Ali Edwards's Blog, page 212

Project Life® 2014 | Week Eighteen

How do you gather your stories? 

I was thinking about this question yesterday as I put this spread together. As you've seen before, when I'm working on past weeks I 
usually have the photos and a handful of sticky notes in place. Some weeks more, some weeks less. As I worked through remembering and gathering the stories for week 18 it made me think about how lucky we are that we have access to so many different ways to collect our stories. 

Generally I rely mainly on the photos to act as
story starters to jog my memories. This week though, I actually felt like I was missing some stories - nothing big or huge or profound, just some more specific details.  

To round-up more stories I went back through my calendar + 
Instagram to see what I could find. My calendar (on my computer) was helpful but it was Instagram that was most helpful. Just like my blog is a great holding place for longer stories, Instagram is such a great place to hold my shorter stories - especially those in-the-moment sentiments/memories/conversations that fit so well into my Project Life® album. 

From going back on Instagram I saw that it was 86 degrees on May 1st. I saw that Simon and I were watching Pirates Of The Caribbean (
which I totally didn't remember just from looking at the photo).  

Today I'm sharing
Project Life® 2014 | Week Eighteen (April 28th - May) which uses the Poet Society Project Life® kit from Studio Calico. You can check out all the new kits for September over at Studio Calico here: Scrapbook Kit | Project Life® Kit | Card Kit.

Here's a look at Week 18: 

I'm still a fan of using Project Life® to show a week-at-a-glance. 

Simple captures. Relationships between people and places are one of my favorite things to document. 

Sometimes you get a card with a sentiment that doesn't really fit any stories you've got to tell right now. 

Cover them up!

On my title card (from
this printable set) I added a big punched circle (using another 4x6 journal card included in the main kit). Next to it I added a second punched circle (1.5 inches) that includes the "let your light shine" sentiment from one of the cards and finished off the gathering with the gold rub on. 

I took one of the 4x6 cards and cut it in half to create this day of the week card. I messed up thinking that Sunday was the last "S" on the bottom - not seeing that the week started with Sunday. I know some people think of their weeks that way but in my mind a week begins on Monday. I just crossed it out, moved that to the top (which still doesn't really make sense in the time span) and kept going.  

This kit this month includes some wood veneer phrases. I wanted to use them because I like the texture mix, but the words didn't fit with my story. Instead I just turned them over and used the back side. I trimmed each one a little bit to fit into the pocket (it was still pretty tight). On top of each I added one of the stars and some sentiments about the photo of the wisteria. 

For the "the best ever" journal card I used the box from this set: 
Poet Society Project Life Stamp Kit + "the best ever" and "here's the story" from this set: Poet Society Project Life Add-On 2 Stamps. 

Can't tell you how happy I was to get back to making stuff. 

Circle + a star + a staple. Can't get much more perfect than that little trifecta of goodness. The circle is from one of the printables this month available 
here. 

The "Anna says" note is the kind of stuff I want in Project Life®. Those awesome little stories of things said and observations recorded. I could do a whole layout about that one little comment she made, but really this is the perfect place for that kind of story. 

Next to the "Anna says" card is one that combines two different journal cards (stitched together) that I ran through 
my printer to get the "86" on top (the 8 and the 6 are from this digital alphabet):

I wasn't sure this was really going to work - partly because of the thickness of the two cards together. My goal was to get the 
"86" (for 86 degrees on May 1) onto the card. In Photoshop I added the 8 and the 6 together on a 3 inch x 4 inch canvas (300 dpi). I re-colored the image the yellowish color and placed it where I wanted it to be on the card (closer to the top). Then I ran a test print onto a plain piece of paper to see where it was going to come out. Next I adhered the 2 cards right on top of that same location on the 8.5x11 sheet and ran the whole thing through the printer to get this result:

It did come out of the printer a little dirty because it was thick but not enough for me to junk it. 

FUN. 

After that I added the date using
a good-old date stamp and a few words about how awesome it was to have it this hot on May 1. 

I totally love the "I am still learning" gold letterpress card. It was too perfect to do anything to it and it's something I totally embrace in my life. 

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION
Think about the way you collect stories. What works best for you? Is it an app? Sticky notes? Calendar? Carrying your journal cards in your car/purse/etc and writing directly on them when the inspiration strikes? I'd love to read about it in the comments. Try running a pre-printed card through your own printer. It's a great way to get typed journaling onto a journal card or add a digital stamp to personalize the card.  If you've got cards with sentiments that don't align with the story you want to tell, use punches to cover up that area and create your own sentiments with letter stickers, stamps or handwriting. SUPPLIES

Click on the images below to link to the products used in this project. 

