We just returned from a nine day trip to Seattle, Portland, and the surrounding areas. It's truly beautiful up there. I'd love to live there for a couple months at some point though St. Louis is definitely my home.

We had fabulous hosts in Dan and Kai (of Metropolis fame) in Seattle and Noel (one of my college roommates) and Stacia in Portland. It was particularly cool staying with Noel and Stacia as they have a son that's 4 weeks younger than Declan (and a fabulous 2 year old daughter too!).

We didn't get in as much outdoorsy stuff as usual due to the Declan factor but still managed to get in a bunch of day hikes and saw lots of beautiful scenery.

Declan did great overall. He had no problems on the plane rides (other than an inconvenient diaper blow out on the way home) and everyone commented on how good he was. He slept though chunks of the hikes but enjoyed them otherwise. The car rides were the most difficult (he's usually very content back there) and required several hundred rounds of 'Wheels on the Bus', lots of backseat riding, and several stops. But all in all, he was his usual cheerful self, though he's happy to be home.

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