Day as I was. It felt like I was doing something right in my parenting! We also picked up Christmas jammies on Thursday and started listening to Christmas music in the van. We haven’t started decorating for Christmas yet, but we are easing our way into the holiday season and I’m all for it!

We wrapped up our week with a homeschool field trip to a local creation museum. The museum curator gave a presentation on how Mt. St. Helens can support the young earth theory. I don’t get too hung up on how old the earth is, but the information was interesting. The presentation included some unique photos of the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980. Owen followed the presentation well and even answered some questions. Graham… well.. he wanted to get a drink… go to the bathroom… look around the museum… leave to go get lunch. It wasn’t his cup of tea, but it was nice to see friends and do an outing together.

Today is daylight savings. I don’t appreciate the adjustment of our natural schedules, but today it worked out in my favor. Both kids slept longer than I expected which meant I had an “extra” hour in bed this morning. I know that feeling won’t last and we’ll adjust, but I’m rolling with it for now. It will be nice to not wake up in the dark, but I will now ask if it’s bedtime at 5:00pm for the next few months. The older I get, the more I think I’m solar powered.

I hope your November is off to a great start! I highly recommend treating yourself to a Red Cup or new pajamas, listening to Christmas music, getting an extra hour of sleep, and having a restful day. I know my plans for the rest of the day include starting a new book and watching a Hallmark movie. Time to snuggle up with a cozy blanket and watch the rain fall outside my window.

“Helping” pop the balloons after Fall Fest

The box lied. I’m fairly confident no 4 year old could build this craft. Super cute, but a lot of work!

The new train layout in the playroom. Now to build the scenery.

Celebrating Red Cup Day with Maggie May!

Sharing the joy of red cups with the next generation!

The first addition to the train layout. Jeremy and Owen sure know how to make a mountain!

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Another Week, Another Birthday! October 24, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Simply Me,Travels — Amy Scott @ 12:32 pm

We celebrated Graham’s 6th birthday on Tuesday this last week. Graham opted for a birthday adventure at Top Golf in Hillsboro, OR. Owen celebrated his birthday at Top Golf last October and Jeremy did the same in March. Graham felt it was his time to celebrate at there as well Jeremy was able to take the day off and we had a grand family day. Having our usual family day on Tuesday messed up my internal calendar, but Graham’s birthday was worth it! After a morning of golf, we enjoyed lunch at Red Robin and an afternoon for shopping. Both boys requested money has their main gift wish this year. As they grow, their interests and hobbies have grown in price as well. Most of their hopped for birthday gifts involved saving and planning this year. We love spending a day in the Portland area. The variety of shops and restaurants is always appreciated. The boys had a jolly time as they strategically shopped for the items they had been saving for. We wrapped up the outing with a stop at Cinnabon to get Graham a birthday cinnamon roll.

Graham is one cool kid! He is sweet, thoughtful, and silly. He loves to help me in the kitchen – especially if I’m baking or making macaroni and cheese. He is often singing to himself or making sound effects while he happily plays. Graham’s current loves are trains, books, and Hot Wheels. Graham hasn’t mastered reading yet, but we read together a lot now that he has started kindergarten. As a bookworm, I am happy to share my excitement for reading with Graham. I also love sharing my love of baking with him too. He is such a fun buddy! He loves keeping up with Owen and checking on the chickens. He has started calling me “Mom” more often than “Mama” and it makes me a bit sad that some of his little boy ways are changing. He still loves to snuggle with me, though. He recently told me that he will snuggle with me until he is 68. I’ll take it! Everyday is an adventure with Graham. It’s been a joy to watch him grow into the kid he is today and we are excited for all that God has in store for him.

This week has been filled with a lot of playtime. All the new and exciting toys from our shopping adventure on Tuesday have been spread out all over the house. The weather has been wet, so I used our new-to-us treadmill in the garage for the first time. I love walking outside, but when that isn’t possible, I’ve been doing laps around my living room (I know, it sounds silly, but it’s worked for me). I wasn’t sure I would like walking in the garage, but I’ve enjoyed it so far. I put on worship music and find that my time on the treadmill helps me to connect with God, pray, and process life. My kids do come to “check” on me and have dance parties if the music is peppy. I don’t mind the distraction though. I want to model healthy habits for them whether it’s exercise or time with Jesus.

Since we had our usual Friday family adventure on Tuesday, our Friday was free to help Jeremy with some work projects. Jeremy had ordered a huge Candyland archway as a decoration for Fall Fest next weekend. The arch was a multiple person job when it came to assembly. The boys pretended to be spies as Jeremy and I worked on putting the arch together. It was very satisfying to see the finished product! On Saturday, Jeremy was at a community event most of the day providing a kid zone. I had an online conference in the morning. I enjoyed the conference and caught most of the content despite kid interruptions. It was a ministry leadership conference and while many of my ministry opportunities are on hold at the moment, it was good to invest in my leadership skills and be inspired and encouraged for the future.

