What's a Yurt?

Ethan enjoying a ride on Dad's shoulders.

Westport lighthouse. A short drive from Grayland Beach.


Inside our Yurt. Messy, but dry and warm!

Chillin' at Grayland beach. A 3 minute walk from our Yurt.

Maddie enjoying the surf. She's always up for playing in the water.

Ethan helping with clean up.

Yurt from the outside.

Ethan taken life easy on the porch. See how dirty his pants are!

Two weekends ago Jairo was able to take an extra day off work so we decided to spend the long weekend "camping". I say "camping" because our accommodations were a step up from our usual tent camping. We went to Grayland Beach State Park where we had flush toilets and showers nearby and stayed in a yurt. This was my first experience in a yurt and for those who are new to yurts here is the official definition: "A circular, domed, portable tent used by nomadic peoples of central Asia".

Thank goodness we had the yurt because the weather that weekend was rainy and windy for the most part, so the yurt offered a cozy, warm, and dry spot to hang out in when the weather was too much. It reminded me of a trip to Jackson Hole with my roomie Lena and Jairo, before we were married. We had to hold the umbrella over the fire so the coals could stay dry long enough to cook our foil dinner. I think the meat was quite rare that night!

Anyway, this time we had a heater, electricity, and a cool sky window to star gaze at night (when the clouds broke). Grayland beach was pretty cool. This was the first time we've been to the coast line in Washington and it was nice to have large open beaches. Hopefully we'll make it back in the summer when the weather is nicer. While the weather wasn't the best, it was nice to get away. Ethan loved spending time chasing birds, picking up leaves, rocks, pine needles, etc. and didn't mind the wet weather at all. He would have stayed out all day if I let him. Maddie of course loved it too. She ran all over the beach chasing the seagulls and getting in the water, despite the temperature.

Next, once it snows, I think we'll try out a cabin and spend the weekend snow shoeing and playing in the snow. You're all welcome to join us!

Fall, 1st Birthday, & Halloween

I LOVE fall … especially here in the northwest. We’ve had a beautiful fall so far with lots of crisp, cool, and sunny days. On the way home from the store this morning I had to take a picture of our street to capture all of the beautiful fall color right here in the neighborhood. I guess one reason I like fall is because it is the start to all the fun holidays.

Ethan enjoying his cup cake, not his hat.

Ethan trying out his new riding car he received for his birthday.

First, we started off with Ethan’s first birthday! We have been told by so many that the time with your kids will fly by, and it has. I really can’t believe how fast the time has gone and how much Ethan has changed in one year. We had a little ‘combined’ birthday party with one of Ethan’s play buddies (they are 2 days apart). He had a lot of fun having a few friends over to play and cake was not so bad either. We also had our cousins over on his actual birthday for some more cake and ice cream. Can’t have too much of that!

Carving pumpkins ... oooey, gooey!

Trick-or-Treating at our neighbor's home ... they always decorate well for the holidays.

Checking out the finished jack-o-lantern.

Mr. Monkey, complete with a banana in the pocket.
Next was Halloween, which technically was not Ethan’s first, but last year he was only 10 days old so we just chilled at the house and gave out candy. This year Ethan was able to participate a bit more and had a blast, which of course makes it all the more fun for us. As you can see from the pics Ethan was a monkey. He loves monkeys so when I found this costume I figured it was perfect. We also carved a little pumpkin … a first for Ethan and Jairo. Pumpkin carving is not big in Colombia, in fact, Jairo says he’s not even sure if they have pumpkins in Colombia, and I guess I’ve been too much of a Halloween scrooge in the past initiate pumpkin carving. Anyway, Ethan had fun figuring out trick-or-treating. He just enjoyed all the social part of Halloween.

So last, we have the anticipation of Thanksgiving … one of my faves.