Utah Part 2 - Sundance

Nathan and I both agree that our very favorite part about Utah was the amazing hike we went on in Sundance, UT. It was a beautiful day, and we took a 25 minute chair lift ride to the top. Yes, I was a little freaked out having the kids on the chair lift, but they did great, held on tight and really enjoyed the ride. Once we got to the top, we went on a 3.5 mile hike with some rather "technical" parts (as Bill called it): some trails that hugged the mountain closely with very steep drops and a couple of rivers we had to cross by balancing on logs or stepping across rocks. It was challenging enough that we were all proud of completing it, but not so challenging that it was dangerous for the kids. The scenery made it worth the effort a thousand times over, and seeing how much the kids enjoyed it made it all the better. Mia not only walked the majority of the hike, but she actually ran quite a bit to keep up. Alex rode on my back, and occasionally chirped up with a, "Alex having so much fun!" It's so fun that the kids are old enough to start really participating in the things that Nathan and I love doing.

Utah - Part 1

We got back last night from an incredible vacation with Nathan's family to visit his Uncle Bill in Park City, UT. There were many factors that contributed to the experience, but one of the greatest things was how good the kids were and how much fun they had. You can read about our drive to Utah on the MOM blog here.

Bill's house is amazing. It is almost as far up as you can go on the mountain.

View from the deck - imagine it with lots of snow! Great skiing!
View from the deck at sunset
We took a hike up a hill opposite of his house - this is looking back at it. His house is mid-way down the picture to the right of the ski trail. You literally walk out the front of the house and are on the ski trail. You can see the ski lifts in the upper left.
They don't call it Deer Valley for nothing...


After a day of resting and getting acclimated to life at an altitude of 9,000+ feet, we were ready to have fun. We started out Sunday morning by going to the Park Silly Market - the kids got their faces painted, we shopped & ate.
That afternoon, Bill took us out to Jordanelle Lake where we spent an amazing afternoon boating with some of his friends.

That evening, the rest of the family arrived (Rebecca, Cory, Cole, Nathan's cousin Sarah, her husband John, and their two kids Emma-Rae and John-Robert).

I'll be posting more soon about the rest of our adventures!

Happy Father's Day!

I'm not sure what possessed me to do so, but for Father's Day, I suggested to Mia and Alex we make Nathan breakfast in bed. The part I didn't completely think through was the fact that Mia and Alex would want to eat breakfast in bed, as well (Alex wanted to eat in his crib, actually). But I committed to it, so we went for it.

Last night as I was putting Mia to bed I said "get to sleep fast so we can wake up early to make daddy breakfast in bed" - she immediately rolled over and shut her eyes. And guess who was shaking me at 5 a.m. saying "Mommy, is it time to make daddy breakfast in bed?" I told her no and she said "but the birds are awake - I can hear them. Why are they up so early?" Luckily she went back to sleep for a couple hours before dragging me out of bed again.

We made crepes filled with strawberry jam and topped with strawberries and cream ice cream and drizzled with a little chocolate sauce (OK, more like a dessert than breakfast, but it was a special occasion). The mess wasn't too bad, and the kids thought it was pretty cool (we don't even let them eat in the living room usually).

Other than that, we've just been hanging out getting ready for our trip. We're about to get the kids up from naps and go watch Nathan play in a soccer game.

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there!

Klink & Drive

We're getting ready for our 13.5 hour road trip to Utah, so Mia and I have been working on our travel journals. I posted pics of them on the MOM Blog here. I'm getting so excited - I've never seen Eastern Oregon, Idaho, or Utah so I'm really looking forward to it.

Backyard

We have officially completed phase I of our backyard project - the new lawn and patio furniture. We still have some planting to do around the perimeter of the yard, but that is going to happen slowly over time.

BEFORE
The yard - about half our backyard was taken up by those planters - not really our style and not very functional for how we want to use the space.
The existing grass was in bad shape, so we decided to scratch the whole thing

And the patio furniture - I got a set of 5 of these chairs at a garage sale for $5.
And this table was a hand-me-down.

DURING
The sod arrives
We have the most amazing neighbors...this is Barry. We owe our beautiful new backyard to him!

Instant gratification
The sprinklers work!

Drum roll please....

AFTER
The kids played out here all morning today (couldn't close the sandbox and move the toys long enough to take a picture with it all tidy)

We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner out here today. Love it!!

I love how the patio furniture came out - it's so bright and summery. It's amazing what a little paint and a cheerful umbrella can do!
And we have blueberries on our blueberry bush - yay!
Like I said, we still have a lot of planting to do around the perimeter, but we will do that gradually. We have a two-tiered raised planter in one corner, and a spot to put in some veggies in another corner.

Now the trick is to keep the grass looking so lush and green...

Random Tuesday post

I posted about our first CSA pick up on the mom blog here.

And this is something I wrote a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post:

The other day, Mia was not having a good listening day. She refused to stay in her room at rest time and kept testing all the limits. At one point she took out markers and started to draw on her desk. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: Mia, don't write on your desk!
Mia: Mommy, it's my desk. I'm allowed to.
Me: oh no you are not! (I'm trying really hard to take the emotion out of my voice and just speak sternly, but sometimes it is soooo hard).
Mia: Yes I am! It's mine!
Me (deep breath): If you write on it again, I'm taking it away.
Mia: Where are you going to put it?
Me: In the garage.
Mia: But it's too heavy for you to carry.
Me: I.will.have.daddy.carry.it (said through clenched teeth in that same way my mom used to)
Mia (now crying): I don't like this house anymore. I'm moving. I want a new mommy and a new daddy and a new brother. That's it. I'm moving on Monday (she wanted to make sure to stick around for the weekend events apparently?). I'm moving to Egypt. I want a new mommy that isn't mad at me all the time.

This went on for a while. During this whole scene, she started pulling my journals off the shelf. I opened one up and started reading the story of when she met Alex for the first time at the hospital. She stopped crying, and asked me to read it again. And then again, and again. I read it about 5 times, then she said "I guess I won't move to Egypt after all." Phew.Alex, on the other hand, just wants to be a baseball player. The other day out of the blue he said "Mommy - Alex grow up be baseball player." His little imagination is taking off lately, too. He's done imaginary play for quite some time (although for a while I think he was just imitating Mia). He's got a little imaginary friend named Gee gee, who happens to be 3 1/2. He also talks to Data, Maka, and Sarah (Mia's imaginary friends) quite frequently. Here he is playing in the sprinkler in our new back yard (backyard pics coming hopefully this weekend, just need to finish a few things up first).

House guest (warning: super long post)

My cousin Laura flew in from MA last Saturday for a visit. With exception of yesterday and today the weather cooperated, and we were able to get out and do some fun things.

Voodoo Doughnut
We got a tip from a friend about Voodoo Doughnut - it was on the travel channel Sunday night and we just so happened to be going to the zoo in Portland on Monday, so we decided to stop in for a morning snack. They were delicious!





Zoo








Alex teaching Laura how to do the O - S - U chant



Alsea Falls


Coast & Rogue Brewery



She's headed back home bright and early tomorrow. We had a fun week hanging out with her!