A week of mini-getaways

 We spent nearly half of this week out of town (and the house currently bears witness to that!)

Earlier this week, we had a quick, 24-hour jaunt up to Provo and back so that I could see one of my best friends (Karin Holmes Bean), who was in town for a reunion and a wedding. Since I almost never get to see her, it was worth the drive for the visit. I got to chat with a dear friend, we had lunch at a yummy Thai restaurant, and the kids got to spend time with grandma--so it was (I hope) a win for everyone).

Thursday night, Dan and I saw the new Ant Man movie. I wasn't thrilled about a movie starring a man who can shrink to ant size and lead hordes of ant armies, but we were celebrating Dan's birthday early so I let him choose. I was pleasantly surprised! Marvel has mastered the art of mixing humor and pathos with its superhero movies, so the movie itself was good. Plus, Paul Rudd is just adorable, superhero or no. (Great casting call, btw).

Friday, we loaded the kids into the car for another mini getaway, this time, to Mesquite.

We were about a mile from the Black Ridge when our car began fishtailing across the road. Luckily, no one was near us at the time. After a terrifying few seconds, we managed to pull off the road and Dan confirmed that we did, in fact, have a flat tire. While he tried to jack the car up on the inclined shoulder, I tried to get the spare tire out. This was no small feat, since the tire in a minivan like ours is between the front seats and middle row of passenger seats. I had to scoot the front seats all the way forward and try to work the tire out while holding the door to the secret compartment open. (I have a lovely set of bruises on my arm to prove that this wasn't a piece of cake). Luckily, we finally got everything to work.

Unfortunately, this meant that all our plans for the morning were abandoned in favor of dropping the car off at Big O Tires in St. George. The car was ready just in time for lunch with the cousins and a drive south to Nevada.

July maybe isn't the best time to visit Mesquite: it was well over 100 degrees when we were there. Fortunately, we were primarily concerned with the pool. Though we couldn't check into the hotel when we arrived, they did let us into the pool. (The water was cold! But I suppose with the heat most people found it refreshing). Here's Oliver snuggling into the towels when the water got to be too much.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant--the food was good, though they were really busy so we had to wait a bit and all Oliver wanted to do was go home and go to bed. (It was well past his bedtime, between the hour time difference and the late dinner). Aunt Sarah had to keep him entertained with tiny post-it notes.

There was some miscommunication about breakfast (and I forgot my cell phone, which compounded the problem), so we ended up going to the buffet without the cousins. Of course, Andrew was in hog heaven: after 3-4 rounds, we only just managed to keep him from topping off his breakfast with a bowl of ice cream. Oliver made up for not eating any dinner by eating 4 pieces of bacon, some oatmeal, two mini-muffins, some fruit, two pieces of sausage, and a piece of french toast. I thought the food was okay--but the omelets were great.

After breakfast, there was more swimming (Oliver just wanted to go down the mini water slide on my lap, on endless repeat), a just under the wire checkout, and a drive back to SG for lunch and Costco shopping.

If it wasn't particularly glamorous, considering it was Dan's birthday and our 12 year anniversary, we had a good time anyway.

I spent most of this morning making this beauty (German Chocolate cake). Sarah told me at dinner tonight that she only makes it for Aaron once a year (she refuses to do it more than that), and now I know why. It's not particularly complicated, but it takes a lot of time and about half a dozen pans and bowls. But I love Dan, and it's his favorite.

Dinner, in honor of Dan, was day-old KFC (reheated for the occasion), corn on the cob, biscuits, and potato salad. And, of course, the cake.

 Summer seems to be slipping by so quickly--it's a little bittersweet.

This week: more swim lessons. Lots of indoor play because of rainstorms, but we also got to swim at the Three Fountains pool with Laurie and Leo (apparently Klara didn't want to play that day).

We had dinner at the Ninja with Bubby and Poppy and Matt and Laurie and kids. They put us way in the back with another family with small kids--which actually ended up being nice since we weren't as worried about the kids being obnoxious. Laurie was a good sport about trying something different. And our kids did their usual hoovering thing: they ate everything possible, sushi, noodles, chicken katsu, tempura. It was fun.

