long story short

six and one

Because Brinley's school had no Spring Break this year (yup, that's right: NO SPRING BREAK!), I ended up being the only girl on our spring trip this year. Madsen brought a friend (who seems like part of the family), so it was six boys, one girl.There was a little less of my favorite activity, lounging at the pool, and a little more adventure. See for yourself...

 

We had so much fun!

I learned a few things on this trip. I learned to ride an ATV -- fast, so I didn't get left behind (and so that my little passenger, who was so disappointed he couldn't drive, wouldn't think I was a "chump"). I learned to (sort of) conquer my fear of heights, for a moment. I learned that teenage girls aren't the only ones that will stay up late, reviewing the happenings of the night with me (but that conversation is top secret!).

I also learned that, although we had an amazing trip and I LOVED being with my boys...I am firmly opposed to "no-spring-break" policies at college. I need a morning-run, pedicure, sit-at-the-pool-reading-People buddy.

I missed you, Brins!

good for the soul

We're back from our trip to Lake Powell. After a hectic and stressful couple of weeks of moving (ugh), it was nice to just relax. We went with our usual travel companions -- six adults and sixteen kids. We don't get together as much as we'd like to, but when we do, we pick up right where we left off. We all morph into one big family.

         
Trips like this remind me why I like these people so much. We laugh, we talk, we play hard. We moms relax our no-sugar-cereal rules (except for one, who, in real life, allows sugar on everything -- you know who you are!). We are all ourselves -- and love each other for it.

    
     
    
    
Before I left, my sisters pitched in and helped organize the kitchen and kids' rooms, which was such a help, physically and emotionally (thanks, girls!). But, I was feeling overwhelmed as I drove away, knowing there were boxes and furniture strewn everywhere...life felt chaotic, unsettled. 

The boxes and chaos were still here when we got back (dang!), but, after a week of relaxing with my family and good friends, it all felt much more manageable. I was reminded that having everything perfectly put away is not all that important. It'll happen in time.

So, I've unpacked and settled in a little bit each day this week. And while I go about the business of making this new house our home, I'm reminded that, although the new house is fun and will help me feel settled here, "home" is really about a lot more than where we live.

Sometimes, we all need a little reminder that home is where we put our hearts.

 

ps- although it's not all about the house...i'll post some photos of our progress soon. 

world travelers

Did I mention that Brinley has been traveling the world lately? Well, she has.

After a few days away on a senior trip in southern Utah, Brinley -- along with her dad -- took off for Guatemala. They went with a group on a humanitarian trip. They planted trees and helped build a school for a village.

K made sure that they had a day to sightsee -- what a gorgeous country!

    

And Brinley -- being Brinley -- found time to give manicures to the girls...

... and to fall in love with the people in the village -- especially the children.

      
 

These are just a few of the hundreds (literally!) of pictures they took. I wish you could see them all -- they're all so great.

Brinley and K spent several days in grubby clothes, traveling on small planes and buses, sleeping with lots of people all in one room, eating new foods and working hard.

Brinley came home with a new sparkle in her eyes. She saw people living with so little (in the way of material possessions) who were so happy. She learned to communicate with people who spoke a different language. In learning about the culture and lifestyle of others, I think she gained an appreciation for her own.

K has always been one that can be comfortable with anyone, anywhere, so I was sure he'd have a great time. I also knew that Brinley would love this experience if she opened herself up to it.

And she did.

In sharing herself with others, she came back even more herself than she was before.

And, I think she left a little piece of herself...in Guatemala.

 

spring break, take one (girls only!)

Brins and I have talked about taking a trip to New York City together for a long time. But, something always seemed to get in the way. Last week, we finally did it!! We took the first few days of Spring Break for a girls-only getaway. I had never been to New York without K, so this trip felt like a real adventure.

In an effort to pack light, I carried only my cell phone with me for picture-taking. So our pictures are not the greatest. And those photos with both of us in them are terribly CLOSE UP because we took them of ourselves. Yikes! Sorry. (note to self: other people lugged their giant cameras around. next time, bring the good camera!) Also, Brinley will want you to know that we did not wear the same clothes every day (as if!) -- we only had room to bring one coat apiece and it was chilly, so we're wearing the coats in every picture.

But, pictures are pictures, right? And, in this case, pictures tell the story of our trip better than any lengthy, typed travelogue. So, here you go...

As you can see, we tried to do a little bit of everything. We took in some shows (awesome); visited some touristy sites, like the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and Ground Zero; explored some great neighborhoods and Central Park; and did lots of shopping -- SoHo, Greenwich Village, Fifth Avenue... well, lots of shopping.

We ate great food (Brinley decided that she loves NY pizza) and walked many miles. We also (sort of) mastered the NY subway system (thank you, iPhone. I love you). We never got on the wrong train and only got lost walking a few times. Yay us!

One night, we went out late and splurged on dessert(s) at Magnolia Bakery. We decided that calories didn't count on this trip -- you know, because of all the walking. (Plus, have you SEEN the desserts at Magnolia? And all the different gummies at Dylan's Candy Bar? Heaven!)

 Late each night we returned to our little hotel room and got in our pajamas. We sat on our shared bed, chatted about our day and made detailed plans for the next day. 

