Public Transit City

We love Portland for many reasons, and a big one is our public transit. The other morning we walked to the MAX train, then jumped on the streetcar, lifted off in the Tram, then took the streetcar back to the Pearl to catch the bus back home. The only tough part was being a "Mommy Mule" for the last few blocks with Makenna strapped on my front and Kieran almost asleep riding piggy back...almost 60 pounds! It was a fun adventure though, and nice to leave the car at home.

Beautiful British Columbia

Our little Cronin Clan was lucky enough to get our first "international" vacation up to the Gulf Islands of B.C. over an extended holiday weekend, and it felt so wonderful to adventure together. Thankfully, the kids were great travelers and we only missed one ferry, but we can't even blame that on the kids! No worries though, it just meant that we got to spend more time in Victoria and take this nice family photo (minus mom ;-)

We stayed on Mayne Island at a long-time friend's parents cabin, and Levi and Rosanna just recently had their first son, Lochlan, a month after Makenna. The babes got a little tummy time together, and are surely bonded for life. Makenna also enjoyed her first hike with Daddy, and plenty of snoozes on brilliantly sunny afternoons. We certainly lucked out on the weather, it was almost like summer with blue skies every day.

Levi's Dad took Kieran on his first boat ride, where he saw seals, sea lions and bald eagles. I could tell that was the highlight of the trip for him as he excitedly share the whole story with a woman in the car next to us waiting for the ferry back home! He also loved playing football, frisbee, parachute and fir cone basketball in the old orchard by the cabin. We visited a glass blower, and bought a glass slug for the garden. Oh, I can't forget to share about making a fire every day, thankfully, Kieran seems to be a very helpful and responsible pyro...he filled up the entire kindling box with twigs before we left.

Kevin and I enjoyed ourselves at least as much as the kids, and loved spending time with the Higgs family. Mayne Island is such a relaxing and beautiful place, and was definitely our kind of vacation spot. The birds chirped and waves splashed, and life just seemed to slow down. Levi took us out kayaking while Rosanna graciously babysat, and we paddled the afternoon away. The last time we had done that was on our honeymoon, almost seven years ago now, and we agree that we need to get out on the water much more often. We also agreed that this won't be our last trip to B.C., and we certainly hope to vacation with the Higgs family again. Some families want to visit Disneyland, we'll take Mayne Island instead. Nothing can top being followed by a group of a dozen seals, splashing and playing!