Minnesota

After Luke and I spent five days in Chicago, we jumped on a plane and flew to Minnesota to spend another five days with friends from college. It was a wonderful trip full of great conversation, plenty of trips to Starbucks, good food, and relaxation. It was so hard to leave such close friends behind. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Just beyond Paige is the view from our rooftop dinner in Minneapolis

One of our many coffee shop visits
Everyone seems to love Dave : )
Paige and I

Paige and DavePaige, Brittney, and I Our whole group during our walk around one of the many lakes in Minneapolis
Cooking dinner after some flag football

The Oxford Crew

Chicago

The long awaited Chicago pics are finally here. Even though it has only been a few short weeks, it already seems like so much time has passed since we were on vacation. We just loved seeing Amy, Dan and Braxton in Chicago. That little boy is absolutely precious and he really took to Luke. On Saturday we had the chance to head into downtown, where we visited Navy Pier, walked around by the water, rode to the top of Sears Tower, and of course ate some deep dish pizza (this was Luke's favorite moment on the trip). We also had the chance to go to one of Dan's games and a team fan dinner. But most of all, we enjoyed our time with family. Here some pics from the Chicago portion of our trip.

Pics from the game

Dan and Braxton signing autographs

Pictures from the Navy Pier Fountain

One of Braxton's favorite things to do with Luke was ride on his shoulders.

View from the top of Sears Tower

Hope you enjoyed the pics. I will try to have the MN trip pictures up by the end of the week.

Mt. Townsend Continued

Here is a quick video of the view from the summit.

Mt Townsend Hike

Today the Walker family ventured out on a day hike. It turned out to be a glorious Northwest day, and we thoroughly enjoyed our adventure. Although the hike was slightly more difficult than the "moderate" climb the guidebooks had described, we still felt the view from the top was well worth it. From the summit we were able to see Mt. Rainer, Mt. Baker, and the Olympic Mountains. If it had not been for a few low-lying clouds, we would have also been able to see a beautiful view of the Puget Sound. Regardless the trip was well worth the effort. Here are a few pics from the day.










P.S. Pics from Chicago and MN are still on the way. Our main computer was down for a week, but it is now back up and running. I hope to have them posted soon.

School's Out!

On another note school is out for summer. It was rather surreal as the end of the year drew ever closer. Maybe it is because June has felt more like February with our low temperatures and rainy days. Even the students seemed to be confused by the weather and surprised that the last day of school was approaching so soon. Well I must say, I am thankful. Although the school year was quick, I am ready for the break. On Thursday Luke and I are off on our first summer adventure. We will be heading first to Chicago to see my cousin Amy, her husband Dan, and their adorable son Braxton. Then from there, we are off to Minnesota to see our friends Paige, Dave, Brittany, and Mike. I can't wait! When we get back from our trip I will have plenty of pictures to share. Until then I hope you are all enjoying your summer season, and hopefully the weather in your area is cooperating a tad bit more than ours.

New Bike!

Last summer we purchased a road bike for Luke so he could commute to work, saving both time sitting in traffic and money on gas. We figured eventually the bike would pay for itself through the savings. All summer I was jealous and sad that we could not go on weekend bike rides together. Therefore, Luke and I decided to buy my birthday present a little early this year (My birthday is in September), so that we would not miss on the summer biking season. We started looking for bikes Memorial Day weekend and by the end of the weekend we settled on this beginner road bike. We even took it out the day we bought it for a quick ride. Today we are off to go on a family bike ride with Luke's parents and sister. I am sure we will have a great time. . Here is a quick picture of my bike off the Internet. I hope to have some of me actually riding the bike soon.

Spring Break

This break has been rather interesting. I usually look forward to this break as a time when I can break out my shorts and t-shirts and enjoy the new sun and fresh air. However, this break brought a completely opposite occurrence - SNOW. It snowed not just one day but two. I couldn't believe my eyes on Wednesday when driving home the thick rain turned to white flakes. As I continued to drive, the snow only became more intense and it continued through the evening. By the end we had almost two inches of snow at our house which lasted through the next morning. Once again, to my dismay, we had snow on Friday. This time however the snow was wet and slushy. It stuck just slightly to the grass but never to the roads.

Although the snowfall kept me from breaking out the shorts and t-shirts, it didn't keep from redecorating the kitchen. In fact it only encouraged me to stay warm in my cozy house and paint all day Wednesday and Thursday (with the exception of a few Home Depot trips). The redecorating started a few weeks ago when my dad came and installed new marble tile counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms. We then decided that we wanted to repaint the kitchen and try out a suede technique by Ralph Lauren. Now that the project is finished, I have a few pictures of the redecorating process to share with you.

Before Pictures

After Pictures