Just for Fun

This is Eleanor's good friend enjoying an ice cream cone at the primary activity last month. I was breezing through my pictures, trying to find something, and it jumped out at me.

I'm still alive. I'm just trying to get organized in a new church calling, and it seems like I have a million other things on my "to do" list right now. Maybe I can find a spare moment for some blogging tomorrow night. I have plenty of catching up to do. I just can't keep up with everything right now. Wish me luck!

Pictures of the Girls

I never did get the chance at the end of last month/beginning of this month to do my long update posts about each of the girls. Now that we are more than half way through the month, I guess I give up. I hope I have better luck this month. I did at least take pictures of them at the beginning of the month, so here are those.

(We got a little silly.)

End of the Trip

I can't believe I've finally reached the last post about this trip! I'm glad I recorded all of it, though. It's so easy to forget. We got up Saturday morning and packed up. We didn't leave early by any means, but we got on the road. We would have made faster progress along the road if we hadn't met such terrible traffic right outside Salt Lake. Some unintelligent trucker had a big, metal tank on his trailer and assumed it would fit under the freeway overpass. He was wrong. We weren't there when it happened, we were several miles behind, so we had several miles of stop-and-go traffic to get up to where the trucker caused the major bottleneck in traffic. Thanks, dude.

Eleanor did not do so well on the way back as she did on the way to Utah. She was tired and irrational. She hit a certain point where she just did everything she knew she wasn't supposed to do, such as opening the cooler next to her and playing around with the contents. I was in a tight spot, because it wasn't like I could put her in a time-out, and Grant certainly had no intentions of pulling over as a consequence. Besides, it wasn't much of a consequence when we all wanted out of that car. That was the unpleasant part of the trip. It escalated until Eleanor started crying (screaming) uncontrollably until she eventually, finally fell asleep. Not fun.

We have never stopped overnight on our trips to or from Utah, but this time, we decided to give it a try. Grant has a cousin, Brett, in Idaho that lives right about at the half-way point of the trip. We hadn't gone to visit them since I was pregnant with Eleanor, so it was about time. It was really nice to get off the road, have a nice dinner, and let the kids enjoy themselves. Brett and his wife, Mary, have two girls of their own who have grown so much since the last time we saw them. They were so great with our girls, entertaining them and watching over them. Eleanor even tried to have a sleepover with the girls, but she ended up in our room. They have a dog named Joey. If only all dogs could be like this dog. He doesn't bite, doesn't bark (not at my girls, at least, and rarely at other things), doesn't growl, doesn't violently smack people with his tail, and doesn't knock the kids over. Phaedra loved him. She could crawl up to him and pat him, pull his ears, step on his paws, and he remained cool as a cucumber (which made me love him). The only thing I had to guard was all the open-mouthed kisses she tried to give him when he gave her a lick. Gross!

I liked stopping along the way. It makes the trip less draining, and it was really fun to visit with Brett and Mary again. They are so kind and welcoming, and they love food as much as we do. The only down side was at bed time when we were trying to get the girls to settle down and go to sleep and I was seriously craving sleep myself, it was torture to think "I could be in my own bed by now." But, I'm sure the trip would have been much more exhausting to keep the kids happy and the adults sane. Given the choice, I think I'd stop again. It seems easier on the kids.

That being said, on the second day of the drive, Eleanor had the exact same problem as day one. She got tired, belligerent, screamed, slept. NOT fun. At least we recognized the pattern the second day, so when she started screaming, we didn't try to cheer her up, didn't try to reason with her. We just ignored her until sleep came at long last. It was (and still is) so good to be home!

Phaedra sleeping in before we left Utah.

Brett and Mary, our hosts.

Lily and Ramona playing with Eleanor. Joey is in the corner.

Phaedra had to play with a house, too. She also loved pushing the bus around and making a "brrmm" sound with her lips.

She was interested in their spiral staircase, but she would only go up part of the way before she would turn to me, wanting down.

Saying goodbye.

Discovery Museum in Utah

On our last day in Utah, we went to the kids discovery museum with Beth, Isaac, and Sam. The kids had a great time, as usual. Eleanor wouldn't ride the helicopter this time because the noise was scaring her (they have a recording that makes it sound like a real helicopter). Last time we came (a year or two ago), she did get in, but I had to sit with her. By the time we were done there, Eleanor was in meltdown mode. She wasn't getting to bed at a very good hour most nights, and we were running her ragged during the day. It was bound to happen. As far as Eleanor was concerned, lunch didn't go so well. Luckily, both kids fell asleep on the way back because right after that, we had another family appointment.

After that was over, we ran to do some clothing shopping for me and got me some really cute new skirts and tops. Good day for me! Right after that, we went to my Aunt Kathleen's house for dinner. She has totally remodeled her kitchen and family room in her house, and it looks amazing! We had a yummy dinner, and then the kids got to play with her toys and open a few early birthday presents. She even gave me a quilt she made that I was admiring. I'm going to have to try to make one myself sometime. It was a very busy but wonderful last day. I think we crammed plenty into the day.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the discovery museum:

Ironing baby clothes like a good little homemaker.

Working with Isaac in the kitchen.

Visitors at the window.

Just her size.

Phaedra and Sam playing in the water.

Scooting along with wet shirts.

In the control tower for the helicopter.

And to finish up, they did a little news reporting.

Eleanor playing at Aunt Kathleen's. She liked his Thomas train.

Best Friends in Utah

Grant and I got to really enjoy our vacation on Thursday by breaking away from the kids to go see a movie. Beth was kind enough to watch the girls for us. Phaedra slept the whole time, and Eleanor played happily with Isaac like two peas in a pod. What good girls!


Later, we all went to Cafe Rio (a must when in Utah) and met up with Haley and her sister Logan. After dinner, Beth and Paul went home, and we went to Haley's grandparents to let the girls play a bit. Haley is one of my very best friends ever. We have been friends for ten years. I used to stay at her house all the time when she was living with her grandma. She had two beds in that spare room where she lived, but we always shared a bed because the other one was covered by her laundry (usually clean). We did everything together. We were partners in crime, a shoulder to cry on, the first person either would call before making plans. People used to always ask if we were related. We would answer, "Yes . . . NO! Man!" I love how we pick up right where we left off when we see each other or talk. Time and distance have no claim on this friendship. I keep trying to convince her to move to Oregon so we can be closer. I'm not giving up.

Still playing together happily when we returned.

Did I mention Haley is gorgeous and super sweet to my kids?

And she's very ladylike (snicker).

There. That's more like it.

Phaedra loved swinging.

And the dog.

I'm so lucky to have a friend like Haley.