Oregon Vacation

We had an amazing vacation this past week as we traveled up to Oregon to visit family and friends. Our journey began with a 13.5 hour drive from Fountain Valley to Grants Pass, Oregon! We drove over night so the girls would be sleeping, which was nice for them but rough on Mike and me. As we get older we notice that our night vision is fading...I thought that only happened after 60 or something??? We arrived in GP at 8:30 in the morning and had enough time to eat a wonderful breakfast, hand the kids over to my parents, and head off to bed. I think it's safe to say Meadow could have cared less if we were there or not! With the park at my parents house and all the fun toys she was in heaven.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery at my parents house, and enjoying all the help with the kids. Diapers were changed, meals were fed, and baths were given...such a nice break that Mike and I needed!

On Monday we headed up to Crater Lake to meet up with Grammy(Sharon) and Linda to spend the afternoon. We had a great lunch and walked around taking in the breathtaking views. Sharon and Linda were in Ashland for the Shakespeare festival and decided to spend the night at the Lodge at Crater Lake.

Tuesday Mike and I ventured out, without the girls, and did some wine tasting. What a great time for us!!! Unfortunately our wine tasting skills aren't what they used to be and we were done after 3 wineries, but it was gorgeous! We stopped at 2 wineries that were very small and the actual wine makers were the ones pouring the wine. One of which Mike might even do business with in the future. (can we go anywhere without Mike talking shop???) We stopped in town on the way home and had lunch overlooking the river watching everyone float on by.

Wednesday we were treated by my parents to a white water rafting trip down the Rogue River. We were both really excited to sit in the boat and hit some great rapids. What we weren't expecting is that they would convince us to run the river in our own single man kayaks. This seemed a little scary at first, but after the second rapid we were both stoked to be navigating the river on our own. It was the two of us, one other guy, and the two guides. We stopped after a few hours for lunch, and then were back on the river. As we headed down, we came up to our only class 3 rapid. I started to get a little nervous, and after I saw the rapid I was very nervous! The boys decided to go ahead of me, mainly because Mike was so nervous watching me head down the rapid that it was hard for him to focus on what he was doing. Smart move on his part, since in the second small rapid I hit I flipped my kayak and was out on my own. Now to my credit, I got myself turned around and had my toes and nose in the air, but if I'm being honest I felt like I was drowning! I couldn't see where I was going and was only above water for split seconds at a time to gasp for air and then I was back under. Mike made it down the rapid no problem, of course, only to have his celebration quickly ended by our guide yelling, "your wife is swimming!" According to Mike his heart sunk in his chest as he watched my little feeties head right towards a giant boulder. With no skill on my part I moved around the boulder and was spit out the bottom of the rapid, and was able to swim over and catch my favorite visor, much to the dismay of our guide! He pulled me onto the big boat, and I decided to spend the final jaunt down the river relaxing in his boat and catching my breath. He said that I swam the rapid the exact way he would have taken his kayak down. So even though I am disappointed that I couldn't make it down in my boat, I am glad I made it out unharmed!

That night we had a great dinner at my parents house, stayed up late playing cards, hearts, and finished our evening sitting outside looking at the stars. Living in Southern California you forget how beautiful the sky is at night and we were just amazed at the sight, and the silence.

On Thursday we packed up the kids and the car and headed up north to Lincoln City, Oregon where cousins John and Amy were at their family beach house for the weekend. The drive took us a measly 5 hours, but it was SO worth it! It is called a beach house but it is actually perched on a beautiful lake just 2 miles from the beach. We spent 3 days hanging out with John and Amy and their daughter Ava; Cousin Janna and her daughters Talia and Savai, and Mike's childhood friend Hunter, his wife Stacy, and their daughter Mila. A packed house with 6 adorable little girls! It was so fun to watch them all together, and even more fun when they went to bed and we stayed up talking and playing cards/yahtzee. We definitely want to make this an annual trip to get us all together!

That Sunday we drove back down to Grants Pass to stay the night before our long drive home. It was so nice to see my parents one last time and get a little break from the kids before it was back to reality. I miss my mom and dad everyday, but it is so worth it for us to have these incredible trips to their house where we get to spend so much quality time with them. It's a special time for us, and I can picture our girls telling stories of visiting Mena and Papa in Oregon, much the same way my mom tells me stories about spending time on her grandparents ranch.

We left Monday morning, and after many stops, we made it home to FV just after 11pm. Although we were both tired from the drive, we have finally come home from a vacation feeling rested and rejuvenated.

And so, there is our long tale of our Kraber family road trip.

Let me give one last shout out to Mike...it is his 36th birthday today!!!

