Seriously, what a great weekend!
We've been planning this weekend for a while, but we got more than we even expected! It was the weekend of the Seafood and Wine Festival in Newport. But, instead of going to Newport, Trav and I decided to have our own seafood and wine fest at home! We got Alaskan King Crab legs, clam chowder, and Italian bread and cheese to make crab melts!
When we got home for shopping, my mom called to tell me that she and my dad just finished booking an all-inclusive trip to a resort in Cancun. I was so jealous! Just earlier that day I had texted Trav saying how just one year ago we were planning our trip to our all-inclusive just a little south of Cancun and how badly I wanted to go back!!
So I had mom that they were so lucky and going to have so much fun! She said, "Do you guys want to come with us?" "Of course we do mom but we don't have the money saved for that right now.... (when we went it was $2400, and another $100 in tips and travel expenses)", "Well," she said, "What if we paid half?" I couldn't believe my ears! Things like this never happen to Trav and I!! We rarely get handouts! Not that we aren't incredibly blessed, but we work hard for what we get! Really hard. I stuttered, "Are you serious? How much is half?" She said, "$1050.00" "NO WAY!, That is such a great deal!!!" "Yep, talk it over with Trav and call me back." "Ok!"
So I walked up to Trav......baby, can we go to Cancun with my parents? They'll pay half so our part will only be about $1000! He asked how much we had in our vacation budget, so I went and checked and we had $950!! If we saved our weekend money for the next couple weekends we'd have enough! WAHOOO! Trav and I are so excited. We had so much fun on our last all-inclusive and my parents are so much fun to travel with!
So, March 23rd we are heading to Cancun until the 30th. Sunshine, beaches, all you can eat and drink, pool bars, and evening shows, HERE WE COME!
Saturday we slept in until it was time to meet our dog trainer. He arrived right on time, and evaluated Emma. He gave her a temperament test and found out that she is not aggressive, which is great! He said she is a good dog, but she has an attitude! A little sas! Ha, I KNEW it.
He taught us a few commands to help, and a few ways to handle her to get her to respond to us better. We'll start the real obedience training in about a month.
After our meeting we took Emma with us on our 2 mile walk/jog. We did more walking for her, but she had a lot of fun and when she got home she went right to sleep! Our trainer said we should take her for 2 miles a day, and I think it will really help!
We got home and got ready for our day of wine and seafood!
We met my parents, Aunt Chrissy, and Grandma and went to Honeywood in the early afternoon to do some tasting and pick up a few bottles. On our way home we stopped at Willamette Valley to do some more tasting. It was really fun. We got home at about 5 and started cooking the crab! We had tons of crab!! We made crab melts, asparagus, and each had a king crab leg! We completely forgot about the chowder until everything else was almost done, so we put it on the stove and ate everything else, finishing off the meal with chowder! It was all SO good!
We continued drinking. My dad and Trav had red wine, while my mom, aunt, grandma, and myself stuck to the honeywood. We had triple berry, blueberry, ollaliaberry, and Riesling! We played Apples to Apples and had a great time just laughing and drinking.
Everyone headed out a little after 9, and Trav and I kept the party going with Yahtzee and Rock Band until about 2 am!
It was a great night, in true Seafood and Wine Festival form!
Sunday we recovered from Saturday, and got all our chores and errands done. And we did a lot of dreaming about Cancun!
It was a really great weekend. Emma is growing up, and into a really good dog! She hardly ever goes potty in the house anymore. She never did much, but now she is really good about going to the door and if we don't notice her she'll come over and whine at us and walk back over to the door. Like, come on guys, I really have to go!! She's not keeping us up at night at all anymore, which is great. Trav still gets up at 3 to let her out, but she goes right back to sleep after going potty. She brings us lots of smiles. :)
28 days till Cancun time!!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valentine's Day refreshing, romantic weekend
What a wonderful weekend! My husband booked a hotel room at the Westin Hotel in downtown Portland, and made dinner reservations at The Chart House Restaurant.
So, we left Albany in the morning, stopped for some coffee, and headed to Portland. We got there at about 12:30, and walked around downtown. In Pioneer Square they were having a free jazz festival, so we stopped in to listen for a while. It was really fun. After a couple hours we stopped at one of the many Starbucks to get some tea, and continued walking around downtown, checking out all the eccentric shops and interesting people.
At 4 we went to check in to our hotel. It was so nice. The lobby was filled with nice chairs and couches, and huge windows with beautiful drapes. There were 2 leather chairs in front of a fireplace that was SO cozy.
The exterior of The Westin in Portland
The lobby of the Westin
We went to our room to find a huge king bed, an amazing spa bath and shower, and a view of the city from the 14th floor. It was really nice. We relaxed in the room and watched some tv before getting ready at 6 to head to our hotel lounge and have a drink before dinner. The lounge was very romantic, dimly lit with candles on each table. I had a glass of wine and Trav had a beer. I gave him t
he card I made him and he really liked it.
