Recently in Trips Category

The girls and I, along with our very wonderful friend Nadine, headed up to Kaitoke Regional Park for a little half day trip. The drive was beautiful and took only about an hour from our door to the park entrance. They had a great website advertising the many hikes they offer and I was pleased to see that more than half of them were graded suitable for children.

I never planned on taking the girls on the swing bridge portion of the hike that crosses one of the rivers in the park, however, once we started down the trail, it was only a few yards before they saw it and wanted to go. I surveyed it for safety and it seemed very sturdy. A slatted, wooden deck covered with mesh to keep you from slipping on the moss that has formed on the wood. The sides were high with chain link fencing wrapping a u-shape from one hand rail, under the deck and back up to the other hand rail. The bridge itself is probably around 150 feet long (I am totally guessing here) but to me, it felt like 3 miles. This was the first time I really had to face a phobia while dealing with my children. I obviously didn't want to let them know that I was scared but I had to stay in control of them and my fear at the same time which was a true task. Both girls were in front of me with Nadine following behind. The girls were fearless and darted about, leaning from side to side to look down at the ducks swimming in the river. I barely held it together when they discovered that they could swing the bridge by leaning from side to side and started giggling like, well, little girls. I drove them forward in an attempt to stop the madness as quickly as possible.

Finally on solid ground we continued with our hike through the amazing rain forest. There were so many beautiful trees that when trying to take their picture there was just no way to capture the scale of these creatures.There were gigantic ferns and palm trees, vines so tangled they looked like a spiders web, and trees housing other plants that seemed like they could house us.  I've seen the redwood forest and some of these monster trees made the redwoods look like saplings. Although we could hear it raining, we hiked under the cover of the forest for the first half of our loop.

Once out of the forest Nadine and I each picked up a child (did I mention how wonderful Nadine is?) and carried them the rest of the way through the rain. It was a great ladies bonding morning and I was so grateful to have children who enjoy being outdoors and hiking and haven't yet learned to love talking on their cell phones, hanging out at malls or otherwise being too cool.

After the marathon trip to get here and 3 weeks in a hotel we haven't felt much like adventuring outside of the house, but today we finally dusted off our traveling hats again and took our first day trip from Wellington up the Kapiti Coast to Paraparaumu. Our primary goal was Lindale Centre and its Farm Walk, which came highly recommended from other parents who had made the trip.

We weren't disappointed, in either the weather (it was rainy and blustery all day in Wellington, but gorgeous only half an hour north of the city), the food (the cafe and ice cream were both excellent), the Farm Walk (Sophie asked for a pig before she went to bed last night, and to go back to the farm again today) or the other sights along the way (a contingent of the Western Bays Street Rod club arrived at the Centre just as we were finishing lunch, so we got to see their cars parked all in a row outside, as well as a glimpse of the Southwards Car Museum.)

All in all a fabulous finish to a great weekend, which included seeing Indy at the Embassy Friday night, Brandie's spa day at the East Day Spa in Wellington, yummy dinner at Nadinie and Sock's (thanks to Josie for that one), a work-related web-chat about The Hobbit and our first video-conference with my family back home. I was sad to see it end!

We've returned from our first travel crisis free vacation.  I honestly can't believe that nothing bad happened with our flights.  There was a small delay on our return and we thought we may have missed our connection but nope, it was there. 

Our youngest daughter must have sensed our relief and decided she didn't like mom and dad being so relaxed. So after we checked in we headed to the pool to "wear the kids out" so they would take naps since they didn't sleep a wink on the plane.  They were tired alright.  Josie was stumbling her way back to our room and ate it on the concrete.  Thankfully this kid has cat like reflexes and caught herself with her forehead.  The goose-egg was so big I seriously thought it would burst.  We booked it to our room and iced her head down. She was coherent and talking to me about the pool and plane ride so we were pretty sure she didn't have a concussion.  She fell asleep fighting against the ice pack which was good because I got to ice her head down while she slept which meant less screaming AND less swelling.

The next day we got up bright and early to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom.  We got there shortly after they opened the gates at 7 am and had the place practically to ourselves.  There seemed to be characters everywhere and no lines to be seen.  Sophie got to meet Snow White and Dopey first.  This was the first test of Josie's interest in characters and it came out negative.  She liked seeing them from a distance but had no interest in actually walking up to them.  I think if Snow White would have been alone (stupid Dopey) she would have wanted to see Snow White.  Sophie on the other hand was thrilled.  Snow White commented that she and Sophie had the same hair cut and you could practically see the little girl walking on sunshine as she departed, autograph book in hand.  We met Chip and Dale and Daisy Duck then walked up Main Street USA to see the castle.  It was surprisingly magical.  I honestly didn't know what to expect but all of us got caught up in it.  We ran up to the castle and inspected the murals inside. Once on the other side, Sophie and I got to ride the Dumbo ride with no line.  This was Sophie's first real amusement park ride and I wasn't sure what she was going to think.  All the way up, as high as we could go!  That in-utero helicopter ride from the folks at Nelson must have made an impression on her.  We walked back to Main Street USA for breakfast at "The Bakery" and while we were eating, the Main Street Trolley and musical cast stopped and sang "Main Street USA", one of Sophie's favorite songs from her Grandma's Disney Sing-a-long tapes.  After that we did all of Fantasy Land and had a blast. Minnie's house, Mickey's house, the Hundred Acre Wood, The ToonTown Fair where we met Pluto, Goofy and Donald.  Donald actually came out and escorted Sophie by the hand back to have her picture taken.  The Judges Tent to meet Mickey.  Jake and Sophie rode on Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster (Sophie's favorite) then we took the train all around the park.

