The extended fam that made it to the cabin get-together:
Some of the great-grandkids:
There are currently 19 great-grandkids, but 2 on the way.
Some of the great-grandkids:
There are currently 19 great-grandkids, but 2 on the way.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Utah!!!
I recently had a fabulous extended weekend trip to Utah.
A week ago Thursday Drew dropped me off at the airport at 11:30 a.m. Thirteen and a half hours and two layovers later I was finally arrived in Salt Lake. Like Liz, Alaina travelled very well, but it was still a long day.
In Utah I made pilgrimages to Down East Basics, Pizzeria 712, Cafe Rio, and the Barnes family cabin. I also visited with my brother Dave and his wife, Emily, and my sister Julie's family. . .
And most of my Nielson family sister-in-laws:
Alaina "played" with her cousin, Smith. I tried to get a cute shot of them together, but this is the best I could get:
This was more typical:
On Sunday night we met our extended family at the cabin for one last get-together before it is sold at the end of the month.
While there we took a picture of everyone present and also a shot of great-grandkids on the rocks where we have taken so many family pictures over the years. I don't have copies of the pictures yet, but here's a shot of Wendy and Julie trying to get the kids to smile:
I was fortunate enough to spend a couple nights at the cabin reliving some of my favorite cabin moments with Alaina: drinking hot chocolate on the front porch swing, cuddling in front of the heaters in the morning, singing along to the player piano, watching chipmunks eat bread pieces while we eat breakfast, walking around the loop and Silver Lake:
When I was kid my Dad caught tadpoles for us at Silver Lake, now it's stroller-friendly with a boardwalk. Alaina obligingly slept so I could daydream about times when I visited the lake with my hubbie, friends, family, and campers.
We also enjoyed swinging on the log swing underneath the tree house. Unfortunately Laines is still too small to enjoy the Bunk house and swingset.
We played with pine cones. Laina thought it was pretty funny to try and feed them to me and I was grateful that she didn't put any in her mouth.
Naturally we visited the burned down cabin just like I remember doing ever since I was a small child. We also went to all the nearby rocks named by my grandmother: Slide Rock, Dance Hall Rock, and M 'n M Rock. At Dance Hall Rock I felt especially sad that I did not bring Liz because she could have actually danced.
All-in-all it was a lovely trip and I'm grateful to everyone who made it possible. Thanks to Sharon and Wendi who watched Liz while I was gone and to Drew who rearranged his work schedule to accomodate me. Special thanks to Julie for letting me stay with her and for shopping with me and driving me around everywhere. And thanks to Erin for giving Lainey and I a ride to the airport.
Our return flight was so much better than our outbound one. It was delayed and my connection was in jeopardy so American Airlines swapped me to a direct Delta flight--I love it when the do that--and Lainey slept the whole way. Here she is in the airport eating her foot while I was trying to feed her dinner:
I got home Tuesday and had three days turnaround time to get ready for our Outer Banks trip. I did not use my time wisely. Wednesday I bummed around. Thursday I went with Liz on a summer school field trip and then to a water park. Today I finally got down to unpacking and repacking. I can hardly wait to lay on the beach. . . .
A week ago Thursday Drew dropped me off at the airport at 11:30 a.m. Thirteen and a half hours and two layovers later I was finally arrived in Salt Lake. Like Liz, Alaina travelled very well, but it was still a long day.
In Utah I made pilgrimages to Down East Basics, Pizzeria 712, Cafe Rio, and the Barnes family cabin. I also visited with my brother Dave and his wife, Emily, and my sister Julie's family. . .
And most of my Nielson family sister-in-laws:
Alaina "played" with her cousin, Smith. I tried to get a cute shot of them together, but this is the best I could get:
This was more typical:
On Sunday night we met our extended family at the cabin for one last get-together before it is sold at the end of the month.