InLinkz.com

Making The Videos

One of the most fun parts of working on this new website was filming the project videos with 
Collin Kartchner. 

If the name sounds familiar to you, it might be because he's 
Liz Kartchner's (aka Dear Lizzy) husband. 

They make quite the creative pair those two. 

Here's the truth: I was nervous about Collin at first. I thought he was entirely too funny and wouldn't be able to be serious about this project. I kinda worried he would make fun of me. He's got a quick wit and, remember, sometimes I can be way too serious. My worries about him were actually ridiculous and that was super obvious from our first business meeting in Salt Lake City earlier this summer. He is a complete professional. He got what we were looking for in the videos immediately. He's great at what he does and he does it with a sense of humor that I completely appreciate now. 

A good learning experience for me once again about my own judgements.

He won my kids over at the first hello. I was especially impressed with the rapport he created with Simon almost immediately. 

We got down to business of filming pretty quickly, starting with footage around my office and then recording my on-camera portions of each video. 

I wrote up the words I wanted to say and we recorded most of them one-line-at-a-time and did a couple takes of each, usually from a different angle. 

There was a lot of laughing. 

In addition to filming in my office, Collin also captured us going about our daily life. 

Going to the grocery store, riding in the car, sitting at the table, playing outside, riding bikes, the evening prayer, etc - so many of the moments I've been documenting over the years with still photos and words. 

Simon was super interested in what Collin was capturing and there were many moments where he snuck up behind him, jumped in front of him and put his face right up to the lens. Collin totally rolled with it. 

When Chris came over to help Anna ride her bike Collin was there to capture the action. 

He stayed later into the evening to catch the goodnight prayer (priceless) that I say to each of the kids every night we are together. 

And we did some playing in the backyard, with just the right amount of sun flare. 

A week or so later Collin uploaded the videos to dropbox and told us to take a look. 

I cried. 

In his email to me he wrote, "Every clip, every cut, every song, every splice...all meticulously done with love. Shot sequence, pacing, sound, every key frame was well thought out and intentional. I hope you can feel the passion behind the story-telling, and hope you're left with something magical. You truly inspire people, I hope this inspires you." 

They totally did Collin.
Thank you again for getting me. 

The words you see in the One Little Word video are all from artist  Colleen Attara. They are recycled scrap plastic words cut in her handwriting and you can read more about them here. She sent those all to me this past year and they were perfect for telling the story of that project. 

Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast | Just a heads up that I was a guest on a new episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast yesterday. We were disucssing our experience (trials and successes) photographing layouts and other projects. Check it out here. Also, you can check out a list of all the podcasts I've been a guest on via my press page. There's a drop-down menu at the top to make it easier to see what section you'd like to check out. 

Choose Happy

Today I wanted to share the layout I put together when Collin was here filming the videos for the Project pages. 

I haven't had the time to do a lot of actual scrapbooking recently with most of our time going into site stuff and product design. I'm super happy to start finding a rhythm again to be making stuff. 

This is a 2-page, 8.5x11 layout. 

As you might have read in my recent 
Around Here post, Anna is learning how to ride her bike and Chris has been spearheading the effort. He comes over in the evening and runs her around and around the cul-de-sac. She laughs, he sweats, and Simon rides circles around them. It's a pretty good time and a really nice little connection for all of us. This is a good example of a layout where I could definitely write more about the story. The only reason I didn't was because I was actually making it as we were filming and what you see here was as much as I could make happen during that time. 

What I'd like to add to this story is how I personally really appreciate the effort that Chris makes in coming over here to teach her. 

I think I could simply just add another strip under "enjoy summer" to get that simple sentence included that's a pretty meaningful piece of the story. 

I used my Silhouette to cut the 
"heart life" from some teal cardstock (design available from this set: Hello Heart 3x4 Boxes) and used a Tiny Attacher to keep it in place vs. dealing with some adhesive. If you need some help learning how to trace PNG files to cut with your Silhouette I've got a tutorial on how to do that here. 

The
"choose happy" cork circle worked perfect as a title and as an element that grounds those other 3x4 boxes.

I cut up one of the 
Summer Journal Cards you can still pick up over at Studio Calico and paired it with a cork heart. You can also pick up the digital version of these cards here.

I'm still in love with the full-page photos. The other two are 3x4. It's a nice example of simple ways you can incorporate all those 3x4 cards you might be accumulating these days into a traditional scrapbook layout.  