In case any of you are scrambling around trying to find that perfect gift for me, I think I've found it:

Behind the Scenes at Weta Workshop Charity Auction

Thanks to Chris & Joanna for the heads up!

I had to step over my broken heart to start writing this post.  I am still just devastated about the fact that we lost our camera and all of it's contents on our return trip.  Most of my sorrow has to do with all of the "firsts" of the girls that were captured on there.  I am realizing it doesn't erase the memory.

First Room Service
We were stuck overnight in Phoenix and the girls got to experience their first room service.  Cheese burgers, fries and milk in bed at 1 am!  Mom and Dad each got a beer to go along with this fine meal.  We were famished but the girls thought it was such a novelty that it made it fun for all of us to be chowing down in bed.  Plus, it was delicious!

First Play with Mommy's Friends Kids
We stayed overnight with my friend Cathy and she had her beautiful granddaughters staying with her.  These granddaughters also happen to be my high school best friends' children.  It was so bizarre to see mini me's playing with mini Katie's.  The girls all got along and it was wonderful seeing Cathy and the girls.

First Visit with Great Grandma Zella
My grandmothers house always meant love, fun, warmth and food.  It was such a pleasure to see my kids interacting with my grandmother.  She was tickled to see them and kept them busy reading to them, singing to them and playing games with them.  Her love and bag of tricks seem to be endless.  The girls were truly spoiled seeing so much family and playing with their second cousins.  There was a revolving door at my grandmothers house, she must have sent out a memo to the family.  It was flattering that everyone would want to come and see us.  I was proud to show off my family and proud to have my girls there for my grandma to show off.

First Visit to the Shack
This was true not only for the girls but also for Jake.  The Shack is my dad's hunting cabin near Sun Valley.  Sitting at 7400 feet in the Sawtooth Mountains it is a beautiful place to visit and just unwind.  Shack time moves very slowly and there is lots of running around outside and exploring.  We visited the horse pasture next door.  Learned the difference between horse poop and cow poop, one is flat and squishy and one is round.  Visited the outhouse, it's a two seater!  Threw rocks in the stream and played in piles of dirt.

First Fish
This is a big one, Grandpa Denny bought Sophie her very own Disney Princess fishing pole so he could take her for her very first fishing trip at the Shack.  What a novelty that she gets to fly across the country for her first fishing trip in Idaho!  Anyhow, my dad was great with her and we got many lovely (now mental) pictures of them walking hand in hand, each with a pole over there shoulders through the brilliant yellow willows.  The two of them got all settled in and within one minute of putting her pole in Sophie had her first bite.  By the end of the hour, she had reeled in a rainbow trout and a brook trout.  I couldn't really tell who was more pleased, Sophie or Grandpa.

First Visit with Cooper and Paige
Two of my girlfriends from high school and college live in Boise and each had babies this past year.  The girls got to visit with the new little one's and imagine what it would be like to have a little sibling (hmmm, crazy house anyone?).  Kelly and Jennifer both look great and their babies are just beautiful. 

Thanks to everyone for making our visit such a special one.  We tried to squeeze in as much as we could and every bit of it was wonderful.

Saturday morning after breakfast with Grandma & Grandpa at Apple Hills we hit the road to visit our friends Mike, Susie, Kane, Matt, Ashleigh & Gram who were vacationing on Martha's Vineyard. Despite a few mixups with the ferry we had a fantastic time visiting with our old Petaluman neighbors and their beautiful kids.

Sunday we spent a good part of the day at the beach and had a great picnic dinner & ice cream at Menemsha. Monday we visited the cliffs at Gay Head and Oak Bluffs before missing and then catching our ferry home.

I didn't get to see any dorsal fins (even after chumming the water with my own blood by scraping my foot on a rock), but we did see a lot of the Jaws locations. Thanks to Mike, Susie and her parents for having us, and to Matt & Ashleigh for sharing their vacations with us!

This weekend we traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC, to attend a reception for our friends Chris & Joanna. The party was hosted by Chris's mom & step-dad at their beautiful house outside Myrtle Beach, and catered with some fantastic barbecue.

We had a great time, despite some serious travel delays (a total of 18 hours at various airports over a four-day period, ugh) and our thanks go out to everyone involved: David & Karen for letting us stay at their condo, Dad & Sue for watching Eula, Janet & Carl for hosting, Trina for making a great cake and Chris & Joanna for getting married!

