A Geologist and a Hiker

We went on another family camping excursion this weekend to southern Washington area with our friends Ryan and Raelene Weeks and their family. While the weather was marginal, the company was excellent and the fun was diverse!
We went to a camping club/resort in the Mayfield Lake area with our trailer. They seemed extremely well-suited for weekenders like us, with pull-through sites, multiple swimming pools, basketball, tennis, mini-golf and a plethora of other things to keep us and our little ones occupied.

No campfire sites were provided and only elevated fires were allowed. On our first night, we couldn't rent one of the fireplace-on-wheels they offered, so we improvised by putting my dutch oven pan up on rocks to cook our hobo dinners (which are a real hit with my girls) and we then started a small fire on the coals. In subsequent days, we were able to secure one of the aforementioned fireplaces and enjoyed flames galore (which normally meant Enoch nodding off in front of the fire while everyone else enjoyed meaningful conversation). Love of fire is something I share with my son. We put Liam near the fire in his stroller and he was absolutely mesmerized by the hypnotic flickering and sputtering that slowly reduced itself to ashes. He kept reaching for the flame as if it were some new toy to be played with. Fortunately, he was well out of reach of any flames.

On Sunday, we decided it would be fun to go see Mt. St. Helens as we were in the area. It took some convincing to the women that packing the kids for a long road trip (more than hour) up the mountain would be fun. We finally did and off we went! I'm convinced that half the adventure in these type of trips is seeing the countryside and small towns as you pass through. There is an idyllic peace about these tiny communities in the shadow of the volcano.

At one point, on the way up, I turned to Seraya and asked what a volcano is. She explained that it is a "mountain that blows up and lava comes out." I was dang proud of her, because I swear we've never talked about volcanoes before (which means she probably picked it up from some cartoon)!

When we finally reached the Johnston Ridge Observation area, the clouds had descended and began dribbling rain all over us. We had lunch in the back of our vans and headed up to see the mountain. The weather prevented us from seeing much beyond the foot of the volcano and the volcanic plains below it. We did get to see a neat documentary about the eruption in 1980 (which scared the living daylights out of my daughter, Kaija).

We walked outside and I decided to take my girls on a little hike up the Johnston Ridge (Ryan had taken his two older boys and headed up already). As we climbed the paved trail out of the ravine wear the visitor's center was, the wind and weather came on us full force. My girls were motivated and Seraya in particular was soldiering on well in front of us. Shortly, I could see that Kaija was in distress and we needed to turn back. I had another proud daddy moment when it took some serious persuasion to get Seraya to turn back from the hike. She wanted to keep going to the end! I can't wait to get this girl on a real hike!

Kaija, ever our little geologist, loved looking at the volcanic rocks exhibit at the observation center. She kept turning them over and over to examine them. She was particularly smitten with the pumice and was even able to correctly identify it at camp later when she found a little piece at the mini-golf course. She held it up and wanted us to see the"bolcano rock". She, of course, also retrieved various other "specimens" for us to examine!

I am always amazed at the progress and learning that my babies make. I can't believe I'm sending Seraya to school this year. Pretty soon, she'll be telling me things that even I don't know!

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Road Trip!

We did it, we broke down...every bit of COOLNESS Enoch and I had in our bones disappeared. We got a MINIVAN! The kids were so excited about it, I wasn't. Seraya was overheard "bragging" to the neighbor girl (who, by the way, has a Porsche, Escalade, Hummer, and Mercedes SUV) "Oh yeah, well, know what, we're getting a mini-van with sliding doors!"

I didn't have quite the enthusiasm, I loved my Lexus SUV and wanted to keep it, but it just didn't do the job with three little ones in car seats. I surrendered and now I love the ultimate "soccer mom" rig. With the push of a button the doors and hatch slide open and I can yell "get in and put your buckles on" and just like that the magic happens.

Anyhow, we thought there would be no better way to break the new van in than with a road trip to UTAH! What a trip it was!
Enoch and I spent days thinking about the best "plan of attack" for the road trip. How do we get three little kids to Utah with as little pain (for them and us) as possible? Do we leave in the morning while the kids are still sleeping? Or head out after work and stop somewhere on the way for a night? We decided on the latter and it was perfect! The kids were so entertained with their activity bags that I made them...they didn't even ask for a movie (or to get out of the car) until our last hour of the trip. Even little Liam was a trooper. I must say Enoch and I must have been expecting the worst because we kept on looking at each other...are they still alive? Should we stop? We just cranked up the tunes on the ipod and kept on cruisin'!