I used a piece of vellum behind the photos, journal card, and silhouette cut because I felt like it needed some kind of frame or backing to separate it from the background pattern paper. I tried it with and without and definitely liked it better with the vellum. I ended up stitching that in place with my sewing machine. 

IDEAS & INSPIRATION

What's a story you can capture that's real in your life right now? Consider telling a story of a time when you simply embraced life as it is without wishing it were different.  
Pair an enlarged photo with 3x4 photos and journal cards outside of Project Life® or simply add an enlarged photo to your Project Life® album. The contrast always looks so cool in there. 

SUPPLIES

Click on the images below to link to the products used in this project. 

InLinkz.com

Around Here | Late August 2014

There's no way I can begin this post about what's been going on Around Here without expressing a huge thank you for all the congrats and well-wishes about the new site. Studio Calico has an amazingly awesome web team that created the infrastructure and figured out ways to make this all work and has freed me up to do what I do best: make stuff with the stories of our lives.  

As we move forward Katie and I are in the process of adjusting our block schedule to make room for concepting, designing and creating content for the Story Stamps™ and Story Kit™, workshops, products (digital and traditional) and other projects. My current plan is to have daily blog posts (weekdays) that will be a mix of what many of you have come to expect: personal stories and memory keeping projects. 

I also want to make sure you have the last week of October on your calendar for Week In The Life™ 2014. I will be offering a kit this year for the first time and I'm super excited about the design foundation I've set up and the products we've created. More details on that coming soon. 

AROUND HERE

Before summer wraps up and these two head back to school I wanted to take a minute to capture what we've been up to recently. 

ANNA 

LEARNING | To ride her bike. Chris has been coming over every few nights and working with her out in the cul-de-sac. He's got a system down that we used with Simon when he learned to ride his bike.  

BEING AWESOME | Katie and I had drinks with a friend last week and we were sharing about how awesome of a summer Anna has had. Last summer was a challenge with the combination of childcare, Anna learning that Katie was here for a different kind of work vs. hanging out with her, and not getting her into enough camps/activities to keep her occupied while we worked. This summer, through a combination of better planning and getting older, it has been so much better and I think we all enjoyed it that much more. She is so good at playing with her dolls and little people and animals and has really started enjoying time just playing in her room on her own.  

WANTING | To read. It's so cool to watch this desire grow - right now she wants to "read" the whole book to me via looking at the pictures and from her memory of what happens in the story. She's going to have so much fun in Kindergarten. 

LISTENING | To Taylor Swift (that would be all Katie's influence).

WEARING | Mostly skirts and dresses - always coming up with the most interesting combinations. She's also got a thing for lipstick and make-up and nail polish. She'll be back in her uniform in a couple weeks. 

SIMON

ATTENDING | Three different camps that included a Comic Drawing // Stop Motion at the University Of Oregon, Sailing through the City Of Eugene, and one about Wizards (of course). That seemed to be just the right amount of camps for him. I loved that each one of them challenged him in a different way and we lucked out with some very awesome camp staff at all three who really championed him and helped him acclimate and have a good experience.  

WATCHING |  Wizards of Waverly Place, The Hobbit (#1 and #2)

READING | The Hobbit

LISTENING | To the Everything Is Awesome song on repeat. His other favorite is one particular song from Pirates Of The Caribbean soundtrack called The Medallion Calls. These are the two songs he wants to hear most in the car. He is not a fan of Taylor Swift or really any one else singing in the car. We're working on that one.  

GROWING | So tall. Seriously. 

WEARING | A big development this summer is that he's decided that short sleeve shirts are okay. AWESOME. I also love that he wants to wear Vans. 

ALI

ATTENDING | Not enough live music this year. That said we did go to Heuy Lewis last minute a few weeks back and Dave Matthews at the Gorge is happening this weekend (yes, yes, yes). That will make up for some of the lack of live music this past year. So excited to make that trip again and camp and be outside and listen to Dave for three nights in a row. 

EXPRESSING | Gratitude in a million little and big ways. To Katie for seeing me through & always bringing the champagne, to Paolo for always being ready with a special plate lunch & a hug, to my parents for Beach Camp, to Aaron for grounding me & opening me up & challenging the ways I think about things, to Carrie & Julie for the gift of flowers and friendship.

