Anniversary Trip

We took a little trip to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary this weekend.  We have taken a trip every year so far and didn’t want to miss even though Katy is so young.  It was exhausting, but also a lot of fun. 
Our plans changed three times.  First we just planned the trip to go to Dinosaur National Monument, then to check out a town in Colorado where Dustin applied for a job, and finally stop and see my brother and his family.  Then the people offering the job called and scheduled an interview which Dustin offered to give in person.  Originally it was going to be on Wednesday, then they called and said they couldn’t do it then so they moved it to Monday.
We left on Saturday and drove all day and got to my brother’s house that evening.  Katy traveled well and slept most of the time.  We stayed through until Monday morning.  We got to take advantage of the indoor pool where they live and also got to watch the Bronco game.  Austin loved playing around their ranchette.

The boys watching Phineas and Ferb. 

Austin loved their cats and was pretty rough with them, but they were sweet and let him give them all the attention he wanted.

Checking out the flume behind their house.

Aunt Krissy and Katy sporting their Bronco wear.

Monday we drove to the town where Dustin had his interview.  Austin, Katy and I went to the park to play during that time.  We attempted to go out for a nice lunch afterwards at an Italian restaurant since it was our anniversary.  It was really good food, but Katy cried the whole time so it was a total indigestion kind of lunch.  We drove around the town checking it out and even drove by some properties that were for sale. 
That evening we got a special treat because my nephew’s school scheduled an impromptu junior varsity football game against the town where we were so we got to go and watch them play.  We had dinner at our hotel with Aunt Krissy and the boys before they headed home. 

Tuesday we headed home and stopped at Dinosaur National Monument on the way.  Dustin worked there the first summer after he graduated from college in a seasonal job and he loved the area and was excited to show it to Austin.  We were not able to go out and see all the things we wanted to see, but still had a great time.  It brought back a lot of memories from that summer in 2004.

Everything but the tournament

I just got back from our trip last night and am back at the old grind today.  It seems like I have been away from my blog for an eternity instead of 7 days.  I have been reading through my blogs and trying to catch up, but everyone else in bloggy land has been so busy the last week it's taking me a while to catch up!

I wanted to share about my trip except for the wrestling tournament because I can do a whole post on that alone with pictures, so I will try to do that tonight. Overall it was great, we had good weather and the roads were passable.  We got to see a lot of family and achieved our work goals in the process.

For Valentine's Day we drove to Grand Junction, so spent most of the day in the truck.  We got there and got checked in, then went to dinner at Johnny Carino's.  When I was in college that place was a lot nicer and more formal, but it has really become family orriented like Olive Garden, which was ok since we had Austin with us and it was not really a romantic one-on-one date. 

I went to the Tamarisk Symposium for my work on Wednesday while Dustin entertained Austin.  We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner that night which was so yummy!   Feb. 15 is the anniversary of when we got together, so we have now been together nine years!

Thursday we drove to Denver and attended the wrestling tournament.  It went through Friday, so I will skip to Saturday.  My Mom, sister, Austin and I went shopping on Saturday and it was so nice to go and have a little spree.  Austin needed new shoes, I bought him 3 pairs since they were on a great sale.  I also got myself a new pillow and some clothes for Austin.

Sunday was pretty uneventful, we went to church with my Mom and she wanted to sit in the very front of church, which if you are a parent of a three year old, you know that presents a great deal of effort to keep them in control in front of the entire congregation!  My sister came down and we hung out and watched movies.  Dustin drove in that night and we drove home yesterday.

Day 3 - San Diego Zoo

On Monday we went to the San Diego Zoo.  We were debating if we were going to go since the tickets for Sea World were pretty expensive, but then my awesome sister offered to buy us tickets to the zoo for my birthday gift.  We had a blast and Austin loved seeing the animals.

The koalas were the cutest little things ever!

Timon(s)

Pumba

When we walked up to the panda exhibit Austin yelled "BEAR!"

When we walked up I said "Austin what are those?" and he replied "ZEBRA!"

We left the zoo just in time for a sandwich lunch in the truck and a nap on the way to Primm, Nevada where we stopped for the night.  I wish I had better things to say about Primm, but I am happy we made it through the night.  On Tuesday we did a little shopping in St. George on our way home.  All in all other than being too short it was a great trip.

Day 2

Day 2: Sea World

On Sunday we went to Sea World.  I mostly had a good time there, but must admit that I was disappointed that it was so commercialized and glammed up.  We talked about it afterward and decided that we think that they are trying to compete with other attractions like Legoland and keep it new and fresh to attract the local crowd. Austin was a little grouchy too so that took away from the fun, but he eventually warmed up to it and had fun.

