Time for a change

This has been an emotional week for Team Hoybook.  On Wednesday, I found out my position at work was being eliminated.  On Thursday, we decided to move home to Omaha.

That might seem like a pretty extreme reaction to being laid off, but in all honesty, we have been planning a move to Omaha for quite some time.  After Kate was born, B and I both developed severe cases of home-sickness and started talking about the appropriate remedy.  After some serious heart-to-heart discussions, we decided that the best choice for our little family would be a healthy dose of Nebraska.

B started to look into jobs and happened to stumble upon a posting for a photography studio manager.  He contacted them, interviewed via Skype and was soon offered a job with Tin Box Weddings. But, we had just signed a lease for another year at our place and weren't ready to move quite yet so we planned to make our trek east in October of 2013.

Things were going well--no one we told had spilled the beans yet and B was working remotely for Tin Box--until Wednesday.  I found out that REI was eliminating my position and creating a new position for the entire Portland area.  I would have the option to apply, but my job as I knew it, would be over on March 22nd.  I guess everything happens for a reason.  It gave us the kickstart we needed to leave Portland behind and start a new adventure in Omaha.

So, Team Hoybook will be heading for the Good Life on May 4th.  It is bittersweet in many ways because we are losing just as much as we are gaining.  We are looking forward to being around family and friends, but are dreading leaving our west coast family and friends. We are excited for more sunny days, but are bummed to leave behind the wilderness we love.  *sigh* Thank goodness for Facebook and airplanes.

Ready or not Nebraska, here we come.

Checking the list

Ever since moving to Portland, I have slowly created this list of things I wanted to see or do on the west coast. Just as slowly, we have been checking them off.  See here, here and here.  Ever since Kate was born, we have created another list of things that we want her to see and experience on the west coast.  See here and here.

This past weekend, we checked one more thing off both lists as we headed into the Gorge and spent a gorgeous day biking along the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.  The path follows the old highway that was built through the Gorge in the 1920's. Part of the highway is still passable for cars, but parts that aren't have been turned into an awesome multi-use path, including a section through two old tunnels. It was downright lovely.

Hmm, this is becoming a familiar sight in the trailer...

Look, she's awake!  And being very demanding with all of her "Whee Daddy, faster!"talk.

We capped the day off with an enthusiastic rock throwing session along the shore of the Columbia River in Hood River.  Our girl was determined to move the beach into the water, one rock at a time.

The little tease called Spring

It happens every year.  That little tease, let's call her Spring, shows up for a couple of days and delivers gorgeous sunny skies and warm temps.  Sure enough, we fell for her tricks.

So as to not waste Spring and her wonderful loveliness, Julia and I packed up the girls and some sand toys, headed to far reaches of Sauvie Island and let them tire their little hearts out digging in the sand along the Columbia River.

Here is Kate at the beginning of the beach trip.  Politely staying clean and digging some sand into a bucket. 

Haley and Eden bringing the river up onto the beach one little scoopful at a time.

                   

Cute cute mama and daughter.

 Here is Kate at the end of our beach trip. Ears, nose, mouth and diaper full of sand.

 Three out of five looking at the camera is pretty good, I would say.

Just like that

All of a sudden, our baby is gone and we have a little girl.  Check out that ponytail!

Donuts for Grownups

Before we headed out for our bike ride, we decided to partake in Portland's latest foodie craze: gourmet donuts.  We might have paid $2.50 for each one, but gosh darn, they were delicious.

Next time you are in Portland, hit up Blue Star Donuts.  The Key Lime Meyer Lemon curd filled and the Blueberry Basil glazed options will blow your mind.  Or, if you'd like, just lick the powdered sugar off all of them like Kate did. Equally as acceptable.

Lowering expectations

Before we had Kate, B and I had many conversations about how she was going to change our lives.  Naturally, one of the topics we spent the most time discussing was how we were going to continue doing all of the things we loved, only with a small person in tow.

Over the past 18 months of figuring it out, I have had a realization.  We can definitely still do everything that we loved before Kate, we just have to lower our expectations about the whole experience. Believe me, this didn't come easy.  Let's just say that we've had to abort several adventures this year after realizing we shot a little too high in the extreme department.

However, after this sort of hard fought epiphany, things have been great.  Instead of trying to go for a 4 mile backcountry ski trip, we go sledding for 45 minutes in the parking lot. Instead of trying to go on 8 mile hikes up ridiculous grades in rainy weather, we save our hiking for sunny days and paved trails. And instead of going on 40 mile bike rides on lovely country roads alongside apple orchards, we do what we did over the weekend.  Headed west to the Banks-Vernonia trail.  A paved, flat rails-to-trails wonder that was just right for our little adventure family.

Well, at least B and I had a good time.  This little someone had herself a nice, smooth 14 mile snooze.

#ifkatecouldtalkinfullsentences

Arrrgghhh!  Slide hair can be so unruly.