Category Archives: vacation

4th of July

July 7, 2014

4th of July is a holiday of celebration! The sparkling fireworks, waves and boating, bright sunshine, hot weather, sizzling grilling, juicy burgers, and cold beers. Summer at its best. This year, my sister Jillian and her husband Brian made the trip from Indianapolis to visit and have some family time. Also, my aunt Teresa from California made it and my friend Shannon came down for the weekend! We headed down to Yankton and Cedar Ridge Hideaway (our cabin) for the festivities. Like my man Zac Brown sang, “I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand, life is good today, life is good today.”

Our 4th of July in photos

Wednesday:

Brian and Jillian

The hubs and I

Stuffed after smoked ribs on the patio

Thursday:

We made it to Yankton in the Jeep! Maui Mat is on and we are ready for the lake!

Lewis and Clark Beach in Yankton

I must have told her something she didn’t want to hear. Oops. How many times will I be getting THAT glare in my lifetime? ;)

Uncle Joe just LOVES Ivy. He took her for a walk to show her the beach, sand, and waves

Daddy took her for a swim in the lake

Lifeguard on duty

Toes in the water, ass in the sand

Epitome of vacation

Delicious ribeye dinner!

Bloody Mary’s. Bada-bing!

Friday: 4th of July!!!!

Gettin’ cray cray

Aye aye, captain Ivy

America, you’ve been good to me. xxoo

Saturday:

My little sailor

Ivy loved crawling all over the Maui Mat

Deciding which boat she can commandeer

Thank Jillian and Brian for making the trip! Sure was fun – love you guys!

Dear Portland, let me count the ways…

May 3, 2014

Portland, Oregon has always been on my bucket list. The lush green forests, the divine food, the craft brews, the hip culture, this city certainly was a city I HAD to visit sometime. My sister Catheryn and her new husband Michael moved out there last year from D.C. and needless to say, I WAS PUMPED. Even more reasons to visit now! Being it was Easter, they just eloped, and it was her birthday = a perfect time to visit. My other sister Jillian and her husband Brian also booked some tickets from Indianapolis to make it a family affair. Catheryn hadn’t met Ivy yet, so we HAD to bring her! Plus, I was excited for her to have her 2nd airplane ride (1st was to Scottsdale, AZ) and to see some new sights.

DAY 1

We started our journey hitting the town and ate at Tasty N Alder. DELICIOUS. We had a bloody mary and shared a bunch of brunch items. This was the best meal we had ALL weekend! As we chowed down, I got used to nursing in public, which is never the easiest, but Ivy took a little snooze as I was inhaling a fab meal.

Next, we dashed to some breweries – Rogue and Deschutes. We did a sampling of beer flights, and they were all so so good. We ended the night at a rooftop bar called Departure to soak in some views of the city.

DAY 2

The next day was our WINE TOUR of Willamette Valley. Jillian, AKA Master Planner, put together a list of wineries to go to and John and I were THRILLED. Ivy napped on the drive there so she was all rested and ready to have her “cracker tasting” at each winery :)

First up, was WillaKenzie. Pulling into the driveway of this winery was like a dream. The views were just majestic with lush green everywhere. So beautiful. This is a larger winery and I looooooved every wine we sampled. I took advantage of a firepit overlooking the vineyard and nursed Ivy. It was quite amazing. Usually nursing in public is in a corner of a bathroom or something, but this, this was a spot I could get used to. That fire, the trees, the vines, the grapes… take me baaaaaaack.

Proud Uncle Brian and Auntie Jillian! Lookin’ like naturals.

2nd stop, we hit Lenne, a beautiful building and scenery. Very intimate setting.

3rd stop was Saffron Fields. This place had architecture that was just incredible!

Ivy enjoying her cracker tasting

4th stop was the BEST stop. Atticus Winery. This was a very unique experience because it was not a business location, we actually got to go to their home for a private tasting. Their home was SO neat. Rustic country with a view that was to die for. Vineyards in your back yard?! Yes please! I’ll take 2. The woman was so nice and we pretty much took over her house. We brought our lunch – meats, cheeses, crackers, dips – all from Trader Joe’s, paired with some delicious wine samples, and this was the best hour we had.

Ivy finally got some playing time

After the wine tasting, we went outside to see the vineyard and it was just dreamy outside. We took advantage of the setting for some stunning family photos

The Keating Girls

Umb, could this be ANY more perfect. Eyes open, everybody’s looking, and everybody’s smiling, EVEN IVY.

