Chicago/Dallas 2017

I fell in love with Chicago last week! What an incredible city. I could have spent several days simply admiring the beautiful architecture. So many great places to eat and so many things to do too.

I flew in on a Tuesday evening and met my team (Roger, Patti and Andrew) at Cindy's for dinner. It is an exclusive restaurant with a gorgeous view of Millennial Park. One of the things I love about traveling with CCHC is that I get to eat meals that cost way more $$ than I would ever spend myself on my food.

 The view inside Cindy's looking toward the balcony overlooking Millennial Park and Lake Michigan.

 The view inside Cindy's looking opposite the balcony toward the Honey Bar.

Then I went back to my room at the Kimpton Gray right downtown. Everywhere I went while I was in the city, I was able to get there by walking. What a beautiful, quirky, awesome place to stay!

 Everything was so sleek and unassuming in black, white and gold. Then, I open the closet to find these giant flamboyant flowers!

 Awesome light by my bed was like a giant glass orb with a dimmer switch. Check out my view!

 So much space and three huge windows along two walls!

 This amazing tub saw a lot of action. I wish I had a bathroom exactly like this one at home!!!

 Here is the closet from the outside. See? Big surprise when you open it up--haha!

One last photo of my room that shows the comfy little sitting area next to the bed. I so much wished Brian could have been in Chicago with me to enjoy this amazing room and the city!

Wednesday, bright and early at 6:30am I started my work day and didn't stop until the group dinner ended around 10:00pm. The meeting went smoothly. The building where it was held was one of the nicest I've ever been in. And, our dinner at a restaurant adjacent to Millennial Park was so perfect, out on the patio at dusk, and I got to meet Roger's wife, Mary (so--for once it was girl talk instead of shop talk at dinner for me!)

Thursday, I was right back to work, although I got to report to the office at 7:30am instead of 6:30am, which was nice after two very long days in a row. The meeting adjourned at noon, so I was back to my hotel room and off work for the day by around 1:30pm. Yippee!!! The next 24-hours were mine to do as I pleased. At first, I thought I would take a nap, but after about 15-minutes in my room, I realized I had to go see the city!!!

I took a long, gorgeous walk down by the river. Wow! What a neat city Chicago is. It has some of the tallest, most impressive buildings in the world and this river that runs right through the middle of it all. I saw joggers, rollerbladers and kayakers on my river walk and lots and lots of people out enjoying the perfect 70-degree weather. There were tons of little eateries and all of it was so pleasant. I decided to take an architecture tour by boat because 1) it was highly recommended to me and 2) so I could sit down because my feet were hurting from three days of running around. It did not disappoint!

 A photo I snapped walking down the street.

 Wednesday night, after dinner, we checked out Boleo, a night club on the top floor of our hotel with a retractable roof. 

 I cannot believe this building. A modern architectural wonder!

 Goofing around inside Boleo

 Our view of the Chicago skyline at dusk from our dinner on the patio at Park Grill

 Hamilton was playing right next door to my hotel. I checked and found out I could get a night-of ticket for $180 if I arrived early and agreed to be seated in whatever came available. A steal compared to the $500 ticket price of this sold out show! But, not a price I could swallow. 

 Presence Health -- This is the incredible building I worked in during the two-day meeting in Chicago. It is right on the river and I snapped this photo when it was highlighted during the architectural tour. It was a complete pleasure to get to be in this space that is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. After the meeting, we went up to the 34th floor and I stood on a patio enclosed with glass walls. When I looked down was the moment I decided to save myself some money and NOT go to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears) to look down from the even higher glass floored observation decks. See it in the background? It was the tallest building in the world until the 1980s and the tallest in America until about 2 years ago when New York built one taller. Can you believe the absolutely breathtaking buildings in Chicago! So much fun to see!

 As I was walking along the river, I looked up to see Trump Tower.

 The guide said that the height of a skyscraper is normally determined by the width of the base and a 10 or 12 ratio is impressive enough to land you on the front of an architectural magazine. This building is off the charts with a ratio of 21!

 Difficult to see this detail in this photo-but it was endearing that the beautiful building right outside my hotel window had hanging flower boxes.

