our1chance - Tumblr blog

[our1chance]

[our1chance]

6 Feet!!! :-)

[our1chance]

You Are Just a Parent. No Need to Beat Yourself Up.

You Are Just a Parent, Don't Beat Yourself Up.

Do you feel like you recently got hired to be the ringmaster of some over produced three-ring circus spectacle? Keeping everyone happy and positively moving forward all day, is such a tremendous job, and you didn’t sign up for it!

You are the CEO of your family life, but your job requirements just changed 360 degrees, and you are struggling a bit to keep all your ducks in a row. Are you running…

[our1chance]

Secrets to Surviving the Homeschool Burden You Have Just Been Handed

What kind of cruel torture is this homeschool thing I’ve just been thrown into? Wait, there are people that choose to do this with their kids daily; like, on purpose?

It’s a lot to wrap your head around, I get it.  It isn’t something you asked for.

Not only did we ask for this, we also shrunk our lives into 400 square feet and thought…how hard can it be? 

As we sit here with our girls, who are…

[our1chance]

Negativity Breeds Negativity

Negativity breeds negativity.

It’s something that we tell the girls almost every morning as they seem to wake up with mild fits of apprehension to each other. The cycle is quite easy to see, one girl is mean to the other, then they bicker about something unimportant because they are mad at each other, then we step in and are angry, then they are mad because we aren’t happy with them, then Chance…

[our1chance]

11 years ago We were blessed with this beautiful baby girl. There was no Instagram or Facebook to share our journey with, so we started a blog to post our journey with our first child. . (babybraga.com now viewable at https://newbabybraga.wordpress.com/ or click link in profile ). . On the blog, we posted hourly updates from our hospital room on our newly purchased iPhone 1, as friends and family frantically refreshed browsers to hear the latest news. . Today we celebrate this beautiful young lady and all she’s given to us, as well as to the world around her. . Happy Birthday Leighton !! (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2eXvvkBO54/?igshid=1ubp9pjst485v

[our1chance]

You can find us among the trees. (albeit wet trees, but still really cool) (at La Conner Thousand Trails Campgrounds) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2dMNG3hs25/?igshid=hpshjzfpivde

[our1chance]

We had only 1 (possibly 2) days in our schedule to try to see one of 3 national parks relatively close to us. . Olympic, Rainier, or St Helens. Olympic was a 2.5 hour drive, Helens was 1, and Rainier was 1.5 . Sometimes we have to pick and choose what we can pull off because let’s face it, contrary to popular outsider opinion, this is NOT a vacation we are on. Not a vacation at all, rather a shift in status quo living; and to fit in a road trip day has to make sense for us on many levels. . We chose Rainier, and thank to @alltrails we also found the perfect hike for our crew. . Why did we choose R? Well Olympic was far and 5 hours of our day would be in the truck. It is beautiful but we just though that was too long in transit. Helens didn’t seem to have any inspiring hikes and views as compared to R. So with those factors weighed in we picked Rainier. . This shot was the last of the day on the way out of the park. @mountrainiernps (at Reflection Lake Mount At Rainier) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2E1bw8h6os/?igshid=14q6dgab6e0cm

[our1chance]

Summer is over? What? We officially reject the idea that summer is done, and will continue to ‘Adjust the base and let the Alpine blast, pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme, and put your dually on cruise and lay back’ (spoken by the legend Fresh Prince) @willsmith Are you a fan of fall? Or do you prefer summer? (at Chehalis RV & Camping Resort) https://www.instagram.com/p/B17cZVdh8Zg/?igshid=abbq87v18mp8

[our1chance]

Loving this flashback to our 10 yr Anniversary Vow Renewal. Thanks to our good friend @stevedepino for these perfect photos of our little tribe all dressed up. #illsayido #sayido (at Middletown, Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1W9_AnB-Av/?igshid=1da6pk5ya90mz

[our1chance]

So you think you are a big fish??? I think you just need an adjustment of your perspective? . Some campgrounds we pull into, people walk towards to the edge of the road to watch the spectacle as we try to navigate the narrow roads, low lying branches, and near misses. . Park the RV on the side of the road in a scene like this and we are a mere spec. . Can you see our tiny house???? (at Sea Lion Caves) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1NPRevhVaM/?igshid=15hb88fcs0alw

[our1chance]

Oregon, your coasts are breathtaking. . We drove by this lighthouse en route up the coast on HW101. Jerome slowed down in the middle of the two lane road and said, “NO WAY”. . Right then he knew we had to take a photo fo the scene with the fog rolling in, and the lighthouse standing proud on it’s perch. . Only problem... two lane HW101 and no where to pull off. SO we drove for about 6 miles (scanning frequently for driveways, paths, fire roads, etc), until we found a cross road to use for a K turn and somehow got the RV turned around to head back. . Luckily the fog was still there (although not quite as prominent as when we first drove by) . Do you do crazy things like this to see a destination you love? . . #lighthouse #oregonlighthouses (at Heceta Head Light) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1EeZ2bhRTP/?igshid=2tml7oeeyauv

[our1chance]

First night back in the RV and we score this pretty rad spot, (with full hookups so we can wash, scrub, launder, sort and put our pieces back together) . We were stressing a bit about getting a good site to have the time to unpack and this one just happens to line up perfectly under the galaxy core on a day with no moon. . Sometimes things just work out. . @thousandtrails #100daysofcamping (at Lake of the Springs) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0qq09zhZS4/?igshid=1826l2fkbscpt

[our1chance]

Boom. Another bucket list wish completed... Race on Bonneville Salt Flats. . We set a land speed record I think!!!! #bonnevillesaltflats (at Bonneville Salt Flats) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0oTtj1hq2v/?igshid=koocq8ayond7

[our1chance]

“Parenting is hard, especially when trying to be patient with tiny versions of the impatient you” - I am not sure who wrote that quote, but it is so true! Parenting is often a challenge but also incredibly rewarding. . Every so often when we encounter people that inquire about what we do. We often hear, "I don't think I could ever spend that much time with my kids in such a small space. If I'm honest, there are days that are harder than others; but luckily, the hard ones are so few and far between. . Being together and experiencing our 1 chance at life, with these beauties; has been our single biggest accomplishment as a couple. The places we learn about together, the people we meet who expand our horizons, the struggles we feel as a family, and the profound love we nurture by being so close... it's pretty amazing. . (at Santa Barbara, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0RRUc0Bn6i/?igshid=c2zgtrbfl60w

[our1chance]

#fireflies or #lightningbugs What do you call them? . Head over to our YouTube channel to see how I created this image out of 29 twenty second long exposures. http://www.YouTube.com/Our1Chance (at Wallingford, Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzyQ96IBt8S/?igshid=1ic3kldrxub8y

[our1chance]

These guys are so fascinating to watch close up. . I can’t help but think that they are all having conversations and talking about their busy agendas. lol . #antlife #ant #anthill https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzty1HgB8Dr/?igshid=1b9fje6qo4073