lately - everything else

I've been a bit of a whiner lately, mostly in my head, although whenever I talk to anyone about what we're up to, I feel like it must sound like whining to them. It's absurd, because life is good, really good, but the number of things happening all at once-- even though they are mostly good things-- has been at an all-time high. And it's not just the big events, but all the little things that fill up every moment of our time. We've always been a GoGoGo kind of couple, but we are now busier than college, than dental school, than ortho residency, and maybe even busier than that year when Jared was traveling twice a month as a trustee for ASDA and I was working 60 hours a week and together we were pulling all nighters to apply for specialty schools. Busier than ever, it seems, which is also absurd.

So, I really hope it doesn't come across as complaining, but I feel the need to put it on the record some of the big stuff we've been up to these past few weeks or so, when we weren't starting a business...

* Suffering from major mommy guilt while being so busy with the business. And, letting them watch more TV than I care to put on record. I know it was just a phase, and it's already better than it was for a few weeks there. I don't know why it bothered me as much as it did, but it did. (That was the worst one on my list. It gets better.)

* Potty training Bethany! This needs more exclamation points!!!!! This big girl has been diaper free (even at night!) for about a month. She was a breeze to potty train, and I can share that without feeling bad because I know her brother will be a bear.

Guess who picked out her own undies?
Oh Dora, she holds a special place in our hearts and, well, now you know where else.

* More growing up. It feels like we held onto a few "baby" things longer than a lot of friends who are the same age. (Not to say that that's good or bad, just an observation. I know for us it was part not wanting or seeing a reason to push the kids to grow up too fast, and part convenience.) Isaac just recently weaned from his pacifier. Bethany doesn't know it but she is soon to follow-- before (or as soon as) she turns 3, says the Orthodontist. They successfully slept in big beds when we travelled in November, although at home they are reluctant to give up their cribs so we just removed one side of each crib. Over the summer they stopped using their booster seats at the dining table, which was a sad loss for us parents-- they used to sit and eat forever when they were strapped in. And now, they (we) are working on their table manners, saying May I please be excused? and bringing their dishes to the sink. Staying seated is the hardest one, but they're doing really well overall, and it's pretty adorable.

* Letting our Santa Barbara Zoo membership expire, but getting in one last trip. We will miss it, but we will be back.

* Spending pre-Thanksgiving week in Palm Springs with my husband's parents, but not my husband. He had to stay behind because of some major construction delays at the office. It was pretty heartbreaking. But we went anyway because these kids needed loads of play time and attention from Mom and their grandparents, and I needed to give it to them.

Frosting cookies with Grandma & Grandpa.

Sleeping together for the first time since they were 4 months old.

Just like old times in the womb.

* Deciding at the last minute to host Thanksgiving dinner at our house so we could be with Jared. For the second time in 11+ years, we used our wedding china. I had about 15 minutes to prepare the table, and thankfully Jared's parents had pre-ordered all the food to be picked up that day. Not a bad way to go.

When Isaac saw the candles, he said It's a party!!

* Building a float for the Santa Paula Christmas parade. This was my work project while we were in Palm Springs-- printing signs, and planning and purchasing decorations. My in-laws were a great help in pulling it all together and loaning us this gorgeous truck that belonged to Jared's Grandpa Lee! Our dental school friends the Houlbergs were visiting their family nearby and surprised Jared by showing up to be in our float.

* Fumigating. People say termites are just a part of living in Southern Cal. I say getting your house tented is a downscaled version of moving, which I've done a lot of in the past few years, and it is possibly my least favorite thing to do. We had to bag all our food, medicine, toothpaste... anything and everything ingestible, with a few extra things like soaps and lotions just to ease our paranoia. We also moved out the kids' mattresses and anything we felt was too valuable to leave in a vacant house with a gigantic "welcome" sign to burglars. (I could hardly believe it but they say it happens.)


Welcome to our lovely home. Unless you're a termite.

