A Trip to Remember

Almost every year we make a pilgrimage to Lake Powell with Erik's family (and for Erik, at least, it is similar to a religious experience). I know I can always plan on gorgeous scenery, amazing boat food, sunburns, interrupted sleep, and a few moments of absolute peace and solitude.

Case in point: sunburned on the first day. In my defense, I was under the impression that we had sunscreen on the boat. I had pink socks for weeks.

This is how our nights went. After a night or two of sleeping with these two (and waking up hourly to find Kate staring at me), I told Erik it was his turn to suffer. 

I did get my peaceful time on a paddle board. I was afraid that my changing body shape would impact my balance, but it was great.

Lots of boating and heat and scenery and we even saw some wild goats - that was a first.

Hiking to Rainbow Bridge - it's different every time based on how high the water is. 

Morgan might not show aptitude for team sports, but she's fantastic at kayaking.

And Erik got some time water skiing.

The bow and arrows made a reappearance

 

Spending time with Erik for a whole week with no work or church interruptions is absolutely magical for all of us. 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was watching my kids form relationships with family. Our guy-shy Kate called Tanner her buddy...

and Morgan and Asher made unexpected weaponry out of Capri Sun straws...

Sam didn't let Andy forget him for a second-

and Kate and Audrey (born on the exact same day) got along a lot better than we could have hoped. They shared water bottles and binkies and tea parties, and by the end of the trip, they also shared the same cold.

 

Poor Grant - he came along to meet the family and got put to work digging anchors and tending children. We all approve of him now, but he may be wondering about us :)

Saying goodbye to part of the group. Two pregnant ladies, 5 little kids, and thankfully, 4 doctors. We had many impromptu surgical moments on the kitchen table with my tweezers. As crowded and crazy as that boat was, we sure miss them.

This scene looks pretty idyllic, but in actuality we struggled with bad weather the whole trip. On our way home from a boating excursion early in the week, a storm came up and we battled boat-soaking waves on our way back to the houseboat. Sam slept through most of it under a towel. At one point, I told Erik to drive slower and he said he didn't dare or we might swamp the boat. When we finally made it back, our houseboat was parallel to the shore and half of our anchors had given way. The waves were so fierce that they shot water up through the drains and into the houseboat. We beached and anchored our motorboat, and I huddled with the kids under towels and prayed while we waited for the storm to die down. And being pregnant, I may have been sick. The other motorboat finally made it to shore and we started trying to repair the damage. In the end, it took 10 people pushing and two motorboats pulling to get the houseboat off the beach, and then they discovered the rope wound around the propeller. They didn't tell me about Erik's dive under the houseboat to fix it until after the fact, for some reason. Amazingly, no one was hurt, the houseboat was fixed and re-anchored, and we were able to continue with our vacation. Although every time a new storm came through we all got pretty tense and missed some sleep.

The last afternoon of our vacation, Morgan climbed back on the boat just as a wave hit, and she split her chin open on the platform. We had a family practice doctor, a pediatrician, and an ER nurse practitioner who specializes in stitches all on board, but no sutures. I couldn't handle the irony. Of course, if we did have sutures, we would have had to pin her down with no anesthesia and traumatize her completely - maybe not the best end to a vacation. So we left Sam and Kate with family, boated in to Page, and spent a lovely couple of hours in the ER waiting for various cardiac and respiratory emergencies to be dealt with first. By the time Morgan's double layer of stitches was done, it was dark and stormy and we had to pull the boat out and find a hotel on the 4th of July weekend. I don't really recommend the Travelodge in Page. At 6AM we were back out on the boat, heading to pack up the houseboat and return to Page by noon. Morgan has nice memories of one-on-one time with her parents, treats, and an ER adventure - Erik and I have the bill.

Bright and early.

Finishing off the last of the popsicles while we load up for home. They didn't have the same trip that we did.

When we left, exhausted, sore, and injured, Kathy asked if we would ever return. I told her it's like child birth - give it a year or two for the memories to fade and we may be willing to try again. Farewell, Lake Powell - you won this year. 

