Winner-Guess where we are?!

Lori!
You guessed it.
We have not left the state.
For our Family Night a few weeks ago we went to the lake.
Lake Hefner.
Our drinking water lake.

It looks like we went somewhere.
Funny thing?
It felt like we went somewhere.

We don't have big vacation plans this summer, but we try and keep things moving. When that stir crazy feeling sets in, we take a drive somewhere close. The bookstore, a park, the lake. It gets us out of the house and we feel better.

When I saw our photos from the night, they reminded me of being on the coast. The feeling was the same. We were together. Away from our normal routine.

Guess where we are?!

What We did on Spring Break-2

While Grandma and Savanna went shopping ...

The boys and I headed to the mountains.

We took Grandpa along.

Luke was so excited to try and climb a mountain.

The kids put that coon skin hat to good use!

Silly Mom did not think to bring Luke a coat.

All the boys tried to climb the mountain.
When we got home, Tucker would tell people how he tried to climb a mountain but couldn't.

Between Jay and I, we took lots of photos.
Funny thing: we thought my lens was broken. I could only manually adjust the lens, and even then it was really hard to turn.

A few days later I was adjusting it and all of a sudden the lens made a cracking sound, and it worked again! (Maybe I had a piece of food stuck in it- a dried piece of dough perhaps?)

This sounds so ordinary to write, but it was beautiful.
I think the sky in Colorado is such a brilliant blue. Even more so the higher we got.

I loved sharing it with all the boys.
Tucker tried and tried to climb that mountain (as well as Luke) but just could not. I wish we had recorded all the cute things he said about being up there. Even though I can't remember the words I can still feel how cool it was to share his excitement and wonder. It makes my smile.

A scary tale from the basement

I laid down on the trunk in Jay's parents basement to "lift weights."

Luke and Tucker had been playing down there, so I had to step over toys, legos, cars, and dress ups to get to the trunk. Tucker was still playing but I did not see Luke. I could hear him from what I thought was behind the little sofa. He was making ghost sounds and moaning that he wanted out. I started moaning back to him. This went on back and forth, until I asked where he was. In his best moan, Luke revealed "I am underneath you."

What We did on Spring Break-1

We played dress up. Most often the boys switched this hat back and forth to play Davy Crockett.

What we ate and drank on vacation-2

Given that I already posted about our wonderful Panini's from Jay's brother Paul for my What to Eat, I think I will call that one, this two, and then just hop scotch around in no particular order to the others. I am throwing all order to the wind. This is a big branch out for my chronological thinking mind.

When we decided we were going to go to Colorado Springs to visit for Spring Break, I hoped we would be able to make it to Denver for Jay and I to attend the temple together. We had not been back to that temple since we were married in 1995.

Now here is where we see what truly motivates me. Sad to say, its food.

Jay messaged me the week before we left to say that there was a Cafe Rio open in Denver. It had just opened up this winter. I was ECSTATIC! I went from hoping to go to Denver to planning to go to Denver! We. Were. Going.

For anyone that lives close to one and see's this as no big deal, you can just come back tomorrow. This is where I go on and on about how wonderful Cafe Rio is and how much I miss it.

When Jay and I lived in Provo, UT, we had a tandem bike that we would ride to a certain sandwich shop on holidays. It was what we did.

Then we had kids and we would drive to a certain sandwich shop on holidays.

Then Cafe Rio opened up. And we never went back to the sandwich shop.

It was the place for us to go. If I was going out with girlfriends that was where we went. If we were going out as a family that was where we went. If Jay and I were going on a date that was where we went. If someone was visiting from out of town, yup, that was where we went.

We moved away from Utah in 2002- it has been that long since I have eaten at Cafe Rio.

Here we are 8 years later. Eight cafe rioless years.

We made it to the temple. Lovely.
Then we met friends for dinner.

Even better to share it with friends!
We went. We ate. We were happy.

It was just like I remembered. But bigger. Delicious. Those tortillas, and the lime, and the guac, and those little tortilla strips on top, the black beans, and the chicken. combined with the creamy ranch. Mmm.

I was so happy- I did not even take a photo. Not a single one of the food! I KNOW!



The salad still tastes better when somebody else makes it. I can try and duplicate it, but nothing beats the real thing.

mini road trip

We solved our transportation problem (more on that later)- so we took a mini road trip-

now I want to go on more. Counting down the weeks for back to school makes me sad- so I just won't think about it.

It was a fun week - Jay drove down to Texas with us on Sunday night. He could not stay the whole week but we figured that he could at least drive with us down there and then hop on the train back. Now truth be known- I wanted Jay's company. I wanted to be together for a mini road trip. But I also wanted him there for this:

OK- it looks fine right? WRONG! Click on the picture and see that sky bridge up kind of in the middle of the picture? That alone could keep me from driving to visit our friends.
Here is a another photo that we found on the internet looking at it from the other side.