* Moving out for the week and going to Disneyland and San Diego as consolation. The fumigation was the same week as an ortho conference for Jared, so after the kids and I spent a few days with their grandparents (who live near Disney), we went to meet him in SD and to be with Great-Grandma Dot. Seeing Daddy made the kids even happier than the happiest place on earth.

At Disney they hand out driver's licenses to just anybody, can you believe it?

Look who's driving.

Great-grandma Dot is the coolest. How many 85 year-olds have iPads?

* Fixing stuff. Amidst all this we've had issues (big and small) with just about every appliance in the house. Just yesterday I was getting ready to take all our post-trip laundry to the laundromat, when I decided instead to watch a few youtube videos and take our dryer apart myself. Somehow it now works. I seriously have no idea what I did, haha.

* And, as of Monday night... Buying the ugliest Christmas tree on earth. It's funny how Christmas trees can look so different in your home than at the lot... and as soon as we got ours inside we realized we took tree misjudgment to a whole new level. One side is smushed way up, the other side hangs down too low, and the back side is too sparse. But, it is HUGE! Good thing we don't have any furniture in that room, although it might be nice to hide the bottom half of that sad tree. Oy vey.


It looks way better in the picture than in real life.

By now I'm not whining, I'm laughing.

We have just a couple weeks to bring a little more Christmas home (and send out Christmas cards, maybe?) before packing up again for time with Jared's family in Newport Beach. Christmas! Family! Newport Beach! Who would complain about that? Definitely not me.

Halloween!

With the kids just 2 months shy of 3 (I know-- I had to calculate that twice to make sure it was real), this was a super fun year for Halloween. The kids picked out their costumes a couple months ago, and I was amazed to see that they never went back on their choice. Isaac's pick to be a firefighter was no surprise-- he has been enamored for quite some time with everything related to fighting fires. Bethany, on the other hand, was in the thick of such a strong Dora-obsessed phase (which isn't necessarily over, it's just that she's entertaining other thoughts now too, like princesses and cuddly animals), that I was initially a little shocked when she said she wanted to be a pink kitty cat. It turns out the joke was on me, because I eventually learned what our friend Dora's Halloween costume was-- a little black kitty cat with pink ears. So when I described Dora's costume to Bethany in some detail, it was clear that Bethany did in fact want to be Dora for Halloween, for Halloween. Funny girl.


But you don't want to hear about their costumes from me, do you? Hear it from them.



Unlike other years when I've made their costumes, doing 90% of it on Halloween Eve, we had these kids ready weeks in advance. So that meant they got to try them on and play around in them a bit, but not too much, so that the excitement was still there. Right? You're excited... Right kids?!

Isaac was actually pretty psyched about his costume, but really not in the mood for posing.

Bethany was so cute when she realized her costume had a tail.

Isaac was later found reading his favorite book about fire engines.
Maybe he felt like he should brush up on his firefighter knowledge,
now that he was actually going to be one.

We didn't have many events to go to this year. Our ward's Primary is so small that they don't always do a trunk or treat, and with all the busy-ness of building Jared's practice we forgot about the town's Halloween parade down Main Street. I was bummed when I realized that, but knew it would have been tough to make it happen anyway. But it turned out to be just the right amount. Wednesday is storytelling day at the library, and our sweet-as-pumpkin-pie librarian/storyteller said the kids can come in costume and she would have a special treat for them, which turned out to be a (quiet) parade through the library that ended in a room full of cupcakes. Isaac of course chose one with black frosting that gave him a very firemanly beard, and that turned into a very firemanly 5 o'clock shadow because it was so hard to wash off.

On our way in to Storytelling at the Library.

Oinge cuckapes! | Blackbeard | Kitty with Mary Poppins (Ms. Ilene)

Our other Halloween event was a pre-trick-or-treating dinner party at a friend's house for all the families in the neighborhood. I love this idea and hope it becomes a tradition. Unfortunately, my handsome, hardworking husband was still at work when the dinner party started, but I did have my father-in-law with me. He wore Jared's astronaut helmet that you may remember from such hits as Halloween 2009, and we played the game of seeing how long it took for people to notice that he wasn't my husband. Not too long, but some were pretty confused for a minute! The real Mister caught up to us at the dinner.