READING | All that back-to-school paperwork. The kids start in September so they still have a few weeks before actual classes begin. I also picked up Quiet by Susan Cain after some interesting conversations with Aaron about introverts (and I think I'm actually one that learned at an early age how to make it as a quasi-extrovert even when I still really had mane of the same needs as introverts) and We Are Water by Wally Lamb (I really enjoyed his older books). Both were impulse purchases from Costco yesterday to add to my large pile of books to read. I'm also really interested in Lean In after seeing Elise post some passages on Instagram. 

EATING | Tomatoes. So good right off one of the two plants in my raised garden beds. I fell off the wagon again this year with the garden because I was gone quite a bit (love summer adventures) and when I was here I was working. All good. I did get a irrigation set up to those raised beds which meant everything stayed alive, but pruning and keeping it going didn't really happen. 

STARTING | Found my FitBit again (hello, old friend) and am getting back into physical activity (yes, this is a recurring theme). It is way too easy for me to spend way too long sitting here in my chair staring at this screen. 

ORGANIZING | I did one of those big Costco runs yesterday (long overdue) that makes you feel like you could wait months to buy anything again. It felt good to get things stocked up around here as we move closer to school starting for the kids. I did a freezer inventory and that will help me in getting some meal plans in order. I've written before that I'm not a summer cook and it was totally true again this year. As Fall approaches I'm way more interested in thinking about what in the heck we are going to eat and planning ahead. 

BREATHING | I took a really deep breath this weekend. It felt so darn good. Thanks again for being part of all this. 

Big thanks to those of you who participated in the Stories Matter Because sharing this past weekend using the #craftthestory hashtag. In case you missed it there's a free printable/PNG download on the Story Stamp™ pre-order page (scroll down to the bottom of the content area). You do need to be logged-in/signed up as a User to access this download. If you had issues downloading feel free to start a conversation and we can get that to you. 

I loved reading through all the reasons why stories matter to you. They were just so awesome and heartfelt and real and powerful reminders. 

We randomly selected jyssilly to receive a 3-month subscription to the Story Stamps™. We will get in touch with you via email/social media to set you up. 

Keep sharing those reasons stories matter to you. I think it's so important for each of us to understand the why - it's super motivating. 

Welcome And The Idea Behind Craft the Story™

I am beyond excited to welcome you to phase one of the new aliedwards.com. 

For the last 12 years, scrapbooking has been a daily part of my life. That doesn't mean that I'm actively creating projects every single day, but it does mean that memory keeping has become my lifestyle. Photographing, documenting, reflecting and bringing it all together via the craft of scrapbooking continues to be one of the main ways I make sense of my life. 

It's also one of the main ways I celebrate and give thanks. 

As my own personal story evolves, so should my brand. 

My vision for my brand is to continue to emphasize the heart of the matter - that stories really do matter. From the blog posts I write to the products I create, I want to always be asking myself if it's aligning with my mission to inspire, educate and empower others to tell their stories. Because I know, without a doubt, that it's mattered to me to tell my own. 

On the new aliedwards.com you will find a continuation of my intentional memory keeping focus, an opportunity to participate in a community of people who are telling stories around the same theme each month, and a place to share your own stories regardless of what system you use. 

CRAFT THE STORY™

When we originally started talking about future plans for my business and rebranding the thing that came up again and again for me was that I wanted to keep the focus on the stories. That said, what I do with my stories is different than a writer who only writes or a photographer who only takes photos. There's magic in bringing the two together with design principles and intentional embellishments. 

Craft the story™ has multiple meanings. 

1. Craft the story™ is first and foremost about memory keeping. I literally cut and paste the stories of my life with words and photos and intentional embellishments. 

2. Craft the story™ means that the words of the story are very important to me and that there is a rhyme and a reason for the ways in which I write my stories. My words are crafted, not in a negative way, but in an intentional way that helps me make sense of my life. 

3. Craft the story™ means that we each get to create the stories of our own lives as we are living them out in the world. This doesn't mean we make things up or paint a different picture than what's real - it means we have a choice in how we live our lives, how we respond to and treat others, in how we create our day to day existence. 

NOW WHAT? 

Over the next few weeks this site will continue to evolve as we add information about the Story Kits™, the classes page, and the shop. The shop will be home to my digital products, my new paper crafting products, art prints, project kits, as well as a variety of my personal favorite products from other manufacturers. I'll be launching registration for a new class in the next few weeks as well. 

