I've gotta start somewhere

I hate it when I get this behind. The month of August really wiped me out. Our lives have been moving non-stop pretty much since our last post. I told Sam that we had not had one evening of true relaxation since we returned from our Anniversary trip--I know this is true because I've been looking forward to watching the season finale of our favorite TV show, White Collar, for almost a month. We finally watched it last night (well worth the wait) so now I am ready to move on to the bigger and better business of recording the craziness before it slips from my mind--which sadly it is already starting to do.

At the beginning of August the kids and I set out to California on a two-week adventure we had been planning for months. We had several plans for the two weeks; however, most of it was spent with my sister Tracey and her 4 children braving a road trip from California to Grand Junction, Colorado sans husbands in a 12-passenger van. In the planning process we were so excited and felt so adventurous, but by the end of each we were mostly just feeling really tired. It was hard, no doubt, and at times we were asking ourselves, "Did we actually plan this?" but in the end we had no regrets and were so happy to have had the experience for both ourselves and our kids.

The kids were ecstatic just to be in the big van with each other. I think we could have just driven around in circles for a while and they would have been thrilled.

A few of our happy passengers.

Ruby & Issac


Max & Luke


Our first stop was Calico Ghost Town in Baker, California. It was hot, hot, hot and after the large bus of Japanese tourists left, it lived up to its ghost town label.



We hit all of the main attractions starting with the mystery shack. I would give further description of what the mystery shack is, but I really don't know besides the fact that it is a house built on a strange incline that makes weird stuff possible.

Waiting for our tour.

A broom that can stand up by itself? A chair that Max can sit in, but is impossible for him to get out of. (I could really use one of these for a naughty seat!)

We panned for gold of course.

The kids were thrilled with their fools gold.

The Calico Town train ride.

Do they look hot??... 'cause they were.

Ruby was crazy about the train...until it starting moving, that is.

My dad joined us for this leg of the trip. It sure was great to have an extra set of hands.


My little jail bird.

We took a quick walk through the mine to remind me again how claustrophobic I am. I seriously could not get out there fast enough.

Future thieves?

I wish I knew what Max was staring at here. I love how pleased he looks.

After we had seen most of what there was to see we stopped into one of their little cafes and got some much needed slushies. We felt so close to heat exhaustion that they could have charged whatever they wanted to--and they pretty much did.

One good thing about the heat is that when we did leave, the kids were wiped out, leaving us to enjoy not only the van's air conditioning but also a nice quiet drive.

Please note that Reed is using Luke as a foot rest. I'm not sure how he worked that deal, but someone is definitely getting the short end of that one.

One stop done...lots more to come.

10 years

Last weekend Sam and I celebrated a major milestone in our life---our 10-year anniversary. Ten years sounds like sooo long, but really feels more like a strange combination of "just yesterday" and "forever" all rolled into one. When I think of all that has happened in the past decade I am amazed and am so grateful to have Sam by my side along the way.

Since 10 years is a really big deal we decided we needed to do something extra special. We had all kinds of of ideas including the Caribbean or Cancun, but between Sam's limited time off, an emergency root canal, and my uneasiness about leaving the kids for too long we decided a local getaway would be just right. I'm so glad we did because I don't think we had even made it to the freeway before I was missing the kids, promising myself I'd never be annoyed or frustrated by them again. I think it will be a few years before Cancun will be a possibility.

Friday, Sam took off work and we headed to Olney (about 45 minutes away) to Sandy Spring Adventure Park, which is an amazing ropes course in the middle of the forest. The place looked fun online, but turned out even better than I had imagined. I really don't think I could have picked a more perfect place for Sam. He kept saying, "Lindsay---this is the best place!"