As if Grandpa wasn't already at maximum coolness...
Isaac just about exploded when he saw that he was capable of space travel.

Trick or treating was one of those times when we realized, once again, how fun these kids are and how awesome this age is. The twins absolutely loved it, and everything about it. Running up to the doorstep, ringing the bell, saying Trick or treat!! Thank you!! and Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeen!! a million times at every house. They could do it all by themselves and we just stood back and watched and laughed and ate our hearts out.

A firefighter, pirate, witch and pink kitty cat. No theme is the new theme.
(Thanks for the line, Miggy.)

We got home and the kids went straight to work on eating their candy. They would get so excited every time other trick or treaters came to our door, and as I gave out candy, Bethany would reach into her own bucket and give them her candy as well. It was ridiculously cute.

By the end of the night we had two kitty cats, eating candy off the floor
(but actually off of her lovey, on the floor, although I'm not sure that's much better).

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen!

in a year

This month was our one year Santa Paulaversary. I've been thinking about all that has happened, and all that has changed, in the course of a year. It blows my mind that it was only just over a year ago that we left New York City.

Back then, we lived in a 700 square-foot, 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment on the 19th floor (of 31), overlooking the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge. I could plop my head on my pillow and see the Empire State Building. When I talk about life in NYC to anyone in CA I always get a big reaction-- anywhere from I don't know how you did that with twins to That is sooo cool.

Now, we rent a 2-story, single family home with more bedrooms, more bathrooms, and a garage that we park actual cars inside. We pay about the same in rent but for 3 times the space. I haven't really mentioned any of this to my NY friends. (Until now.)

Then, it was a 2 block walk to Jared's clinic and the subway. I used a double stroller and 2 Mommy Hooks to carry home my groceries (and babies). We would walk anywhere from a block to a mile to get to fantastic parks and playgrounds, or we would take the subway to Central Park, Union Square, Washington Square, or wherever there was a (working) elevator for our double stroller. I didn't know how much I'd miss the parks and playgrounds there.

Now, we drive or sometimes bike to one of 3 or 4 parks in town, and none of them are nearly as good. Often we drive the 15-20 minutes to one of the parks in Ventura, which are much, much better. And of course there's always the beach. Oh, and our backyard! Bless you, backyard!! We drive to the grocery store, library, everywhere. For Target and other suburban standards, we drive a little further because our town is so small.

Back then, we went to church at the most amazing ward, overflowing with talent. Artists, musicians, writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, homeschoolers, homebirthers, etc etc etc who were young, interesting, fun, good looking and fashionable. There were way more people we would have loved to be friends with than we had time to get to know. The good friends I did find were real, true, golden. Oh, how I miss them all. And somehow it could be lonely amidst all those people, especially for the first few months after the twins were born. I guess with so many great people, you can't invite everyone, and it's easy to overlook someone. We took our turn being that someone, probably more times than we know, and that never felt too good.

Here, our ward is so ancient, it's comical. No really-- on my first Sunday there, one (very old) man told me that the average age in the ward is dead. So I said, You and I bring the average age down, and I gave him a fist bump. (All that is true except for the fist bump. It was a chest bump.) (That's not true either.) But, the ward is great-- surprise twist ending! People welcomed us so warmly. They still make us feel so appreciated, wanted and needed. And the few young families that are in the ward are now some of our favorite friends ever. The other day one friend said to me, I don't know if you were an answer to our prayers or if we were an answer to yours. Yes.

Back then, Bethany and Isaac were a year and a half old and had that first language explosion just after we left NYC. I remember counting Bethany's words and being shocked that she knew 50. Within a few days it was 75. And a few days after that I stopped counting. Isaac was behind Bethany but still very verbal. They also had hardly any hair.

