The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

After we were on Vashon we decided to take advantage of being so close to Seattle and see some sights and an old Reno friend! It was lovely weather, though maybe a bit hot, but no rain so we got to do a lot of walking and sightseeing as well as some good solo runs down along the water; here are some of the things we did: Eat/Drink Pike Place Market - We had to get our tourist on and stroll around - the girls were especially excited to see fish being thrown around - so we headed for a visit before dinner one evening. We popped into a cheese place that had a big ol' cheese making vat and picked up some cheese and crackers to snack on as we walked around. Although we did not wait in the loooong line, we saw the original Starbucks and this former barista felt a twinge of pride at that cool old sign. The Market is definitely a busy place, but we went later in the afternoon (4/5pm) and were able to get around and pop in and out of shops easily. Japonessa - We made reservations for t...

Back to the O'Shea's whirlwind wedding tour of the country; here was our first stop and now onto the second! Vashon Island I have to break this trip into two because it was really like two different places even though they are just a 30 minute ferry ride a part (Seattle is up next!). We were in town for my best friend since 9th grade's wedding and it was super fun to see all my old punk rock friends with all their kiddos, being adults and stuff. Crazy! Vashon was a dream, the wedding was perfect and I cannot wait to go back. I am a city girl through and through but Vashon was my favorite part of this trip. It is just so gorgeous and easy and relaxing; 10/10 will go back! Here are some things we loved on the island: Eat/Drink Gravy - We had an AirBnB and the wedding one evening, so we did not eat out too much on the island, but this was where we had dinner upon arrival and it was really tasty. Lots of local stuff and a salmon dish that made Matt actually like salmon ...

7,800 miles - that is the final count from June 2nd to July 3rd for the O'Sheas. Phew! It was fun, a lot of fun really, and the girls continue to be such awesome travelers, which adds to the fun part. I thought it would be fun to do a little round up and suggest some places we went and some tips that have been tried and true for us when traveling with little ones. I feel like we are seasoned pros when it comes to travel with kids, but each trip seems to teach us something new (do not, even, lug a pack and play across the country and expect your kid to sleep in it!). As I got to our second stop I realized I should break this up into digestible posts, so you don't feel like this is your uncle's Grand Canyon slide show :) So, here we go....! First Stop: Geneva, New York We drove from Boston, which was a long haul, unfortunately made longer by us going out of our way to visit Ommegang Brewery, only to be turned away when we got there due to a special event that they did n...

If there is one thing I love about vacations, it is going on them with my AIL. Something about having another adult who also happens to be an amazing cook and one of the most awesome people in the world makes vacations with all of us extra fun. For a whole week we all got to be in Wells, Maine at the Cottages at Summer Village , which were kind of the perfect place for us with these two ages of kiddos right now. There were pools, fun activities, playgrounds and a super cute cottage with wild blueberries to pick and put in our pancakes. We had a grill to cook on and Adirondacks to sit in and a path around the cottages that became me and Annie's afternoon nap routine. And when we wanted to leave the cottages we could hike, go to the beach, or head to Portland, which is one of my favorite New England towns, and ended up being a great way to spend the one rained out day. It was awesome to have two pools to choose from because both girls are total fish and just want to be in the wat...

I did a terrible job of keeping up with all our summer travels over here because I was really busy enjoying every (well, almost every) moment of them! I was flipping through my Instagram last night and it is literally three months of adventure! I feel so lucky to be able to do these things with my kiddos and to have a husband that is always willing to let me create these crazy memories together. At the beginning of the summer we created a summer bucket list and on that was a trip to Mystic. CT. Matt and I had been briefly when we first started dating to sight-see with my grandparents while they were visiting from the West Coast but it was an ill-fated trip (I ended up in the hospital the next day with a kidney infection) and we only saw a little of it. This time around, we had big plans! We drove down on a Saturday morning and headed to The Dinosaur Place , which is just a few minutes from Mystic. I had no idea what to expect and had gotten Maddie pretty excited about it, so was re...