Here's what I invite you to do today: 

Take a video tour of the new site. You can access that on the New Here page.Sign up to be a registered user. I am super excited to welcome you to this growing community of people who are interested in and passionate about crafting their story. Check out each of the Project Pages under the Project heading and watch the videos filmed by Collin Kartchner. He expertly captured the essence behind each of those projects and made me laugh over and over again. Also on each Project Page is a gallery of images. I love this new gallery format and hope you do too. Please note that we are in the process of linking up previous blog posts that correspond with specific projects to make it easier to get more information on specific projects. You are already here on the blog but I hope you'll spend a bit of time checking out how we've organized the content. You can do a search or use the categories to find or rediscover some of the posts I've written over the last ten years. I personally loved looking back through The Weekend Lens, Simon and Anna categories. I love that there's a visual archive when you click to view a category. I've got a new 4x6" stamp subscription program called Story Stamps™. There is a limited quantity now available for pre-order here. One of the big things that sets this program apart (and what I'm really excited about) is that subscribers receive access to a private area of the site that will include additional educational content each month in the form of video(s), a PDF handout, and a message board and gallery for connecting with other subscribers who are part of this community. It's basically like taking a mini-workshop from me each month. PLEASE NOTE

We are aware of some wonky things, like videos appearing really small, in older blog posts. We are working on updating those video files to the correct size. In the mean-time if you come across a video you can always still click to view it on Vimeo or You Tube depending on where it was originally uploaded (I've done both in the past). 

THANK YOU

I'm so ready to get down to the regular business of telling stories. I'm looking forward to a bunch of new things to share with you in the coming months - classes, project kits, products. We've been working hard behind the scenes for so long and to see it all finally come to fruition has been awesome. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being excited.

Hello Evolution

Change is coming my friends.

For the last year or so I’ve been working behind the scenes to evolve my business and to shake things up in a bunch of different ways.

I needed to shake it up.

I can tell you, without a doubt, that I absolutely feel excited and rejuvenated about memory keeping. I’ve got stories to tell and layouts to make and I want you to continue joining me on this journey.

This brand evolution is awesome but it’s also been crazy challenging in a million different ways. New life is being breathed into my business and I’m personally growing right along with it (as happens whether you like it or not when you are the brand). And man have there been some pains. There have also been awesome steps (maybe even leaps) forward for me personally as I work through the things I’m afraid of and the things I’m resistant to and the things I hold on to way too tight (for no reason other than I’m afraid).

So all that said, something new is coming.

In order for that something new to be totally ready to launch we need to take this site down for a bit – most likely starting on Monday, August 11th. It will be down for a week or so (give or take a few days) and then it will reappear with all kinds of fun new stuff.

A NOTE ABOUT CLASSES | If you have purchased a class from me, including One Little Word, Yesterday & Today, or Scrapbook On The Road you will not have access to that content while the site is down. Please download the content you might over the next couple of weeks. Once the new site launches your same passwords and links should work for accessing the workshops. If you have any questions or need a PDF during the next few weeks you can always email us ali@aliedwards.com.

ALSO, because of these changes this will be the last weekend to purchase Scrapbook On The Road and/or Yesterday & Today. These two classes may show up again in the future but won’t be available for purchase when the new site launches. Again, you won’t have access to these classes starting Monday until the new site is live.

We want this transition to be as seamless as possible and thank you for your understanding over the next couple of weeks as we implement the changes.

This is super exciting stuff for me and the evolution of my business. I can’t wait to share it with you soon!

STAY UPDATED VIA MY NEWSLETTER | If you want to stay updated with all the new happenings at aliedwards.com sign up for the newsletter list here (if you are already signed up for my current newsletter you’re all good to go).

Hello Evolution

Change is coming my friends.

For the last year or so I've been working behind the scenes to evolve my business and to shake things up in a bunch of different ways.

I needed to shake it up.

I can tell you, without a doubt, that I absolutely feel excited and rejuvenated about memory keeping. I've got stories to tell and layouts to make and I want you to continue joining me on this journey.

This brand evolution is awesome but it's also been crazy challenging in a million different ways. New life is being breathed into my business and I'm personally growing right along with it (as happens whether you like it or not when you are the brand). And man have there been some pains. There have also been awesome steps (maybe even leaps) forward for me personally as I work through the things I'm afraid of and the things I'm resistant to and the things I hold on to way too tight (for no reason other than I'm afraid).

So all that said, something new is coming.

In order for that something new to be totally ready to launch we need to take this site down for a bit - most likely starting on Monday, August 11th. It will be down for a week or so (give or take a few days) and then it will reappear with all kinds of fun new stuff.