 There were so many cool looking bridges connecting the roads from one side of the river to the other. This is one of the double decker bridges that accommodates the train on top and cars on the bottom.

A photo of my awesome team in action -- Roger, Patti and Andrew. Patti works in Ogden with me and Roger and Andrew work in Chicago where CCHC is based.

My pictures are populating in such a random order, but I don't really care enough to move them all around into something that makes more sense.

I had a lovely architecture tour that was a delight from beginning to end. Then, I treated myself to some Thai food and popcorn (Chicago mix of course) from the famed Garrett Popcorn shop. There were so many fun street musicians and I had a lovely walk down Michigan Ave.

I wish I could say I did more with my time in Chicago, but I was completely pooped so I fell asleep by 9:00pm and slept for 11 or 12 hours. 

In the morning, I started to feel flustered that I hadn't woken up earlier to get right out the door to see a museum. Then, I gave myself permission to go to the Chicago Institute of Art of 1.5 hours instead of 4, because, who cares if that makes sense or not?

It was a very pleasant 1.5 hours taking in all the art that I could. I am always drawn to the impression exhibits. They had some Monet and other great impressionists on display. When I saw the Monet pieces, it sort of transported me back in time to when I was fresh out of high school and I visited Monet's gardens that served as his inspiration for painting water lilies. Those were the days!!! I do still love impressionist art, but my tastes are changing and I think it is no longer my favorite. I use to really dislike modern, but I think I am warming up to it. I made sure to check out the collection of miniature rooms because it is Roger's favorite exhibit (see what a kiss up I am?). Everything I saw, I enjoyed, and 1.5 hours was just the right amount of time for that day.

After that, I stopped by Garrett Popcorn again to pick up some Chicago mix for the kids (they were underwhelmed, but I am telling you--it was sooooo delicious!). I also took a moment to meditate at Millennial Park (right across the street from the museum). I decided to be adventurous and take the subway to O'Hare. I have to say, it was pretty dirty, second only to the New York subway in terms of filthiness as far as subways I have ridden. But, it was alright.

 Millennium Park by day. So many cute kids playing in the fountain!

 Millenium Park, Michigan Lake and skyline taken from the balcony of Cindy's.

 Up close to The Bean.

See how wacky my photos are? This last photo is of me posing with The Bean from the balcony at Cindy's on my first night in Chicago. Oh well, I guess that is as good a place as any to leave my memories of Chicago! Really, really hope I get to go back!!!

I flew home Friday after four days in Chicago. I slept for 10-hours again both Friday and Saturday nights because those CCHC meetings take so much of my energy to execute them when I am on-site. Saturday was a completely unproductive day except for the fact that I made Isaac and Katie happy by watching Trolls on Netflix with them.

By Wednesday morning, I was packed and back at the airport on my way to Dallas to start my new job with PEGUS Research.

I sat by the sweetest BYU college student on my flight. She was on her way home to Dallas for the summer. She had the best energy and talked to me the whole flight which made it go by so fast!!

When I arrived in Dallas, I went to pick up my rental car and everything about the process seemed confusing -- added to the fact that with up-charges the car was $325 for my 5-day trip. The company pays for the car, but that seemed excessive. Finally, I decided to cancel the car and take an Uber and that has proved to be a GREAT decision. 

I arrived and checked in at the Hyatt in Dallas.

 I have this great little sitting area. 

 Sitting area includes a desk, fridge, sink and microwave.

 King size bed with a decent view. 

 And, then this big TV that I like to turn on in the morning and listen to the news like an adult while I'm getting ready for my day (I never, ever watch adult TV at home).

 After I dumped my things at the hotel I walked over to the place where I would be working the next day--this gorgeous building! 

Today is my third and final day of working on the 5th floor at another amazing place! The staff has been so incredibly friendly. Every day, they set out a beautiful tray of fresh fruit (just for me!). In the afternoon, the fruit is replaced by fresh cut veggies and hummus (just for me!) in my own private lounge. There are all kinds of drinks, chocolates, chips, pastries and snacks galore. Every day, they bring me a binder with about 12 different menus inside and they bring me whatever meal I order. They even take it out of the to-go boxes and put it on real dishes with real forks and knives. They do this for dinner too! It feels like the lap of luxury. For reals. I have been putting in 12-hour days (8:00am-8:00pm) and that is legit. There is something about sitting in an office for 12-hours straight. But, it's not nearly as high stress as my CCHC job. In fact, not high stress at all. Just long days of interviewing people and recording the data. But, my last two interviews didn't show up so I was able to update my blog and that was nice. 

