Beach babies
We just got back the other day from the last vacation of the summer. We went to Southern California to go to the wedding of my darling cousin Cameron. We went with my family--my brother and his family, and my two sisters. The whole trip was perfect from start to finish.
First of all, we had the perfect adult to child ratio of 6:6. Totally manageable. Andrea might beg to differ, since she did end up with 4 of the exhausted little people right after the wedding. Oh, the tantrums of the Calvin!! The screams reverberated through the lobby long after they went up in the elevator. Fortunately, moments like that were few and far between, and for the most part the kids were great.
All the little girls got to be flower girls. So much fun!! And isn't Katie an amazingly gorgeous bride?
The reception was in this fabulous house in Newport Beach. Oh, the backyard!! SO beautiful!
Sammy was, of course, absolutely perfect. I swear, that baby is almost
too good. Not that I'm complaining! He smiles and gurgles and coos and bats at his toes, no matter where he is. Good thing, too, considering all the places we've hauled him to this summer.
We spent two blissful days on the beach. Usually when we go to California, we don't have time for the beach. The thought of Disneyland on a Saturday in August just didn't sound even a little bit fun to us, so we went for the beach instead. I know there are a whole lot of superlatives and exclamation marks in this post, but they're really truly deserved. The kids ran and laughed and dug in the sand and had such a picture perfect time. .
Labels: family, vacation
Montreal quick recap
We got back from Montreal and Quebec City the other day. Oh, it was wonderful. So so beautiful and altogether perfect. It was hard to believe we were in North America--I've never seen such a European city outside of Europe.
Steve and I don't plan our itineraries around museums, adventurous activities, or popular sights. We plan it around the food. Montreal didn't disappoint even a little bit. Steve has a friend who sent him pages of restaurant recommendations, and I was armed with my guidebooks. We had some amazing stuff, folks. My favorite? Had to be the maple syrup pie with cream we ate a restaurant in Quebec city.
Quebec City is celebrating their 400 year anniversary this year. That's a whole lot of years for this side of the globe. The maple pie place--oh, it was built in 1624. Incredible.
I did something horrible to my camera--I'm not sure exactly what I did, but it deleted tons of my photos, so I only have a few from the trip. But here are a couple of them.
Governor's Mansion, then some random pretty street corner
Samuel was an absolute dream baby. So peaceful, content, and all around perfect. I love teeny babies. They're so portable!
A friend asked us to bring him home ketchup chips. Eeew. So we carried 6 bags of Ketchup flavored Lays onto the plane. Nasty!
I missed those kids of mine like crazy. It's so nice to get away, and it makes coming home to my sweet little people even better.
Labels: vacation
Trying to catch up
Ummm, is this blog still working?? I am actually still here, even though my blog doesn't reflect that. This summer is just rocketing past, and I'm trying desperately to hang on for the ride. Does anyone else feel that way? That instead of a nice, leisurely relaxing summer, there's just a constant whirlwind of activities and vacations and just plain
stuff. I can't keep up.
So some updates. I just don't know where to start!! It's been a packed couple of weeks. We spent a wonderful day at the Alpine Slides in the mountains. I hung out with the baby while all the kids went down the big old slide. Very very expensive--can they really charge 20 bucks for that?? But good times. My darling sister Steph was there and my cute cousin from Austin.
Parties everywhere, a wonderful fabulous 4th of July, then the next morning on a plane to Northern California. Steve's family is there, and it was so fabulous to see them and show off our little Samuel. Steve's brother and his wife had their first baby 10 days before Samuel was born. The two babies got to meet--2 adorable little newborn guys side by side? Priceless.
We spent a couple of days hanging out in San Francisco. Steve lived there before we got married, and he can never get enough of the city. My sister Steph came with us to nanny, and I have to highly endorse bringing someone along if you happen to be traveling with 4 children six and under. That made it actually doable. Steph, Steve and Hazel spent a day thrifting and poking in some of the fun funky shops. Hazel, who's six, suddenly morphed into a teenage shopaholic. "Steph, this is
so you! It is
adorable. You
have to try this on!!!"
Can't you just hear the italics? Too funny. While they shopped, the littles napped then we hit Union Square to chase the pigeons. Ice cream makes it even more fun!
Fisherman's Wharf and a visit to the sea lions. The little dress Hazel is wearing is one that they found at a cute little vintage shop.
So I can remember them for posterity--some of my favorite kid moments from the last few weeks.
I was dressing Samuel, and Calvin became fascinated with his chest. He asked Hazel what they were, and she told him they were nipples. Calvin grew very thoughtful. "Mom, Nipples do NOT fly airplanes!!"
Truer words were never spoken. Although we did decide that with a strategic piercing, you just might be able to make it happen.
Chloe got hurt one night on the trip. It was at the end of a long day, and she was just tired. I hugged her, then offered to go sit in between my two big girls. She sniffled and two big tears rolled down her face. "Mom, I just don't feel like I want to be a big girl right now!"