Our first point of interest was Woodruff, Utah. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised! What's there, you ask? Grandpa Arnold and Grandma Syd serving a mission! They are taking groups on Pioneer Treks where they load up handcarts and the whole bit. The girls were so excited to see grandma and grandpa! Liam was fascinated with grandpas stylin hat and the girls loved exploring and riding in the handcart.

Seraya wandered off through the fields picking all sorts of flowers and grandma Syd helped her make some pressed flower art projects. Kaija was loving playing with and collecting rocks. One of the best parts for the girls was sleeping in the bunk beds at the guest cabin called "Pappy's". At one point I went in there and they had their sleeping bags draped from the top bunk down, turning the bottom bunk into a secret play fort. I love their imaginations!

We also went into town (Evanston, WY) and met a mission friend of mine (Nate Conrad and his family), then went to a Relay for Life walk in support of finding a cure for cancer. We walked some laps and decorated a luminary in memory of Enoch's mom. That was so special!

Enoch loved spending some time with his dad, the rugged surroundings fit them both so well. Two peas in a pod, I'm beginning to realize more and more each day! Riding in the old truck around the property was especially nostalgic for Enoch and the girls loved the bouncy ride with grandpa, too.

Next point of interest was Dave and Amber's house. We celebrated Savannah's birthday with a pizza party at the park. The next day we went to the Seven Peaks Water Park and the kids loved it! I went down a ride on a tube holding Kaija and we went through a really dark tunnel and I kept on making whoooweee noises trying to convince her it was fun. Towards the end I tried to hold her up so she wouldn't go under the water...it didn't work, we BOTH went under. She didn't want to go on that ride again. The girls were so brave about going on the kiddie slides and couldn't get enough of it. We had a picnic there at the water park and went to the BYU Creamery afterwards for ice-cream! Yumm-o!

During our UTAH adventure we also took at trip to Temple Square where we met up with my awesome mission companion, Jane. I love her so much and haven't seen her for so long. Our kids became friends instantly and didn't want to leave. We had fun walking the Temple grounds. Kaija found a deep affection for a mini statue of Joseph Smith. She held his hand and pretended to dance with him. Probably a little irreverent, I know, but it was so darn cute. She said, "look mama, just my size".

I really enjoyed spending time with Jane, we had a few laughs about mission things and we caught up on about 8 years of stuff. I hope we see each other before the next 8 years comes and goes!

Jane and crew joined us for a meal at Rodisio, a Brazilian Grill Restaurant. We had been there once before and it was SO GOOD! Enoch has bee looking forward to returning ever since. They skewer meat and slow roast it and bring every kind of meat you can imagine by and slice some off on your plate. The tastes, and especially the guarana drink take Enoch back to his mission in Brazil years ago. The girls loved eating olives and quail eggs (they were tiny and cute) and little samples off dads plate. I'm still not a meat fan so it was salad bar for me, I enjoyed the variety of flavors.

We drove back through Draper where I was able to meet with two other friends I love, Aimee and Holly. I called Aimee to see if we could hook up for a visit and she said that she had just ran into my other friend at the store and got her number. It was such a blessing to be able to go to Aimee and Bruce's beautiful house and meet their babes and then have Holly come over, I got a double dose of friends. I felt so refreshed after talking with them about fun memories of college and catching up on all the kiddos and stuff. I think Heavenly Father just wanted to remind me that friendships like this don't fade and somehow you can just pick up where you left off and it's like the time never lapsed. Yay! That was so fun!

Another point of interest was a visit to "Aunt Em's". That's Emily, Enoch's sister. We got to meet her new husband, Brent and see their new home, and a special treat was that Kiley (Em's daughter) was there visiting for the summer so the girls were happy to play with their cousin. Emily cooked us a wonderful dinner and it was so fun to catch up and talk about their baby due in December, I believe.

What a trip! Even the ride home was fun. We reunited with family and friends and loved ones. We are sorry we don't get to Utah for a visit more often, but maybe with the new minivan, we'll be taking more road trips like this one!

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Disney Magic

Today started early. It was so early, that I wasn't even sure if yesterday ever ended. I woke up to the alarm clark at 4:30am. After that, it was rush, rush, rush to the airport. Our friend Jennie went with us to drive our new van home. I had already checked in online, so I could skip straight to the bag check-in. We knew we were close to the weight limit, but had no idea how close it really was. Packing for five people for a week takes a lot more than you would think. We have baby food, diapers and every other essential item you could possibly need for a baby, a toddler and a pre-schooler.