Us vs. Summer

As school let out and the gaping hole of summer begged to be filled, we made plans with Erik's cousins to meet up at the zoo. We pulled up and noticed crowds of people waiting outside and a news van. Thinking we were going to be jostling half the world to see a few animals, we instead discovered that one of the zoo's large cats had escaped and was wandering around. With no reassurances of the zoo opening soon, we decamped and enjoyed ourselves at the local aviary instead. The same aviary that we lived a few blocks from for 4 years and never visited. Oh well. I think we could have done anything with Dan and Kate and it would have been the best day of our kid's lives.

A work party with a balloon artist, face painting, caricaturists, old fashioned games, and enough corn on the cob to satisfy even Kate. The kids are already asking when the next work party will be.

When the strawberries were ripe on my uncle's farm, we trekked up to Cache Valley to see family and do a little harvesting. Turns out that straddling rows of strawberry plants is a lot different at 30 and 5 months pregnant than when I worked there at 15. Here Sam is hanging out with MY cousin. Yeah, when your mom has 13 siblings, the gap in cousin ages is pretty extreme. What with livestock, irrigation ditches, and the freedom of roaming several acres, my kids were pretty jealous of the farm life by the end of the day.

Nibbling at Grandma's much smaller strawberry patch

The results of 3 cases of strawberries (minus the other half that I made the day before). I think we are set for the apocalypse, as long as our freezer doesn't lose power.

 

I'm so glad that we have no room in our yard for a trampoline. Except when I see moments of pure joy like this.

Getting ready for a little boating. We have been multiple times this summer, and Kate now thinks herself quite the expert. She knowledgeably points out every boat we pass on the road and says cockily, "WE go boating..."

 

Reminiscent of my "take your child to work" days, Nana took Sam and Morgan with her on a work-sponsored service project. They were delighted with the matching T-shirts, lunch at McDonalds, and "Finding Dory" in the afternoon. Come to think of it, that's a lot different than how my days at work with my dad went.

Here you can see Sam and Morgan returning from morning swim lessons and preparation for princess camp right after. I scheduled a lot of summer camps and lessons in the hope of staying busy and happy and away from the TV, but I didn't plan on being sick my entire pregnancy. As long as I take medicine every 2 or 3 days, we get through it with minimal vomiting but heavy doses of irritation and impatience.

I signed Sam up for dance camp when I enrolled Morgan, thinking what the heck - he always wants to do what Morgan does anyway. He was the prince to 3 little princesses, and flirted with them indiscriminately. The final performance exhibited more exuberance than grace, but hey, it was another week of summer filled with something new and interesting. An unexpected consequence of this whimsical scheduling has been the calls from the dance studio ever since, hoping to sign Sam up for the rest of his life. Always in need of male dancers, they have tried diligently to convince me of how beneficial dance could be for him and even reserved a spot on the fall roster just in case I change my mind. I wouldn't be opposed if he were actually interested, but he doesn't have the attention span to finish his lunch, let alone focus on a dance class.

Our first sushi experience with friends. Overall we came away feeling like it was repeatable but probably not preferable.

A LONG drive to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved it, of course, but every time we have to drive an hour or more just to hit a zoo or museum (or concerts and cultural events), I wonder why we live so far from everything. It's been a harder adjustment than I thought to live in cities for almost our entire marriage and then move to the farthest reaches of suburbia. I mean, we are almost in the country. Almost. We have cows pastured next to the church and goats trimming the city land down the street... but we do have sidewalks and two grocery stores and a library, so I'm clinging to the benefits of a lovely community and plenty of fresh air. Because we are probably going to live here forever. 

Spring - All of It

Sporting their new matching spring outfits from their surrogate grandma. I really need to learn to sew, but I have too many excellent seamstresses around me to be truly motivated. (Also pictured - suckers from the bishops office, now an expected stop on our way home from church).

Rather than remove the fleece blanket, Sam just unbuttoned for a little ventilation.

