So remember when I shot those ballet photos? Well, they are finally out in the open now, so I wanted to share them with you. These were my favorites from the day -- I hope you enjoy  them as well.I'm heading back to Kansas tomorrow to be with my mother, so things might be slow or quiet on the blog for awhile. Please be patient with me...

So, here's the deal. Most of these photos are from our week away on vacation. They are happy, wonderful times.But things around the house are not so great right now. My mom has gotten much worse at a pretty alarming rate. I'm trying to make plans for my work this week in case I need to get home right away. There are many, many tears being shed and a lot of sadness.But these photos were taken before my mom fell ill, and before we knew what was around the corner. And I don't want to forget those happy times. Also, there's a bonus treat at the end.Ezra and Uncle Steve in Oregon playing a bit of soccer.The cousins got buried at the beach. It's kinda hard to tell, but they were transformed into a 2-headed mermaid. Yes. Those are sand nipples. Another shot from Jamie.Oh how I love watching him drink from his cup. I shot these today because I did want to capture him *right* before he started crawling. And I love how happy he is to see Magda here.See what I mean? We are almost off to the races.The photos below were taken by the lovely Miss Margaret. I love these images so much, and I know a lot of you always request to see Ezra with me. So here you go. Isn't that lady talented?

We got up early this morning and packed up, drove to Portland (through horrendous traffic), turned in the rental car, got through security, got on our 3+ hour flight, picked up the dog, and we are now home and the kid is in bed at 11 pm. We are completely wiped out.So here is a photo from earlier in the week. This is Haystack Rock, which you probably recognize from The Goonies. We were there on Monday with the family, and I took these photos because of the crazy flocks of birds that were going nuts at the top of the rock. There's a closer image below so you can see what I'm talking about. It was so cool.Next week we'll return to normal around these parts. We had an amazing vacation, but between the baby who refused to sleep while we were away and the news about my mom and the travel, I am operating in zombie mode.See you kids on the other side (I hope).

Today we drove to wine country with Ez and tasted Pinots in the warmer-than-usual climate. I guess "normally" this time of year it's in the 60s. Today it was in the 90s! The weather was lovely. Then tonight when we returned to the coast, the beaches were socked in with fog. We went for a stroll down along the water and I snapped a few images.While the wineries were beautiful today, I wasn't really in the mood for them. I got a call late last night from my brother, telling me my mom was on her way to the ER. I was up all night waiting for updates on her health, and this morning and afternoon, while I had my phone at my side (and checked it constantly), tasting wines wasn't really what I felt like doing. Walking in the fog was more my speed today.I know many of you will be curious about my Mom's health, but I feel like those matters are her stories to tell, not mine, and I want to protect her privacy. All I will say is that she was admitted to the hospital, and we hope she will be released by Monday. Please keep her in your prayers.Below are a few more photos from today. I think you can tell, I just wasn't really in the mood to shoot.This is the view from the beach, back at the homes on the coast as the fog started to lift a little.These wineries are kinda pretty, eh?And the lavender grows like mad here! I think I have killed about 7 lavender plants in my time in Minnesota. Oh man, if I lived in Oregon I might actual GARDEN. FOR FUN.

Today we ventured over to Astoria for a delicious lunch and to check out the town. Astoria seems to be to Portland what Duluth is to Minneapolis. Lots of cool dive bars, lots of ships, and a town on a big hill by a lot of water. This photo was taken right at the mouth of the Columbia river (a lot of the ships enter the river here from the Pacific and some make it all the way to Portland).It was a great daytrip, and then tonight I met up with my high school friend Tucker, who drove down to the coast from Portland, and we had dinner while watching the sun lower over the ocean before hula hooping on the beach. Yes, she made me do it. She insisted it brought pure happiness each time, and I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty fun. (Jamie was back at the cottage putting the boy to bed. The day I get Jamie to hula hoop on the beach, I *promise* I will capture a photo of it!) 