Sometimes, when I have a little break, I go outside to the manicured garden in front of the building and take a peaceful walk around the pond that has ducks and colorful koi. It is really quite a wonderful place to be!

I'm pretty tired after working for 12-hours but then, guess what? I take an uber back to my hotel and kick off my shoes and there is no one to take care of, no one to cook for, no errands to run, no cleaning that I need to do. It's like I have a wife to do it all for me. It turns out, I'm pretty awesome at working a 12-hour day and being fully recharged and ready to do it all over again the next day. Easy-peasy compared to running the whole show all day every day at home--haha!

I have 2.5 hours more to put in for the day and my first study with PEGUS will be finished. I fly home tomorrow. Brian has been so, so, so incredibly awesome with the kids while I have been on these trips and my mom has pitched in and taken them on some fun outings too.

Here are my impressions of Dallas, TX:

Sometime in my childhood, I heard a story about chiggers that has stuck with me. A story about how you cannot be in the grass in Texas or the chiggers will bite you all over your body. I also heard that Texas was super hot and muggy. So, in my mind, I didn't have a great picture of Texas. I also envisioned everyone being extremely Western . . . which I guess isn't really that different from Utah! But, for some reason it did not appeal to me. 

But, now, I have been to Dallas and my new impressions are:

1) Although it has been in the mid-high 90s every day, and humid, it really feels quite pleasant to be outdoors and I kind of like the humidity here.

2) Everyone has been so very polite and hospitable and my overall impression is that Texans are very friendly.

3) The food has been amazing! I have enjoyed Texas BBQ twice ... and sushi. And, dinner at a Whole Foods store my first night in town. 

It has been a lovely time! Tomorrow morning, I fly home and I only have 24-hours to wash my laundry, say hi to Brian and the kids, and re-pack, before it's off to my next PEGUS study in Moreno Valley in SoCal!

Chicago/Dallas/SoCal

And so a new chapter of my life begins.

Last fall, in early September, a friend passed my name along for consideration at the company where she works. Not long after, I found out they were hiring, and now here I am nearly 9-months later beginning the job.

I am excited about and feel like it is a good fit. For one thing, it is an independent contractor position (just like my writing and meeting planning work from home jobs). For another, I only work when I go on "studies" and I can completely turn it off in between work trips. This is a big deal to me. My current position with Catholic CEO Healthcare Connection is always on my mind even though I only work part-time. I am constantly checking my CCHC email, ready to drop everything at a moments notice to do whatever needs to be done. It does take a certain mental toll that I can't really account for when I turn in my hours. But, overall, it is an excellent job.

Regardless, I am excited to start my new job with PEGUS Research because it will not add to my mental workload every single day. The job sounds pretty straight forward and involves interviewing people. The company is based in Salt Lake and the interviews need to be conducted all over the U.S., so they fly the interviewers to the individual sites to stay for 5-day stints.

It just so happened that I already had a 4-day work trip booked to Chicago in June with my CCHC job when I found out PEGUS wants me to start my training by taking two back-to-back trips also in June. It is exciting, but I am a little nervous to leave my family for 14 out of the 30 days in June!

That is why this is a new chapter. Save for an occasional (usually 2-day) work trip here and there with CCHC, I am always the one who does everything for my family from cooking to cleaning to buying everything, running the kids everywhere they need to go, and tucking them into bed every night. It's going to be a huge shift for everyone.

I know it's going to be O.K. Sophie is 16 now and Katie just turned 8, Isaac will be 12 at the end of the summer and Ian is 15 in the fall. Everyone is growing up! They can do a lot more for themselves than they could a few years ago. I am actually glad the job took 9-months to materialize so everyone could have that much more time to grow up. Eight sounds a lot more mature than seven and in just over a year I could have two teenage drivers to help out (so far, Sophie has shown no interest in driving but I am hoping she and Ian will both get behind the wheel and start learning when Ian gets his learner's permit in November).

