Car Tunes

So, I don't know what it is about music or how the brain works, but it is incredible how one song on the radio can bring back so many memories. Now that I am sporting the mini van and have the girls with me 90% of the time I am in the car, it is a rare occastion that I get to be alone in the car and groove to my music. Yes, I said groove. Yesterday, as I was driving to work, a Sugar Ray song came on the radio. I instantly, turned it up way too loud (that felt so good) and started singing and swaying, rocking to the music. I almost felt 21 again. I had to call my good friend and dear roomie, Shar-Bear, to let her know I was thinking of her and our Jr. year at BYU because of this one song. Ohhh, how I miss college. How I miss being able to do what ever I wanted at the drop of a hat. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and family, but there is something special about being alone in the car, turning the music on way too loud, and dancing and singing like and idiot. Rock on!

Vacation to Seattle

We finally took a much needed vacation. We decided, kind of on a whim, to take a trip up to Washington to visit Kevin's grandparents and two of his aunts. What a great decision! Even with gas prices on the rise, we did the math and driving the 800 miles was cheaper than buying three plane tickets and renting a car. Thankfully, we were able to crash at Kevin's Aunt Janis' house -what a savings! Thanks King family. :) Kevin decided it was best to do the 12 hour drive through the night so the girls would sleep through most of the drive, thus lessening the time we had to entertain and make stops on their benefit. Although I originally agreed to this plan, I think looking back, we would have done differently. Kevin worked all day and was exhausted from a full week. I stayed up until 3am the previous night. Chloe didn't take a nap. We didn't get on the road until 11pm. Can we say recipe for disaster?

Friday – 8/8/08: After hanging out with Mandy and Jodi all day, I still hadn’t packed any of our stuff! Thankfully, I did finish the laundry and had clean clothes to choose from. After a whirlwind of packing… off we go. No parties while we are gone Mandy and Jodi!!

Kevin drives the first leg of the journey. Between the two girls waking up tag team every hour, I didn’t get much sleep- either did they. At 5:30 am and about 45 miles across the Oregon border, Kevin stops for gas. For those of you who don’t know, you are not allowed to pump your own gas?!? So, we ended up having to wait about 45 minutes for the gas station to open and have an employee pump our gas. All I have to say is—lame. Aren’t there better ways to employ Americans? An hour later, Chloe wants breakfast. I give her a granola bar to hold her over until we can find some sort of town. Five minutes later she pukes it up. What a start to the day. Thankfully we find a “Shari’s” restaurant, a step down from a Denneys and order a somewhat filling meal. I take the wheel and am eager to see this land of Oregon. Two musts for road trips with the kids: food and movies. I don’t know how my parents ever did it with us kids. I don’t know how we as kids did it. But, road trips are so much better when the kids can watch a movie! Chloe was amply entertained with a stock pile of DVDs, coloring books, and snacks. What a lifesaver. Thirteen hours later, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Wilson’s apartment. YEAH! A lazy afternoon and dinner was the perfect close to a long night.

Sunday – 8/10/08: Fortunately, church didn’t start until 12:30. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t care. They still got up by 7:30. We enjoyed a leisure morning w/ Grandma and Grandpa and a delicious breakfast by our B&B pros. Seriously, I don’t remember when I had a real sit down breakfast 7 days in a row… have I ever? We went to church in the afternoon (that is going to be an adjustment for naps in a few weeks.. urgh) and enjoyed a nice family dinner together and some hanging out that evening.

Monday – 8/11/08: A leisure morning again. Breakfast and grandpa and grandma’s followed by a lunch out and a trip to the park. This was a nice and relaxing day for us and Chloe was able to get out and burn off some of her never-ending energy. That night: another family dinner followed by FHE and a trip to the community center for Kevin and Chloe. They went swimming and Chloe loved to have her floaters on. How fun!