Shamu

Daddy tickling Austin in the shark tank.

This picture is at home, but I wanted to show this toy stuffed penguin I won in a claw machine in the arcade at Sea World.  It's kind of an ugly thing, but Austin has latched on to it and has taken it everywhere since.  In the hotel suite that night Dustin asked him what his penguin's name was and he said "Bo" which is what our pet rabbits name was that passed away last November, so I don't necessarily think Austin remembers him but interesting that he picked the same name.  It was cute at the hotel he took Bo in the bathroom and says "Bo go pee-pee in potty" then took him into the sink/vanity area and says "now wash hands" then took him in his room and put him on his bed and said "night-night."  I know little girls probably do that kind of play all the time with dolls, but it was the first time Austin did that.

After Sea World we went back to the hotel for a nap attempt, which failed, then went for a swim in the hotel pool/hot tub.  It was the first time Austin has been in a hot tub and thought it was pretty cool, especially the bubbles.  Then I cooked a big spaghetti dinner in the room and we relaxed that evening. 

Back again - Day 1

We made it home safe and sound from our little anniversary/birthday excursion.  We decided to take our laptop in to have it looked at while we were gone, but they had to send it off for repairs so I am without a home computer for the next couple of weeks.  I will do some blogs about the trip as I have time during my lunch hour.

The trip was fabulous, the weather was awesome!  My only regret is that we didn't take one-two more days so we could spend more time at the beach.  Well, that and that we forgot to have someone take a family photo with all three of us together, oops!  We stayed at a Homewood Suites by Hilton so 1) we would have more privacy and 2) so we could prepare some of our own meals to save $$$.  It worked out so well and think that we will stick with suites in the future for trips. 

 Day 1: Beach and old town San Diego

Saturday was my birthday and we headed to the beach.

We kind of have the Forest Gump head tilt going on

This was a close as I could get him to sit by his name, even then he was scowling at me

 

 

The water was pretty chilly, but Austin loved playing in the sand.  He also loved chasing the pigeons around the beach.  I know that I was tired because at one point we were laying there soaking up the sun and a pigeon walked up and I go "look Austin there is a penguin."  Dustin was half dozing off, but looked up and goes "really, a penguin?"  Oh yeah, I mixed up my "p" birds, but wouldn't have been awesome to see a penguin instead of a pigeon?

That night we went to old town for dinner.  We didn't take the camera, but the restaurant gave out complimentary post cards.  Dustin wanted to take me to a seafood place, but I knew this restaurant was good so we went there instead.  We ordered a whole pitcher of strawberry margarita, so we walked around down there for quite a while which was fun and enjoyed the music of a Mariachi band.  Dustin even got me some roses.

Here I am

I know I have been missing, yet again, but I am back.  I have several blogs I want to write, and just need to find the time to get it done.

Our Colorado trip was pretty great.  I am a big loser though and only took a few pictures at the beginning and then got distracted and never picked the camera back up.  So you will have to rely on my written accounts.

We left last Thursday and rolled out of our house by 1.  We drove to Grand Junction where we grabbed dinner and got a hotel room.  The next morning Dustin had to do a teleconference at 10 so we went ahead and drove to Riffle, CO and found a little neighborhood park where Austin and I played while Daddy took care of business.

We finished up the drive and got into Grandma's at about 3.  Aunt Cathy was going to drive down and spend the evening with us too, but she got in a minor car accident that messed up the front end of her car so she had to take care of business up there.  Since she had a second vehicle that was parked at her cabin in the mountains we offered to drive her up there Saturday and spend time while there.  We got to go fishing in the private ponds of the association she belongs to and caught some really nice rainbow trout.  I caught the first one and was pretty impressed until she pulled in one that was MUCH bigger.  Austin had a blast playing at the ponds and filled them in a little with rocks.

We headed back down to my Mom's house because my brother said he was going to drive over to see us that night.  We got all the way back and of course he called and said they weren't going to make it, but they would be over in the morning.  Morning came and they called and said they wouldn't be able to make it after all.  That would be fine, but man it was hot on Sunday and my Mom has a swamp cooler in her house; which usually in the arid west it works great because the swamp cooler blows saturated air into the house and then it evaporates and causes the room to cool.  But it has been an especially wet summer in Colorado and it doesn't do much good when the humidity is already high both in and out of the home.  It was pretty hot, too hot to be outside and muggy inside.  If we had known my brother was going to bail we could have stayed at the cabin and played all Sunday.

