Gertie and Her Grandkids

Gertie enjoyed her visit from these rascals.... I love all the smiles.

Lovely Rachel

As you know, transitioning from Janis was a VERY hard and difficult step for our family. Thankfully we had lots of Janis dates to make sure we saw her.  We also were lucky enough to end up with Rachel for the summer to be our a nanny. She is kind, thoughtful, and funny...and the kids loved her. Thank you for wonderful people who can share in this journey of raising our kiddos.

Lovely Annemarie

I have to say that one of my favorite parts of summer has been that my dear friend Annemarie was home from Hong Kong with her adorable son. I ADORE her and cherish every moment-- so much so that I barely took any pictures. That said, I got this gem of one with Annemarie and her goddaughter Maggie.

River Boat -- Get Ready to Get Wet

We wanted to show Christian a day of adventure on the river. SO....we 1) Went for a bike ride on the river front path 2) Took a tram ride and saw the river from above 3) then took the River Boat excursion and got VERY wet. I think he liked it -- ok, loved it.

Swimming

Next we took Christian swimming at my parents magical country club....can you tell we are in heaven with this summer? An extra added bonus was one Annemarie and Francesco got to come too. Again - heaven.

TImbers

Christian (my NYC nephew) stayed in Portland. SO FUN. He is a phenomenal kid. He is a super soccer fan, so we took him the Timbers game. Despite the brutal loss, I think he had a really good time.

Waterfall

After my sister left (note -- there was a LOT of crying involved) we decided to numb the pain of all us being apart by going on a waterfall hike on our way home. It was lovely...but I was still sad....why can't we all live one house?

45th Wedding Anniversary

My parents have been married for 45 years. WOW. WOW. WOW. Jenny arranged a lovely special evening for them in Hood River. So special to see what their marriage helped to create.

Mosier Tunnels Bike Ride

A Peck family vacation is filled with exercise...lots of it...and we insanely love it. Mark definitely thinks we are odd. I am training for a half marathon and Jenny was training for Hood to Coast, we ran an 11 mile run....and then had the kids do part of it on bike later in the day. Hilarious to get that many people on bikes. We had some slight disaster -- billy's bike had about 20 holes in the tire and my tire blew....with Maggie on the bike...but thankfully the views are stunning and make everything "Ok".

Hikes + Swimming in Fresh Water = Papa's Dream

As a child, some of my favorite memories are hiking as a family and going swimming in fresh water....VERY COLD water...with my dad. It is one of his favorite things. Baton has been passed to the grandkids.

Invasion of Hood River by the Peck

The "original" Peck Family rented houses in Hood River and took over.... it was a scene at every restaurant...but pure bliss. What is better than one of my favorite towns with my favorite people?