snowbird!

We recently got back from our annual Utah trip, and this year we drove! We had a great time stopping at parks and hotels and visiting family all the way down. Snowbird was a lot cooler this year, and even still had some snow up on the mountains. We had a lovely time swimming, playing, and having game nights after the kids went to bed.

One of the places we stopped was Pendleton, Oregon. It had the coolest park EVER: Pioneer Park.

Yes, Rebecca's in a Christmas outfit. Don't judge; it was soft and fuzzy and we had a long drive in the car.

Once at Snowbird, we did fun things like hiking to the point:

There was still snow!

We also went swimming:

Rebecca's first time!

We took family pictures:

And at the end of every day, we crashed!

our latest doings

Sooo.....
It's been a while, yes I know, and while I did miss blogging about some things this summer, for the most part it was pretty boring, with nap schedules ruining any chance to go to library story times or playgroup. However, now that it's fall (my absolute favorite season), I have activities scheduled for every weekend.
Last weekend, we decided to zip off on a trip for Labor Day. I have always wanted to be the kind of person who could just take off on a trip and love it. Unfortunately, when I do that, I forget things. Important things. Like a crib for my daughter to sleep in. Or my husband's CPAP machine. So I guess I need to be a plan-ahead type of person when it comes to trips.
We went to the Olympic Peninsula, just a couple of hours away. We got to take the ferry (the kids' and my first trip) and we went down and walked the trail to Dungeness Bay beach. We were planning on seeing the Olympic Game Farm, but we didn't have time, and everyone was exhausted by Monday because a) Steve got no sleep without his machine-- how on earth did he ever survive college we look back and wonder-- and b) both kids wound up in our bed both nights.
We did get to go to a neighborhood park by our hotel, and the trip was just refreshing because we stayed in this little town where it's just trees and farms and little tiny communities every so often. Everyone was friendly and kind, and we decided that it would be a fabulous place to retire.

In other news, Nicole is talking quite a bit now, and she and Adam have a great time playing together. Adam is really good at playing pretend, though if you try to join in, he feels the need to remind you that's it is "just pretend." Nicole loves dolls and wearing dress-up frilly skirts, and both of them can "sing" a song or two by themselves.

So here are some visuals for what we've been up to:

Tired and hot at Snowbird:



Adam and Nicole on a family picnic at a favorite park here:


Adam at that same park, doing the zipline by himself:






Wading in the freezing waves at Dungeness Bay:




So there you have it! More posting next week if we get to do our weekend plans!

the second part of the trip: snowbird

After we said goodbye to Michael & co, we headed up to Snowbird, stopping at the local Wal-Mart for supplies. (We miss those supercenters! And the cheap food prices!) Steve's dad had graciously rented each of his kids their own room for their family, and ours was perfect. We looked out over the swimming pool with a stunning view of the mountainside behind it.

There were manual egg beaters in every room. Adam was in mixer heaven!

Nicole enjoyed some outdoor time.... and some shoes.

We also did some family pictures. What a gorgeous view!

We had a lot of fun with Steve's family! We did a hike, swimming, game and movie nights, crafts with the kids, and hanging out in the rooms, meeting all the new babies we hadn't seen yet. We also did a family-wide talent show (which Steve filmed). Our acts were twofold: Adam drew a mixer, and I was part of a troupe with Lisa, Colleen, and Bonnie as "chin people" who sang a birthday song to Steve's dad. The whole show was funny and entertaining!

Adam randomly found a cooking show on TV, and when Steve asked for the remote back, he said "It's broken." and wouldn't give it back.
In the words of Calvin's dad, "...that's still one darn sarcastic kid we're raising." :D

Nicole let go of the couch and stood by herself for a few seconds. She repeated this several times over the vacation. She's getting close to walking!