Now, they are two and a half and as talkative and full of personality as can be. The other day I ran an errand just with Isaac and he chatted my ear off the whole time. Mama, what's that? Mama, what you doing? What's tractor doing? What's tree doing? You hear that? I hear the firetruck! Let's go see the firetruck? What's fireman doing? He's had a hundred haircuts and she's had none because her would-be shoulder-length hair is so curly it just boings right up around her cute little head.

Then, we could hardly make it through 15 minutes of church without leaving with one or two crying/hungry/poopy babies, and by "we" I mean I because Jared was sitting on the stand with the Bishopric. The kids weren't old enough for nursery, but were too active to handle in Relief Society, so Jared (when he could, which was surprisingly often) and I created a baby school in one of the empty classrooms. Just a place were we could feed, diaper and play with babies freely. Sometimes Arden or other active kiddos would join us. That was all if the kids and I even made it through all 3 hours of church. Big if. But we always went to take the Sacrament and were almost always on time. It was the hardest day of my week.

Now, it is once again one of my favorite days! Hurrah. The kids rarely need to leave the chapel (well, still maybe once per Sunday) and they play fairly quietly in our row (except today when they started fighting over a toy). They love their nursery leader and their friends at church. And even though we now go and sit as a family of four, we're always late. Things are pretty much as good as we can expect, and it's all about expectations. :)

Then, Jared was still... still... STILL a student, who had his very last day of school (clinic) on our 10th anniversary. Back then he had only this dream of moving to Santa Paula; I had never even seen the place and had only heard of it through him. And he had only "discovered" it just a couple months before, basically through a late-night google search.

Now, we are in full swing building an orthodontic practice that we hope to open in the Fall. Jared has worked incredibly hard this entire year on securing his office location and was finally able to sign a lease in July. (He's been working as an orthodontist in other dental offices in the meantime.) He is busier than ever-- definitely busier than residency and maybe even dental school-- and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better. But I am so proud and appreciative of all his hard work. He's doing amazing things.

Oh, how to wrap this one up. With me? I mean, it feels like the whole thing has been about me, although not specifically me. And now that I think about it, I think the least has changed with me. It's hard to say what I was like back then, but now... I just started training for a half marathon in November-- something I've wanted to do forever and am finally giving it a try. I've been working out with friends at a fitness studio, and my size is the same but I feel stronger. I've been spending a surprising amount of time helping to start businesses-- Jared's practice, and one with my mom that I'll have to share more about soon. My hair doesn't even touch my shoulders anymore and I'm addicted to cutting it. I drive a Honda Odyssey everyday, sometimes more. And one that I realized just this morning-- I can look at my son and know which spots to wipe off because they are dirt, and which spots to skip because they are freckles. Their love for me has never been more sweet and my love for them has never been more fierce. More than ever, I am the mama.

If more posts and more pictures happened here, that would be okay with me.

father's day (and other stuff)

   

We definitely love this daddy.

Watching the relationships unfold between my kids and their dad has been such an amazing part of this journey called parenthood.

Bethany has been Daddy's Little Girl since day one. Jared says he didn't know love at first sight existed until he saw Bethany Brynn enter this world! (I try not to get offended, haha.) She has always reciprocated, often preferring him over me. (What I said before.) I've actually always been very okay with this-- maybe having another baby simultaneously didn't give me any time to feel left out, and/or maybe because I had plenty of time with her on my own, it was always okay, great in fact, for her to want him when he was home. Either way, I wasn't about to get in the way of that daddy-daughter bond that came so naturally.

Isaac has also always loved his daddy, but for the past couple of weeks he has wanted absolutely nothing to do with anyone else while Dada is around. Only at the end of the weekend has he finally been ready to acknowledge me again. (Okay, those may be slight exaggerations, but only slight.) I miss my boy during those times, but the upside is that only Dad can change his diapers. And of course I am still not left empty-handed-- as a result Bethany has been my little buddy/shadow (No boys, just the girls! she says), and I am loving it. 