The best part is that Brian's employer--Did I mention he started working full-time as a marketing guy for Mountain Luxury in February?--said he can work from home for most of the days I am gone. That is a HUGE relief. I know he will need to still put in his 8-hours, so it's not like he will be the full-time party director, but at least I know he will be here to make sure everyone is safe and fed and to be able to run the kids around if there is somewhere they need to go.

I just finished booking all of my travel. I am excited to go to Chicago. I have been to Illinois many times (I was even born there), but I have never visited Chicago. The first three days (until about 3pm on the 3rd day) will be work, work, work. Then I will have about 24-hours to relax before I head to the airport, so that is a very nice perk. I get to be home with my family for five days, then it is off to Dallas (my first time traveling to TX) for my first PEGUS study. I will barely have a 24-hour period of time at home to do laundry, re-pack and see my kids for a minute before I am off to Moreno Valley in Southern California for another PEGUS study. It's going to be extra hard to leave on the 3rd trip, I can already tell. But, I am trying to remain positive about all the benefits my family will gain from learning to be more independent, connect more to Brian, etc. Excited to see how this new chapter pans out for us!

Katie Turned Eight

Katie turned eight on Tuesday. On Monday (her birthday eve), my mom took her to Salt Lake for the whole day. They went to Build-A-Bear and she picked out an adorable, soft, lop-eared bunny with a rainbow skirt, sparkly rainbow shoes, a happy birthday shirt, sparkly pink bows on both ears, a cupcake and a cellphone and named her Emily.

They had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Oreo cheesecake for dessert and then bought more stuffed animals at the Disney Store. Katie was given "Happy Birthday" buttons and sang to everywhere they went.

On her Birthday, she took cupcakes to share with her art class and as soon as she and Isaac got out of school at noon, I took them both to Boondocks where they rode bumper boats and go-carts and played video games, bowled and ate build-your-own sundaes. She also got a Magic 8 ball and a set of "girl" Legos. We stayed up late putting "Stephanie's House" together.

Wednesday was Katie and Isaac's last day of school. She got to take cupcakes again (since Wednesday is the day she has class with the kids her age). They had parties all day and yearbook signing at the end and I even brought our bunny Carmel for her and Isaac to show off to their friends. After school, she attended her first Activity Days, which was a lovely backyard swim party and the girls gave her a really fun basket full of Birthday surprises.

Thursday was her Birthday party. A bounce house was delivered in the morning and Katie, Isaac and Jase played on it all day. In the afternoon, a dozen of her friends showed up to bounce, play tag, eat treats including Oreo cake and ice-cream and open lots more presents.

Friday was Ian's last day of school. He had an end of year party that night with twenty friends, night games, one of those giant pizzas from The Pie and tons of treats. Sophie also had a friend over so they could work on a video for a contest. Ian's friends left around 11 p.m. and I turned my attention to the next task at hand -- Katie's baptism at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

On Saturday, Katie arrived at the church in a beautiful white dress. Ian played the prelude music and "I Am A Child Of God" for the opening hymn while Sophie led the music. We had a lovely program and Brian baptized her. It was extra special because it was Grandma Nicholson's birthday. As I was preparing my talk on baptism for the big day, I pulled out the journal my Grandma gave to me on the day of my baptism and started reading through it and I was reminded that when I was Katie's age my favorite baby doll was named Katie! I remember that doll well, but I had forgotten her name. I love that I had a babydoll Katie then and I have a real Katie now.

After the baptism, our friends and family came to the house for brunch. I was tired when everyone left, but we needed to clean up the backyard. Sadly, our favorite pine tree died and during this crazy busy week, Brian rented a lift and cut the whole thing down, but we needed to haul away all the branches. We got it mostly cleaned up and now we need to figure out how to make the space awesome so we don't miss our beautiful tree so much.

Saturday evening, Sophie worked her first shift at her new job at Waffle Love in downtown Ogden on 25th Street. Brian and I stayed up late to pick her up (she gets off at midnight).

Today at church, Katie was recognized for being baptized and the Primary Presidency gave her a soft, warm blanket to represent the gift of the Holy Ghost. My goodness. What a lovely Birthday/Baptism week this girl has had.