A NOTE ABOUT CLASSES | If you have purchased a class from me, including One Little Word, Yesterday & Today, or Scrapbook On The Road you will not have access to that content while the site is down. Please download the content you might over the next couple of weeks. Once the new site launches your same passwords and links should work for accessing the workshops. If you have any questions or need a PDF during the next few weeks you can always email us ali@aliedwards.com.

We want this transition to be as seamless as possible and thank you for your understanding over the next couple of weeks as we implement the changes.

This is super exciting stuff for me and the evolution of my business. I can't wait to share it with you soon!

STAY UPDATED VIA MY NEWSLETTER | If you want to stay updated with all the new happenings at aliedwards.com sign up for the newsletter list here (if you are already signed up for my current newsletter you're all good to go).

Summer Adventuring | Part Two

Part two of the week+ summer adventure happened after the camping trip with my brother.

The plan started out pretty simple. Aaron and I had both decided to take the week off work after the camping trip. As we were talking through options about what to do with this vacation time with all the kids (driving, flying, staycation, etc) we decided it made complete sense to go stay at the house I grew up in outside of Tacoma, Washington and adventure to Seattle for a day or two or more.

I think we both liked having that flexibility built into the plan so we could see how things went and how everyone was getting along and how much patience I/we had left.

After the four days of camping + two nights outside Seattle I figured I’d be ready to be home but left it open just in case.

Here’s a look at the middle part of our adventure:

One of the first things we did after getting settled into the house I grew up in (after leaving the camping adventure) was figure out a dinner plan.

Growing up in the summer we spent a lot of time at this particular Godfather’s Pizza in Federal Way. It was the place we went after so many swim meets. It was fun to have this crew there for pizza and to play some of the arcade games just like I did when I was a kid.

On Monday morning we developed a plan that included taking the Central Link light rail from the airport to Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. We don’t have a car that fits all seven of us and taking two cars sounded like a pain and most kids like experiencing different modes of transportation.

There was lots of anticipation (and lots of corralling of kids) as we got off the train and got on the monorail at Westlake to take us to Seattle Center.

Told you he likes transportation.

My kids have been to the Space Needle and Seattle Center before but it was Aaron’s kids first time. It was fun to see their faces as we approached. We didn’t end up going up to the top of the Space Needle, choosing instead to spend our time and money at the Pacific Science Center.

The Science Center is one of those Seattle institutions. I loved coming here on field trips or to see special exhibits as a kid. Right now they have a Spy exhibit happening which was pretty cool but a little much (too many words) for the two 5-year-olds.

They found ways to have fun in the other exhibits and just hanging out with each other.

So yes, at the end of this day, we were all exhausted.

We had talked about going down to the waterfront for dinner or exploring more, but everyone was just done by late afternoon and we still had the train ride back to our cars.

I’m pretty sure all the kids had fun (or at least their memory will be one of fun), but it was also another learning experience for me and Aaron in the parenting/blended family adventures/expectations department. I can tell you that the two of us had some really good conversations at the end of each day as we were laying in the dark about what we think is most important in these kinds of adventures, things we each struggle with related to how we parent our own kids, strategies for next time and generally continuing to deepen our relationship. Not always easy but it sure feels worth it.

That’s the reality people.

The next morning we woke up and took our time getting ready to go (remember how I said above that I thought two nights would be enough and there’s always more work to do at home). At the end of two nights post camping I still wasn’t quite ready to go home and the truth is I wanted to add another surprise to this adventure that I knew my kids would love.

So as a last minute thing we decided to make a reservation for Great Wolf Lodge on the way home.

This is one of those places we’ve driven by many times as we’ve made our way north or south on I5 between my home in Oregon and my relatives outside Seattle. We’ve seen the big waterslides from the road and always wondered what it was all about.

We loaded up the kids in the car and started making our way towards home. Pretty much all the kids were sleeping in both cars, except Simon. When we pulled in and everyone woke up they were pretty surprised that their vacation wasn’t quite done.

We checked-in and ventured into the waterpark and the kids loved it. They had so much fun playing in the wave pool and going on the waterslides and playing on the big structure in the middle of the water park (especially a giant bucket that dumps a thousand gallons of water every so often). I loved the waterslides the best and it was so great that both kids were into that part too.

Everyone slept awesome that night.

Here they are near the end of the next day. Again, they were pretty much done by this point. Remember that feeling?

We had initially planned to just stay one night – you have access to the waterpark from the time you check-in until closing time the following day which is a good amount of time to be in the water. What I wasn’t aware of was that they also have this whole other component going on at the hotel called MagiQuest® (you can tell my research was really limited to the waterpark portion).