They had several courses that traversed the trees that were rated in difficulty like ski runs. They told us we had to start with a green or yellow and we unknowingly picked THE easiest course at the park (behind two 8 year old boys no less). It was fun, but when we finished we were definitely ready for something a little more demanding. Not realizing we had just breezed through the EASIEST obstacles, we headed straight for the double black diamond--the absolutely most challenging course they had to offer (seriously, what were we thinking?Apparently 10 years of marriage has not been long enough for either one of us to fully develop our common sense). Halfway up the first ladder one of the park employees shouted up to us, "Have you done a blue course yet?" "No." "You need to do a blue before you do a black." We paused awkwardly mid-climb with no response wondering if perhaps she did not realize how capable we actually were (capable indeed!) until she said, "All right...you're already up there, so go ahead." Happy to have someone acknowledge my apparent athleticsim I moved forward, only to realize a few minutes later it was our naivete she recognized.

On the second obstacle I realized I was a little over my head while standing 40 feet off the ground. I attempted to cross 40 feet over suspended logs using every one of my undeveloped muscle to hold myself up while dangling from my life line. I really started to worry when half-way across I was running out of steam and still had 20 feet to go. At that point the smile on my face changed to a distressed one of "I can't do this but I know I have to/Sam I need you to help me!/I know I have do this on my own." Those feelings were familiar and Sam nailed it on the head when I finally made it across and he said, "I knew you were having a hard time because you had your labor face on." Yep. I knew I recognized that face from somewhere!

Despite the overly-ambitious double black diamond attempt which ended prematurely with a full on rescue on the most challenging obstacle, we did have an absolutely wonderful time, and by the time we were done, we were completely exhausted and very ready for Cafe Rio.

It had been almost 7 years since we enjoyed Cafe Rio in Provo so I wasn't sure if it would really be as good as I remember. It wasn't--it was better.

This is Sam's "stop taking pictures of me while I am eating" smile...

...and this is his retaliation.

After our late lunch we headed to Annapolis, which turned out to be a lovely city on the water--beautifully historic with a hip "yachty" feel to it. I was really quite impressed by it all.




The hotel we stayed in was a deal we got on Priceline right on the water. It was a nice waterfront hotel, but I have I hard time imagining they really charge the advertised $380 a night. It was nice, but not that nice. It was certainly nicer than the $80 we paid, so we were happy. The room was great, but we laughed at the view. I'm pretty sure they reserved it special for their Priceline bargain hunters.

Awesome.

Once we got to the hotel we changed into new, less sweaty and dirty clothes to go rollerblading. I'm sure neither Sam or I really had the energy to do this, but it was part of our "plan" so we did it anyways.

Roller blading is something Sam and I used to enjoy doing together quite a bit before we had kids. I really don't know if I've been since Reed was born or not. It sure didn't look (or feel) like I had. I was an awkward mess on wheels. Sam must secretly wake up early on the weekends and roller blade because he didn't have any problems at all. Thank goodness, too, since I had several "Help! I can't stop!" moments that he was able to scoot in and rescue me from.

Show off.

After drenching another set of clothes with sweat (it had to have been close to 100 degrees) we figured we'd had enough fun and headed back to the hotel for a quick break and another change of clothes.

That night went to PF Chang's for dinner. The food was good, but it was late and we were exhausted, so afterwards we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our next day of adventure.

We had lots of plans for the next day including going to Ocean City to fulfill my lifelong dream of going parasailing, but an hour into awful traffic we decided to call it quits and head home via IKEA and yep, you guessed it...the ropes course AGAIN. Did I mention that I couldn't have picked a a more perfect activity for Sam?

After another adventurous afternoon in the trees we headed home bruised, sweaty, exhausted and super excited to see our three favorite little faces.

I am so grateful for 10 years of marriage that have brought us so much happiness and joy, provided us with immense opportunity for growth and development, and given us three wonderful children whom we love and adore more than the world.

Happy Anniversary Sam! You're the best.

P.S. You owe me a para sailing trip.

In case I missed something in my recap here is a video that Sam made from our trip. It pretty much captures it...although I don't know why there is so much waving at the camera. I'm pretty sure people stopped doing that in 1955.