Calvin asked me if I was "having the feelings". What feelings?, I asked. "The feelings of having your toes fall off." Umm, pretty sure I'm not having those feelings, buddy.
Tomorrow is my sweet Chloe's birthday. We've got big plans for her party, and I'll post some pictures to show off my amazing sister Andrea's party skillz. It's going to be so dang cute!!
Labels: funny, Kids, vacation
Update from the beach
Hola, amigos!! I have a little secret---Steve and I are in Puerto Vallarta!! That's right, JUST Steve and I. Incredible, no?
This is the view from our hotel balcony. Aaaaaah.
We're here for a grand total of 4 days, so we've tried to make them all full of fun. Today was the best yet. We took a dune buggy tour through the jungly mountains. Steve doesn't hold back when it comes to the gas pedal, and we got soaked! So incredibly filthy by the end, but it was great.
After the buggy tour, we came back to the hotel, cleaned up, and headed to the pool for a while. Then, I went to a cabana over the ocean and got a massage. A massage! On the beach with the sound of the waves and the sun and ohhhhh, it was beautiful.
Back to my babies in the morning, and I can hardly wait. It's been hard to leave them this time. I know they're in wonderful hands, and we talk to them a couple of times a day, but there's something just not right about being away from them. Don't get me wrong, this has been amazing and restorative and so dang fun to spend the time with my darling husband, but oh, my heart just wants to hold my kids again!
So real life starts again tomorrow, and the fun of vacation is over. We've had lots of baby name conversations, and the list is now expanded from just Buster and Gomez to include Francisco, Cosmo, Desmond, and Sidney. Slight progress in the right direction, but I don't think we're there yet! I actually really really like Sidney, but I do know a lot of little girls named Sydney. Opinions, anyone??
Labels: adventures, vacation
Back home
And we're back from our flyingly fast trip to So. California. Somehow, through some marvelous combination of Steve's brilliant ability to work the system and really good timing, in the month of December we fly SIX people for the price of TWO!! Incredible, yes, I know. So we planned a spur of the moment trip to go to Disneyland with the kids and my little brother Thomas.
So much fun!! Disneyland at Christmas really defies description. Main Street with wreaths and garlands everywhere you look, a massive gorgeous Christmas tree, snow and icicles all over Cinderella's castle--it was pure magic.
Small world was my very favorite. I didn't know this, but the whole ride is redone for Christmas. They sing Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls and Small World, there are Christmas decorations
all through the ride, and it was so completely darling.
The whole day was just perfect, start to finish. By far my favorite day at Disneyland ever. So much fun!!!
The next day we headed to Legoland. Thomas is a self-confirmed Lego fanatic, and this was a high point for him. I took Chloe and Calvin and we did sweet little kid rides, and Steve took Hazel and Thomas and they worked the roller coasters. Calvin is still talking about the 'twain wide' and 'dwive a caw'. So fun.
In an eerily similar repeat of the
last time we did Disney and Lego back to back, Calvin hit the wall big time. Time to go home!!
If you were to look very very closely at the picture of the three kids with Lego Santa, you'll see a small blue bouncy ball clutched in Calvin's hand. A flight attendant on the way there gave it to him, and it was his favorite thing ever. Normally you'll find him walking around with a ball or two, and he always takes them to bed with him, but this one was something special. For the entire day at Disneyland, that blue ball was clutched in his fist. On every ride, through the parade, walking around, he NEVER let go. I was sure that it would be lost within minutes, but he made it through the whole day with that silly bouncy ball.
It made it to Legoland and through the first half of the day, but they had a huge playground there, and I think that it was somewhere there that he finally relinquished his grip on the ball. I was hoping he could make it through two theme parks without losing it, but that was too much, even for Calvin.
Anyway, such a fun trip, but so nice to be home again. Now we can settle back in to the preparations for Christmas and cozy fun at home.
Labels: adventures, family, vacation
And we're back, again!
Another loooong delay on my part, but with good reason, I promise! We were out of town (yes, again, I know). I always hate to advertise on the internet that we're going to be out of town, so it's just easier to wait until we're safely home again. Of course, all the people who read this and know me IRL already KNOW we're out of town, and so far none of you have broken in to steal our highly precious collections of random kids toys. But still. A little caution is always a good idea.
I know that we go on a lot of vacations. But please, lest you all get the wrong idea, let me explain. Steve travels so much during his work season, we have oodles and oodles of free tickets. Flying is very inexpensive for us. He's the king of
priceline, so hotels are very cheap also. He's self employed, so he has tons of time off in the summer, and traveling is one of his passions. Since it's something we value, we sacrifice other things to make it possible. For example, we drive some of the crappiest cars known to mankind. My van is known as the 'ghetto van', because it is! But they run, and they're PAID FOR, which means that we love them desperately and will drive them forever, if we can. So there are definitely trade offs to everything. Traveling is one of those things that we love to do, so we have found a way to make it possible.