It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of October! We are just one week away from our big fall ministry event. Fall Fest is outdoors this year so I’m praying hard for a dry day! The activities will be covered by canopies, so we’ll roll with whatever the weather sends our way. The boys are excited to be ninjas this Halloween. I think I’m going to wear some Minnie Mouse ears that I used for the boys’ birthday party. Jeremy plans on dressing up like the King Candy from Candyland (soooo…. that should be interesting). October has been a month of full of favorite traditions and birthday celebrations. Hopefully this last week will continue to the theme of fall fun and celebration!

This kid loves cinnamon! Good to the last bite!

Owen has been saving for his own model train. This set was a dream come true!

Welcome to our home gym. Graham always takes a 5 minute turn on the treadmill after I’m finished.

The completed Candyland arch – or stargate (if you know, you know)!

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October Outings October 18, 2021

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:08 pm

After a long weekend of birthday celebrations, it was hard to get back into school mode last week. We were all in a haze from the big weekend and recovering from all the fun we had. School is going well, but we definitely moved at a slower pace. I have to remind myself that it’s okay if school takes a while. Especially, since some of Owen’s work is time-consuming at the moment (example: three-digit math – I know it’s important to know how to do it, but seriously, a calculator would speed things up). School isn’t something to race through. Going slow pays off when practicing new concepts. It’s good for me (and the kiddos) to take a deep breath, slow down, and have small breaks. The pace this year is different with two elementary school kids and I’m still adjusting to school taking a bit longer than last year.

We wrapped up school on Thursday and took off for an adventure! My forever friend, Maggie, asked me if I would be interested in meeting her and her kiddos for play dates in Tacoma semi-regularly. Maggie and I are good about getting together in-person, but we always do it kid-free. Our kids hadn’t been together in the last five years. My kids know who Maggie is because I talk to her and get together with her regularly . Equally, her kids know who I am, but we’ve never all spent time together. I love the idea of my kids having memories with Maggie’s kids. Our first adventure took us to the Tacoma Nature Center. The rain held off long enough for us to explore the trails around Snake Lake and play at their discovery pond play area. The nature center has a small indoor display of a few turtles and a frog which the kids also enjoyed. It was so fun to have an autumn outing with this family. I am looking forward to more adventures in the future.

Friday was pumpkin patch day! Now that we don’t have field trips to the pumpkin patch planned for us, it can be a bit overwhelming to decide which patch to visit. We have plenty of nice ones locally as well some larger, fancier ones out of the area, but still close enough to travel to if we wanted. We decided on a local patch in Centralia this year. The boys had a blast picking our their big pumpkins and taking pictures with the wooden displays throughout the field. We ran some errands afterwards and picked up doughnuts for a treat and pizza for dinner. It was a very good day!

Saturday we celebrated Papa’s birthday with a family dinner. We reminded the boys to wish Papa a happy birthday right away, but Graham went off script and greeted Papa with countdown to his own birthday instead. (Graham is a walking countdown right now, tomorrow is the big day for him). The kids got cousin play time which is their version of heaven. For the second Saturday night in a row they got to run around after dark with flashlights. Nana made a tasty meal of meatloaf and offered three kinds of pie for dessert. The adults played games inside while the kids ran amok outside. It was a wonderful evening to celebrate with Papa!

Yesterday was pumpkin carving day! The boys used their new Halloween pajamas as inspiration for their pumpkins this year. I don’t usually get Halloween apparel since we don’t do spooky, but these jammies are just happy little jack-o’-lanterns. I couldn’t resist. Pumpkins have a special place in my heart. Jeremy kindly carved the faces the boys selected. I scooped out two of the three pumpkins we carved. I don’t mind the squishy, smelly insides of a pumpkin, but it makes Jeremy gag. I always feel sorry for him on carving day. We ran out of time so Jeremy’s pumpkin is still a blank slate waiting for his inspiration. Jeremy always carves the best pumpkins whereas mine always look quite similar each year. This year I went for a round nose and a toothless smile. Mixing it up just a bit, but I am in no way a pumpkin artist.

Graham’s birthday is tomorrow! We are looking forward to a family day together to celebrate. I’ll share all about it in my next post. As for the rest of October, I still have plenty of seasonal baking that I’m daydreaming about. Jeremy has two major work events coming up. I have an online conference this coming weekend. We have some plans with friends to look forward to. October is always a full month leading up to Fall Fest on the 31st. The kids already have their costumes purchased and ready to go. Lots of October outings and adventures are still in store!