Long Forgotten Joys of a Road Trip...Sans Kids

For my birthday I got tickets to Wicked. It was over-priced and instantly sold out in Salt Lake, fortunately, we had an old college friend, Aaron Cali, offer to get us tickets to see it in Denver with his family. The show was Wiz-tacular, I mean spectacular. I loved, loved, LOVED it! I really hope it comes to Salt Lake again so we can take our girls-they would thoroughly enjoy it!


After we got tickets we initially thought of flying, but the call of the open road over-ruled that notion (that and the fact that I hate rental cars-it's weird and I've never admitted it aloud to ANYONE...but there it is).

Now I want there to be no misunderstanding, I love my kids, and I love taking my kids on vacation. But there are a couple perks to leaving them home with Grandma (and after hearing the reports of all the fun they had with Grandma, I think they had a better Fall Break than if I had stayed home with them)! Some of obvious joys that are associated with traveling without kids...no fighting, no frequent potty stops (including those that take place along the highway), and there was no dreaded question "are we there yet?". I didn't miss the "stop touching me" conversation...not once did Rob utter that phrase (I think that sounds dirtier than I meant it, which makes it even funnier).

Some of joys were less obvious. For example: we got to listen to OUR playlist the entire time, no Hannah Montana, Jonahs Brothers, Demi Lavato, or Weird Al on this trip! Or even better was when the radio was off entirely and we were having those "boring grown-up" conversations WITHOUT interruptions! We drove around for quite awhile looking for a restaurant for lunch. I didn't mourn the loss of the usual meal time decision making process... "It's McDonald's...I have to go potty RIGHT NOW...I don't like this place...What toys do they have in the kids meals...I'm STARVING TO DEATH".

We were able to stop at random places along our way without being asked "what are we doing here?". For example, on our way out we wanted to stop at the Continental Divide. Rob remembered stopping there when he was younger, and it sounded like a great picture spot, so that became our quest. We looked for the signs for 40 minutes. We were flying through the middle of the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels, when I spied the sign showing that we were UNDER the Divide. There is no photo-op in a traffic filed tunnel. It's then that Rob realized his family must have been on Highway 6 not I70. We were not turning around at that point, so instead we took the scenic route on our way home. We hopped out of the car in our short sleeved tee-shirts and got some crazy looks from the people in their snow pants and parkas. We stayed long enough to get a good look around, a picture and watch a kid wimp out of a snowboard jump (we were hoping for some good youtube material since the person who built the jump failed to account for the giant rock at the end of the landing area...maybe that's why the kid wimped out?).

We stopped at a Gold Mine for a tour...hence the sexy hard hat picture. Anything that looked remotely interesting we pulled off the road to explore and photograph.We did things my kids would have been bored out of their mind doing. We toured the US Mint, found Buffalo Bill's grave, and walked along the Colorado River. I crunched through the leaves at our hotel, we meandered through the 16th Street Mall and had an eternally long lunch at Chili's (it took so long that Rob had to run back to the car to feed the meter before our food even came out...I missed Zach, the BEST Chili's waiter EVER).

I had such a great birthday season this year (I say season because the celebrating lasted over several weeks)! Thanks Rob for being such a thoroughly delightful traveling companion. I look forward to our next vacation...whether or not we take kids is still up in the air! Actually, if we did try to leave town sans kids I think we'd be facing a mutiny from either the kids or my Mom! Thanks Mom for entertaining our brood. Thanks Rob for an amazing time...Love you Babe!

A Love Affair with Autumn

Autumn is, in my opinion, the BEST of all seasons. I love to watch the colors change up on the mountains and in my yard. I like that during the day I can still wear flip flops, but at night I need a jacket (since it is after October 1st it terribly unfashionable I know but, flip flops are so comfy that in my book it negates the fashion faux pas).

I love pulling out the winter clothes...it's like rediscovering long lost friends (there is something comforting about a good hoodie). It is magical to listen to the sound of crunching leaves and the sight of deep orange pumpkins nestled on porches makes my heart soar. It smells crisp and clean like laundry fresh out of the dryer (although there is that not so clean smell that happens for a short period while the lake turns over...but I try to block that from my brain).