After many nights of complaining about Sam's "snoring," I told Morgan to read for awhile. Books and flashlights in bed have become the new routine.

I guess this is why children aren't supposed to operate power tools.

Bowtie boys

After another season of watching Morgan trot after the pack and show more interest in refreshments than soccer, I wasn't surprised when she told me she didn't want to sign up again. Hallelujah. I've decided I have no problem with soccer (after all, Erik and I both played for years), but watching Morgan's complete apathy and lukewarm participation was pretty painful. 

The wind started blowing out of the canyon one Saturday night, and it gusted well into the next day. As new homeowners, Erik and I got very little sleep listening to our property being blown away. On Sunday the whole neighborhood turned out and traveled from home to home with power tools, trailers, trucks, and an abundance of neighborly kindness, helping any and all in need. Our 20-year-old roof was pretty hard hit, but thankfully everything else was minor. After seeing enormous pine trees uprooted and long sections of missing fences, we were feeling pretty grateful to be spared. We had been saving up for a new roof anyway, but because of the storm our insurance company paid for it instead! We still can't get over what a blessing that was.

In May our bossy adorable never-stops-talking Kate turned 2 and was pretty delighted with all the attention. Every time we try to teach her how old she is, she rounds it up to 3. She is determined to be as big and privileged as her older siblings.

The little bump and I on our way to the opera.

Kate with her namesake, Aunt Kay, who is finally being allowed some affection from our only child with any stranger danger.

Morgan "graduated" kindergarten and was devastated to leave behind her beloved teacher. We finally crossed our fingers and signed the papers enrolling her in the Chinese immersion program for the fall - something we've been debating and agonizing over for months. Chinese... such a practical language to learn here in Utah... but any language is good for their little brains, and she was already bored in school, so here's hoping.

Coming soon: the adventures of summer, where we balance my desire to keep the kids busy with my unexpected and continuing morning sickness.

Skiing and other dramas

For his birthday, Sam got a ski lesson from his grandparents - the beginning of an expensive family tradition. However, he woke up sick the morning of the lesson, so Morgan unenthusiastically went in his stead. To my complete surprise, it was a success and she enjoyed herself enormously. 

When Sam finally got his turn, I was again surprised that he was less thrilled with the experience and not sure about continuing. Talk about role reversal. But just like boating and national parks, skiing is not considered an optional past time in Erik's mind, so next winter will see more ski lessons, cheese fries and endless hot chocolate (Sam liked that part). Thankfully kid season passes are only $10 - Erik's, not so much. 

Kate has formed a near obsession with brushing teeth, and she isn't choosy about whose brush she's using. 

We tried moving a dresser into the basement on our own (meaning Erik and an ineffective cheerleader) and this was the result. Turns out cardboard slides are useful not only in moving furniture down stairs but people as well. An Instacare visit confirmed there were no broken bones, but it has still been alarmingly slow to heal.

Sam's artwork really started blossoming this spring. So far we've had no luck in fixing his somewhat dyslexic name - he doesn't see the problem. 

We went in for the 8 week ultrasound and discovered that we were actually 11 weeks along. We still don't know how that's biologically possible, but I wasn't going to reject news that placed me closer to being done. 

An impromptu neighborhood hike in pajamas that Kate was clearly not consulted on.

I've been so sick with this pregnancy that I completely missed the Easter egg hunt. I bought and filled eggs and then went to bed while Erik and his parents handled the parts that required movement. 

Erik wanted me to try for an Easter picture before they shucked their nice clothes - I should have said forget it. Getting a nice picture of all three of them is nearly impossible. Sam refuses to look directly at the camera anymore and Kate is way too easily distracted. 

It didn't take too much whining about my sad state before my mom hopped on a plane and came to help. I don't think she minded much. I'm still not sure she's forgiven me for taking half her grandkids away from her. 

 A recent development when they learned about Captain Underwear. After I kiboshed underwear on the head, they grabbed Sam's pull-ups and called themselves Captain Pull-Up. Erik was so proud.