Airport security was the usual mess with all our crap. We had to give up some unopened drinks, but came through otherwise unscathed. We got to the gate just in time to board last and rolled right on, stowed our things and sat down. The girls were so excited for the adventure that the air crackled with electricity. Kerri took Liam and Seraya and sat on once side of the aisle, while myself and Kaija sat on the other. Though, I was worried that Kaija would suffer the most during the flight. She has a fear riding in the elevator that causes every elevator ride to be a white-knuckle affair. Amazingly, she was upbeat and exciting and willing to put all fears aside in pursuit of the ultimate goal of a Disneyland arrival!

The flight was relatively uneventful. At some point Kerri looked at me and said with fright in her voice, "This is longer than Sacrament Meeting." This refers to the fact that the flight is longer than the one hour church meetings we attend each week. We have that down, but not we not sure how it would go during a longer time frame. The girls were excellent as we moved from one activity to another and switching places periodically to keep them busy.

An easy landing and de-planing led to an easy baggage retrieval. Kerri waited while I took Seraya to get our rental car. I had purposely reserved a smaller can than I needed, knowing that an upgrade would likely occur. Sure enough, after I stood in the line for 15 minutes trying to keep Seraya occupied, they upgraded us to a larger car WITH GPS! We were lucky we were upgraded because we BARELY fit our bags into the trunk.

When we arrived at our hotel at noon, the staff informed us that we could not check in until 4pm. So we decided that we would head off to Disneyland with our bags locked in the trunk of our car. The girls were tired as we headed over, and alternatively screamed and cried as they bickered about who was touching who.

Once we closed in on the park, however, it was a different story. They calmed down and looked forward to the joys to be imparted from the mind of Walt Disney. By the time we arrived in Main Street USA, however both Kaija and Liam were out cold, sleeping in positions that I could never imagine. We took in the beauty of Disneyland, and decided to sit near the carousel and have a bit of lunch.

After that it was off to the Dumbo and the teacup and the Alice in Wonderland. Seraya was in HEAVEN. She found Alice in Wonderland a little scary at first, but fun overall. At this point, Kaija finally woke up and rode the Mad Hatter's teacup ride herself. She was a little shaky at first, but quickly warmed to it.

We then decided to look towards Toontown for something that Kaija could enjoy. On the way there, we found that the Disney Railroad would create just that diversion. It was a lot of fun, and gave us a chance to rest too. After making a round on the slow-moving train, we exited and headed into Toontown.

This place was MADE for my girls! Immediately upon entering, we encountered one of Kaija's favorite Disney characters: Goofy. She wanted to meet him but was a little star-struck. We finally coaxed her to meet and greet Goofy, but she would not be near him by herself. Typical Kaija antics, to be sure. She was satisfied to take a picture in my arms and wave.

We went to meet Mickey after that and had a similar experience. The kids loved seeing Mickey's house and all his crazy things. When it came to actually meeting him, they both got a little shy, but we did get a picture!

Later, (after paying $15 for four ice cream bars) we took a ride on Gadget's Go Coaster, the little kidde roller coaster in Toontown. I sat out with Liam while Kerri took the girls on the ride. I was a little leery that it would be scary for Kaija. It turned out that she came off wanting more, more, more! (Well, after giving her crazy "I'm scared out of my mind, but loving it laugh"!)

Using the baby switch off option offered for some rides, I went back directly to the front of the line with her for one more round with her and she loved it again! This gave me hope that my sometimes 'fraidy cat girl was actually ready for some of the bigger rides!

We made our way slowly back to Adventureland and went on the Jungle Cruise. Almost immediately, Kaija was startled by the appearance of an alligator, right next to her in the river! Both she and Seraya jumped. After that, Kaija could hardly focus on the rest of the ride as she kept looking over her shoulder waiting for the next alligator. She didn't have to wait long, because the piranhas made us all jump! Seraya proudly says of the trip, "I didn't even get wet!"

The last and most momentous event of the night was the Parade of Dreams, back in Main Street UsA. After finally pushing our way into a spot at the curb. The girls waited, but did not know what to expect. The parade was truly magical! It was like a walking cartoon, every character that they had known and loved were there! Cinderella, Snow White, Simba, Ariel...every new float brought new excitement and wonder! I looked at Kerri, who was getting a little choked up, realizing how special this was to our girls. Kaija was especially funny, waving at every character maniacally! This was by far the best event of the day for them.

We packed everyone onto our double stroller and headed back to the hotel to check in. On the way, we met our friends, the Grangers, who were on their way out for dinner. We planned to get together the next day for even MORE Disneyland. When we finally located our room, Kerri secretly went and layed out new princess night gowns for the girls on their bed. When I arrived with the girls, they were so jumping with excitement to see what the princesses had left them!

What a great and magical day!

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