I Heart Homeschooling

School has been a struggle for Isaac from the beginning. We have had ups and downs, but things became especially bad during his 3rd grade year. I made the decision to pull him and Katie (Kindergarten) out of school that spring to try homeschool. We all loved it! But, a new job made me decide to send them back to the neighborhood school in the fall for 1st and 4th grades.

I didn't feel I could do their education justice with my attention being split. If only I could send them to school one day a week!--I thought. I looked into a private program for homeschoolers that provides exactly that. But, I decided to abandon the idea due to cost and the fact that it was 20-minutes away.

It turned out to be the biggest blessing because Isaac's 4th grade teacher was the exact perfect person for him in his life at that time. We had the BEST year. I also adored Katie's first grade teacher, but when I found out about a charter distance program in Ogden that provides homeschoolers with all kinds of support including ALL curriculum and supplies plus 1.5 days of school per week, Katie wanted to try it. I transferred her right away (halfway through her first grade year). Isaac didn't want to make the change and I fully supported his choice since I loved his teacher so much.

I tried to persuade Isaac to join Katie's distance program at the beginning of this school year (2nd grade for Katie, 5th for Isaac), but he is at the age now where he doesn't want to be "different" so he refused. It has been a miserable school year for him and hard for me to watch him struggle so much and be labeled by his teacher as a bad kid.

At the beginning of February, I sent him to one day of school at the DaVinci Distance program. He complied, convinced he would hate it, and letting me know he was only doing it so he could get out of a day of going to his own school. But, when I asked him how his day went, he was speechless. He could not put into words how he felt about his experience. After everyone in the house had gone to bed, he came into my room and woke me up to say that he felt like he was going to cry because he loved DaVinci so much, but going there would mean he would have to leave Polk and that made him want to cry. And not going there also made him want to cry.

I asked him why he loved it so much and he said, because it made him feel generic. I asked him what that meant and he said that every day when he went to school he just wanted to blend in like "the generic kids who did what they were suppose to do." But, instead he was always getting embarrassed by the teacher calling him out for his behavior. "When I was at DaVinci, I finally felt generic."

He decided to remain at Polk. I said, "I know you want to stay at Polk because of your best friend." He said, "I never get to see him at school because he is in the other class." I said, "I know you want to stay at Polk because you love recess." He said, "My teacher always takes all of my recesses away." I knew the answers to these and other questions, but I asked them anyways and I knew it would be a short time until he chose the distance program. I wanted it to be fully his decision. It was fine because I had already signed up to be the room mom for the Valentine's Day party, so I figured I should see that through. The day after Valentine's we went on vacation to Denver and while I was sitting quietly by the pool the spirit told me that I needed to get Isaac out of his current situation at school. I took him on the next DaVinci Distance field trip right after we returned from Denver--to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point--and while he was there having the time of his life, I lowered the boom by saying, "Don't you wish you went to DaVinci Distance so this could be a school day?" At last, he conceded.

He has been so much happier since we made the switch and that makes me happy! We are definitely sticking with it next school year too. My boy is finally where he needs to be. Both he and Katie are loving it. On Tuesdays, Isaac takes an art class, Karate and wilderness survival from the coolest lady ever. Wilderness survival! How awesome is that?

On Wednesdays, Isaac has the most kind and patient teacher. He is in a class with about fourteen 5th and 6th graders and I think he feels "generic" because the other kids are like him. They are cutting and gluing and drawing or folding paper while the teacher is teaching and as long as they are not being disruptive, she compliments them on whatever they are doing instead of making them put it away. It is such a supportive and wonderful environment. This teacher already has my heart for being so kind to Isaac. I told his previous 5th grade teacher, "It's really hard for Isaac to be Isaac. He has a lot of struggles. It's nice to acknowledge that and not make his life harder." But, I think he thought discipline would mold Isaac into being just like all of the other kids. I am here to tell the world--it will not. Punishing him will not bring out the best in him, but loving him might.

Yesterday we took a field trip to Loveland Aquarium in Draper. I had the most magical day exploring those wonderful enormous tanks (and the penguin exhibit) with Katie and Isaac. As we sat for a long time in the calming shark tunnel, I felt pure joy flowing through my whole body. I love this homeschool program for these two SO much.