Tuesday - 8/12/08: Leisure morning and again, breakfast w/ grams and gramps. We left for Vancouver and had a nice drive and visit with Grandma the whole trip. Thankfully, going over the border was hassle free and wait free..we drove right on through. We got to Sheila’s where I was introduced for the first time to Kevin’s uncle and cousins. I had only previously met Sheila at our wedding and hadn’t seen her since. The Goldstein home in Vancouver was beautiful! They have an clear view of the bay – can we say picturesque? That night we hung out and visited with the family. Eric took Kevin and Chloe out on the boat for a spin. Chloe loved it. Me, Sheila, and Grandma went home to make dinner. Unfortunately, we took the car seat w/ us. When Sheila took our van to pick up Kevin – smash! She was in an accident and the side passenger mirror was knocked off. It looked like a loose tooth hanging from the gums. L Thank goodness she wasn’t hurt!

Wednesday: First things first, I go and get a massage. For some reason, I woke up with a terrible knot in my back and literally could barely turn my neck. First thing Sheila did after arriving yesterday was make me an appointment. So, I go get worked on and then take the car to a mechanic. Thankfully, he can fix the mirror, but not until tomorrow. First thing he does is lob the mirror off – the very thing I told Kevin not to do. Go figure. That night we went to Granville Island in Vancouver (had a very SF feel to it). We bought some produce, Chloe some sunglasses (she is so sensitive to the sun it is funny), and walk around and enjoy the shops and a local entertainer.

Thursday: First things first – drop the car off. We then decided to take a ferry to Bowen Island for the morning. Chloe was so excited to go on another boat. She kept saying, “mommy, blue boat!” It was so cute and a perfect day for a ferry ride. Bowen Island has a quaint little town feel to it. We went out to eat, had some ice cream and played in the grass. Toot toot.. the ferry is back and back to the mainland. By this time, Chloe was totally done. She was cranky and only wanted to be with daddy. How cute.

Friday – 8/15/08: what a day! Our trip up to Vancouver took us 3.5 hours. Our trip home – 7!! Coming into the states is a lot more work then leaving them… only in the north, though, eh? We had to wait 1.5 hours!! To cross the border. Kevin had to get out of the car and go on a walk w/ Chloe while me and Grandma stayed w/ Charlie and the car. Although, the company and conversation was great, by the end of the day, we were feeling that delay. We got home and ordered pizza and that’s about it. Seven hours in the car is TOO long and we got a glimpse of what the next day would be like…. Hmmm I’m not sure I want to drive back home. L

Saturday – 8/16/08: We got up early and finished packing the car. Sadly, we had our last breakfast w/ Grandma and Grandpa Wilson, said our goodbyes and were on our way. Several rest stops, lunch, and dinner, and 15 hours later we pulled into our driveway totally and completely exhausted, but SO happy to be home and back in our own beds.

All in all, this was a fabulous vacation and we loved every minute. We are so happy we finally made the trek up to visit the GParents and give them the opportunity to meet their great granddaughters (Charlotte Jodell to meet her namesake). We love the Northwest and wouldn’t complain if we had the opportunity to move up there. It is absolutely beautiful and we can’t wait to go back for our next visit!

Vaca Pics

So, I haven't figured out how to add a bunch of pics w/ the text.. so here you go.. random pics from the vaca. I think I need to add an album.... one more thing to learn.

Me and my Man

Our morning walk to the lighthouse

Grams and her Kevin

Chloe HAD to have some sun glasses... the sun was hurting her eyes

Cousins hanging out... Savannah and Chloe

Fun at the park

Swing away Grams

Out for a ride on the boat

View from Sheila and Eric's back window

Sheila and Chloe

Mesmorized by the DVD player

Poor papa bear.. all tuckered out from driving all night

Grandma's girls

The only Great Grand Daughters!

Reading time w/ Grandma

Stats

So, Charlotte has had a few firsts since our vacation in Seattle... while in Seattle, we discovered her first tooth AND she had her first real crawl this past week! She is wiggling and wrangling all over the house now. Watch out world... here she comes.We took her to the doctor this week and she is 100% and 95% weight. Can we say solid? She is growing so fast. I just love to hold and squeeze her and chomp on her big cheeks. Yummy!