It's pretty funny to hear them argue while each grabbing a leg: "That's my dada." "That's MY dada!" Repeat 10 times.

I am so appreciative of Jared and all that he does for this family. Through all of his schooling (and there was a lot of it, mostly pre-kids), even through the worst weeks of midterms, or finals, or board exams, or applications (and there were a lot, of all of the above), he still made it his mission in life to make me laugh. He was always able to leave that heavy feeling of stress at school, and I felt so thankful that his way of dealing with those burdens was mostly to put them down for a while when his back needed a break.

Never did I expect that almost a year out of school, we could have times that were just about as stressful as those it's-the-week-before-our-33-ortho-residency-applications-are-due-and-we-both-haven't-slept-in-4-days days. Jared has been working harder than ever to get his private practice established-- the culmination of all of that other stuff for all those years, and so it feels like the stakes are much higher, and the setbacks seem so much scarier. In these last two months a lot of things had come to a head and we didn't know if we would be able to move forward with the progress we've made or have to start over from scratch again. (Oh, and we moved houses. And went on vacation. Good things, terrible terrible terrible timing!) But, Jared's good looks and charm-- and some other amazing qualities-- have totally saved the day super-hero style, and it looks like we will be moving forward. We don't feel ready to celebrate quiiiiite yet, but soon. I think. I'll let you know.

In the meantime we are looking forward to a great summer, starting with a visit from some really good NYC friends that arrive tomorrow! Santa Paula holla!!

wait, there's more

I found more from Harbor Cove on Jared's phone and knew I couldn't help myself so I didn't even try. (This time with video!)

harbor cove beach

For all of you who are planning to visit us here in Santa Paula, California (which is all of you, right?), I have excellent news: we are finding more and more great places to go all the time. Today our find was Harbor Cove Beach.

A friend had told me months ago about a beach that was so great for the little ones-- with teeny waves, lots of sand, and minimal crowds-- that it was nicknamed Mommy Beach. Of course, I didn't tell Jared about the nickname until we had been enjoying it for a while, but sure enough, we hardly saw anyone who wasn't a mom or a toddler. (We actually hardly saw anyone at all! Benefits of having some Tuesdays off.)

Being at the beach with two toddlers normally means that I am on high alert, but this was an incredibly relaxing morning. Jared dug an enormous hole that fit both kids in their entirety, and the kids helped with (according to Bethany) making really big sand castles!! Isaac would run out to the water and then squeal and run away when it started chasing him back, until he eventually got more brave and just laid down on his stomach to wait for the little waves to roll in. We all just played and played and played... until it was time to go home for possibly the longest nap of their little lives.

When you come here, we'll take you.

If my husband were a moustache, he would be Tom Selleck.

What? I know, that title hardly makes any sense. But hopefully it will...

Last week was Jared's birthday, and to honor him, I am sharing this video taken way back when, at a mustache/ugly sweater/poetry party with our UCLA friends in December '07. The guys took their mustache growing and poetry writing very seriously, and it was hilarious. Here's Jared's. Consider it his birthday gift to you. :)

(The audio isn't great, so I've also included text below, but you still have to watch because his delivery is the best part!)

Jared is hands down one of the funniest people I know. His sense of humor is super sly and he doesn't often laugh at his own jokes, so people who aren't on their toes don't always know that he's joking. I don't even know how many times someone who is a bit new to Jared has asked me if he is kidding around. Yes, the answer is almost always yes! Some of our friends call him the Sleeper, because sometimes he'll just hang back and then say something hilarious when you least expect it. He does it to me all the time.

Love, thanks for making me laugh every single day! You : husbands :: Tom Selleck's mustache : mustaches.