We already miss having cousins in town. (Though Oliver was apparently determined to make up for the loss of extra noise at dinner tonight, and spent a fair amount of time howling).

We had friends in town briefly for the Festival--as always, perfect guests. 

Saturday, after a massive cleaning session (you can now see the floor in the kids' room), we went up the mountain to Cedar Breaks. They're in the midst of their wildlife festival, and our favorite little hike was so beautiful: alpine forests full of lupine, bluebells and columbines shining like stars.

 This is really how most of the hike looked: Andrew and Oliver running off in front of the rest of us.

The week wasn't unmixed: we're potty training in earnest, and Oliver does okay when we remind him. He still hasn't got the poop thing down and I'm already tired of washing underwear. (But he prefers underwear to diapers, so I guess that's a win?).

We also had this illuminating conversation:

Me: What do you do when you need to go pee?
O: Pee in my pants!
Me: (repeat question)
O: Pee on the floor!
Me: . . .
O: Pee in my diaper?

Cousins!

This has been a busy, wonderful, exhausting week, all at once.

I took the kids up to Park City for our annual family reunion. I've never posted pictures of the suites we stay in (courtesy of my parents' time shares), so I thought I'd do it this time. I think the suite is almost as big as my house. 

I think my favorite part of the reunion is always just seeing how much our kids enjoy each other. I love my siblings (especially now that I don't live with them), and it makes my heart happy to see that friendship passed on in our kids. We've been coming up to Park City since I was a teenager: these kids have (most of them) come since they were babies.

Jeni and I stole away the first night to go to a book launch in Salt Lake for Jessica Day George's newest book, Silver in the Blood (very delightful, I thought! Romantic, flirtatious, just enough darkness to keep the story grounded).

Also, I clearly need to start a red-headed writer's league because it's apparently a thing.

Our first full day in Park City, we headed up to the Olympic Park. There was some discussion beforehand about a questionable forecast, but we decided to chance it.

 Naturally, though the forecast suggested it wouldn't start raining in earnest until noon or so, it started to dump when we were halfway up the mountain on the chair lift. By the time we got to the top, we were all soaked. We huddled together in a little cabin at the top of the mountain until one of the park shuttles arrived to take us back. Jared, Brielle, and Julia had taken the chair lift *back down* the mountain instead. Jared and Brielle didn't do too badly since they had rain jackets, but Julia looked like she'd showered in her clothes.

You can see through the window here how wet it is.

 Once we got everyone together, we went back to the hotel, hoping the rain would clear up before too long. Luckily, it did. The afternoon came on beautiful, and the Olympic park wasn't too crowded since most people had been scared away by the rains that morning. (Okay, it wasn't too crowded outside of the 30 students who were in line for the alpine slide in front of us).

Oliver got to go down the alpine slide for the first time and loved it. Luckily, he was just as happy playing in the playground with Abdiel.

 
Oliver spent a lot of the reunion doing this. Apparently Fritos are his new favorite chip. Possibly food.

Abdiel thinks he's spiderman, so he and Oliver spent a lot of time on the climbing ropes.

I was super proud of Evelyn. Last year, she panicked on the obstacle course and one of the guides had to climb up and get her down. This year, she did it twice! Here she is, with my dad right behind her.

 And on the zipline at the end of the course. (She was actually enjoying this).

 I don't have any pictures of Andrew--mostly because he was too busy moving on to the next thing to pose for pictures. After dinner that night, the big kids went swimming (my dad stayed with Oliver) and I watched--it was too cold for me!

The next day was a little more low-key. We went on a short hike with a gorgeous view of Park City. Oliver mostly rode on my shoulders, so of course he enjoyed it.

We had lunch, then the kids wanted to go swimming but the pool closed (thunderstorms). While Oliver napped, we rode the trolley up to our favorite ice cream place in town. THEN we went swimming. This time I even got in with Oliver, who discovered that he likes being tossed up in the air and let plunge under the water (though I scooped him up immediately after).