At the end of the day, it was so nice to see two little angels sleeping!

picnic

It's traditional in Steve's family to do a picnic on the capital lawn during the Sunday at Snowbird. We decided to change and meet up with them, but first we got to attend sacrament meeting in a beautiful church that had stained-glass windows of the first vision.

We enjoyed yummy sandwiches and fruit.

And Nicole slept through it. :)

hanging out

We spent a lot of time just hanging out in the hotel. It was so relaxing and fun!

Nicole with Uncle Michael.
Adam loved Michael and would ask for him every morning. He called Brittany what sounded like "Aunt Pretty."


Our kids loved baby James!

the hogle zoo

The next day we went to the zoo. It was terribly hot and very sunny! So we slathered everyone with sunscreen and pulled down all the stroller shades. (And no one got sunburned!)

We took a break inside the giraffe pens. Giraffes are my favorite animals, and I loved how you could go stand between the pens!

Nicole mostly stayed in the stroller-- it was just too sunny for a little baby!

Adam got his first carousel ride!

Any of you who know about his mixer obsession can only imagine his excitement when he discovered that HE was going "round and round!"

Adam liked it when animals would come up to the glass.

Nicole woke up just as we stopped for lunch.


At the end, we went on the little train that encircles the pioneer village and animals. It was cute and relaxing. (And this picture shows off the gash on Adam's nose-- we're not sure how he got that.)

the living planet aquarium

On the first Friday, we went to the aquarium. All the kids loved it! (Though James and Nicole slept through a lot of it.)

Nicole woke up, so it was picture time.

Adam at the touch pool-- they had fish and really big rays to touch, but Adam couldn't reach. He still enjoyed playing in the water, though!


Nicole at the touch pool-- she wasn't really a fan.

There were corals for the kids to crawl through over by the story corner, where we got to hear "The Three Little Fish and the Big, Bad Shark".

Brittany and Michael and little James.

thr first half of the trip

We just spent almost 2 weeks in Utah, and we had a great time!
The first part we spent with my brother and his wife and their new little baby in a hotel in Salt Lake City. The hotel had two bedrooms (one was an upstairs loft) and bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen.
We flew in with no major problems, thanks to a ride from our cousin Melanie. The flight was not full, so Steve and I sat across from each other with one carseat each. We made the mistake of sitting in the middle of the plane, and a guy who thought it was SO important to sit in the first available seat so as to exit quickly sat by Steve and Adam. So all during the flight we had to pass things over him and his laptop. Oh, well. It was totally his fault-- there was an empty seat behind me.
Anyway, we got to the rental car place and I had mistakenly reserved our car for 9am, and it was now 4pm. They were completely out of cars. I had gotten a screaming deal on this one, and I couldn't believe I didn't check the time! However, what they were not out of were 12-passenger vans. The luxury edition. Brand-new. With lots of glorious space for our luggage, strollers, groceries, and M&B and their baby, not to mention both of ours. The best part? They let us have the van for the same price. So for what it normally costs to rent that van for 2 days, we got it for 12!
So we grabbed some drive-thru and finally made it to the hotel. After M&B arrived, we all went to Wal-Mart to stock up on food.

Utah again!

Steve got a last-minute opportunity to recruit at BYU again, so off we went! It was fun traveling with two, especially since baby Two slept the whole flight both ways. Our favorite airport moment was taking up the ENTIRE conveyor belt and counters behind it with our stroller, bins with bags, etc. at security. We wished we could have taken a picture!
We stayed with Steve's mom and then with his sister, and we partied with everyone that we could (we stayed for the weekend after the recruiting stuff). Adam and Nicole both developed the inevitable Travel Diaper Rash, but other than that, no one was sick and we barely made our flights, but we did make them. Therefore, a successful trip. :)


Debbie and I took our kids to the Monte Bean Museum while we were staying at her house.

trip pics

These are some pictures from our trip to Utah. Adam is playing outside with his cousin Arianna. Aren't they cute???



And yes, I'll have you know that I finally gave him a haircut on Saturday. :)