P.P.S.

Speaking of Canada pictures, I just found this one on my desktop, too. We were being the tilting head pugs. Dad could barely make it through one tilt without cracking up completely!

So funny. I love this picture.

I left my heart in the Pacific North West...

Okay, maybe it's exaggerating to say that I left my heart in the Pacific North West. But man oh man, did I love it up there! We spent three days in Seattle and three days in British Columbia on Vancouver Island (with two days of traveling in between there).


It was pretty much the most perfect weather with gorgeous views of downtown Seattle and Lake Union from our condo.

And then perfect weather in BC, too. I was awestruck by the Olympic Mountains off in the distance, across the Juan de Fuca Strait. Yep, we were lucky enough to stay RIGHT on the ocean with that as our view. I stared at it a lot.

A highlight of our time in Seattle was our Pike Place Market food tour. Could there be something better than learning about the history of a new place while sampling food all along the way? I think not. Plus, we started with donuts. STARTED WITH DONUTS. You know it's going to be a good afternoon when you eat dessert first.

While on Vancouver Island we visited Butchart Gardens to see their amazing gardens. (Family photos were a stop on the tour.)

I also enjoyed strolling around downtown Victoria, which was super colonial and cute.

While on the West Coast we traveled twice by ferry and both were fun trips. A combination of a great view and a great place to play cards is hard to beat, right?

I can't wait to go back to Washington State and BC, because there is so much more to see! I hear the city of Vancouver is really cool, so hopefully that will be a future stop on my world tours.

P.S. It's wicked hot in Chicago. I've got the fans on full blast and I'm hoping to sleep better than last night...

Sunshine? Yes please.

Forecast for this weekend in South Carolina? Perfect. So excited to go on a mini vacation!

Horse days

 The first weekend of 2011 found all of the Hepburns -- ALL of them! -- in Kansas for my cousin's wedding. It was a very special weekend since I hadn't seen some of them for several years. As life gets busier (and more grown up?) it seems like weddings are the things that always bring everyone together. My Aunt and Uncle and family live on a big plot of land with lots of animals, so we all enjoyed a Hepburn reunion complete with horses and dogs!

Dave bonds with the dogs

 My cousins were nice enough to get their horses groomed and saddled for a trail ride. We walked (and occasionally trotted) around the property and I saw two deer running across the field!

Holly & Scout

 We also took a turn out to the clearing so we could try cantering. It felt so fast and a little out of control (I'm a green cowgirl, I suppose) so I reined my horse in. She wasn't so happy about this and in a fit of miscommunication (equally both of our faults I think) started bucking and I landed squarely on the ground. I'll spare you a picture of my bruise (fear not, I documented it!), but I will tell you that it was large and nasty and I spent the next few days hobbling ever so carefully. My whole body hurt, to say the least.

Me and Queenie before our "miscommunication

 

 

Of course, the wedding that we were all there for was a beautiful affair as well. Everybody got dressed in their finest wintry attire (the boys all donned ties!) to witness Taylor and Kaitlyn's vows.
 
Here are the bride and groom. Aren't they a cute couple? The lucky lovebirds got to honeymoon in Hawaii!

After the wedding festivities in Kansas, our family hopped in the car and headed South for Oklahoma where we saw 2/3 of our Hintz family, too! I don't have any pictures from that on my camera currently, but know that it was a fun filled 24 hours! :)

Thanksgiving snapshots

My Thanksgiving highlights were... eating, sleeping, couch-ing, playing games, and so much more. Unfortunately, I do not have photos capturing any of those moments. I was enjoying them waaay too much. But trust me, it was relaxing and so much fun. And if anyone tells you that I lost most of the games I played, don't believe them! (Okay, so it might be true but shhh...).

One afternoon we raked many, many leaves. I took a photo of our results, simply because I couldn't believe how many leaves there were!

 

Our last night, we walked around downtown Greenville and took our traditional snapshot on the bridge. Look how gorgeous the colors are!

