This would make such a great blog post

As we do things or go places I often think, "oh, that would be a great blog post" and then I do nothing about it. Someday I'll go back and do that (yeah, right:) but in the meantime we just returned from a quick 10 year anniversary trip and it definitely deserves a post. Since our built in babysitters are about 10,000 miles away we turned to good friends to watch our kids and dogs. We didn't want to overwhelm anyone with three extra kids for too long so we choose Los Angeles as our destination.

On Wednesday we took the kids to Elaine's house and we were off! ... only to discover we had forgotten to give her their car seats. Back to her house we went to give the car seats to her and then we rushed to the airport. Things got interesting when the fire alarm went off and the whole building had to evacuate. Thankfully, it was a false alarm and security was surprisingly speedy as it re-screened an entire building of passengers in half an hour. 

Rich waiting with the crowd for the fire alarm to stop

Now it's no secret that I'm not a fan of flying. I was determined that this time would be different. I took a class (a little helpful), an online course (very helpful) and read a book (not helpful at all) to learn all I could about flying so I'd be less nervous. 

Was I nervous? Sure, but not as much as I had anticipated. I was also excited to fly--after all, it's pretty amazing and I love the roar of the engines. This experience was a first for me--I've never flown in a leeetle turboprop. I sat right behind the propeller and next to the landing gear. It turned out to be fun watching all the action.

Finally we arrived at LAX and spent more time in the lame-o Hertz rental car line than we had just spent driving to the airport, flying hundreds of miles, and shuttling to the Hertz building. 45 people in line and FOUR, yes FOUR agents helping. Very slowly. 

Rich surprised me with a red convertible Camaro. It was super fun to drive and we learned some important lessons. 1. Secure all loose papers when getting on the freeway 2. Wear sunscreen when the top is down and 3. Beware of gravel thrown from big trucks ahead of you. 

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel we went to a new trendy restaurant in Santa Monica called Upper West. It was delicious. 

Don't worry I took the knife out before I ate my hamburger.

Rich suppressing his love for the homemade potato chips.

After dinner it was time for Iris by Cirque du Soleil.

I've been to a couple different Cirque du Soleil performances but this was by far my favorite (and Rich's). To start off it was held at the Kodak Theater, home of the Academy Awards. Rich spared no expense and got us the best tickets in the house. This is very unusual since we're usually nose-bleed section types. I could only wonder whose famous buns had previously sat in our seats. Julia Roberts'? Jack Nicholson's? The fun began when we got to our seats a smidgen late. One of the characters was sitting in my chair and got up only to tease us in front of everyone. 

Not the best photo of us at the show.

We broke the rules and took a photo in the theater. I know, we're so bad.

The rest of the show was awesome. Trapeze artists did tricks above our heads, contortionists twisted their bodies into knots, and spending the big bucks was definitely worth being so close to the action. At the end of the show they threw confetti and streamers all over our section. So. Much. Fun.

The next day was the big DL.




















Ok, there's two kinds of happy at the Happiest Place on Earth. 1. With  kids and 2. Without kids. And trust me the second kind is a whole lot easier to deal with.

It was just delightful not having to deal with strollers, potty stops, and tantrums. And with only two of us, we were often asked to go ahead of others in line. Not that we needed to. The longest line we stood in was 15 minutes long. No kidding, we moseyed there at noon and by 8 pm had hit every single major (and minor:) attraction at both parks. And the weather was amazing. This was by far the most effortless and serene trip to Disneyland I've ever taken. And...it did get us looking forward to our next family trip there, kids and all.

We spent $50 on souvenirs and got these "free" anniversary pins!  It actually was pretty fun--lots of people congratulated us throughout the day.

The next day we had planned to go to the beach but it was fogged out so we headed to Beverly Hills to take a self guided tour of the stars' homes. I always thought that would be interesting but if you ever think of trying it, don't waste your money (in our case $7.99 for a map). Several stars homes were in gated communities so you couldn't see anything at all. And most others were surrounded by hillsides or giant walls of shrubbery or vines. And apparently Friday is celebrity landscape day because there had to be at least 50 landscape trucks parked around the neighborhood.

Finally, back to the airport we went and home to our kids (at Stephanie's house) and critters.

All in all it was a fun, quick trip. We're so grateful for friends who helped us out. These last ten years have been the absolute best of my life. I'm so grateful for a wonderful, helpful, happy husband who I get to spend it with.

