Vacations Are Good.
I spent the last week on the Oregon coast with my family. We (my Mom and I and my Dad and Chris) took over a thousand photos.
One of my favorite memories is eating dinner with the whole family at a pizza place and looking over my parents and stopping time for an instant. In that moment I thought about being a kid and dreaming forward to a time when each of us kids would have our own families. I caught my breath as I thought about how fast time really flies and how thankful I am for times like this when we all get the chance to be together.
Here are some of my favorite shots:
Cousin Henry (and my cousin Rob's son Aidan) hitting golf balls.
My brother getting down low to capture the action.
We spent one whole afternoon out on the north spit eating freshly cooked crab that my Dad caught in this boat. He ferried all of us out there in batches in his driftboat and pulled up crab pots in between. This is something we used to do when we were kids - so fun to bring this tradition to our own children.
There is really nothing quite like eating Dungeness crab fresh from the ocean cooked in a pot right on the beach.
And there's nothing quite like getting to play chase with your cousins on the beach.
Hello sand.
These three baby girls were all born within less than a year of each other.
Another day was spent with a picnic on a golf course. These four LOVE golf.
Cousin Lucy is so close to walking on her own consistently.
My kids.
Me, Anna, and Lily.
Us.
The girls - walking the trails at Shore Acres.
Henry & Simon.
There are so many more. I can't wait to take some of these and pair them with photos from when I was a kid in these very same locations.
Right now it's back to the business of cleaning up the house, making lists of things that need to be taken care of in the next couple of days, and getting back to our "normal" routine. Coming home from vacation is always a bit of a shock to the system.
And, oh yea, doing a bit of celebrating: Chris was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Oregon State Senate yesterday. He will move from the Oregon House of Representatives to the Oregon Senate once he has been sworn in - sometime in the next 30 days or so. I am very, very proud of him.
Congratulations to Chris. I agree about crab on the beach; nothing quite like it.
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Ali - whenever I need a little pick me up during my busy days, specially when I miss my grown-up kids, I pop over to your blog wishing and hoping you have new Anna and Simon pics up. That little impish girlie never fails to elicit a huge smile from me. God bless all of you.
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Such beautiful photos Ali!! Love the one of Simon and Anna...so cute! Also...congrats to Chris! What a wonderful opportunity :)
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Congratulations to Chris and to you.
You're vacation on the coast sounds wonderful. We love the Oregon coast. Nothing much beats watching the kids play in the sand.
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Love all the photos, looks like you guys had an amazing time :) Your family is so beautiful!
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Congratulations to Chris!
What beautiful pictures of a beautiful family!
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I have been fallowing the Senate thing on KLCC and KOAC. Was happy to hear he made it!! Congrates!
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GREAT pics and a huge congrats to Chris!! WOW...what a great time in your lives!
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Wow...these vacation photos are beautiful! I can't wait to see what you do with them. Enjoy the rest of your summer and congrats to Chris!!!
Amber Osburn
California
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Congratulations to Chris, this is so very exciting for your family!
Your pictures, again, are fantastic...
I envy your family crab tradition. That's something we just don't know anything about here in Minnesota, but it sounds wonderful!
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YAY for Chris!!!
Also, I love this photo share. So good to see everyone and I can't get over how much Henry has grown! All the kids are growing so fast! Finally, I love the golf clubs. Recently, we visited good will to pick up a few for Duncan (he's into golf right now and I blame his great uncle -- a really good player and Scottish, LOL!). Oh yeah, and I love the shot of the baby girls and you all -- such a great moment and capture!
The whole pile of pictures just brings a great big smile to my face -- thanks for sharing, Ali!
=) Liz
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i finally got to visit oregon last month. a long waited dream came true. i want to live in portland one day!
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Nothing like the Oregon Coast, and time spent with family makes it even more special!Congrat's to Chris he is doing a great job, glad to have him in the neighborhood!
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Congrats to Chris, you, and the family! What an amazing accomplishment to be appointed to the SENATE! WOWZERS!!!
I love your pictures.....ahhhhh, what you wrote is amazing too, we all wish for times like those with our families....we get those every now and again and they are soulful times...thanks for sharing!
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What wonderful family photos - and many, many congratulations to Chris!
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those are beautiful family photos! i especially love the one of Simon and Anna! so happy for you and Chris! Congratulations!
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Beautiful pictures! Congrats to Chris!
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I've been having a lot of those time flies thoughts lately. I can't believe my baby is 13 and needs to shave!! Glad to know I am not the only one that takes hundreds of photos....my family sometimes thinks I am nuts. Thanks for sharing the pics..they are great. Congrats to Chris. Quite an accomplishment. Now you can refer to yourself as the Senator's wife!
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I am so jealous! Looks like the perfect vacation!
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Congrats to Chris. I know you are very proud of him, as you should be. I'm glad to see you enjoying family times so much. I miss my dad, who has been gone now for 7 years. It makes you really appreciate the family times you have.
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Glad you guys had a great family vaca. Love the pictures! Congrats to Chris on his new role!
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CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS!! How awesome to be doing such a good job and making a difference.
Love the family photos, Anna looks so much like you.
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Ali- Congrats to Chris! :) How awesome is that! :) I loved your pics...looks like you all had a wonderful time! :)
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love the photos..thank you for encouraging us to capture the moment of each day..time flies..my "lil" boy is engaged..enjoy now it is all we have...congrats to Chris..we need more people like him..
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big congratulations to Chris, that is awesome news!! loving all the vacay photos and i just can't get over how adorable Anna's smile is, she is just too cute. you have such a beautiful family Ali, and i always love reading your updates :)
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