We celebrated Gwyn's first birthday that evening. Lia made chocolate-raspberry cupcakes with coconut icing. Justin prepared a nice devotional that night, but I missed a lot of it because Oliver was up past his bedtime and it showed. 

Friday, we headed back to my parents' house and recovered a bit. Saturday, the fun resumed.

Bubby and Poppy brought Dan up early that morning so he could join us at the church for Enoch's baptism. It was a lovely service: his father baptized him and confirmed him, with the help of his uncles and grandfathers. And after nearly a week apart, I was especially happy to see Dan.

Gwyn appeared quite taken with him too. :)

Afterward, we gathered at Jeni's in-laws house for a brunch of sausages, fruit, dips, chips, oddly flavored oreos (birthday cake, anyone?), and the kids had a blast with several inflatable water-slides. Some of the grownups (Samuel) were brave enough for the slides too.

Saturday night was also my 20 year HS reunion. It was a little surreal, being back in a building I haven't been inside for nearly two decades. And seeing so many people I recognized, some of whom I haven't seen since high school. I think what I loved most--besides catching up with some people I don't see nearly enough--was seeing how many different ways we've been successful. Those mostly clueless kids I went to school with have grown, matured, suffered, rebounded, and have done some really amazing things among them. It was both inspiring and hopeful.

(I also got to see a video clip of the unveiling of the school gym my senior year and the bulldog I painted. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it, since that was easily the crowning moment of my HS career).

Today, we got to celebrate another cousin's birthday: We-ell (aka Will). The kids enjoyed the icecream, and then chasing around on scooters and big wheels while the adults chatted. 

A long, lovely week--but I have a feeling tomorrow might be a painful return to reality!

Independence Day

 Most of our weeks are pretty unadventurous, and this was no exception. Andrew helped me wash the windows, inside and out. He swam most mornings. We went to the park and the library. The kids had friends over and went to friends' houses. Typical summer stuff.

Oh, and I got my edits! This is really only exciting to me (I'd been waiting for nearly four months), as it means making real progress on the process of turning my novel into a real book. (If you don't see me mid-August, you'll know why).

Things got much more exciting at the end of the week, when the cousins came to town. Matt and Laurie came up from Texas for the fourth, and it's been fun for my kids to get reacquainted with cousins they don't see nearly as often as we'd like.

Saturday morning, we went to the local parade. The weather was beautiful: overcast and mild for July. But the parade route had changed in the 3-4 years since we'd been, so we ended up arriving later than we'd expected and walking farther than we'd planned to find a place to sit. But it all worked out.

Here's the kids in their fourth wear (including shorts and skirts made by my mom).

Is it disrespectful that I snapped a picture of the kids waiting for the color guard to arrive? (They weren't in front of us yet, so I hope not!)

The kids' favorite part of the parade was easily all the candy that got thrown. Our least favorite part was the endless train of baseball teams, all of whom had buckets of water and sprayers and felt the need to spray the audience incessantly. (The plan was probably a good one when they expected the fourth to be hot--as it wasn't, the water got annoying really fast. In fact, that's why we left!)

After the parade we gathered at our favorite spot (The "Cow") for some fries and drinks, before heading back to Bubby and Poppy's house for some games. I took Oliver home for a nap, so I'm not sure what shenanigans happened in our absence. But we did have a nice dinner of sandwiches, salad, chips, and fruit. (Turns out, Oliver really likes Fritos. That's all he had for dinner. Oh, and maybe a few grapes).

Dinner and games again tonight: tostadas, fruit, refried beans, chips and salsa, and oatmeal cake (a family favorite).

One of my dear friends from State College (Jana Emmer) stopped by Friday night with her sisters, and it was a treat to see her. She's still as smart and pretty as always.

So, a good week. Even if we did have hail for a few minutes this afternoon.

Belated Birthday pictures

Oliver had a birthday!

Our baby is now three--he'll even hold up three adorably crooked fingers and tell you he's "free" if you ask him.

But I forgot to post pictures of the cake we made for his actual birthday (nothing fancy because neither the cake nor the frosting was cooperating with me).

So, here you are. Pictures!