Brinley was a fun travel companion. She was up for anything, was not freaked by anything (except for Gross Spitting Guy on the subway. Eww...disgusting!) and seemed to enjoy everything we did. She is one of my favorite people... chatty, energetic, adventurous, positive, hilarious.

(sigh) It was so fun. We love New York. We even bought matching t-shirts that say so.

Listen, if you are lucky enough to have a daughter -- and you can ever steal a few days for a trip -- do it.

Trust me.

You'll catch up on all the latest goings-on in your daughter's life, you'll laugh so hard your stomach muscles ache, you'll find yourself walking arm-in-arm with someone who's just as excited as you are to be at a place like Dean & Deluca... and, best of all, you'll discover that this glorious person you've been living with all this time...

...is your friend.

And that, my friends, is worth the price of a trip any day.

finally...

Did you think I'd fallen off the edge of the earth?

I know I promised to post pictures of our lake trip. Then, I experienced a late-summer blog funk.

Sort of.

Actually, while I was away, my out-of-town sisters came into town and we spent the next several days in I-can't-believe-we're-ALL-together bliss. But, that's a post for another day.

First things first. Lake Powell.

    
Gorgeous. Breathtaking. It's really like no other place. 

Now, Lake Powell with 6 adults and 16 kids on a houseboat... that is an experience described best in pictures.

So, now...

finally...

our lake trip. Enjoy!

 

I have so many more pictures! And I'm sure my BFFs have at least a thousand more. But, you get the idea. It was fun and relaxing. And all those kids! Awesome.

I know that one of my loyal readers (you know who you are) will point out that I'm not in any photos. It's true. We look like a Disney family -- loving father, no mother -- in most of our trip albums. It's because I'm the family photographer. K says he'll take pictures sometimes so that we don't look like a motherless family. But he doesn't. So we don't.

I sound bitter, don't I.

(deep breath)

Loyal Reader, if you look carefully, you will see me peeking out from the back row of the group photo. Oh, and those blue toenails? They're mine. I had to prove my existence somehow.

Even if the pictures don't show it, I had a great time. No access to the internet, no phones, no schedule.

Just us.

All together.

Having fun.

(sigh)

I love Lake Powell.

when a wish comes true

So, the boy wished for a trip to Disneyworld and a water park (we chose Disney's Typhoon Lagoon). And that's just what he got... along with visits to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Sea World.

All in one week.

It made for a busy week. We were greeted at the airport by a sweet volunteer and we stayed at Give Kids The World, a resort for Make A Wish families. It's an amazing place where the eat-as-much-as-you-want ice cream shop opens at 7am, a treat truck makes the rounds every day, Disney characters stop in for visits and Christmas comes every Thursday.

Because a picture is worth a thousand words and it would take many more words than that to describe our trip, here you go -- about 20,000 words worth:

 










 

I hope you can see how much fun we had. Our days were filled with adventures. We walked between 7 and 10 miles a day! With Hutton's special park passes, we didn't have to wait in the long lines, which made the parks even more fun.

Walker found critters to catch and lots of tasty treats. Mac conquered the scary roller coasters. Brins and Madsen learned to survive without their cell phones (mostly). K realized that corkscrews and loops make him motion sick (thank heaven for dramamine). As for Hutton... by the end of the week, he had overcome his fear of life-size Disney characters -- but not of Santa (he's scary!), he fed dolphins, ate amusement park food... and had more fun than he'd even expected.

And me? Well, I had my kids and K all to myself for a week, with no interruptions and no schedule. I got to watch my kids experience new things (I bought them their first funnel cake. Me! Can you believe...?) and enjoy being kids. We ate together at every meal and I was reminded how much I really like these people.

Truly, a wish come true.  

Want to see more of our trip? Click here. (It's pretty long. You might want some popcorn.)

back to real life

I'm back! K and I spent 9 days with our good friends on a boat in the Virgin Islands. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it? It kind of was.

I so rarely have an unscheduled week in my life. On this trip, we would look at the map, consult our travel books and come up with a new plan for each day. The plans would consist only of things we wanted to do. There were really no have-tos on this trip. Like I said... heaven.

The days of lazy fun recharged my battery a bit. It was a week of sleeping in, exploring new beaches, soaking in the beautiful scenery, scuba diving for some, swimming, lounging, reading, speed scrabble and chatting. Lots of chatting, which meant lots of laughing. Oh yes, and food. Lots and lots of food. Too much food really. Although... can there ever be too much food? (I didn't think so either. Until this trip.) 

      

    
You know how some people give off positive energy? Well, that's how these friends we went with are. We've been friends long enough that we're comfortable with each other -- which is good because we charter a boat for these trips and that makes for a lot of togetherness. We had lots of long talks about things that are important to us. We laughed a lot. I came back from our time together renewed and inspired -- motivated to do things better.

So, after a deliciously warm week in the Virgin Islands, it's back to real life. Which means snow and freezing cold temperatures. And a busy schedule.

But, it also means back to my kids (I think they might have actually missed me!)... snowboarding, sports, driving here and there, listening to reports of how good they were for grandma and grandpa, reading stories wrapped in a cozy quilt.

Kind of like heaven.