To paraphrase the late, great Johnny Cash, we HAVE been everywhere this summer. It has been a whirlwind. We've made great memories that we wouldn't trade for anything, but honestly it's been totally exhausting. We are now ready to stay put and not go anywhere for a long, long, long time.
Here are some highlights from our trips, from most recent, moving backward. And again, I curse my laziness for resorting to taking pictures exclusively with my iPhone. It's so easy but the quality (at least in my hands) is total junk. I need to start using our real camera again.
October 5-12 Hobe Sound, Florida (Anna & the boys) Visiting my dear Poppop with Abby and my mom. Getting to listen to Poppop's amazingly vivid stories about growing up during the Depression, being the first one in his family to go to college, meeting my Grammie, and going to World Series games at Ebbets Field. Playing on the beach with cousins Amanda, Beau and Lola. Hosting an impromptu birthday party for Poppop (he turns 98 at the end of October!) with cousins Sharon and Juanita. Abby swimming with the sharks (that could have ended badly...here's a tip we learned: don't swim near sport fishermen...they bring in more than pompano). Elliot stripping off his bathing suit and running around the beach squealing "I NAKED! I NAKED!!"
We got into Florida really, really late so we stayed at a hotel near the airport for the first night. The boys got a little bit crazy. This is them at 2:00 am. Fortunately they were still on West Coast time (making it only 11:00?!?) but that was small consolation to the hotel guests around us!
September 3-7: Raleigh, NC (Anna & the boys) Seeing old friends back in Raleigh. Ahhh...I don't have any pictures of this amazing weekend. It was SO MUCH FUN!! I love, love, love the friends we made in Raleigh. The trip was way too short but I felt like I really was able to reconnect in a meaningful way with a lot of our old friends. Lots of great conversation and catching up for me and lots of rough and tumble play for the boys. We packed a TON of activity into 4 days. The kids didn't eat or sleep (only slightly exaggerating) the entire time, but we all survived.
September 2-6: Memphis, TN; Oklahoma City, OK; Amarillo, TX; Historic Rte. 66, the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park, Santa Fe, NM, the Grand Canyon, Barstow, CA, Visalia, CA (Ryan) Ryan's road trip with Lance Kammer to drive out to our new home in the Bay Area.
August 20-24 New York City and Unadilla, NY (Anna & the boys) Impromptu last trip home before moving to the West Coast. My mom took us on a memorable behind the scenes tour of the Metropolitan Museum on a Monday (when it is closed to the public). We also drove up to Unadilla with Abby and Adam to surprise my dad. He doesn't love surprises and, although undoubtedly was glad to see us, was sort of confused about what we were doing there.
I love this sculpture. These sleeping boys remind me of fleshier versions of my own little cherubs. This mother looks so serene...I wish that were how I felt more often! But I, too, feel almost swept away by love and peace when I look at my sleeping boys. They look like angels. I just want to kiss their little rosebud lips and inhale their sweet baby scent. Maybe this marble mama's serenity is fleeting, too, if her little alabaster rascals were to wake up she would take on a more harried expression!
When my boys are sleeping they certainly don't look like the kind of kids who would lock themselves in a dog crate. But alas, when they are awake, they can find all kinds of mischief.
Oliver helped Grandpa with his garden and Grandpa introduced him to the wonders of penny smooshing. Abby and I used to do it all the time. We put pennies on the train tracks that run behind his house and then when after a train goes by we'd search for the smooshed pennies.
Aug 19-22: Costa Rica (Ryan) While I was in New York, Ryan was in Costa Rica attending the wedding of his friend Tatiana. Ryan met Tatiana on his 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He taught her about the doctrines of our church and she was baptized when she was 14. She subsequently served a mission herself in Honduras and was married in the temple in August. Ryan had a great time visiting some of the places he lived and reconnecting with old friends.
Aug 5-8: San Francisco, CA house hunting trip to the Bay Area
June 2-9: New York City and Unadilla, NY Abby & Adam's wedding (I already posted about this in considerable detail :-)
July 3-4: Atlanta, GA Georgia Aquarium, Coke Museum and visiting Bianca & Mark Bell. We weren't the only ones with this plan for the 4th of July! The museum/aquarium were PACKED and they don't call it "Hot-lanta" for nothing. We escaped the crowds and the heat and had a relaxing afternoon swimming with the Bells and their twin boys who are Elliot's age.
July 23- Aug 1: Overland Park, KS; Parker, CO; Springville, UT; Bear Lake, ID Looooong road trip to awesome Cornell friends reunion at Bear Lake. We took our time getting out there, so it wasn't too bad, but we had to haul on our way home. The minivan earned its keep...when one of us was driving the other could lay out flat (OK, curled up somewhat, but not entirely, comfortably) in the third row. We visited friends and Halverson siblings on the way out and then had a wonderful 3 day reunion with some of our best friends from graduate school. We hung out at the beach all day, went waterskiing (not my pregnant self obviously), had picnics at the park each night with the whole group (about 40 adults and a gazillion kids) had lots of late night laughs.
The view from the minivan for most of the trip. Flat, gray, boring.
The boys with their cousin David.
Ollie and Ryan chillaxing on the deck of Aaron's family's house where we stayed for the reunion. Can you see the reflection of the lake? It was so beautiful!
May 28-20: Overland Park, KS Memorial Day weekend with the Halversons (Brad & AM and fam, Kurt & Kirstin, Kim & Clark, Richard & Kathy, TJ and Blake). We stopped at the St. Louis Arch on the way out. What a triumph of architecture and engineering! Neither the kids nor we had the endurance to wait in line to go to the top but I bet the view is awesome.
Whew! That's the end of a marathon post, but I'm glad I finally recorded some of this.
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