Lake Mission Viejo

We spent the afternoon yesterday at Lake Mission Viejo with Auntie Kim, Cousins Morgan and Eliza, and Grandma Linda. It was so much fun and a gorgeous day! Eliza and Emma hung out in the shade while Morgan and Meadow were water bound! I was so proud that Meadow's swimming lessons are paying off. Se ran right in the water....actually she dove in after a few steps! Going under water and coming up on her own! Morgan was a little more cautious, probably didn't want to get her hair all wet, but she and Meadow had fun playing ring around the rosy and falling in the water.
On a few side notes..... Emma is now sleeping in her crib in her own room. With Meadow, that was a happy time, but with Emma I am feeling sad. Could this be it? Will I never have a little baby in the bassinet next to me in our room? She is 12 weeks old and I fel like she might as well already be 16.... I ran 5 miles today as part of my training for the Long Beach Half Marathon and it felt amazing! I finally hit the point in my training where I feel like a real runner again. I have always enjoyed clearing my head while running, and today I kept thinking about my girls. I was hoping that maybe someday they would watch me cross the finish line of a race and be proud of me. And that maybe I would be able to inspire them in the way that my mom has always inspired me. Thanks Mommy, for passing on a hobby that makes me feel so great!

Moving Right Along

Well, it is definitely true that the second baby grows much faster that the first! Emma has such a little personality, I can't believe she isn't even 3 months old yet! It's scary, but one day I know we are all going to laugh as we call Meadow the calm Kraber girl. Emma is all about smiling and cooing and starting to laugh. She can roll over from her tummy to her back, and any day now she will be sleeping in her own crib. At her 2 month appointment she weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces, and 24 inches long. She is in the 75th percentile for her weight, and almost off the charts in height. Long and lean...she must take after her uncles! Meadow is still amazing us every day with the hilarious things she says. I wish I could have a camera or recorder on her 24/7 to remember it all. Here are a few of my favorites: "nothing can stop me mommy!" "I'm really frustrated today." "What are we going to do this weekend?" "I've changed my mind!" Oh, and one more not so favorite, as she dropped the remote control she looked up and said: "God Dammit". I blame it on the Indians...maybe if they were playing better Daddy wouldn't have to yell at the TV! So here are some new pics of the girls and a video from today when Pixie came to visit.

Gymboreeeeeeee!

New videos of Emma

Well, Emma's baby acne is finally clearing up so now we can get pictures and video of her! She loves to hang out and stare at the TV...yup, she's definitely our baby! She is smiling now and not just because of gas, but because she is a happy baby! Here are some videos for the grandparents to play over and over and over again!

Strawberry Farms and such

We went to Tanaka Farms yesterday with some friends from Stroller Strides and had a blast! We went on a wagon tour of the farm and got to sample the fresh veggies straight out of the ground! Meadow loved the Romaine lettuce and the carrot, but decided the green onion was 'too spicy'! They sop at the Strawberry fields for 15 minutes to let you pick your own, you get to take home a basket but there was no limit on how many you ate while you were out there! It's amazing how great strawberries taste right off the vine with nothing on them. I was surprised that Meadow only sampled a few, she was so excited to pick them and place them in her basket. She know just which ones were ripe, which was great since I was carrying Emma in my Moby wrap that had loosened on the wagon ride so I only had one free hand. When we got back to the wagon all the other kids were covered in Strawberry and Meadow was the cleanest by far! This is a first for us, I was so proud. She sat carefully for the whole ride back making sure not to spill her basket of strawberries.

I am back to teaching Stroller Strides this week and it feels amazing to be working out again. Emma is still getting used to being in her car seat in the stroller, but that's ok...she will get the hang of it eventually! She is more alert everyday and is even watching the toys on her swing as the spin around. Meadow still thinks Emma is just the cutest thing on the planet, and I am so proud at what a wonderful big sister she is!

I promise to post more pictures soon, poor Emma has really bad baby acne on her face right now so I am not snapping away with the camera. She'd kill me when she got older!

Soooo, I think I've got this...........

Home now for almost 3 weeks with baby Emma and I think we have the swing of this whole 2 kid thing. We're focussed on paying a lot of attention to Meadow to keep her from seeking it out( which means she empties out Emma's dresser into the living room, or takes the toilet bowl brush for a tour of the house), trying to keep on top of the laundry so we don't get overwhelmed, and spending plenty of time interacting with Emma to stimulate that little brain! We are not completely sleep deprived which is awesome, and Meadow still manages to get a bath everyday...well almost everyday! I even ventured out wih both girls today to the park where Meadow played with her BFF Makayla at the park and fed the squirrels and ducks.

Oh, I guess I should add in that we have all this under control now, but I have yet to start teaching SS classes, haven't had any events for my other job, and we are still getting dinner delivered from all my amazing girlfriends 3 days a week! It's crazy how clean our kitchen can be when we aren't making dinner every night!

I keep telling myself it is baby steps into the real world and I think we will do just fine even when the meals stop!