Trav relaxin on the fluffy bed
We headed to the car at 8 to give ourselves plenty of time to find the Chart House. We ended up getting there in perfect time....about 5 minutes before our reservations. The parking was valet required, which was fun! We've never used valet parking!!
They took us to our table downstairs. The tables were all set up to look at the beautiful view. Even though they could all seat four people, they only had 2 chairs set up, both looking at the view. The back wall is windows from the floor to the ceiling and since the restaurant is on a hill, it gives a beautiful view of Portland. There is a fireplace on the side wall that gives the room a very cozy feeling. Our table was right next to the window, so we had a beautiful view. I don't think we could have been seated at a better table!
Trav and I
at the Chart House.
The view of Portland from our table.
We were greeted right away by our waiter, who was very friendly. He brought us our wine right away, while we looked over our menu's. Everything on the menu looked so good! We both had a really hard time deciding. Trav decided on the Mahi Mahi that was crab crusted and in a dynamite cream sauce. I (after much deliberation) decided on live dungoness crab. When our server came to take our order I told him what a hard time time we had deciding. He said in that case he probably shouldn't tell me the specials. And he was right! 2 more delicious entrees! I ended up going with one of the specials. Salmon topped with artichoke hearts and crab, with sides of broccoli and rice. YUM! I am SO happy I went with that choice because it was delicious. I'm not sure I've ever had a meal that good. Trav's was amazing to! We shared bites of each others meals.
We arrived back at the hotel at 11 and relaxed in the bath and shower. We were relaxed and tired so we decided to call it a night. It was a wonderful day.
Sunday we slept in, and decided to take another bath and shower, because it was so relaxing the night before. The shower had 2 adjustable heads that made it extra soothing! Once we were ready, we headed to the Greek Cusina for lunch. We both got lamb gyro's with spanikopita and Greek salad. It was very tasty! After lunch we headed to the zoo.
I LOVE the zoo! I always have a blast going, and this time was no exception! We went through the petting zoo, and we got juice to feed to the birds! The birds came right up to you and sat on your arm or shoulder to drink the juice! It was really cool. We saw the elephant do tricks, and the lions and tigers and bears (oh my). We spent a few hours walking through and seeing all the animals. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to, which was nice....since we were walking outside! The sun was shining all day.
A bird drinking from my juice cup.
This little guy didn't even care about the juice, he just wanted to sit on my shoulder. :)
On our way home we stopped at the Winco in Salem to get our grocery shopping done. We got a good deal on some fillet mignon!!! I am looking forward to eating that for a few meals....one this week!
Now the weekend is over. It went by so fast, but it was very refreshing, relaxing, fun, and a great weekend getaway!
So, we left Albany in the morning, stopped for some coffee, and headed to Portland. We got there at about 12:30, and walked around downtown. In Pioneer Square they were having a free jazz festival, so we stopped in to listen for a while. It was really fun. After a couple hours we stopped at one of the many Starbucks to get some tea, and continued walking around downtown, checking out all the eccentric shops and interesting people.
At 4 we went to check in to our hotel. It was so nice. The lobby was filled with nice chairs and couches, and huge windows with beautiful drapes. There were 2 leather chairs in front of a fireplace that was SO cozy.
The exterior of The Westin in Portland
The lobby of the Westin
We went to our room to find a huge king bed, an amazing spa bath and shower, and a view of the city from the 14th floor. It was really nice. We relaxed in the room and watched some tv before getting ready at 6 to head to our hotel lounge and have a drink before dinner. The lounge was very romantic, dimly lit with candles on each table. I had a glass of wine and Trav had a beer. I gave him t
he card I made him and he really liked it.Trav relaxin on the fluffy bed
We headed to the car at 8 to give ourselves plenty of time to find the Chart House. We ended up getting there in perfect time....about 5 minutes before our reservations. The parking was valet required, which was fun! We've never used valet parking!!
They took us to our table downstairs. The tables were all set up to look at the beautiful view. Even though they could all seat four people, they only had 2 chairs set up, both looking at the view. The back wall is windows from the floor to the ceiling and since the restaurant is on a hill, it gives a beautiful view of Portland. There is a fireplace on the side wall that gives the room a very cozy feeling. Our table was right next to the window, so we had a beautiful view. I don't think we could have been seated at a better table!
Trav and I
at the Chart House.The view of Portland from our table.
We were greeted right away by our waiter, who was very friendly. He brought us our wine right away, while we looked over our menu's. Everything on the menu looked so good! We both had a really hard time deciding. Trav decided on the Mahi Mahi that was crab crusted and in a dynamite cream sauce. I (after much deliberation) decided on live dungoness crab. When our server came to take our order I told him what a hard time time we had deciding. He said in that case he probably shouldn't tell me the specials. And he was right! 2 more delicious entrees! I ended up going with one of the specials. Salmon topped with artichoke hearts and crab, with sides of broccoli and rice. YUM! I am SO happy I went with that choice because it was delicious. I'm not sure I've ever had a meal that good. Trav's was amazing to! We shared bites of each others meals.