While there we took a picture of everyone present and also a shot of great-grandkids on the rocks where we have taken so many family pictures over the years. I don't have copies of the pictures yet, but here's a shot of Wendy and Julie trying to get the kids to smile:
I was fortunate enough to spend a couple nights at the cabin reliving some of my favorite cabin moments with Alaina: drinking hot chocolate on the front porch swing, cuddling in front of the heaters in the morning, singing along to the player piano, watching chipmunks eat bread pieces while we eat breakfast, walking around the loop and Silver Lake:
When I was kid my Dad caught tadpoles for us at Silver Lake, now it's stroller-friendly with a boardwalk. Alaina obligingly slept so I could daydream about times when I visited the lake with my hubbie, friends, family, and campers.
We also enjoyed swinging on the log swing underneath the tree house. Unfortunately Laines is still too small to enjoy the Bunk house and swingset.
We played with pine cones. Laina thought it was pretty funny to try and feed them to me and I was grateful that she didn't put any in her mouth.
Naturally we visited the burned down cabin just like I remember doing ever since I was a small child. We also went to all the nearby rocks named by my grandmother: Slide Rock, Dance Hall Rock, and M 'n M Rock. At Dance Hall Rock I felt especially sad that I did not bring Liz because she could have actually danced.
All-in-all it was a lovely trip and I'm grateful to everyone who made it possible. Thanks to Sharon and Wendi who watched Liz while I was gone and to Drew who rearranged his work schedule to accomodate me. Special thanks to Julie for letting me stay with her and for shopping with me and driving me around everywhere. And thanks to Erin for giving Lainey and I a ride to the airport.
Our return flight was so much better than our outbound one. It was delayed and my connection was in jeopardy so American Airlines swapped me to a direct Delta flight--I love it when the do that--and Lainey slept the whole way. Here she is in the airport eating her foot while I was trying to feed her dinner:
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Delays
Today I learned that I can get lost even with a GPS. I think it "recalculated" half a dozen times. So frustrating.
On a more positive note we enjoyed the morning at Hidden Pond Nature Center for Lizzie's summer school field trip (loved it). We spent the afternoon at Water Mine Family Swimming Hole. Loved it also, but I will never buy food there again. I waited in line for an hour to place my order then waited another half hour before I got my hot dogs.
On a more positive note we enjoyed the morning at Hidden Pond Nature Center for Lizzie's summer school field trip (loved it). We spent the afternoon at Water Mine Family Swimming Hole. Loved it also, but I will never buy food there again. I waited in line for an hour to place my order then waited another half hour before I got my hot dogs.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Changes
These last few weeks have brought about a few changes:
Last Friday when I checked on Alaina in her crib she was sitting up (a first for her in there) so we finally had to lower it. Now she sits up crying until she falls asleep folded over.
We no longer enjoy the benefits of close parking. I miss it.
Liz did not enjoy the diving board . . .
But she happily dived in the five foot deep section.
Alaina has started moving more. This last week she's been doing a kind of tripod crawl. Now we need to actually babyproof our apartment. Also, her bottom front teeth are coming in.
Oh, and sadly "So You Think You Can Dance" has ended. No matter, now we can watch "America's Best Dance Crew."
Last Friday when I checked on Alaina in her crib she was sitting up (a first for her in there) so we finally had to lower it. Now she sits up crying until she falls asleep folded over.
We no longer enjoy the benefits of close parking. I miss it.
Instead of swim lessons Lizzie now goes to summer school:
Liz enjoyed four weeks of swim lessons, now she's in the middle of three weeks of "early intervention" summer school. I have mixed feelings about this.
Liz enjoyed four weeks of swim lessons, now she's in the middle of three weeks of "early intervention" summer school. I have mixed feelings about this.
Liz did not enjoy the diving board . . .
But she happily dived in the five foot deep section.Alaina has started moving more. This last week she's been doing a kind of tripod crawl. Now we need to actually babyproof our apartment. Also, her bottom front teeth are coming in.
Oh, and sadly "So You Think You Can Dance" has ended. No matter, now we can watch "America's Best Dance Crew."