This morning, our extended family headed into Portland, and Ezra, Jamie and I explored the coast. We had such an amazing time with all the cousins (and Ezra's Aunt and Uncle!), and we were a touch sad to see them all go. But at the same time, now we can just let the days (and the naps) happen as they may.And speaking of, we really needed those naps to fall into place today because Ezra was up every hour ALL NIGHT LONG with an upset stomach last night. Don't worry, he's feeling much, much better now. But we were a bit like zombies today. So what did we do? We tackled the laundry, had a picnic on the beach, drove down to Manzanita and took in the sights and watched part of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Overall, a pretty great day.In Manzanita, the clouds were magnificent, and I shot a few images of the beach and the kite surfers out on the water -- that's the photo up top, if you're wondering what those black specks are in the sky and on the water.Also, the drive to Manzanita goes by my very favorite spot in the U.S. (yes, it's true), so I took more photos of it. If you've ever been to my home, the I have a similar shot from my last visit hanging above my fireplace. It's below.I mean, really. Is that not amazing?And lastly, Jamie took some images of Ezra and I on the beach tonight during our dinner picnic. I tend to object to my own photo being taken, particularly after a night where I got no more than 1.5 hours of consecutive sleep. But I had to post this one because my kid is just too dang adorable. Sorry.That's it. No internet share today because I'm beat and heading off to bed. Please send me all the good sleep juju you can muster!

What a weekend! On Saturday, we left bright and early and flew with Ezra to Portland, where we then rented a car and headed west to the coast. It was an amazing day. First off, it was my birthday. Yes, I am now 40. With an infant. Life is funny.Second, it was Jamie's first Father's Day weekend! So we wanted to make it special, and man did we win at that.We managed to keep Ez completely entertained on the 3.5-hour flight on Saturday (a modern-day miracle, or the best gift ever), and he was in a super great mood, charming the flight attendants like crazy. Then we drove into the city and grabbed a quick lunch at this AMAZING middle eastern restaurant where Ezra had schwarma for the first time (which he loved just like his parents).And then we were off to the coast! The drive was STUNNING, and we took in the amazing views along with the amazing road-side fruit stands (strawberries for days, I tell you).Once we got to the cottage, it was only 3:30 in the afternoon thanks to the time zone (we fit a LOT into this birthday, I tell you). So we settled into the place (Ezra loves the bed), and then we met up with Jamie's brother and sister-in-law and all the cousins. Oh man, did we have fun!So far, we've all eaten a lot of pizza, a lot of berries and had a lot of delicious wine. There have been games of badminton (the above photo is Jamie beating his brother, but then they put money on the game and Brother Steve took over), movies watched, boogie boarding on the beach, amazing meals at fancy restaurants and delicious birthday cake.Ezra is completely enamored by all of his cousins, but Emma here seems to have stolen his heart as he cannot keep his eyes off of her. It's adorable.Here he is hanging out with Eloise. We realized on this trip that I was Eloise's age the first time I met her, and she was Ezra's age. Crazy.And his Aunt Amanda who makes him super happy...Here is Cousin Johnny making a very important call in the badminton game.Ezra loves playing with Uncle Steve's hat.Here is Eloise and Theo watching the competition.Emma and Ezra again, hamming it up.The beach here is just as lovely as the last time we visited. And it's pretty empty, which I love. Having this much gorgeous space to ourselves in June is such a treat. I love this shot of Johnny heading out to boogie board.And this was my favorite moment of the weekend, when Jamie and Ezra napped together on Father's Day. Oh man. These guys bring me so much happiness.

Well kids, it's almost time for our summer vacation. This has me packing Ezra today between answering emails and finishing up last-minute work details. And this girl here? She knows what that suitcase means. And until she sees her stuff make its way into said suitcase, she's a little depressed.There was a lot of moping around the house today. Heavy sighs. Avoided eye contact.Aw, man. I'm gonna miss her so much. But I'm pretty sure she'd rather stay here playing with her dog friend all week than fly inside the belly of a cold airplane for seven hours. So she's just gonna have to trust me on this one.For your internet share of the day, go watch this. I couldn't agree more.