We arrived back at the hotel at 11 and relaxed in the bath and shower. We were relaxed and tired so we decided to call it a night. It was a wonderful day.
Sunday we slept in, and decided to take another bath and shower, because it was so relaxing the night before. The shower had 2 adjustable heads that made it extra soothing! Once we were ready, we headed to the Greek Cusina for lunch. We both got lamb gyro's with spanikopita and Greek salad. It was very tasty! After lunch we headed to the zoo.
I LOVE the zoo! I always have a blast going, and this time was no exception! We went through the petting zoo, and we got juice to feed to the birds! The birds came right up to you and sat on your arm or shoulder to drink the juice! It was really cool. We saw the elephant do tricks, and the lions and tigers and bears (oh my). We spent a few hours walking through and seeing all the animals. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to, which was nice....since we were walking outside! The sun was shining all day.
A bird drinking from my juice cup.
This little guy didn't even care about the juice, he just wanted to sit on my shoulder. :)
On our way home we stopped at the Winco in Salem to get our grocery shopping done. We got a good deal on some fillet mignon!!! I am looking forward to eating that for a few meals....one this week!
Now the weekend is over. It went by so fast, but it was very refreshing, relaxing, fun, and a great weekend getaway!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Pictures of Emma
Emma and Kayden looking out the windowI still need to get before and after pic's of the fireplace up, but heres a few of Emma from 7 - 9 weeks old. :)
PS, sorry there are so many!
On our way back from Aunt Air's for a play date with Mya! She was so tired she fell asleep in my purse on the ride home!
Loves to have her belly rubbed
Catchin some zzzz's with Daddy
Emma with her new favorite toy....and it's a football! We want her to love football!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Happy Birthday K!
This weekend we celebrated K's bday! Saturday we headed to Los Dos to enjoy some Mexican food and celebrate. Dinner was so good. I haven't been to Los Dos in a long time!
After dinner we all went to Riley's for drinks and pool. I ran into an old friend while we were there so it was fun to catch up! We talked, drank, and just enjoyed the scene for a couple hours before getting tired and heading home! When we got home we watched a movie and during the movie K called and asked if they could come to our house and crash. For the birthday boy, we said of course!
This meant we had to stay up a little later, so we played some Wii Sports. By 2:30 we were starting to wonder where they were! The bar closed at 2, so they had to leave by 2 and my house wasn't far from the bar!
I called Air, Trav called K......we couldn't get ahold of anyone! Finally at 3 we gave up and went to bed. The next morning we found out that they went home at 1 and K just forgot to call us! Air never even knew that he planned on coming over!! Good times.
Sunday I spent some time with Rachelle, we cleaned and ran our errands, and my parents came over in the afternoon to hang out! We had pizza and fudge for dinner.
It was another great and relaxing weekend! Keep 'em coming!
I am looking forward to Valentine's Day. Trav took the reigns on planning it this year and I'm excited to find out what he has in store!!
After dinner we all went to Riley's for drinks and pool. I ran into an old friend while we were there so it was fun to catch up! We talked, drank, and just enjoyed the scene for a couple hours before getting tired and heading home! When we got home we watched a movie and during the movie K called and asked if they could come to our house and crash. For the birthday boy, we said of course!
This meant we had to stay up a little later, so we played some Wii Sports. By 2:30 we were starting to wonder where they were! The bar closed at 2, so they had to leave by 2 and my house wasn't far from the bar!
I called Air, Trav called K......we couldn't get ahold of anyone! Finally at 3 we gave up and went to bed. The next morning we found out that they went home at 1 and K just forgot to call us! Air never even knew that he planned on coming over!! Good times.
Sunday I spent some time with Rachelle, we cleaned and ran our errands, and my parents came over in the afternoon to hang out! We had pizza and fudge for dinner.
It was another great and relaxing weekend! Keep 'em coming!
I am looking forward to Valentine's Day. Trav took the reigns on planning it this year and I'm excited to find out what he has in store!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
SuperBowl Sunday!
What a great game!!
Trav and I did all our chores and errands on Saturday so we could just sit back and enjoy game day!! We had a lot of fun! We had bbq'd hamburgers, baked beans, carrots and dip....it was delicious! We were rooting for the Cardinal's, and they ended up losing, but it was a great game. Close almost the whole time! Plus, I always love watching the superbowl commercials!
Over all it was a low key weekend. We watched some good movies, had some good food, and did a lot of relaxing. We've been needing some relaxing though, so it's just what the doctor ordered!
Trav and I did all our chores and errands on Saturday so we could just sit back and enjoy game day!! We had a lot of fun! We had bbq'd hamburgers, baked beans, carrots and dip....it was delicious! We were rooting for the Cardinal's, and they ended up losing, but it was a great game. Close almost the whole time! Plus, I always love watching the superbowl commercials!
Over all it was a low key weekend. We watched some good movies, had some good food, and did a lot of relaxing. We've been needing some relaxing though, so it's just what the doctor ordered!
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