Monday, January 13, 2020

I don't understand people who decline Biscoff cookies (and other notes from Christmas travels)

My friends, it has been a whirlwind. Last week was the first full week that we've spent at home in about a month. I realize that lots of people travel and pack their schedules with activities regularly, but we usually take things slower around here. So, last week was a good one for catching up on sleep, finishing a re-watch of Anne of Green Gables (Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie are so cute in their roles!), and visiting neighbors, local friends, and the library. It's good to be back, but our little adventures were fun, too-we took a big ol' trip to the Pacific Northwest!

I have fond memories of the part of my childhood spent in Oregon, so I was ecstatic that I'd finally get to visit it again-for the first time in twelve years! My husband's family (and much of his extended family) also lives in that part of the country, so we decided to take a couple weeks around Christmas to spend some quality time with relatives.

The last time we had flown as a family was three years ago, when we had just one tiny baby. I was quite a bit nervous about flying with a preschooler and a 15 month old, but surprisingly it went way better than I had anticipated! (thank you, God!) Our firstborn was happily kept occupied breeding Pokémon with my husband while I tried to entertain the baby (who at times would not let himself be entertained). Everyone was really nice, though, and I discovered that it's especially awesome to fly with a baby because the flight stewardess just may load you down with extra granola bars!



Speaking of which, I CANNOT understand people who decline the complimentary snack when the stewardess comes around with her cart. Accept the package of cookies or granola bar, and then when she moves on, pass it over to me! I will happily eat your package of Biscoff cookies if you don't want them ;)

Anyways, we had a lovely visit to the Northwest-we visited the beach (first time our kids saw the ocean!), ate lots of food, and my poor husband probably got tired of me exclaiming It's so beautiful! Look at ALL THE MOSS!


We were very grateful that the weather was pretty good for being at the beach in December. With hats and jackets, we were very comfortable and spent a lovely couple hours chasing seagulls and finding scattered crab legs (so many poor crabs must have lost their lives on that beach...). 


We spent a teensy bit of time in the Portland area visiting relatives, and I knew that I HAD to drink coffee, since Portland is known for its coffee culture. Thanks to some obsessive Googling beforehand, I discovered an Egyptian-themed coffee bus, which was the best thing ever.

 Yes, that is Egyptian coffee (the barista informed me that it's pretty much the same as Turkish coffee, since it uses the Turkish coffee brewing method). It was cardamom-y, sweet, bitter, creamy, strong, and delicious. The Turkish delight that accompanied it was pretty good, too.


I loved all of the hills and trees, but I soon realized that I would be happy to return to the open plains of Oklahoma after our trip.

We watched the new Star Wars movie with relatives (I enjoyed it a lot, and while it wasn't perfect, it was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy), we showed some of them A Quiet Place, and we ate lots of waffles. There's this AMAZING diner they often go to where it's perfectly acceptable to add ice cream to any waffle. Also, we spent Christmas evening playing poker while drinking home-brewed mead (SO GOOD) and I even managed to win the game! That was a fun-and unexpected-Christmas surprise ;)

After our trip in the Northwest, we came home for a couple of days, then headed up to Kansas to see more relatives before coming back here to settle back into "regular life." I think we're finally unpacked from all the travelling, but we're not going to talk about all of the mail and random boxes of stuff sitting around that I need to deal with. Instead, life is better spent watching The Mandalorian or reading, right?

I have many AWFUL memories of being forced to read Steinbeck in 8th and 9th grade, 
but a friend recently encouraged me to pick this book up, and I'm really enjoying it!
I'm learning way more than I ever wanted to about brothels in the Wild West, but the story-a retelling of Genesis-is
very well done, and there are some powerful themes and scenes that I keep mulling over.

11 comments:

  1. That sounds like a wonderful trip! The Pacific Northwest holds so much beauty! The Egyptian coffee sounds so delicious. I'm in total agreement about the Biscoff cookies; they're the best!

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    1. The Egyptian coffee was really cool-I've long been intrigued by that method of making coffee, so I'm glad I finally got to try it out!

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  2. Turkish delight!! Have wanted to try it ever since Edmund ate it in The LW&W! ;)

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    1. SAME! Reading about it in The LW&W made me want to try it out, and I was excited when (years ago) a sibling had a layover in a Turkish airport and brought some Turkish Delight back :) It's very sweet and pretty good, but if anything it's thrilling to eat it and think of Edmund Pevensie :) Hopefully someday you can try some!

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  3. What a wonderful vacation - the sights, ocean, and coffee sound divine! Love the pictures too.

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    1. It was a really great experience, and I'm so thankful we were able to do this as a family :)

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  4. We live at a slower pace, too, so I feel tired just reading about your adventure.
    I think it should be acceptable to put ice cream on just about anything! :-)

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    1. Haha, yes, looking back over it I started to see just how much we packed in! Thankfully, though, we spent the last week with my in-laws so that was a nice "break" because we weren't going as many places and could get the kids their normal naps.

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  5. Agreed on the airline snacks. Boredom-wise, I'm not sure I could even make it through a flight without snacks.

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    1. Yes-seeing the stewardess bring the little cart down the aisle is a highlight of a flight, and certainly adds plenty of excitement for the little ones (for myself, too).

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  6. Those Biscoff cookies are amazing! So glad flying was better than expected. What adventures! How nice to see the ocean, visit with people, try the coffee, and re-try that book, but getting home is quite amazing too after being gone for a while too. Happy new year!

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