Later, I shared the story of Isaac loving DaVinci because it makes him feel generic to a very insightful person. I thought it was lovely that he feels generic, but this person responded, "You see, that is part of the problem. Isaac will never be like everyone else but he describes being generic as a positive thing because he thinks it is good to be like everyone else and he thinks he has to be like everyone else to be loved and to love himself. Isaac will never be O.K. until he understands his uniqueness and accepts it. You have to let him be O.K. as he is so he can accept himself as he is." Not only is this special time with my kids one of my greatest joys at this moment in my life, I also feel like this program will have a healing effect on Isaac. Keeping that in my prayers.

Sweet 16 and a Tonsillectomy

Friday, March 3 was a strange day. In the morning, my iPhone 6 worked fine. But, a few hours later the screen was dark and it was completely unresponsive. I took it to the phone store with no luck. I took it to Bad Apple and they replaced a bunch of parts and told me it was a very rare case where they could not find any signs of life at all but also no signs of damage. They even waived the diagnostic fee. No one knows why, but my perfectly good iPhone 6 bit the dust unexpectedly.

There are two sad parts to this story. The first is that, back in October, a mere 5-months ago, I walked into the phone store with Brian to pick up his new iPhone 7 and the salesman told me about a promotion that was going on and I could have gotten the full price of the iPhone 7 in trade-in value if I upgraded my phone. We had just given Sophie Brian's iPhone 5 and I declined the offer thinking it would be better to give the paid off iPhone 6 to Ian in a few years and I could upgrade to the 7s or the 8 at that point in the future. They were going to give me roughly $700 of trade-in credit. Instead I got $64.

The other sad part is that I hadn't downloaded my photos off my phone in approximately 2 years and it turns out, I lost them all.

I really can't think too much about that or I will feel sad. Luckily, there are a precious few saved here on my blog! Luckily, my mom and Brian have also taken photos of my kids in the past two years. And, although I would be lying if I said I'm not sad to lose all those photos. Another truth is that it feels like there are millions (at least tens of thousands) of digital photos that we have never printed that I will someday need to go through, print and organize. So . . . I guess this will just make about 1200 less photos in my archives to worry about.

The next day, Saturday, March 4, my mom took Sophie shopping all day and then to her house to make fudge. She bought Sophie a Belle dress with shoes and jewelry to match.

On Sunday, March 5, my baby girl turned sixteen.

SIXTEEN!

 Oven pancakes and bacon with balloons and yellow roses at breakfast.

 My lovely princess daughter

Sunday dinner at my mom's with a tower of fudge instead of a cake

On Monday, March 6, we found out unexpectedly that Ian would have his tonsils removed two days later. All four of my kids have complained of allergies, etc. that prompted me to take them on separate visits to the ENT. 

The first was Sophie. The Dr. ordered a sleep oxygen test and nothing came of it except a prescription for allergy medicine and a recommendation that we consider allergy shots. Next was Katie who complained about a persistent ringing in one of her ears. A hearing test showed that everything is normal. So, when the Dr. ordered a sleep oxygen test for Ian, we returned the monitoring equipment and it immediately left my mind since I thought nothing more would come of it until we got a phone call late on Monday telling us he would have his tonsils removed Wednesday morning. Shock!

He had been telling me that he felt like he was drowning or being strangled in his sleep and was waking up feeling like his tonsils were choking him. When the Dr. looked down his throat, he said Ian's tonsils looked perfectly normal. But, the sleep test showed that his oxygen was very low while he was sleeping and he recommended taking out his tonsils and adenoids right away. So we did.

 The nurses had fun messing with this big teenage guy by having a teddy bear with a note waiting for him when we checked him in.

 This is taken right after he woke up -- still smiling!

There was a slushy machine in the recovery room.

This was the first time one of my kids had surgery and things went well. He felt pretty good days 1-3 and got worse on day 4 and even worse on day 5. This is what the Dr. told us would happen. He spent the weekend feeling pretty miserable and running a fever, but said he felt slightly better today (day 6) so I am hoping he has turned a corner. What a trooper!

