Every year, we go on vacation with JUST US and technology is strictly forbidden. And every year is magnificent.
This year? This year, we went on vacation with about 5 million other people. Give or take 10 or so.
We were determined to make it back to Portland to visit all of our friends and old haunts and of course we had to go to my parents' cabin for our annual Fourth of July Bacchanal.
Let's just say that vacation was a little different this year.
We arrived in Portland in the midst of a humid heat wave. It was fabulous. Portland is a great city, but it's truly a great city when it's not raining or cloudy and you can actually see things.
We saw so many friends in Portland that I had to write everything down on our google calendar, lest I forget an appointment. And we STILL didn't see everyone, which made us realize that we wanted to come back before Christmas too. Nine years in one city will do that to you. Portland remains deeply embedded in our hearts. Also? We really, really miss our friends.
Weirdest moment of the trip was driving by our house (which we still own and now rent out) and seeing some strange lady on the deck. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Brian shouted from the car. Luckily, the windows were closed but yeah. It's a little strange to see a total stranger living in your house, the same house you brought both your babies home to, the first house you owned, the house where SO MANY things happened over 9 years. So yeah. That was a strange moment.
After Portland, we headed to my parents' newly re-built cabin on the Columbia River in Central Washington. There were 13 people there. Count 'em all: THIRTEEN. The new cabin has 5 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms, so there was sufficient room for everyone but damn. That's a lot of people.
We did a lot of swimming, kayaking, jetskiing, hanging out on the beach, and spending time together. It was well worth the insane amount of noise to see my whole family at once for the first time in over 6 months. Also, we celebrated the Fourth of July twice because dude. America. We had to celebrate on July 4th in George, WA with a parade and festival and then we had to celebrate on July 6th in Sunlands with kids' games, a kid parade and fireworks. Yeah. Go America.
When we finally boarded the plane for home, 10 days after we originally left, I breathed a big sigh because it was finally QUIET. We had left Hazel with her grandparents for the week and we only had one very easy baby to take care of (by the way? One kid? EASIEST THING EVER). I reveled in the quiet for quite a while, even telling Brian several times to "PLEASE STOP TALKING WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING.
Vacation was awesome. Coming home was awesome. Now? I am truly looking forward to our "Barker family ONLY and no technology allowed" vacation next week. Bring it on.
