For Halloween weekend we got the opportunity to road trip down to southern Oregon and spend time with my cousin Jessica, and her adorable family. As I mentioned in a past post, Daniel has been on an external rotation down in Roseburg, Oregon - about 2 hours and some change away from our life in Portland. I had the blessed opportunity of taking our two beautiful children down to Roseburg... Alone. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous ha ha. Linus has a bit of a history with hating his car seat, and so I was unsure how the two hour drive would go.  

We were on the road at 4:17pm (definitely a little later than I would have liked, but if you've ever traveled with me, or my family, later is unfortunately standard...) Linus was asleep right away. Ruby was awake and kickin' until about 4:50 when she passed out too. (I had let her skip her afternoon nap in hopes she would sleep on the way down.) By 5:30 Linus was awake, and with an hour and a half to go I was PRAYING that he'd be ok to just chill in his car seat. (Usually if the car is still moving he's ok with being stuck in there.) I kept watching him, and the clock, and him again. I had decided that if he started to fuss and get irritated by the time we hit Eugene I'd stop, change him, feed him, and get some gas.  

Eugene came and went.. Linus was still wide awake, but totally content, and so I forged on. At around 6:15 Ruby woke back up and was happy and pleasant. Linus was still pretty chill. But at that point I knew I was on borrowed time. By 6:30 my time had run out as he began to fuss. However, it wasn't massive fussing and whining, and with only 20 minutes or so left I forged on (maybe a little faster than before... ). We arrived in Roseburg around 6:50 - by then Linus had quieted back down, and Ruby was loudly exclaiming that she needed to go potty. So we definitely arrived RIGHT on time. 

It was seriously so amazing to be reunited with my sweet husband, who had graciously gone out and snagged a pizza, as I was STARVING! That night we took the kids to the dinky little hotel pool, which they both loved! (Ok, Ruby loved it, Linus was like meh.. But I loved it cause I put him in my Stekki baby wrap, and it was AWESOME!) By 10:30 both kids and parents were in bed and all asleep.

I don't know what it is about hotel living, but it's like Christmas! Ruby was WIDE awake at 6:30 the next morning (before Daniel had even woken up). Which did work out, cause after Daniel got ready he took her out to get a fresh waffle from the hotel breakfast. That, coupled with some early morning PBS had her back asleep around 10 or so. (Thank. Heavens.) 

That afternoon we spent exploring Roseburg, checking out the public health clinic Daniel had been working at and having a late lunch date with daddy. Roseburg is TINY... But! With a job offer on the table from the clinic he's been working at, it may become our home for the next few years, which is CRAZY! I truly cannot believe that we are at this stage in the game. I thought we'd be living as students FOREVER! Talking about graduation, getting job offers, checking out towns, and looking at buying a house is slowly starting to make our big life changes seem real! I don't love Roseburg as much as I love the green of Grants Pass.. That being said, it does have a Costco, and it's only an hour from Eugene and Grants Pass (where my cousin lives). So it could be a really fun adventure for us. Definitely not permanent though. 

Friday night we left for Grant Pass and our fun filled weekend. Ruby had been talking for weeks about seeing baby "Wee-uh",  so to say she was excited is an understatement. The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying each other's company, and relaxing. We spent Saturday late morning at the market downtown. That night we went to their wards trunk-or-treat. Sunday we had every intention of going to church, but Lu had been up all night and morning with a cold, and so we didn't drag him out of the house. Ruby got to spend the entire weekend with Ellea, playing, watching Doc McStuffins, sharing snacks, baking, etc. Ellea got to pet Linus' head every chance she got, and give him kisses, while still having time to follow big cousin Ruby around, who would repeatedly say "C'mon baby Wee-uh, follow me!" It was adorable. 

We left Sunday evening and headed back to Roseburg. Daniel had to work early the next morning, and I had to drive the kiddos back for Linus' two month checkup. We splashed around in the hot tub before bed that night. Both kids slept like champs, but had to be awoken early - making the drive home a breeze because they both slept through the whole two plus hours.  

 With only 6 months left, I'm unsure of where we'll end up, and what these 6 months will hold; but I know it's going to be one heck of a ride. I just hope that I can take the time to buckle up, and take in the scenery - and to remember that as a family we'll keep moving forward and loving and being happy no matter where we call home. 

CHEERS babes!