Soup is an acceptable dinner, hot chocolate no longer sounds repulsively HOT but toasty and comforting, and the smell of baking pumpkin bread fills the house. I don't want you to think I've forgotten the best part of Fall...Halloween. I have warped at least one of our children into thinking it's a great holiday. I asked Ben what his favorite holiday was and he said Halloween. My dad would be horrified to hear that the answer was anything besides Christmas...he always wondered where I fit into the family with my strange obsession on this "Pagan Ritual...begging for food dressed up like a spook-stupid holiday". I didn't have to pierce anything, wear a mow-hawk, sneak out or date someone my dad hated to rebel...my form of rebellion came by dressing up and participating in Halloween! Of course now that he is the grandpa he is completely interested in what costumes the kids are going to wear and what time they are coming to his house to Trick-or-Treat. My Dad is awesome!

Another part of Autumn for me is making Halloween costumes. I love making costumes, I'm not very good at it but I love it anyway! My theory is, I don't need a pattern, that will just confuse me, and if it doesn't look quite right, hot glue can fix it! Oh what a seamstress I am! I should have not been such a jerk to my mom when I was a teenager and she was trying to teach me to be a domestic diva. Sorry Mom...you're a saint for trying!

One of the funniest things I have going with Halloween is that I have my kids believing that we HAVE to have a family costume theme. I'm waiting for Lauren or Ben to catch on that most families don't do this and request to stop. Rachel tried to rebel from this years Star Wars theme and announced she was going to be Cinderella. Lauren promptly replied "You can't. You wouldn't match the rest of the family & that's just not going to work." Ironically Rachel took that as gospel truth and never brought up Cinderella again. Ben has already put in his suggestion for next year's theme...but it usually changes about twice during the year so I'm just going to file the suggestion away in my brain for now.

A Birthday That Rocked

I typically love birthdays...including my own-until three years ago when I turned thirty. That was the year I got Bell's Palsy a week before my birthday (that was a kick in the head). I began to realize that things don't seem to work as well or be in the same places as they were when I was in my twenties. I knew that happened to other people, but in true ignorance of youth I thought it would take longer to catch up with me...Hahaha the joke's on me! But ny thirty-third birthday ROCKED, and that makes me think maybe my birthday's aren't really so bad...FOR NOW!!!

We celebrated in fabulous parental fashion. The night before my b day, Rob & I went to Parent/Teacher Conference, then to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (and thankfully Rob did NOT tell them to sing to me-I was not going to sit on the saddle and endure that). We finished out our night at Home Depot buying some fencing to try to keep the damn ducks in the backyard. I know it sounds absolutely boring, but I didn't have to make dinner, or put the kids in bed-that is a wonderful gift! I got some good gifts from family and friends-it's nice to be so loved!


On my birthday my amazing friends, Ali, Ann, Crystal and Wendi, took me to dinner at the Olive Garden then we went back to Wendi's to play Beatles Rock Band. It was hysterical! I knew I was inept at drumming, but I also showed NO promise on the guitar either (although in my defense nobody told me how to play the guitar right the first time)! Wendi showed off her mad Whammy Bar skills that made me green with envy! We played until 1:30 in the morning (sorry Brian)...


I am so thankful for such a great group of friends that are willing to be crazy with me (I prefer to not be the only citizen of Crazieville)! You girls are the BEST!!! Thanks for a truly memorable birthday!!!


The next part of my Birthday was going to Denver to see Wicked with Rob...and NO CHILDREN!!! More on that adventure to come soon!

Indiana Ben & the Birthday of Doom

For ten days I obsessed over Indiana Jones. Not in the normal "Harrison Ford was a hottie with a whip" kind of way. It was the "How am I going to entertain a gaggle of 6-8 year old boys for two hours Indiana Jones style". Since we decided to only let the kids have a friend birthday party every other year, I was feeling some self-inflicted pressure. Ben's 6th birthday had to rock!

My dirty little secret is that I ACTUALLY LIKE planning and throwing parties and making themed cakes. Ben's birthday bash was no exception! I admit...it was MAYBE a little over-the-top. I knew I was in deeper than I thought when Rob asked how much this was costing & I couldn't give a more exact answer than "probably more expensive than taking them all to Pirate Island, but cheaper than going to Disneyland". Somehow I don't think that made him feel better.

I made fabric whips, satchels, blowguns and hieroglyphics for Ben's friends (nothing like sending a bunch of boys home with a couple of weapons-what a good friend and neighbor I am). Because we haven't finished the backyard we had to be white trash and have the party in the front (which almost drives me crazy). Upon arrival, the guests came to Base Camp (Rob set up a tarp tent, and I put artifacts in the planters, and they sat on a bunch of canvas tarps). Ben's guests were treated to a dinner of boiled snakes (hot dogs cooked in green food coloring), beetle wings (chips), giant spider eyes (grapes), ants on a log (celery filled with peanut butter & raisins) and monkey brains (Jell-o). Rob was a good sport & searched half of Salt Lake County for a brain mold the week before the party ( I love that man for SO many reasons...this time it's because he found me a brain mold)!

