hey hey hi, everyone! slightly MIA around here for the past little bit, but i'm a firm believer that if you've just escaped a vehicle after 12 hours of trying to talk a toddler off the proverbial ledge, well, you need a few days to recover.

ps. get ready for just a giant photo dump.


yes. from our chico, california to our home - the trip took 12 hours. that included -

+ 3 strategic stops - delicious brewery in truckee, mcdonald's play area (never again), and a much needed stop for dinner.

+ 23094 granola bars.

+304099999999 fruit and veggie pouches.

+ 1 bag of popcorn.

+ 23 GB of data as kaye pounded out some serious youtube kids.

+ 3 this american life podcasts - the farmer and i quite enjoyed.

and i think that's how we clawed our way to survival. speaking of survival...as we were driving over donner's pass, just after a little snow storm, i couldn't help but look up this insane history story. no seriously...look it up. just a little bit of cannibalism in hopes of survival during a trip out west. yikes.

you may be wondering why we didn't split the trip up? we did.

on the way there we drove halfway, stopped at a hotel, and felt pretty good about how things were going. until they weren't.

question - how does one get two young children to sleep in the same room?

 i know it's possible...just not for our kids. apparently we should have practiced co-sleeping, because nobody got any sleep that night...except kaye. that girl can sleep through anything.

oh! and it's worth mentioning that sawyer decided that this trip was the very most perfect time to have four FOUR teeth come in. she's exactly doubled her tooth count. so you can imagine what a little dream boat she was during our trip.


okay...but we did have an absolutely wonderful time. i'm talking - delicious food, mini-hikes, beer, whiskey, sierra nevada brewery tour (for the boys), cousin time, ping pong, tandem bike rides...and did i mention food and pie and food? guh. i need a detox.


the worst part is being gone a day and then realizing you want to go back. it may have something to do with it being 10ยบ on the farm or it may have something to do with my niece, reese. (eh-hum - the best baby ever.)


no really - i was kind of not so secretly hoping that she would be a feisty, little, sass...but it turns out, she just smiles and coos, and putters her lips a lot. she's a great sleeper and just all around happy. maybe she'll get sassier in the coming months and give them a little run for their money. maybe.

i hope everyone else had an absolutely splendid thanksgiving!