That being said, we just got back from New York! Fun fun times. It was a quick trip, and my mom came with us and got to see the city for the first time. We did a lot of the super touristy things--Times Square, Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, look at Ground Zero, Central Park...all very fun.
Steve the darling and wonderful got ticket for me and my mom to see
Wicked. So completely wonderful!!! He watched the kids while we went. Isn't he the greatest??
We got home late last night, and all the kids are very tired. So am I, for that matter! Traveling with three small people, to New York of all places, is not the easiest. Calvin especially is a challenge. He has this new and charming habit of throwing tantrums where he is only content to be writhing on the floor. If that surface happens to be a filthy New York street covered in I-don't-even-want-to-know-what, all the better. I'm really hoping he grows out of this darling stage soon!
So. Good times. We've a few more little jaunts planned, then we'll be staying put for the rest of the summer. Unless of course Steve can persuade me otherwise!
Labels: adventures, family, vacation
Last of the France photos
Here's the last of the photos from our trip. We woke very early and went to Avignon and saw the Palais des Papes.
We drove from there to Moustiers St. Marie, through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen. I wish I could blog the smell of the air in this lovely field. So heavenly.
Moustiers is a little town high in the rocky crags of a mountain. So so beautiful.
We drove through the Gorges du Verdon (stunning) on our way to Nice.
We stopped in Grasse and visited some of the perfumeries and perfume museums, then went to Nice. We walked along the Promenade des Anglais, and had dinner at a fun little restaurant. I had rabbit! Tres bien, I must say.
The next day, I was oddly hit by overwhelming jet lag, so I slept much of the day. But it was rainy anyway, so it was ok. Steve explored Cannes while I slept. Then we came home to our darling babies!
Labels: adventures, vacation
More
The second full day of the trip we went exploring Aix en Provence. It's my favorite city in France. When I was 17, my grandparents were the mission presidents for my
church in Marseille, which means that they lived there and oversaw the mission there for 3 years. I got to stay with them right after high school for 4 months. It was a wonderful, amazing experience, so I was very grateful to be able to return. Aix is a dear spot to me, with many many happy memories.
We wandered around, saw the markets, explored the little streets and shops.
In so many of the little towns, you'll round a corner and stumble on a fountain, or statue, or little courtyard area. So beautiful!
We went to the little port city of Cassis for dinner that evening. The weather was windy, but crystal clear and invigorating. Cassis was one of the very prettiest places we went the whole time.
Don't worry, it was a short trip. Just a few days left!
Labels: adventures, vacation
The next day
We woke up early and took the train from Milan to Nice.
Such a gorgeous ride!!!
Unfortunately, jet lag overcame me and I missed lots of the view.
We rented a car in Nice and drove from there to Aix en Provence. Can I just say that the GPS is one of the best things to ever happen to travel? We would have been lost, very literally! without it. We stopped in a tiny town, Les Arcs, for lunch/dinner before heading to the hotel in Aix.
Labels: adventures, vacation
Europe rundown, part 1
We're home, and I'm so excited to share all the photos and memories of that amazing trip with all of you. I'm going to be that one obnoxious acquaintance who makes you sit and go through all their vacation photos. But since this is my blog, I can post photos mercilessly, and that's ok!
I think the best place to start the run down is just to go day by day. We flew into Milan and arrived at about noon. It was quite a long flight, but we managed to sleep enough so we were ready to go for the day. Steve has a good friend from long ago who is Italian and lives in Milan. Paolo met us at the train station and took us straight to the First Communion party for his little niece, Katrina. Oh, what a quintessentially Italian party it was!! Food, lots of hand gestures, noisy, lots of laughter, and a 95 year old Italian great grandmother--it was awesome!! Paolo had asked us to bring him some things from the States--pecans, canned cranberry sauce, and a rhubarb pie! We carried that bag from Village Inn all the way from Utah to Italy, and it arrived in perfect condition. The family ate it at the party, and truth be told, I don't think they were that impressed with rhubarb.
After the party Paolo, his girlfriend and their son took us all over Milan to see the sights. Statues everywhere,
the Galeria,
a famous mosaic of a bull in the Galeria. Legend has it that if you spin around on the bull's balls with your heel, you'll get your wish. Steve is always up for a spin on the bull!
The Duomo, inside and out.
Here I am, loving the Italian-ness of it all.
So much to tell, but it's late and I need to go to bed. Chloe gets her cast off in the morning. She's been so worried that the doctor will be mad at her because people have written on her cast. Heartbreakingly worried, despite all my reassurances.
It's been so wonderful to be back with my sweet little people. We've had a beautiful few days of lots and lots of lovin on them. So fun to be just with Steve, but it's even better to be back in the middle of life.
Labels: adventures, vacation