Finally!

So, I also FINALLY had the girls pictures taken. Granted, it was only JCPenney, but at least they were taken. To the side are two of the better pics. It was so hard to decide which pictures to order. I mean, come on, aren't all pictures cute? I was disappointed, however, that Chloe was over concerned with wanting to look at the pictures instead of posing AND she didn't want anything to do with Charlie in the same photo. I copied a few photos from the website, but they aren't the best... you get the idea! They are growing so fast!

This was my pre-photo session - not quite the smiles, but you get the idea

Sadly, this was the only decent one of them together.. we just couldn't get it right

How precious is her expression? Really, you can't plan this stuff

I love her little drop of drool hanging from her lip

Reunion

So, since my last post A LOT has happened. Let's start at the beginning. Jodi came to visit! Jodi called my up about 2 weeks ago and said she was coming to town and asked if she could crash w/ me. OF COURSE, I said yes. SO much fun! I tried to conjure up a few of the remaining friends we still have around here to get together. I had so much fun hanging with "my homies." You know you are the best of friends when years, literally, pass by and it is like no time has passed at all. Although, not many pictures were taken, we had a great time. Wednesday night, Angela came to catch up (too bad I couldn't hang, but still had a few minutes with her- I had my Prop 8 training). Thursday, LaReen took over during the day and Mandy drove in that night. Mandy, Jodi and I stayed up until about 3am that night. Wow, it has been a long time since I did that. And Friday, we just hung out, ran a few errands, helped me pack for my trip and went out to dinner. Seriously, I miss my friends and wish they were closer. Thanks for coming to town Jodi and Mandy. I had a blast. And thanks for all the tips..... you know what I mean. :)

LaReen, Me, Mandy, and Jodi

I am a Campaign Volunteer!

So, I am know officially embarking into the unknown and intimidating political spectrum of the goverment- campaigning. I was asked to be one of our ward's zip code specialists for the Grassroots campaign to support Proposition 8. Thankfully, I do not have to go door to door, but I get to organize and recruit volunteers to help support this very important proposition on the ballet in November. I went to training on Wednesday night and learned some important facts about this initiative:

1) We are Pro-Marriage -- not anti-gay
2) Approx 23 states in the US have in their state constitutions that marriage is between a man and a woman
3) We are voting on this issue again b/c in 2000 we added this wording to the state law, not the state constitution (which is why 4 of only 7 CA supreme judges overturned the vote). This vote will put the same phrase into the CA constitution, thus making it impossible for judges to overturn the vote. The only way it could be changed is if the people of CA voted to amend the constitution to change the definition.
4) In 2000, 61% of Californians voted that marriage is defined as a man and woman
5) This effort needs A LOT of help and volunteers to get the word out and get those who support Prop 8 out to vote. If you are interested in helping (lots of different opps), let me know!

I am actually really excited to get involved and hope that we can get a lot of support and help from friends and family. This is a sensitive subject - for obvious reasons - but I think of the consequences and the future if this prop doesn't pass. Anyone who wants to help, visit www.protectmarriage.com

Protect the Family- go out and vote!

Toast

Chloe is little miss independant now. I should have seen this coming when she learned how to open the fridge. She is now unsatisfied with me and my efforts to keep her appetite satiated. Now, she goes to the fridge by herself, gets the bread, pulls the chair to the counter and makes her own toast! She then proceeds to butter it all by herself. Bon appetit! Be forewarned.... silence is never good- they are up to mischief. In Chloe's case- making toast.

Just so everyone knows I have the best husband in the world. Isn't he handsome? I think he is the best looking guy in the world. I love him sooooo much! Did I mention how good looking he is?

Monkey see, Monkey do

Okay, so this video is a little old, about 6 months, but it is hysterical. I put vaseline on my eyes to take off my make up. Chloe didn't quite know when to stop....