Its tall, its unavoidable and it goes on forever. It reminds me of driving across the bridge in Portland Oregon to drive to Washington and how I almost froze out of fear. Or from our trip last summer to the Grand Canyon. I have a totally real fear of heights. Don't misunderstand. I am not afraid of driving. I have driven many a long-distance road trip, with kids, by myself. It's heights I am afraid of!

And here is the 2nd reason I needed Jay with me, (besides wanting his company!)
Jay took the kids for the morning, and while they went to the Texas Mint:

Donna and I went and each had a massage then lunch.

It was heavenly.
I was cashing in on my mother's day gift!
For mothers day I asked, I begged for a gift cert. for a massage from one of Donna's friends, Hannah. (who also does pre-natal massage, and no I am not pregnant-see here) I knew that we would be going to Texas sometime in the future. So Jay agreed.
It was a perfect day for a massage- rainy, misty.
To top it off, Jay took care of running to walmart to buy diapers and wipes. (I left the box, sitting in the garage that had everything we needed-oops!)
That night I dropped Jay off at the train station and he rode back home.
The plan was for him to ride back down at the end of the week and we could do some more vacationing together -(and no, I did not need his help for the way back- no scary skybridge driving on the way back to OKC!) but we tried buying tickets too late. So we will just have to take a few days here and there to get our vacation in!

The rest of the week was spent:

canning

black beans & potbelly's hot peppers (I am so addicted to these right now!)

braiding hair

running- who knew I could run faster in Texas?

going to a water park

jumping on the trampoline in swimwsuits

playing in all the dress ups

playing make-up and hair

shopping for new sunglasses

rock band
star wars battlefront
played baseball
(and these next two photos have nothing to do with what we did, but would you look at those curls?!)

and a lot of hanging out and movie watching!

Somehow the older boys did not end up in alot of the photos- but all the kids were there, and they all had fun.
Thanks Ryan's for letting us come- and for "vacationing" with us!

sleep

I feel like this- and I am on my way to bed!

We spent the day at a waterpark in TX- and I am just too tired to write all the things I wanted.

To sum up:

we drove to TX with Jay- he took a train home- we are having a great time-

the end.

one month ago-labor day weekend

One month ago was labor day weekend. How has 1 month gone by already? I still have summer things to put away, but we are clearly into the school year and fall is right around the corner. We are still having wonderful warm weather- not too hot (its gotten a little warm, we are still using the air conditioner) so I have gotten to enjoy something that I thought would not last very long.

A PEDICURE!

Oh I have been wanting one for so long. I wanted one before school was out.
I wanted one for my birthday. I wanted one before we left on our 2008 adventure to California. I wanted one everytime I went to the pool. I wanted one when we went to Colorado. And then again when we went a 2nd time.

So last month-Labor day weekend, Saturday morning Jay announced at breakfast that he really thought we should drive to TX to visit our friends for the weekend. I had a class to teach that morning about budgeting at church- and I chuckled to myself thinking about all the work that had to be done while I was gone, and said I would call our friends and see what they had planned.
When I called Donna she said "come on down, and if you get here before 6:45 you can go get a pedicure with me!"
I was thrilled!!!
I was thrilled because I was going to be gone for the packing and preparing, I was going to get to come home load up and have a happy drive-a road trip with my family and then get to be with friends and have a pedicure! This sounded just like my kind of weekend.
I had not had a pedicure since I lived in OR- it was a gift from Holly and Layne for my 30th birthday.
5 years ago.

We had a great drive- were met with smiles and pizza from our friends, and off Donna, April and I went to get our pedicures. We laughed a little about leaving 2 Dad's with 12 kids but knew they could handle it!

It was heavenly- We laughed and laughed. We laughed at each other, we laughed that I was wearing a skirt, we laughed at who-knows-what-the-ladies-were-saying-about-us as they did our nails.We laughed at the sheer joy of 3 moms, with 12 kids between us being alone, and the highlight afterward would be grocery shopping by ourselves! We laughed about everything. ...

I was talked into a manicure at the same time.

I loved having my nails done too. Every time I looked at them over the next 2 weeks was so fun. I felt finished! If it would just last a little longer.

But the very best part, and the whole reason I hurried to get to TX was the pedicure.
Love -love -love it.
And the best part is that it has been a month and they still look pretty good.
I totally thought I would be wearing regular shoes by Oct 1- but I am still wearing all of my sandals.
Getting to enjoy seeing my toes every single day.
I know that my family had a great time on the trip.
But I think I had the best time.
And you know what topped the whole night off? Getting back to our friends and having the two littles already bathed and in jammies, and all of our stuff unloaded from the car.
That and having one of April's kids saying "that man is funny."
Thanks Donna and David for letting us invite ourselves to come down for the weekend.
Thanks Donna and April for going to get pedicures.
Thanks Jay and David for tending to all those children.
Thanks Jay for being so funny.
Thanks for not caring that after a family road trip, that I took off to go get a pedicure.
Thanks for letting me take that 3 hour Sunday nap.
Thanks for helping to build a windmill.
Oh- and thanks for standing in line that morning for oh-so-long at the tag agency with the birds and our 4 children to get the tags done.
And then packing. And taking care of the kids.
Want to do it again?!