We kicked off 2017 with a… well, nothing, really. Celebrating a new year seems so random. I suppose some people really need it in order to hit the reset button, but we’re not really one of those. The new year does quickly usher in a birthday for me, which, since … Read More
Christmas
Christmas. What is there to say? Kids open presents. Kids play with new toys. Kids move on, and everyone begins talking about next Christmas. We did have a nice time. The kids gave Grammy their painted pottery gifts, and they got everything on their Santa Claus lists. The last minute … Read More
The Holiday Spirit
I guess as much as anything else, Ali and I have tried to fill our kids’ lives with good memories. Their holiday memories aren’t focused on one location, so that it becomes a part of the background—instead, the locations become as integral a part of the memory as what actually … Read More
Snow Season?
Houston, Texas. Who knew it could be so cold? Good prep for our trip up north to Portland, though. The kids finally got their Christmas lists together. We read a Berenstain Bears book years ago in which Sister Bear makes a long Christmas list, and Brother Bear warns her that … Read More
Winding Down in Portland
We spent our last week in Portland before flying to Minnesota. Over time, I think, our lifestyle has actually afforded us more time with our families than had we stayed put in Chicago. I’m sure there is no way we would have seen each other as much had we slipped … Read More
Comfortable
A couple of months ago I had this conversation with Ouest and afterwards I jotted it down. I found it on my desktop today: When I told Ouest that we were thinking about taking a smaller truck to South America, instead of our blue bus, I explained to her that … Read More
Seattle Tourists
I’ve said it a million times, but it’s true, that when you live this wandering lifestyle the world gets smaller. Case in point, the other day we got to meet up with our friends from Mali Mish who we last saw in Santa Barbara about a year ago. We also … Read More
Pumpkin Patch
The kids made blueberry muffins with Ali in the morning. The dog got up on the counter when we all left the room and ate the muffins. I shot the dog. We know Halloween is like four weeks away, but that can’t stop us from hitting up the pumpkin patch. Last … Read More
Around Portland
The other day Lowe asked Ouest if she wanted to play photo booth. I’d never heard of this before, but within seconds he was dressing her up in boas and taking her picture. They played this for days, giggling the whole time. The pictures below are theirs, obviously. We’ve been … Read More
The Portland Routine
Our Portland routine rarely changes very much. We hang out around the house a lot, playing with new toys and digging out old ones. We visit the park across the street daily. We spend time cleaning whatever old vehicle we have around at the time. We hit the ice rink on … Read More
Portland—End of the Road
Two-thousand four-hundred and seventy-five miles down the road from St. Paul, Minnesota, is a little place called Portland, Oregon. When we woke up in Pendleton today everyone was ready to get there and see Grammy. We bombed through the Columbia Gorge to get there. The road trip was excellent. Our … Read More