A Trip Home to Oregon

We took a trip home to Oregon the first week of September and though it was a long day of traveling to go from the East to the West coast, it was so much fun to see both of our families. We spent the first few days in Bend, OR with our parents and the rest of the time in Eugene. Brandon was only home for 3 days since he had to get back for work, but I stayed another 5 days to spend more time with family. 

There is a new recreation facility in Sunriver and we took Halle to that one day and she loved playing in the water. The rest of the time in Eugene was spent enjoying time with family and the awesome summer weather. It was around 70-80's, perfectly clear and NO humidity...you can't beat that weather! Halle got to play at some parks, feed the ducks, go on a couple of carousels, play in a little pool in my parents backyard, go on walks and she also got to play with her cousins, Kenzie and Brynlee. It was so nice to be home and to have some company and a couple of breaks for me! I got to the go the Oregon football game while Brandon and his family watched Halle, spent a whole day shopping with my mom and sister and got a much needed haircut...thank you to all who watched Halle! Thank you also to my sister who made a special visit just to spend time with Halle and I!

Thankfully, I didn't have to travel back by myself since Brandon's mom came back with me. It is a good thing too since it was a long day of traveling and we didn't get back to the apartment until after 1am! Plus, Brandon was on call the night we got home (Friday) and it is always tough to come home to an empty house. 

Speaking of Brandon...the poor guy has had some rough days recently...he was on call on Friday with no sleep, on 2nd call on Sunday, on call again on Monday with no sleep and he is also on call tomorrow. He is exhausted but never complains however, I am hoping he gets home a little earlier tonight so that he can get some much needed sleep. He was a trooper and spent his post-call day with us at the aquarium instead of sleeping! 

I was so glad to have his Mom here to keep Halle and I company. She flew back home today but we would've been SO lonely without her. We got to do some fun things too that I probably wouldn't have ventured out to do by myself...we took the water taxi from the Inner Harbor over to Fells Point and walked around over there. It is a cute place with a lot of shopping/dining areas. She also got to see Halle at MyGym and come to the Baltimore aquarium with us. Thanks Lagaytha for all of the help!

Just a few more weeks in Baltimore and for the first time ever, I am looking forward to the fall in Minnesota! It is finally cooling off here in Baltimore but we are ready to be back with friends and to be in our house. Halle is also in much need of a schedule. With all of the traveling and letting her stay up to see Brandon when he comes home, she is all off any sort of routine. Hey, I'm just teaching her flexibility right?!? At least that is what I tell myself!

 With Mema and Papa

 There is a 91 year difference between these two and I just loved seeing them together - thanks Gigi for all of the books!

  

 

 

 

 

    

 We took Halle to feed the ducks and when we first walked up, all of these larger domestic ducks started attacking us for the food...I quickly tossed the bread over to my Dad and let him handle it. We went somewhere else for a bit in hopes that the big guys would leave and then came back to feed the smaller ducks, which Halle loved!

  

 

It was so fun to see Halle play with Kenzie - they played really well together and are just so cute!

 

Mema and Papa with their 3 granddaughters - Kenzie, Halle and Brynlee

 

It is always tough to say goodbye...

Some pictures while Mema was visiting:

Pretty amazing how this picture turned out at the aquarium considering Brandon is going on 36 hours straight with no sleep...I have no clue how he does it! He did take a couple of cat naps during the dolphin show and whenever we were sitting down... Thanks Daddy for all of your hard work!