Monday we were determined to get out of the house so we went swimming.  We went to a rec center where they had an indoor pool figuring in would not be too crowded since most people would probably go to the outdoor pool.  It was really fun and they had a big water slide that we really enjoyed.  We could take Austin down on our laps and Dustin and I would take turns.  The best part is he had to walk up two flights of stairs to get to the top, so he definitely got his exercise.  That night Austin and Grandma got to spend some quality time while Dustin and I went on a date.  I want to do a separate post about the concert after I get the photos uploaded from our cell phone, so I'll share those details later.

Tuesday we were still crossing our fingers and hoping to find out about the job in Wyoming, but they still have not called, so we decided to take the south route home and drive Highway 50 through the mountains so we could see Canon City, Salida, Gunnison, Montrose, and Delta which are all towns we have on our list of places we would like to live.  We stopped in Montrose for the night and got a room.  All those towns were beautiful, but we confirmed that we would take Gunnison and Salida off of our list because they looked like they would get a pretty snowy and cold winter.  We finished our drive home yesterday, and the trip overall was great.

When we were almost home we did get a call with bad news that Austin's Godfather Andy passed away.  He is a co-worker of Dustin who was an incredible person.  When he was a young man he was drinking and driving and got into a bad car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.  Even so he overcame that and went on to be an upstanding person who is much loved in our community.  He always had a huge smile on his face and kind words.  He was a faithful usher at our church and only missed when he was in the hospital.  Pretty much every year in the winter he would end up in the hospital with complications from his paralysis, but always seemed to get a little better in the spring.  He had been in and out of the hospital ever since last winter and was unable to overcome his complications.

A unique place

This past weekend my husband took us on an adventure to a truely unique place that is way off the beaten path.  It's called White Pockets and it's on the northern Arizona border.  It's near the famous rock formation called "the wave" (aka Coyotte Buttes) and probably has similar history in its formation.  It is lesser known so not many people venture out to it like the wave.  Austin had a blast, he was so in his element.  We put him in his snow suit to keep him warm, but it ended up being a good layer of protection for his skin since the slick rock sandstone can he hard on a person and he had a blast rolling around and climbing.  He of course was making Mommy nervous though!

Thanksgiving wrap

I have been meaning to share about our Thanksgiving trip, but I knew it would take a while.  In general it was good, I am so thankful for the time spent with family.  We made it out all in one day on Friday which was about 11 hours.  Austin did great, he watched his cartoons and vegged out for the long ride.  We wanted to find a park to let him burn some energy, but it was pretty chilly so we settled for the McDonald's Playplace in Fruita, CO.  Saturday Dustin and I went to the Border War, which I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT, and that's all I have to say about that!  We did see my sorority friend Robyn and sat with Dustin's fraternity buddy Dave.  We went to our favorite Laramie restaurant, Altitudes, afterwards for an incredible meal before heading back to my Mom's.  I had filet that came with mashed potatoes with carmelized onions, it's making my mouth water to think about it!

Dustin's parents got in that day and stayed until Tuesday.  I think all in all it went well and I got along good with them.  On that, I have been working on my relationship with them.  We are just different and they make me uncomfortable at times as I'm sure I do to them.  After I had Austin my hormones were out of control and I was not the nicest person to them pretty much until I stopped breastfeeding and got back to my old happy self.  I try to be on my nicest, best behavior to make up for it now, and as I said I think this trip was good.  On Monday we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver and it was a lot of fun.

Then on Wednesday my brother George and family came in and stayed until Friday.  My sister Cathy was there too. It was great to have so much family together, but 11 people in my Mom's small home was tight.  I was completely frustrated by Thanskgiving dinner, I bought a 21 lb turkey on Monday an put in the fridge to thaw.  It seemed to be thawed to me when I stuffed him and put him in the oven, but when it was time to eat I started spooning out the stuffing and it was definitely not cooked.  The outside part of the turkey was perfect, but the inside was undercooked, so it must have still been a bit frozen in the core.  We carved off the done part and microwaved it to make sure that it was all up to temperature.  The rest of the meal was good, and I really can't complain because it was a blessing to have that many of us together.  Although I am a perfectionist when it comes to cooking and take pride in the meals I prepare, so it was extremely dissapointing to me. 

We headed home on Friday, but only got as far as Green River, Utah.  We had all had it with being in the truck since we had been gone all week so we stopped for the night.  Saturday morning we pushed home, and man was it good to be home and sleep in our own bed that night. 

Now it's time to get ready for Christmas!