On Sunday, March 14th we left Idaho in the early morning and headed for Washington. The drive through Oregon and along the Columbia River Gorge was incredible. Even the kids put down their screens to gaze out at the breathtaking river views.
We stopped for some lunch at a drive-in by the Bridge of the Gods, and ate in the car next to the bridge before heading a short distance onward to see the breathtaking Multnomah Falls. What a way to be welcomed into the Pacific Northwest!
After the falls, we drove to our temporary Airbnb in Downtown Vancouver to get settled in. Drew had already been living in this small 2 bedroom basement unit for a couple weeks, and the kids and I decided to join him for the final two weeks, until our rental house became available on April 1st. It was right by Drew's office in Downtown Vancouver, and close to a great little neighborhood park that the kids and I frequented. After a year of staying home and isolating, it felt weird to begin venturing out again, but I could see the kids coming to life as they played with other kids at the park and transitioned back to in-person school in Washington about a week after we arrived.
Downtown Vancouver is just across the river from Portland, so we took advantage of the close proximity. We scheduled tickets on their asynchronous school day to visit the Portland Zoo, and I also took a day on my own to visit Powell's books downtown once the kids were in school.
We had a little school drama our first week in Washington when I got a call from their elementary school principal with the news that they had made a mistake in the class assignments and didn't have space for Lily in the in-person 4th grade classrooms due to the distancing requirements. After reviewing all our options, we decided to transfer both kids to another neighboring elementary school so they could both attend in-person school together. We went to take a tour with the new school's principal later in the week to prepare the kids to start the following week. They were nervous, but excited.
Thanks to remote learning, the kids were able to continue online studies through Maryland while we were living in Utah and at the Airbnb. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to their Maryland teachers and classmates via Zoom.
The next Monday was their first day of in-person school in a year! This was the first day for the Camas schools to be back 4-days a week for in-person learning, too, so it was a new start for all of their classmates and teachers as well. We got ice cream after school to celebrate and debrief about their day. All in all they both did great!
In addition to school, we also got Lily registered for gymnastics, and made plans to start piano lessons once we were able to get our piano back out of storage. I also applied for my Camas library card, because priorities. :)
We used our two weekends at the Airbnb in Vancouver to explore the area and have some fun outings with the kids to help with the transition.
Our 1st weekend we got some delicious waffles for breakfast (our first time eating out since the pandemic!), and Drew and Lily went indoor rock climbing together. Henry loves movie theaters (even though he's simultaneously very scared of loud sounds?), so we went to our first movie since the pandemic started at the theater at Vancouver Mall and saw the super fun new Disney movie- Raya and the Last Dragon.
Our 2nd weekend we headed down to Portland to hike to the Witches Castle with the kids before heading to Blue Star Donuts.
I did some wandering around Vancouver and couldn't help snapping pics of the beautiful early spring flowers, especially the gorgeous camellias that were blooming all over the area.
We had a week and a half of commuting from the Airbnb in Vancouver to their new school in Camas before our move-in day. We chose a rental house in Camas because the area seemed great for families, and because Drew's office/labs were scheduled to move to the East Vancouver/Camas area in May. So after dropping off the kids at school one day, I decided to do some hiking and exploring in the nearby Lacamas park. The lakes, waterfalls, rivers and evergreens in this area are plentiful and gorgeous. I couldn't believe this would basically be our backyard, and all week driving along the Columbia River and seeing Mt. Hood in the distance, I kept texting Drew just to say how pretty everything was! The Pacific Northwest grabbed on to my tree-loving heart quickly, and hasn't let go since. :)
Drew and I took advantage of one of our final days in Vancouver to have a lunch date, and got some delicious tacos at Little Conejo. I wore jeans and a new sweater and lipstick!
It has felt really weird having so much freedom and time since leaving my job, but I also hadn't felt this light for so long. After weighing the options, Drew and I decided it would be best, given the current circumstances, for me to take a 6 month hiatus from work, and it has been the greatest and most healing decision we've made for our family. It's been really good for my mental health to take a step back, especially after the crazy past year we've all had. I loved my patients at the fertility clinic, but to say the job was emotionally draining would be an understatement.
It has also been so good to have more time to reconnect with the kids, and to be present for them during the stresses of moving and starting someplace new. I feel very lucky to have the option to stay home right now, and I'm trying not to take it for granted.
So anyway . . . at long last, after a month of being house-less, move in day arrived! Our little pod got dropped off and we got the keys to the house Wednesday evening, and the next day Drew took the day off to help unload it and get the house set up to sleep in that night.
The kids and I were scheduled to fly to Hawaii a few days later for their Spring Break, so we prioritized finding the boxes with our warm weather clothes and swimsuits, and we celebrated Easter on Saturday. We got our Covid tests, and couldn't wait to visit Hawaii and see Tutu and the rest of the family again!