The Saturday after Sophie's birthday (and the Saturday after Ian's surgery), she had her birthday party. When she was a tiny girl of about 3, I promised her a big Sweet Sixteen party because that seemed like a great idea at the time. Over the years, we have had some huge parties! We have rented the Treehouse Museum (when she was little), a huge gymnastics facility. We have had parties with outdoor movies, karaoke, custom cakes . . . Boy oh boy was I getting stressed about how we were ever going to top the over the top parties we've ended up hosting over the years. How would I ever meet her very high expectations? 

After some difficult conversations about reeling in the expectations that had grown over the years (like that we would host it at a park decorated in twinkle lights and Owl City would make an appearance), she settled on the most simple birthday party we've ever hosted. About 10 darling friends came over and hung out. We had party food and more fudge and in my opinion, it was about the best birthday party ever. Yay for simplicity!

Colorado Vacation 2017

It was a spectacular vacation with a kidtacular theme. Much like Disneyland, every minute of every day was geared toward our children's happiness.

Last week was one of those crazy times when everything seems to happen all at once. On top of the usual madness, there were doctor appointments, Valentine parties and science fair all happening in the same two days as I was packing for our trip. Our adventure began around 10am on Wednesday as soon as the last load of laundry was dried and packed.

First stop: Mountain Green, UT for lunch. TripAdvisor listed approximately 9 restaurants and Ray's Tavern ranked #1. The menu is almost exclusively hamburgers and we all ended up ordering the bacon cheeseburger with fresh cut fries. The burgers have 1/2-pound of meat--huge! I opted to split one between Katie and Isaac who traditionally only pick at their food anyways. 

Isaac polished off his half (1/4-pound) burger and asked for another. I could not believe it! We watched with amazement as he polished off the whole thing! It was fun to see him enjoying his meal so much and he said all of his vacation dreams had already been fulfilled in that burger--haha.

Brian had been frantically trying to wrap up some freelance work before we left but he wasn't finished and we were heading out of wifi service. So, we stopped at a rest area on the San Raphael Swell. That was my first time hanging out in that area of Utah and I have to say, it was a very pretty place to bide our time. The kids and I hiked around a little and enjoyed the view.

Another 45-minutes down the road, we rolled into Goblin Valley around 6pm. Five years ago, a friend stayed in a yurt there and I have wanted to try that ever since. I was so excited to get my chance. When I called to reserve our yurt, I was told that they strictly enforce a limit of five people per yurt. I couldn't believe it! There are two yurts, so I decided to reserve them both. When we arrived, we found that the yurts are pretty huge. They could easily sleep eight or even ten comfortably--in beds. And, compared to how cramped you are sleeping in a tent, they could sleep a lot more. The ranger didn't seem to care at all if we wanted to sleep six people in one yurt. Even paying double--totally worth it!

The yurts have beds for five, a table and chairs, hardwood floors, a/c (for summer), a pot belly gas stove for heat, a ceiling fan, a skylight for stargazing and windows to view the gorgeous scenery. Outside they have a wooden deck, more chairs, a gas grill, a picnic table and a fire pit. They are true luxury! There is a pit toilet right next door and a bathroom with flushing toilets and hot showers a short walk away. Absolutely beautiful location and lots of space for the kids to explore. 

The only thing I overlooked--kind of a big thing--is that the yurts do not include any bedding. Oh boy was that a shock when we first opened the door! We were two hours away from any stores. It was either make-do or head down the road until we found a hotel and of course we all wanted to stay.

The ranger kindly loaned us a hodgepodge of sheets left behind by previous campers plus we had three pillows and five blankets in the car. It certainly added to the "roughing it" side of the experience. Ian and Isaac slept in the extra yurt and in the morning told us their heat wasn't working. It got down to 45-degrees! They survived and we all agreed the yurts and Goblin Valley were a fun addition to our vacation.

The campground was practically vacant and the daytime high was in the mid-60s--perfection!

After we figured out the bedding solution, we ate cold cereal for dinner and by 7pm it was pitch black outside. We sat on the deck staring at the heavens and I do believe it was the most stars I have ever seen in the night sky. Pure magic. 

The next day we drove to the Valley of the Goblins to hike around for about 2-hours. I find it amazing that the kids are allowed to climb all over everything. The sky was so blue. I felt like we were exploring Mars. After a few hours though, I felt like we were trekking through a desert. So, we headed to the shady pavilion for a picnic lunch and got back on the road to the Merrill's house in Centennial, CO near Denver.