I had such a good time visiting Austin in June we decided to take the whole family there a few weeks ago. Brandie hadn't seen Clint, Dawn & Lily for almost three years, and I couldn't wait to go back for more Salt Lick so we booked some airline tickets and went.

Compared to our last family trip, this one got off to a good start. We made it to our local airport with plenty of time to spare, remembered to bring the carseats and even made it through the first flight without having to resort to using the portable dvd player Erin & Geoff bought us before we left California (the ace card in my bag of tricks).

When we landed in Atlanta however, things started to seem more familiar. First we spent half an hour on the jetway waiting for our gate to clear, while our flight attendant repeatedly berated and threatened a retired lady for getting out of her seat to use the bathroom. The plane couldn't move while she was out of her seat, and we could have missed our opportunity to make the gate, but the flight attendant could have demonstrated just a little bit of sympathy. We both felt she should have just peed in her seat and let him clean it up.

The delay on the jetway ate up a good part of our planned two-hour layover in the Atlanta airport, but we still had time to grab some lunch and let Sophie run around in the nice play area they had across from our gate. Some of the other parents were taking the opportunity to catch up on their cell calls, feet up and facing away from the play area, and didn't notice their kids bullying or even spitting on others (call us over-protective) but we managed to have a good time anyway.

While we were busy keeping Sophie spit-free and Josie fed, we noticed our departure time had changed. Apparently the plane we were supposed to fly out on hadn't left Charlotte yet, due to some maintenance problems. Well, the shorter version of the story (we're on paragraph #5 and we're not even in Austin yet) is that our two-hour layover turned into an eight-hour layover. Our gate changed five times, usually without anyone notifying the passengers. Fortunately none of us got sick, but we were all exhausted and on our last nerve by the time we met Clint at the Austin airport.

Thankfully the rest of our trip went smoothly and we saw a lot of Austin in a very short amount of time thanks to Clint & Dawn's tireless efforts, even with a 2-month-old, a 19-month-old and almost-3-year-old in tow! I enjoyed revisiting and seeing Brandie experience the Whole Foods Flagship store, the Salt Lick and Amy's Ice Cream (this time I got Key Lime Pie ice cream with Ginger Snaps crushed in), and loved seeing the Austin Children's Museum and the Congress St. Bridge bat colony for the first time (video coming soon). Sophie loved riding her first train at Zilker Park, and running around endlessly with her friend Lily (video also coming soon).

We were also treated to some of the best food I've had in recent memory, which on top of the Salt Lick and Amy's included Gingerbread Pancakes at Kerby Lane Cafe, Pollo Tequila at (help, Dawn!) and the portabello crepes at La Madeleine. If you have one of these bistros nearby (it's a Houston-based chain but they're in quite a few places now, including DC) I highly recommend going!

Thanks again to Clint, Dawn & Lily for sharing their beautiful home and city with us! It was great to catch up, and amazing to watch our kids play together. As I joked to Clint, it reminded me of our first days working together. Also in case anyone didn't already know, Clint & Dawn are the ones to credit with our whole happy family, as they introduced Brandie & I one evening at their apartment over seven years ago. It took them about six months of work brokering our mutual interest, but that's a story for another time!

We're now both devout fans of Austin, and intend to go back as soon and as often as we can! We'll just try to avoid the Atlanta airport from now on, it seems to have something against us.

Saturday night I flew to Austin and stayed with Clint, Dawn & Lily before my Monday interview with a company there. Thanks to their fantastic tour-guiding I managed to see a ton of stuff In the very short time I was in town.

Clint met me at the airport and escorted me back to his house so we could drop off the car and visit with Lily before she went to bed. Then we drove to The Oasis, unfortunately too late to see the sunset but it was still packed, live music was playing and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I had a vague sense that the water was far below, but the reality of being on a wooden deck 450 feet above water didn't hit me til the next day. Clint treated me to some excellent fish tacos and introduced me to the local beer, Shiner Bock.

Sunday we all slept in, feasted on a great breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, fruit) that Dawn whipped up, then drove out to see the view of Lake Travis I had missed the night before. For lunch we toured the Whole Foods megastore located beneath their corporate headquarters in Austin, and ate on the rooftop patio. Sixth Street was next, followed by Zilker Park and Barton Springs. For dinner we drove out to The Salt Lick, reputedly Austin's (and maybe Texas's) best bbq. I had the combo dinner and we all split homemade peach cobbler and pecan pie (both a la mode), yum!

The next morning was my interview, after which I returned the rental car and checked in at the airport. I was happy to find another Salt Lick at the airport, located right next to Amy's Ice Cream. I tried the Mexican Vanilla with crushed ginger snaps, it was excellent.

Thanks again to Clint, Dawn & Lily for allowing me to stay with them, feeding me and showing me a fantastic time in Austin! Regardless of how things go we'll be back down there soon for more touring of Austin, I know Brandie will love it too.

Last weekend we made family outings out of both days and visited Ross Park Zoo and Salt Springs State Park. Unfortunately we didn't get more pictures, but Sophie really loved seeing the animals at the zoo, especially the little monkeys, and watching the fly fisherman with the rainbow trout dangling from a special strap on his waders at Salt Springs.