Word of Wisdom
Today Lizzie asked if she could make lunch all by herself. Here's what she served: milk, microwave popcorn, bread with butter and honey, granola bars with yogurt for dipping, a peach (for me only), ham (I helped with this), and potato chips. Yum.
Not too bad, but obviously we are still working on healthy food options.
For our last FHE we talked about the Word of Wisdom and how it talks about what you should eat, not just what you shouldn't eat. I knew Liz had some limited understanding of the "do nots" when she set up a magical doll kingdom where everything was magical and wonderful and where my doll was not allowed to live until she stopped drinking coffee. Still some work to be done there, but this time around I decided to focus on the positive side of the W of W. It went just okay. Last Monday after talking about how God wants us to eat healthy we cut food pictures out of magazines and made collages of the various food groups. Liz did a collage of the junk food group (a.k.a. her favorite foods).
Not too bad, but obviously we are still working on healthy food options.For our last FHE we talked about the Word of Wisdom and how it talks about what you should eat, not just what you shouldn't eat. I knew Liz had some limited understanding of the "do nots" when she set up a magical doll kingdom where everything was magical and wonderful and where my doll was not allowed to live until she stopped drinking coffee. Still some work to be done there, but this time around I decided to focus on the positive side of the W of W. It went just okay. Last Monday after talking about how God wants us to eat healthy we cut food pictures out of magazines and made collages of the various food groups. Liz did a collage of the junk food group (a.k.a. her favorite foods).
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cookies
The other day we made cookies the way my family did when I was a kid: with chocolate chip faces. They just taste better this way. 
It was Alaina's first chocolate chip cookie. Yeah, she liked it.
It was Alaina's first chocolate chip cookie. Yeah, she liked it.
What to do?
Problem: I wanted to finish deep cleaning the hall closet and "rotating" the food storage (a.k.a. purging expired items), but Liz was tired of computer games.
Solution: fabric markers and an old soccer shirt.
Purged Food
Happy Child
Work of Art
Solution: fabric markers and an old soccer shirt.
Result:
Purged Food
Happy Child
Work of Art Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back in the swing of things (I think)
I'm back in the swing of things (I think). Last week I went to SC for a almost-last-minute, long, enjoyable weekend (and an equally long round trip). While there:
I worked on quilts with my mom. She did the sewing. I ironed, arranged, and handed her things. I also brought back some squares of material that she doesn't like so I can practice sewing.
We celebrated Dad's birthday. My brother, Scott, and I took Dad out for sushi while Mom helped the girls make a yummy cake.
We spent most of our time at home because the girls played well together and Nana's stash of toys and Papa's pool kept them pretty busy. One day, however, we made it to the local bounce house.
And, as usual, we played in the pool. Lizzie came up with a game called "pull the girl" which basically consisted of being dragged across the pool while holding (or being tied to) the garden hose.
I worked on quilts with my mom. She did the sewing. I ironed, arranged, and handed her things. I also brought back some squares of material that she doesn't like so I can practice sewing.
We celebrated Dad's birthday. My brother, Scott, and I took Dad out for sushi while Mom helped the girls make a yummy cake.
We spent most of our time at home because the girls played well together and Nana's stash of toys and Papa's pool kept them pretty busy. One day, however, we made it to the local bounce house.
And, as usual, we played in the pool. Lizzie came up with a game called "pull the girl" which basically consisted of being dragged across the pool while holding (or being tied to) the garden hose.
Now that we are back we are adjusting to our summer school schedule (started Monday) and I'm trying to give Lainey lots of tummy time so she'll finally learn to crawl.
.
I'm also still trying to do some sort of art or craft project with Lizzie daily. This week we've tried scribble art, painting with dyed ice cubes, cutting pictures from magazines (for collages I hope), and a color scavenger hunt. Oh, and this afternoon I helped Liz draw on herself with a pen. Some of our art experiences are better than others. . . .
More Pioneer Day Pictures!
I just got more pictures of Pioneer Day from the Primary Presidency. Super cute.
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