 Goblin Valley Yurt

 Stargazing

It is so much fun to stay with the Merrills who are gracious hosts. We were treated to a delicious home cooked meal before setting up our sleeping arrangements that included beds for all (a real luxury for our family of six!). We were pretty exhausted from our night in the yurt and went to bed after a short visit and entertainment from the family dog Cosmo.

In the morning, our family plus the Merrill family loaded up and drove to Colorado Springs for the next adventure -- The Great Wolf Lodge. We checked in at 1pm so we could squeeze every possible moment of fun out of our stay and headed straight for the giant indoor waterpark. For grown-ups, there are four huge race slides, a tube slide and a really fun slide for four-person rafts that twists outside the building and spins riders into a giant funnel. There is also a heart-pounding adrenaline slide that begins four stories up; you step inside a capsule, the attendant closes the door, and a trapdoor falls out from under your feet dropping you straight down. I was so nervous to go on it! But, it was really fun when I got enough courage. For kids, there is a massive playland with medium size slides, buckets of dumping water and all kinds of thrills plus another separate space for really young kids. There is also a wave pool (Katie and Isaac's favorite) and a pool with basketball hoops, a climbing wall, a lily pad challenge, etc. A really fun place to play!

Around 5pm, we ventured up to our room and discovered it to be a deluxe suite with a view of the rockies! One room had two queen beds for the kids plus there was a separate room with bed, table and TV for Brian and me. The two rooms were separated by a hallway with a bathroom and kitchenette. The Merrills were so clever and packed a nice dinner of breakfast burritos and fruit that they shared with us. We had a feast in our room and relaxed for a couple of hours before some of us headed back to the waterpark that stayed open until 9pm.

After a great night of sleep, it was back to the waterpark at 9am. We had to check out of our hotel room by 11am, but we were allowed to stay and play all day. I never dreamed we would literally stay all day, but those Merrills are pretty hardcore waterpark junkies so we got a good bang for our buck.

After eating PB&J poolside, Brian decided we would need a diversion to be able to truly make it through a 12-hour waterpark marathon. We drove to a nearby theater and watched the Lego Batman Movie. When we got back around dinnertime, Sophie and Ian decided they had had enough pool time, so Brian took Katie and Isaac back to the waterpark and I went exploring with my teens. We ended up at a really nice on-property restaurant where we ordered the cheapest things on the menu (a $15 hamburger and $8 soup). We enjoyed our fine dining experience and another really nice view of the rockies. There was a dance party in the lobby after dinner. Finally, around 8pm we were able to pry the others from the pool and drive back to the Merrill's, exhausted from all the fun, to begin our last night of sleep before vacation ended.

In the morning, we joined the Merrills for sacrament meeting and even got to see sweet 5-year-old Olivia give a talk in primary. The last time we visited, Olivia was a brand new baby just a few weeks old. A lot has changed in 5-years, I was thinking as I looked down our bench in church and saw four giant teenagers sitting in a row next to Can (two of them hers and two of them mine). Her 12-year-old Sarah has also had quite a growth spurt. Five of the nine kids between us are no longer little kids. Hard to believe, but true. In 5 more years, we will both have kids who are truly adults and have maybe even left home. Oh how time flies! I'm so glad we were able to capture a small moment of time and encapsulate it into a long weekend of family vacation memories.

We were on the road by 11am for our long drive home. We opted to take I-70 because it is so picturesque even if it takes a little longer. We stopped in Glenwood Springs for lunch. TripAdvisor listed 91 restaurants and we tried the #1 ranked Slope and Hatch, which has a distinct taco menu. We ordered Cubano tacos, crispy catfish tacos, shrimp po' boy tacos and calamari tacos. Sophie insisted on getting homemade fudge from the sweet shop around the corner. It is a pretty cute town! We didn't make it home until 9:30pm. Long day of driving! We celebrated arriving in Provo (one hour of driving left!) by getting ice-cream sandwiches at a gas station. Fun family vacation--check!

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Great Wolf Lodge

 Glenwood Springs, CO Sweet Shop

 I-70

I-70

Brian has all of the waterpark photos and photos with the Merrills on his computer.