Newly eloped!! Michael and Catheryn

DAY 3

The 3rd day we went to Irving Street Kitchen for lunch, then went for a stroll through Washington Park. The food was delectable and the sights were delightful. The park was extraordinary! Abundant trees and green, walking paths, and a rose garden (this would have been GORGEOUS if they had been in bloom) made for a sweet cruise through the park.

Only gourmet for baby ;)

Hey guys

Daddy slingin’ it

And that made the end of our trip, wine, beer, food, and family. Until next time Portland, xoxo.

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Wisconsin Trip

March 10, 2014

This weekend was Becca’s birthday, so we wanted to spend some time with Sean (her husband), and their two kids, Anna and Nora. All of the Koch’s rode to Madison, WI to visit. It was hysterical watching Anna and Nora play with Ivy. They just LOVED her. Betsy and I enjoyed watching the girls play. It’ll be fun for Ivy to has some cousins like that

I mean, can these three girls get ANY cuter

Chillin’ in the hotel, Miss Koch

Uncle Jeffy!!!

Soakin’ in the AZ sunshine

December 18, 2013

Family trips, ahhhh the memories. I remember the trips we took as children and how much fun they were. Being with Mommy and Daddy, my sisters (even though we were probably fighting), and enjoying our trips together were some great times. There is something about family bonding that just makes me all giddy inside. Maybe it’s partly because we were always somewhere fun and exciting, Disney World, the beach, grandma and grandpas house, but overall, it’s just a good family memory. When John and I booked our first family trip, we were quite excited for Ivy to take her first plan ride. I, of course had anxiety, reading every blog and article I could about how to NOT have a screaming baby on the plane, which I was terrified about, because I know I have been soooo annoyed with THAT screaming kid on the plane. But thankfully, Ivy wasn’t THAT baby, and we weren’t THOSE parents. We did JUST fine :) It made it a lot easier that it was a direct flight (best thing ever), straight from Sioux Falls to Phoenix. Little Ivy got some ooo’s and ahhhh’s because she did so well! Slept for most of it and then played for a while. Thank goodness. Fewf.

We stayed at the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale. It was incredible. Pools, bars, 5 star restaurants, golf courses, walking trails, shops, everything in one place. We had a perfect location for our room, so while Ivy took her morning nap, John and I brought the monitor down to the pool and hottub with our Starbucks latte to soak in the water. SO NICE. We even brought Ivy down one morning to take a dip. Oops, she had to go in with her diaper, buuuut oh well. She wasn’t so sure about the water, it was funny!

The resort had a Christmas special so they had over a million lights around the resort and they even had a choo choo train to take peole around on the walking paths to see the lights at night. The kid in me HAD to do it. I LOVED it. Ivy loved it until it put her to sleep halfway :) Ha, but I really enjoyed it. We also got to meet Santa!

We had to go out and see the sights one day. We ended up hiking Camelback Mountain. With how inquisitive Ivy is, she LOVED looking at the views! We turned her facing forward halfway into the hike in the Baby Bjorn so she could see everything. John was a mountain man in that thing. He got some studly looks from other hikers as he was hiking with a baby. Way to go, dude.

Check out those views. Poor Ivy needed some sunglasses. Oops

Pit stop up at the top to nurse

We also did a bunch of shopping (too much to fit in our suitcases, of course), eating DELICIOUS food, and we had some nice nights around a fire at the resort with a bottle of wine. Pretttty relaxing. Goal met, check.

Enjoying a brewski under the heat lamp with Christmas Carols in the background at Bar North. Ivy just dooozed off under that nice warm heat lamp while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a beer, or two, or three, and a glass of wine :) Oh and they have THE BEST BRUSCHETTA – it had prosciutto and asparagus on it. To die for.

This was maybe the best. It was raining out and somehow we scored this delightful spot – Real wood fire, snuggles with Daddy, and a bottle of wine. Amore, amore.

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Arizona vacation, here we come

December 14, 2013

Ok, moving sucks. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do any of it. My job was to pack and unpack, and that sucks too. We’ve had most of our belongings in storage this year, so opening those boxes was like getting new gifts. I forgot all of the crap we had! We ended up working our asses off to get as far as we could… but now, time for some fun! We are heading to Scottsdale, Arizona! Rest, relaxation, snuggles, shopping, warm weather, alcoholic beverages, and good food. The perfect time for it, because I only have 2 weeks left before I go back to work!!! Ugh! I plan to thoroughly enjoy myself.

Baby’s first flight… ready for take off.