This is your brain. . .on motherhood.

Lately, my brain is like a snow globe with to-do's swirling around and around. Most days I feel like I'm floundering--like I have so much to do that I don't know what do to. And then I try to tackle my to-do list (yes, I have one) only to get distracted and waste time on trivial things. I've been researching ideas online and asking my uber organized friend how to do things better and I thought it would be appropriate to ask all 3 of my readers:) how they stay organized and remember everything. I'm not looking for perfection--but maybe like 85% efficiency. Anyone. . .anyone. . .Bueller?

"My Guy"

Several weeks ago Juliet and I went costume shopping at the Goodwill. Whenever we go there I usually let my kids get a toy because they're like $1.99 and I don't care if they get lost or ruined. This time, Juliet picked out the Hunchback of Notre Dame doll. In fact, she was dead set on getting him despite the plethora of dolls on the shelf. She named him "Guy". Now, I know he's in an endearing movie and he's a wonderful character but I just don't think he's cute. At naptime and bedtime, despite all the cuddly animals and darling dolls we have, Juliet demands "my Guy". She calls out, "Guuuuy, where are you?" "Guuuuuuuy, where are you at?", while looking for him. It's pretty funny.

Speaking of Google Maps

Have you ever Google Mapped your house? Rich did, and guess what he found? This beauty:
If you zoom in closely on those three little kids on the left you see this:

Here's a couple that I took that day (April 29th, to be exact):



Yes, burned into Google's archives is a most endearing photo of my kids running around in their chonies playing in the mud. And we couldn't be prouder:)

New Crib

Here's the Google map of my parents' house. If you look reeeeeally close you can see my dad sitting in the garage reading something--probably an auto mechanic book or something. Anyone who knows my parents knows this is often how their house looks--garage door open and my dad working on something. I love that Google captured that. I'll have to send Rich to work out there with the door open every once in a while just to make things look authentic.

Last weekend we moved into my parents' house while they're serving an LDS Church mission to Johannesburg, South Africa. When they told us they'd be leaving for 18 months and asked if we wanted to house sit we decided on yes in about 1/2 a second. While I'm super bummed to not see my friends as much, I think we're gonna like living here. Here's our Top Ten List of reasons we like living in my parents house:

10. Our backyard has real grass as opposed to our rental pretty much only having weeds and burrs.
9. Our house has insulation. No more feeling a breeze coming through the walls of the house.
8. We have access to some awesome tools--both for sewing and for doing woodwork/handyman projects.
7. The kids sleep upstairs and we sleep downstairs.
6. We have real cable now. And DVR.
5. We have a stove with 4 working burners. And it's even gas.
4. We have 6 couches in our house. Perfect for making out. Or parties.
3. We have 8 recliners/rocking chairs. Perfect for more parties.
2. We're like clones of my parents--Rich works at Lockheed like my dad did, we live in their house, we go to their church. The only difference? We'll never have 5 kids:)
1. When we move in 18 months or so, we won't have much to pack since it's pretty much all in boxes already.

I guess this wouldn't complete without a Top Ten List of why we'll miss our old place.

10. The cul-de-sac. I loved, loved, loved that my kids could run freely outside without me worrying much.
9. The mulberry, apricot and fig trees.
8. Our awesome garden boxes that Rich built.
7. Our neighbor, James Bond's (no kidding), giant truck that had BOND welded onto the front bumper.
6. Being able to drive to Target, buy 1 item, and drive home in under 7 minutes.
5. Having Sprouts, Ross, Sports Authority, Five Guys, Panera, Toys R Us, Pinkberry, Safeway, Trader Joe's, Baja Fresh, Aaron Brothers, and Big 5 within a 3 minute drive from our house.
4. Walking around downtown and looking at the cute, full of character, houses.
3. The toyroom.
2. The farmers market and other festivals downtown.
1. The jazz music that our neighbors and their friends played in their backyard on special occasions.

Seriously, the Best Camping Spot Ever

Ok, I'm gonna play catch up here. This summer we went camping in Santa Rosa. I know, it's kind of funny sounding to camp there. But, we wanted to go to nearby Safari West. We camped at Spring Lake and it was the best camping experience our family has ever had. The amenities were great, the lake was awesome, and the kids had a blast. We will totally camp there again.