If my mustache were

By Jared Lee

If my mustache were a soldier, it would be Rambo

If my mustache were a workout, it would be Tai-bo

If my mustache were shoes, it’d be by Versace

If my mustache played the piano, it would be Liberaci

If my mustache were a movie, it would be Dumb & Dumber

If my mustache were an SUV, it would be a monster truck Hummer

If my mustache were a coat, it would be made of fur

If my mustache were a martini, it would be shaken, not stirred

If my mustache were a formal, it would be an Armani tuxedo

If my mustache were a weapon, it would be an atomic torpedo

If my mustache were a missionary, it would be AP

If my mustache were a traveler, it would be Rick Steves

If my mustache were a comic book, it would be Hammer of Thor

If my mustache fought high cholesterol, it would be Lipitor

If my mustache were a landlord, it would be Mr. Roper

If my mustache were on Batman, it would be The Joker

If my mustache had a job, it would be a dentist

If my mustache were on The Office, it would be Dr. Crentist

If my mustache were a jacket, it would be made of leather

If my mustache were a burden, it would be light as a feather

If my mustache were a gun, it would be an oozi

If my mustache were a pool, it would be a jacuzzi

If my mustache were a wedgie, it would be a full melvin

If my mustache were cold, it would be zero Kelvin

If my mustache were an action hero, it would be Chuck Norris

If my mustache ruled Russia, it would be Yeltzin, Boris

If my mustache were jeans, it'd be tapered and tight

If my mustache were love, it would go all night

celebrating Jared!

Jared's birthday was last week. I feel like I flaked out a bit because I didn't give him the proper birthday blog post, and I even forgot to wear my Little League Jared button like I like to do on his birthday. It's because we were celebrating too hard, right?

His birthday was Friday, February 24, and it began with delicious breakfast-eating and present-opening. The kids are very much into birthdays-- they love the cupcakes (we had muffins) and blowing out candles and opening presents. It made for a fun start to the day.

This pic makes me feel like it's my birthday!

And then... he went to work. It's rough being a real life adult sometimes (but really awesome having a job!). On his way out the door, as he was giving goodbye waves and kisses to the kids, Bethany said to him, unprompted and clear as day, Happy Birthday Dada. We both nearly burst into tears from the cuteness. Melt-your-heart cuteness, that girl.

That weekend, we had not one but two dinner dates! A rare and exciting thing these days, indeed. On Friday (his actual birthday) just Jared & I went to Winchester's in downtown Ventura, and on Saturday we went to Papa Lennon's in Ojai with our friends Steve and Marnie. Great food, even better company, both nights! It's reassuring to know there are good restaurants everywhere, as one of the fears of moving away from New York City is that you'll never have a really great meal ever again.

Stopping to enjoy the view on the way to Ojai.

On Saturday during the day we had the funnest outing to the Santa Barbara Zoo. The kids were so playful and we were all in high spirits. I decided not to take any pictures of the backs of my kids' heads while they're looking at animals, like it is so tempting to do (it's just so cute when they are so engrossed), but we do have about a zillion of them (and a video!) at the play area. Here's my attempt to narrow it down to a few favorites...

Great fun was had sliding down the hill.

Back for more. Again, and again, and again.

Pure glee.

The competition begins...

...and continues...

...until Isaac hears people start talking about the train. He immediately ditches his board to look for the train. This is so typically Isaac-- the switch happens this fast, people. Just watch.

I'm a bit amazed that he picked up on it just from hearing people mention train. He knew about it before I did.

Clutching his train ticket.

Isaac made a new friend, who I am pretty sure is Wilson. Out of respect I was sure to not photograph his face.

He was there with his granddaughter, but Isaac didn't seem to feel bad at all stealing him away. She wasn't being as fun, anyway.

We did see a few animals too.

I tried to get a shot of them both in the egg (twins!) but they move too fast.

On the way home we hit up Taco Bell and tried to keep the kids awake so we could make it home for naps.

Jared said it was the perfect birthday weekend. I'd have to agree.

As promised... Jared's mustache poetry coming up next!

our Grand adventure

The Grand Canyon is on a lot of lists. For example, it makes the Seven Natural Wonders of the World list, and it's been on my list of places to go for a long time. I can guarantee, however, that it's not on any sort of list of things to do with your toddlers. But we did it, and (spoiler alert) we all survived. Now that we're past the insanity of the idea and the relief of not losing anyone over the rim, here's alllll about it!