After eating we had a note from Indy telling them clues to their next destination. Everyone also got their satchel at Base Camp-you have to have something to carry all your loot in right?


The first stop on the adventure was lion taming. Everyone got a whip and had to knock the "lion" off his stool. We have a size 4 lion costume that fits Rachel's giant dog and voila we have a lion that needs a good whipping! Of course Hayden had to get in on the action. His whipping technique was decent for a one year old, but in the end the lion simply had to be pushed off! My sister, Melissa, was in town from Ohio and came to help with the party. I was grateful she was able to be here (I miss her something fierce)!



On the next leg of our journey we went to a Balloon Fight in Cairo. Each person had to grab a balloon out of the yard toy, slide down the slide, shimmy through the tunnel and pop the balloon. Then run back and do it again. I was going to do water balloons but with the weather getting chilly at night I decided I didn't want a bunch of frozen, wet boys by the end of the party. Some of these kids didn't weigh enough to pop the balloons. They tried to stomp it, sit on it, squeeze it but to no avail...Rob had to help by pinching the balloons as they squeezed it. After all the balloons were popped they recieved a bag of mini-marshmallows (which, like any good parent, I told them the marshmallows might be poisoned so don't eat them). They needed some ammo for a later activity and what better ammo is there than marshmallows?




Next stop: Swing Across Snake River. Objective: Make it across the river (aka. a blue tarp with rubber snakes on it) without falling in. Rob rigged up a swing between some ladders, the boys loved this and had to do it again, and again and AGAIN! When they finally had enough swinging they got a marshmallow blow gun.








From the swing we went to the Tiki Snatch. The guests had to run along a 2x10 snatch a statue and run back without being annihilated by a giant boulder (my exercise ball wrapped in brown paper). Rob & Melissa were teasing me because I popped a couple kids with the boulder a little harder than I meant to! Of course, because they are boys they thought that was funny. No tears were shed so I don't know what the problem was!

Onward to the Creepy Tunnel in search of the Holy Grail. I taped several big boxes together. Then put spider webs between the boxes, bubble wrap on the bottom of the boxes and put loads of rubber rats, spiders, and lizards in the tunnel. One boy told me he WOULD NOT be going through the Tunnel, it was too yucky. The kids had to crawl through the spider web filled tunnel and once on other side they ran to the Snake infested Dig Site to find a Holy Grail.



They filled the Grail with water and ran along a 2x4-this is where the marshmallow guns came into play. As one person ran through the others fired marshmallows at them trying to make them spill their water.










Next we moved on to the mines of India where they loaded into the mine car (a sled pulled by Rob) and had to make it around the corners without derailing. Poor Rob was a little winded after pulling so many mine cars. At the end of the mine shaft was a hieroglyphic tablets for each child. I made up an alphabet and wrote each kids name on the tablet. They didn't get the deciphering key until they completed the next task.








The Garage of Doom...the final task was to build a Temple of Doom out of candy Lego bricks (which they picked up at an earlier location). Once they finished they received the paper to decode their hieroglyph. They also were able to unravel the mystery written on the wall...Meet back at Base Camp.





While I was helping the adventurers build their Temples, Rob & Melissa were at Base Camp lighting tiki torches, and getting out cake & ice cream and moving the gifts out of the tent. Lauren was busy hiding items for a scavenger hunt (in case we had to wait for parents to arrive). Initially I was very worried about the timing, but it worked out perfectly for the allotted two hours!


It was funny and/or semi-embarrassing to note that partying out front made quite a brouhaha. There were neighbors driving by that stopped and came back to find out what we were doing, some older boys hung around on the outskirts of our yard watching, and a couple people said they didn't know if we could be friends anymore after seeing how party-crazy I am. Thanks Melissa and Rob, without you both I would have failed miserably! But it was such a success that I put all the props, and instructions in a box labeled Indiana Jones Party in the basement for use when Hayden is old enough to appreciate it! After this gig, I'm thinking that maybe I will only do parties for the kids between the ages of 4-10...then again they might be turning 18 & I will be begging them to let me throw them a party. Only time will tell!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY BEN!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!