Summer adventures, part I

I should really recap all this before we start to forget! Life is funny these days. We are doing well but looking forward to finding out what this next phase of life is going to be like. We had an awesome summer, lots of traveling (I think like 6 weeks total) - but we are looking forward to putting a bit more predictability in our lives.

In June and July we took a 3 week adventure to SLC-CA-SLC-WY-SLC.

My cousin Brian got married to sweet Allie. They threw a fantastic party and we enjoyed getting to know Allie and her family. They really made us want to move to CA. I know I am biased and all as her mother, but I think all would agree that Stella totally stole the show. We knew this kid liked to dance, but DANG! She was the first one out on the dance floor and DID NOT STOP all night. (14 months old and finally we're starting to see some of me in her, ha!)

People I didn't know would come up to me and say, "Oh, you're Stella's mom, right?" I was so proud. She danced her little booty off and we all had a great time. It was a fantastic wedding and we were so glad to be a part of it.

After the wedding we rented a couple of houses on the Russian River in northern CA. Had wine tasting and family bonding. Turns out that wine tasting is fairly kid-friendly what with having lots of new places to explore, as long as you don't mind getting the kiddo in and out of the car 7,000 times.

We also took a walk through the redwood forest. It was really cool and someone reminded us that it was where they shot the Ewok planet scenes from Star Wars.

Then we invaded the insanely charming town of Sebastopol (and now we want to move there too) for a mini-reunion with some fantastic friends that we hadn't seen for way too many years. It was so great to see Kim and Chris and Dean and Jacqueline and all the progeny. These four are all way ahead of us on the parenting thing, and we were so impressed with their ninja-like skills. Jacqueline in particular had the brilliant idea to get three rooms and a baby monitor - kids sleep on the outside rooms and party in the middle. I was in awe. We had a great time (but I think I get to add Jeffrey Katzenberg to my list of people I want to punch in the face).

Here's our crew, minus the moms, on the train at the world's best park ever:

Dean and sweet little Olin:

Next up was a few days in SLC. I went to my 15 year HS reunion. It was great to see old friends and make new connections. I must admit that I forgot what a cool bunch of people I went to school with. Thanks to the magic of Facebook, it will be much easier to stay in touch this time around.

Then we had the cabin trip. Oh, the cabin... my dad and Jenny built it (themselves, like with actual hammers) on 40 acres of beautiful Wyoming country. Borders a national forest near the Grand Tetons. Aspen grove behind the house. It is extremely well-engineered and very remote. You can drive there in the summer, can't get there at all in Fall and Spring, and in the winter you have to snowmobile or ski in. It is a blast.

Prior to this trip, our little city girl didn't walk on grass, just on sidewalks. Soon enough we had her running through the meadow of wildflowers.

(you know, this post is really long enough. cabin pics coming up next)