Back to Nature

We've been enjoying some really lovely weather here in the Pacific Northwest lately. It's pretty much been sunny and warm, with the exception of Labor Day weekend. One benefit of all this nice, sunny weather is that we've been able to see a ton of Mt. Rainier. It's visible from all over post, and it's actually kind of startling sometimes to make a turn in the car and seeing it looming in the distance. It's so much taller than all the other mountains around it that it looks like it's all alone on the horizon.

We've actually been impressed with most of the scenery on post. Our neighborhood backs right up to a lake. There's a swimming area and a place to rent paddle boats and canoes. We had plans to spend the day there yesterday, but unfortunately all the fun stuff shuts down after Labor Day. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to take advantage of it all.

Since our lake plans didn't work out, we headed to a town just a couple of miles away called Dupont. We took a picnic lunch to enjoy in one of their parks, and then explored a couple of their walking trails. The first one took us along the golf course and had some nice views of Pugest Sound.



The second trail wound through a wooded area and was nice and cool because of all the trees and shade. We had kind of been going back and forth about getting Blasto a jogging stroller, but the trails convinced me. They're so nice and convenient, but a lot of them are gravel, so I think the jogging stroller will definitely be worth the money.

Mini-Roadtrips

A couple of weeks ago Pat and I decided to do some exploring in Seattle. We started with lunch at the Pike Place Market. We found a little place with a nice view of Puget Sound.

From there, we walked a few blocks to take the train to the Space Needle. We wandered around for a bit and then headed back to the market. We stopped at The Crumpet Shop and had some crumpets and tea. The crumpets were delicious and came highly recommended by one of my co-workers.


We found some good buys at the market. We found a fun little spice shop where Pat got some smoked paprika. We also bought some Snapper at the famous Pike Place Fish Market where they throw the fish. All the produce stands feed you as you walk by, so we bought some "Oh My God" Peaches that were super yummy (that's seriously how they were labled on the sign). And on the way out we got a huge bunch of flowers for$5!

Over Labor Day weekend we drove up to Bellingham to visit some of Pat's family. We stayed with his grandparents and also got to visit with his Uncle Don, Aunt Mary, and cousins Emma and Margaret. We had so much fun with them all. We got to explore Bellingham a little and even got to see Don and Mary's house. We went for a walk in a gorgeous park that is only a few blocks from their house, and I'm still kicking myself for not bringing our camera with us.

The trips are probably on hold for the next month or two. Blasto is full-term today (Yay!), so I'm getting to the point that I don't want to venture too far away from home.

Road Trip

We've found the box of camera chargers and cables that I forgot to set aside before the move, so I'm finally able to post some pictures from our road trip to Washington and the new neighborhood. The road trip itself went pretty smoothly. The drive across Iowa was brutally boring, but the scenery just got prettier and prettier as we went. Montana was absolutely gorgeous, although we weren't prepared for a high temperature only in the low 60s. Washington was no disappointment either.

We probably saw 300 signs touting the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, so we stopped in Mitchell for lunch to check it out.

We also took a little side trip through Badlands National Park. I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area. We would have liked to have spent more time there, but the weather was rainy and we still had a couple of hours in the car until we got to our hotel.

On the way to the Badlands, we stopped an area where you could feed prairie dogs. They were so cute, but obviously well fed. They were much fatter than the "wild" prairie dogs we saw in the park.

Mimi was a trooper through the whole trip. She stared at us angrily from her crate for most of the first day, but after that she would lay down and nap for most of the drive. Hopefully we won't have take her anywhere for a while.

Officially Homeless!

It's been a busy few days for the growing Vogt family. As most of you know, we closed on our house on Friday, so we're officially homeless until mid-August. We stayed with my mom over the weekend, where we tried to squeeze in some relaxation (and sleep!) in between visits with both sides of the family. We've settled into an extended stay hotel for this week, but we check out Saturday to head to New York for a wedding. Mimi has been handling our nomadic lifestyle better than I had expected. She's enjoying her freedom at the hotel, and has taken to sleeping either under the bed or on the extra-wide window sills. We had a little bit of excitement yesterday when the smoke detectors starting going off, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

In baby news, Blasto is still doing great. She now weighs over three pounds, and seems to take endless pleasure in flipping around my stomach. Sometimes she likes to wriggle her way up under my right rib cage, but I can usually convince her to relocate. We had a potential problem last week when I failed my 1-hour Glucose Tolerance Test, but I passed the 3-hour test just fine. I have some insulin resistance issues when not pregnant, so it wasn't a huge shock, but it is a major relief to not be diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.

28 Week Appointment

I had my 28 week appointment on Monday, and everything is still looking good. Blasto is moving around like crazy, and her heart rate and measurements were all good. I'll have one more appointment at the hospital here before we move to Ft. Lewis. They want to see me right before we leave just to make sure everything is still ok. Also, it could take a little while to ge an appointment at the hospital at Lewis, so it will be nice to have one last check before we leave. I got my doctor's permission to fly in a couple weeks. We'll be going to Poughkeepsie, NY for the wedding of one of Pat's friends. I think Pat might even end up being a groomsman. I think it will be fun to see him all decked out in a tux! It will be a little crazy making the trip in the middle of trying to move, but I'm sure Pat will do a good job of keeping me sane. He's been getting a lot of practice these last few weeks!

Take that Housing Market!

We received an offer for our asking price on our house today, and we've accepted it! Closing is scheduled for July 31st. It's happening a little more quickly than I had expected it to, but I'd much rather sell the house sooner than we want than be stuck with it later. I'm definitely glad that the showings are over. We've only had 4, but it's dificult to have to leave the house with only 15 minutes notice, especially when I'm working from home.

I realized today that I'm actually going to be a little sad to leave this house. It's the first house that Pat and I have lived in together. We'll also be leaving behind some good friends and family that will be hard to say good-bye to. We're going to stay in town for a couple of weeks after closing so that Pat can out-process and finish up his Masters. We're tentatively looking at hitting the road on August 14th. A road trip with a pregnant lady and a sassy cat! Sounds fun, right?

A Little Bit of Everything

Things have been a bit crazy at the Vogt household lately, so I figured I'd just throw it all into one post. First and foremost, Blasto is doing great! She's measuring right where she should be and I'm feeling her kick every day. Pat has even been able to feel her a couple of times. People keep asking if I'm showing much yet, so I guess it's time for a belly photo. This is me at 25 weeks. We're also getting ready for our impending move even though Pat doesn't have orders yet. We were told on Monday that we're confirmed for a specific post, but I don't want to share what it is until we see it on some paper work. We've been told that we should get that by Friday, but we've heard that before. The house actually went on the market today, so Pat and I have been cleaning like crazy and making some small repairs around the house. We still have a few things to do, but overall the house looks great! I'm really going to miss this house, even if we have to deal with prehistoric insects now and then.

I realized that I never posted any pictures from our trip to Jamaica, so I'm throwing in some of those as well. We had such a nice time. It was just a really relaxing week. We spent most of our time floating in lazy river or playing in the ocean. Blasto was so calm the whole week. I think being in the water put her to sleep most of the time!

That's it for now. Hopefully we'll have some more news on Friday!