Momma Bear

I am happy to say I am my own person, but my own person who has many responsibilities.  I go to school full time.  I work part time.  I am a mother, sister, daughter, auntie, friend. 

My favorite job is being a Mom! 

 

 I love these kids!

 

 

Life is STILL a Scream!

Life is STILL a scream!  I was thinking of starting up a new blog, but I feel like this one has so much of my heart and history(minus the past year or so).  I honestly miss writing in the blogosphere.  I like having an imaginary following.  I like having this outlet as a way to air my feelings and explain my emotions to a larger audience, even though I know the only thing that matters is my own peace and acceptance I can gain thru writing.  Plus, its fun to post pictures so the grandparents can see pics of my beautiful creations: my babies.  And if I can find something beautiful or funny or profound every day and I am able to record it, won't that be a treasure later in life?  Maybe.  I hope so. 

So, I am back!  Life is still a scream!  I am updating my pics and design to make this blog more representative of my life today after all the changes I have gone thru.  But my life is still wonderful, and I am so grateful for all of my many blessings. 

Disney Trip - Disneyland Photos- Sept 2012

Disney Trip -California Adventures! Sept 2012

I KNOW!  This is way late... but better late than never, right?  RIGHT?  To my friends and family who thought I made up this trip--- HA!  Here is proof.

FINALLY WE MADE IT TO DISNEYLAND!

We had so much fun in both parks, California Disney and Disneyland.  I decided I hadn't been here since the 20th celebration!  That was a few years ago....

Here are some of our photos from our days there:

Waiting outside our hotel for our shuttle!

Dad and Brother!

Sisters!

HWY 101 - Sept 2012 Trip

On our way down to DisneyLand we decided from Uncle Chris' house to take HW 101 down to LA.  We looked forward to seeing Santa Barbara(I was in the middle of watching the series:  Psych), and the beaches of California.

We stopped at In-N-Out Burger-- of course.

And then we hit Malibu.  It wasn't the blue skies I assumed there were every day in Cali-- but what are you going to do?

We got some thumbs up for the trip this far: 

Southbound September 2012 - First Leg of Trip

Conser Family Vacation 2012 - First Leg of Trip

 

 

On Saturday, Sept. 8th, The Conser Family headed south!  We had a blast!  This was our first big trip as a family of five.  Living in the wonderful place we live, we always have the opportunity for a mountain getaway, or a beach weekend, or a visit to the River Grandparents.  We haven't take a week long vacation in a very  long time!  And with the kids, we have never left Oregon!  WOW!  So, we had some special events happening and took advantage of the timing and headed south to vacation, celebrate, and enjoy our time together as a family.

 

 

The week before we left was very crazy-- the kiddos started school, we had a birthday, I was working extra hours, we had some car troubles, and other things I am sure I have forgotten!  We ended up borrowing my Mom's Honda Pilot and got that cleaned up and ready to go on Friday Night-- Saturday morning we packed up and were ready to go bright and early.  The drive was nice, the kids did pretty good, and we ended up in San Francisco that evening!

Packed up- ready to go!

 

Uncle Chris was an amazing host- we had so much fun at his house.  The kids LOVED SAN FRAN!  We arrived on Saturday and walked around Chris' area-- he lives up by the big radio towers.  We had some pizza and then tried to somewhat settle down for our next day.

Sunday, September 9 we headed in to see the sights!  And boy did we!  First stop COFFEE!  Or Cocoa in most of our cases...  And I thought Portland had a lot of coffee places....

We visited the Cartoon Art Museum,





We visted the Cartoon Art Museum- they had a lot of interesting comics and graphic novels.  They had some specific San Francisco Cartoon Collections that were pretty neat.  They had an exhibit of ParaNorman, which was created by a Portland Studio-- how fun for us!



These cool hearts are all over San Fran-- I loved them.  The kids only humored me a few times with photos.

 

We had lunch at Lori's Diner (French Fries, Hot Dogs-- we KNEW the kids would eat here!)

 

And then, it was time for the ride of our lives....  The CABLE CAR!  

 

 Which took us  down to the pier

We stopped at the Musee Mechanique-- a fun penny arcade type place that was fun to explore and visit.

 

We had dinner at Scoma's-- some of the best seafood EVER! 

 

 

On Monday, September 10th, we went to explore Golden Gate Park.  We heard how amazing the California Academy of Sciences is-- and WOW!  It was amazing.  We spent close to 5 hours exploring.  If you are ever in the area, its an investment well worth your time and money.  

 

We learned about Pierre, the penguin and his cute little wet suit.  We learned all about earthquake safety as well as lived through one.  We literally watched, on an imax screen, the coast of California.  change before our very eyes.  We got to see the cutest little ostrich babies every!  We saw Nemo, Dori, and all the others.  We met the Albino Croc.  And don't forget about the butterflies and fishes in the 4 story rain forest!  Oh-- and they had a cool living roof-- very eco friendly.

 

It was a beautiful sunny day in San Fransisco.  We were excited to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and spend some time over in Sausalito.  Everyone tells me how foggy San Fran can be, but when I visited last April with my friend, we had perfect weather.  The day we rode our bikes across the bridge was beautifully clear.  So far our visit this time had given us beautiful weather as well, so I was starting to think San Franciscan's were lieing ot me because they don't want me moving down there. 

However.....  as we started driving towards the bridge... something started happening.  We drove right into a cloud.  It was a little spookitydoo!  And super windy and cold too!

 

We drove down into Sausalito and by that time we had a sleeping 3 year old, so we stopped at McDonalds for some ice cream for those of us awake and kept driving around, exploring California.  Jeremy and kids pulled over and got out and did some exploring up in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area-- at that point Kathryn woke up and we headed back towards Uncle Chris' towers.

 

I will continue on another post our pictures and experiences at Disney-- but I have to say, our time in San Fransisco was amazing.  Not only spending time in such a beautiful, diverse city, but spending time with our Brother was a lot of fun.  The kids love their Uncle Chris- and now when they think about him, they will be able to picture him his home.

Thanks Chris, and your housemates Johnny and Laura for your hospitality!  We love you!