As soon as Simon saw all the kids running around with wands and activating cool stuff around the hotel it was really hard for him to understand that no, that wasn’t a part of the adventure this time and we were just there to do the waterpark.

As we were getting ready to pack up and leave the waterpark (see that last photo above about being done) I started considering staying another night to be able to give Simon the gift of participating in the magical adventure. Normally all these adjustments to the schedule wouldn’t be possible for one reason or another but because we’d left the week open we had some room to be spontaneous.

So, again, I made the executive decision to stay one more night.

Worth it.

Totally.

Simon and Aaron’s boys loved it. Of course they did. They have a whole game set up where the kids go from floor to floor using the stairwells and common areas of the hotel solving puzzles – it’s basically a big scavenger hunt.

The girls also had fun using the wands around the hotel (not as a specific part of the game) but just as a “demo” which meant they could activate things (open chests, make things talk, etc). They also loved the little shows, face painting, coloring and storytime that was put on in the evening.

He was so into it. It got their brains going and it’s an activity that takes up a good amount of time. They spent most of the evening and the next morning going through the book and clues to finish the game. It’s definitely a nice compliment to the water activities.

We loved how geared the whole place was to the kids.

Good times, good times.

I’ve got one more post to share, most likely later this week, which will be Part Three of our summer adventure (another weekend of camping to round out the week+ of fun).

Check out Part One here.

Word art used on some of the photos above is from my Spontaneous Adventure and Diamonds Are Forever Vol. 3.

Summer Adventuring | Part Two

Part two of the week+ summer adventure happened after the camping trip with my brother.

The plan started out pretty simple. Aaron and I had both decided to take the week off work after the camping trip. As we were talking through options about what to do with this vacation time with all the kids (driving, flying, staycation, etc) we decided it made complete sense to go stay at the house I grew up in outside of Tacoma, Washington and adventure to Seattle for a day or two or more.

I think we both liked having that flexibility built into the plan so we could see how things went and how everyone was getting along and how much patience I/we had left.

After the four days of camping + two nights outside Seattle I figured I'd be ready to be home but left it open just in case.

Here's a look at the middle part of our adventure:

One of the first things we did after getting settled into the house I grew up in (after leaving the camping adventure) was figure out a dinner plan.

Growing up in the summer we spent a lot of time at this particular Godfather's Pizza in Federal Way. It was the place we went after so many swim meets. It was fun to have this crew there for pizza and to play some of the arcade games just like I did when I was a kid.

On Monday morning we developed a plan that included taking the Central Link light rail from the airport to Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. We don't have a car that fits all seven of us and taking two cars sounded like a pain and most kids like experiencing different modes of transportation.

There was lots of anticipation (and lots of corralling of kids) as we got off the train and got on the monorail at Westlake to take us to Seattle Center.

Told you he likes transportation.

My kids have been to the Space Needle and Seattle Center before but it was Aaron's kids first time. It was fun to see their faces as we approached. We didn't end up going up to the top of the Space Needle, choosing instead to spend our time and money at the Pacific Science Center.

The Science Center is one of those Seattle institutions. I loved coming here on field trips or to see special exhibits as a kid. Right now they have a Spy exhibit happening which was pretty cool but a little much (too many words) for the two 5-year-olds.

They found ways to have fun in the other exhibits and just hanging out with each other.

So yes, at the end of this day, we were all exhausted.

We had talked about going down to the waterfront for dinner or exploring more, but everyone was just done by late afternoon and we still had the train ride back to our cars.

I'm pretty sure all the kids had fun (or at least their memory will be one of fun), but it was also another learning experience for me and Aaron in the parenting/blended family adventures/expectations department. I can tell you that the two of us had some really good conversations at the end of each day as we were laying in the dark about what we think is most important in these kinds of adventures, things we each struggle with related to how we parent our own kids, strategies for next time and generally continuing to deepen our relationship. Not always easy but it sure feels worth it.

That's the reality people.

The next morning we woke up and took our time getting ready to go (remember how I said above that I thought two nights would be enough and there's always more work to do at home). At the end of two nights post camping I still wasn't quite ready to go home and the truth is I wanted to add another surprise to this adventure that I knew my kids would love.

So as a last minute thing we decided to make a reservation for Great Wolf Lodge on the way home.

This is one of those places we've driven by many times as we've made our way north or south on I5 between my home in Oregon and my relatives outside Seattle. We've seen the big waterslides from the road and always wondered what it was all about.