In sum, it was a wonderful holiday. I really needed the time away and it was so good! I have so much to be thankful for. :)

My random thought (x2)

1. Today is a good day because it's payday! Woo!

2. I got my plane ticket for Thanksgiving last night. (I should say 'we' because I'm headed to South Carolina with Dave-o. So WE got our tickets last night.)

In any event, what I come to say is this: I love my reaction to buying tickets for within the continental U.S. I'm always excited because I feel like I got the best deal. (They are so. much. cheaper. than tickets to Hawaii.) So regardless of how normal or even more expensive than normal the ticket is, I still feel like I'm getting the best deal ever. Ha. How the mind works, eh?

Las Vegas Weekend!

Last weekend we had a family vacation to Las Vegas to watch my dad play some softball! His team flies out once a year to play in a tournament with teams from all over the country. This year, the whole family joined in as a birthday gift. So Mom and Dad flew out from Hawaii, David and Holly drove over from San Diego, and Dave and I flew in from Chicago. It was pretty epic.


Also very hot. Very, very hot. 100-110 degree hot. I suppose it is the desert. I'd also like to say that I was pretty surprised at the beauty of the scenery. My expectations were... low. It was gorgeous. So nice to see some mountains.



Dad's team got second place! I got a tan. We only lost $8 to the great state of Nevada. Our condo was AWE. SOME. (Read here: waterfall shower, jacuzzi tub, and flat screen TVs in every room awesome.) Dave had his first In-N-Out and BJs dining experiences. Played cards, took naps, watched baseball, walked the strip, ate snacks, played in the pool, had handstand contests, etc. etc.



To sum it all up: had fun. FUN!



I'm already planning the next vacation for California in 5 weeks. Yahoo!

Away to Pittsfield

I promised you pictures and pictures you will get. Here are some highlights from Paige and my weekend trip to her hometown...
This is Adrienne. It may look like Paige is attacking her, but it's the opposite. Adrienne was realllly excited about picking raspberries. In fact, she stole many from us. Ha!

One of our first stops was for lunch (ahem, "lunch") at the Dari Ripple. Mmm... ice cream! And candy!

Yep, that's me, the city-island girl, jumping at the corn's edge.

Mama and baby. She's five hours old and is standing for the first time. Let's just say, she was a little bit shell-shocked.

Omigosh, I was in the midst of COWS. I was excited.

Time is blowing my mind! We stopped in itty-bitty Time, Illinois to take some photos and make some time puns, including: let's journey through Time!

Roomies!

So those are some photo highlights of our weekend. We came back tired, sunned, and happy. I'm still dreaming of ice cream from the Dari Ripple...

Paradise!

Just a quick note to say Hawaii is lovely (as always), we have not (yet) turned into lobsters, and vacation is awesome.

One Week!

Til this:

And this:

And this:

Oh, and THIS:


Eeee, I can't wait!

A weekend in Leland

This weekend was truly a treat. It was a college friend reunion of sorts in honor of our dear friend Austin's wedding to Sierra. We convened from all over... Costa Rica, Chicago, California, Massachusetts, and other far-flung places. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to be with this group of people again, for the first time in a year. The weather was great, the location beautiful, the food delicious, the wedding perfect, and the company - the company was sweet. I didn't take many pictures (by my standard), I don't even have any of the actual ceremony, nor the bride and groom (I'm short!), but I do have a few photos to share...

Keiko and me on a group trip to lunch. I'm obviously very excited. Boys in the background, probably causing mayhem, as usual. (Sorry your eyes are closed Keiko, you're still looking cute. See picture below with your eyes open...)


Leland, Michigan.
A welcome sight after months of city-living.


Dave and me at the wedding. Pre-insane dance party.


Austin, the groom, and Dave. Former roommates. (Now Austin has a new roommate!)


The dance floor at the wedding. We went for 2.5+ hours strong. It might have been the best dance party of my life. A friend, Jeff, was the DJ and he did an AMAZING job. We were impressed, as always, with his creative genius.


Justine and Dave requested that this picture be posted on my blog. Here you go guys. You're both pretty cute. (As in very.)


Because we couldn't bear to part so soon (or quickly), we caravaned (not a real verb?) through Michigan. We were five cars strong and the scenery for the first part of our drive was picturesque.