The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

October first is here, so I think it is safe to say that the summer of 2020 has come to an end. The leaves are changing colors, sweatshirts are making their way out of drawers, pumpkin is being consumed in every way possible and Halloween costumes are a regular topic of dinner conversation. For us, our children are also back in school, but for all of us, a pandemic rages on, leaving sickness and sorrow in its path. A mixed bag, if there ever was one. I love, love, love the fall in New England, but it continues to be hard to enjoy it, or anything, to the fullest in a world full of so much anxiety, the unknown, constantly in the back of my mind. We had a really lovely summer. It makes me feel guilty to say, and I am fully aware that this summer's joy was not there for many others. Working from home gave us a flexibility we have never had as a family, we could meet our work obligations from anywhere, so we did. Cape Cod, Maine, New Hampshire - New England was our oyster and our bubble...

Ok, so it is overcast for the millionth day so far this year, but Monday was gorgeous and it was also the first day of NO SCHOOL for Maddie! Come August I will be begging for school to start, but right now it feels like a little slice of heaven. No dragging a kid out of bed at 6am. No packing lunches based on an increasingly complex algorithm of what my kid will eat that week. No running out of the house for 7:30 drop off then running back to get ready for work. It is the time for lax bedtimes, late dinners after soaking in all the extra daylight outside, reading together on the porch, beach bound weekend mornings. We have plans for a week down the Cape, a long weekend in New Hampshire and are looking into a long weekend in Acadia. We will be outside as much as possible and taking advantage of movies in the park, a beach we can bike to, the ice cream man and his incessant stalking of children at dinnertime. This is the time of year I LIVE for! In New England, we survive the t...

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...