We loaded up the kids in the car and started making our way towards home. Pretty much all the kids were sleeping in both cars, except Simon. When we pulled in and everyone woke up they were pretty surprised that their vacation wasn't quite done.

We checked-in and ventured into the waterpark and the kids loved it. They had so much fun playing in the wave pool and going on the waterslides and playing on the big structure in the middle of the water park (especially a giant bucket that dumps a thousand gallons of water every so often). I loved the waterslides the best and it was so great that both kids were into that part too.

Everyone slept awesome that night.

Here they are near the end of the next day. Again, they were pretty much done by this point. Remember that feeling?

We had initially planned to just stay one night - you have access to the waterpark from the time you check-in until closing time the following day which is a good amount of time to be in the water. What I wasn't aware of was that they also have this whole other component going on at the hotel called MagiQuest® (you can tell my research was really limited to the waterpark portion).

As soon as Simon saw all the kids running around with wands and activating cool stuff around the hotel it was really hard for him to understand that no, that wasn't a part of the adventure this time and we were just there to do the waterpark.

As we were getting ready to pack up and leave the waterpark (see that last photo above about being done) I started considering staying another night to be able to give Simon the gift of participating in the magical adventure. Normally all these adjustments to the schedule wouldn't be possible for one reason or another but because we'd left the week open we had some room to be spontaneous.

So, again, I made the executive decision to stay one more night.

Worth it.

Totally.

Simon and Aaron's boys loved it. Of course they did. They have a whole game set up where the kids go from floor to floor using the stairwells and common areas of the hotel solving puzzles - it's basically a big scavenger hunt.

The girls also had fun using the wands around the hotel (not as a specific part of the game) but just as a "demo" which meant they could activate things (open chests, make things talk, etc). They also loved the little shows, face painting, coloring and storytime that was put on in the evening.

He was so into it. It got their brains going and it's an activity that takes up a good amount of time. They spent most of the evening and the next morning going through the book and clues to finish the game. It's definitely a nice compliment to the water activities.

We loved how geared the whole place was to the kids.

Good times, good times.

I've got one more post to share, most likely later this week, which will be Part Three of our summer adventure (another weekend of camping to round out the week+ of fun).

Check out Part One here.

Word art used on some of the photos above is from my Spontaneous Adventure and Diamonds Are Forever Vol. 3.

Summer Adventuring | Part One

Our whirlwind week+ adventure came to a close last weekend.

I took a lot of photos. A lot.

And I’m so glad I did.

I’m going to break up the adventure into three posts because there were really three separate parts with a cast of characters that come in and out.

Our adventure started out with a 4-day camping adventure with my brother’s family and a bunch of their friends. This is the same group we’ve been going with for three of the last four years and it’s a treasured tradition. You can see photos from past years here (2011) and here (2012) – it’s magic to look back through the years and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. These are usually some of my favorite photos of the year.

For this adventure I shot mostly with my DSLR and supplemented with my iPhone. On some of the photos I’ve added digital word art from the following sets available at Designer Digitals:

Summer Adoration
Summer Activities
Spontaneous Adventures
Camping

Camping for us began with a road trip.

We pulled off to the side of the road for this shot. I set my Canon 5DMKII on the dash with the 24-70 lens opened all the way for a wide shot and set the timer. Love these kind of in-the-car shots to start the adventure.

Camping is for fishing and wide open spaces and room to spread out.

Camping is for hanging out around the fire for hours on end both day and night.

Camping is for snuggling up in the tent.

Camping is for drinks around the fire.

Camping is for capturing relationships.

And celebrating family.

Camping is for storytelling.

Last year my cousin Rob and my brother introduced the kids to Shakey the Bear.

Shakey leaves notes and treats for the kids. They run like crazy when someone finds a note (like the one painted above) and usually find something cool waiting for them: bubble wands, bandannas, pop tarts, etc.

Camping is for hot dogs and for connecting with old friends.

Camping is for giggling.

Camping is for conversations about setting up an Instagram account to share lego guys camping adventures.

Camping is sometimes for digging clams.

And for eating them.

Camping is for getting in the water.

Camping is for checking stuff out.

And wandering.

Camping is for music during the day and at night.

Camping is for moments.

Camping rocks.

LOOKING FOR SOME PHOTO INSPIRATION THIS AUGUST? Susannah Conway invited me to contribute to her August Break project – a photo-a-day community event for the month of August. I think it’s something many of you might have an interest in as you experience the month of August. Get all the details on this free month of prompts here.