Our GC trip was a gift from Jared's parents for all the February birthdays (Jared, his mom Suzanne, and his sister Kristine) + their spouses + 4 toddlers.

On Friday we made the 8 hour drive with Jared's parents and Bethany and Isaac in our glorious minivan and stayed the night in Williams, AZ. I was totally apprehensive about how the kids would do on the drive, but they were great! Hardly a fuss from either one! Of course, borrowing a DVD player and every Disney movie ever made might have had something everything to do with it. Jared's parents drove while Jared & I sat in the way back to take care of the kids. I also got to read my book-- These is My Words, a good choice for the drive through AZ-- vacation has begun!

We drove the 5 hours from Santa Paula to Needles, CA, and made our first stop at Jack Smith park. We were hoping they would have some sort of playground so the kids could go nuts for an hour or two, and Jared's iPhone couldn't have led us to a better place. There was a good playground, and even better than that, a marina on the Colorado River with a tiny waveless beach. As soon as Jared saw it we stripped the kids down and let them go wild. The air was warm and the water was freezing, but they didn't care. True water babies, these two.

We met up with Kristi, Matt, Anna and Scott at the hotel in Williams and went to dinner. Since we'd have three nights together and three birthdays to celebrate, Kristi had the idea that each birthday-ee would get their own night, and another birthday-ee would host and toast that person. The first night was Suzanne's night. Jared gathered stories from Suzanne's other kids and siblings about her amazing qualities. She is such a fabulous mother, grandma and friend, and we love her! Isaac had 6 helpings of soft serve as a tribute.

On Saturday we rode the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to the South Rim. While the kids were definitely excited to be on the train at first, by the end of the 2.5-hour ride Isaac was frustrated with being basically locked in a big room with places he wasn't allowed to explore and things he wasn't allowed to touch. It's hard being so curious sometimes. But midway through the train ride was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. A lady with an accordion and lots of eye makeup came through our car to play and sing some songs for us. It was a total flashback to NYC subway performers. She started out with a few old western songs and then when she noticed how into it our kids were, she got into the Itsy Bitsy Spider and other kid favorites. Bethany and Isaac loved it! They did the hand motions and sang along, and surprised me with how many words they knew. They followed the performer up and down the aisle and she called them her little groupies. They danced to If You're Happy and You Know It and made the entire train laugh. It was so cute Jared & I almost cried. It was a moment I don't ever want to forget! By the end, I loved that accordion lady so much that I even did the chicken dance for her when she asked me to (and convinced Suzanne to do it with me). I never liked that dang chicken dance.

If you're happy and you know it shout HOORAY!

(Spot B on the seat, I in the aisle, and smiling faces all around)

When the train stopped we got right onto a bus for a short tour of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were a bundle of nerves each time we got out of the bus to look out into the canyon. Sure, there are some guard rails up here and there, but there are a whole lot of opportunities to fall a few thousand feet if you're not paying attention or if you're 2 and you don't know any better. Of course, we had the death grip on our kids. Isaac, my little explorer, got fed up with that pretty quickly, so I took him to this little island in the middle of the parking lot and we threw rocks and hit trees with sticks until it was time to move on. At another stop we found a patch of snow, and these California/Arizona kids thought it was the best thing ever. They had the world's tiniest snowball fight while the adults circled them in their snow patch that was just 20 feet from the rim. Jared & I let our kids have their binkies and lovies (normally reserved just for sleep) for this stop in hopes that it might subdue them. Hard to say if it worked. I must say though that the weather that day was perfectly sunny and warm, and the glimpses we got of the canyon were absolutely stunning.

Saturday night we ate pizza in the hotel room and celebrated Kristine's birthday. Suzanne did a cute tribute to Kristi with pictures from her childhood. It's crazy to think that I've known her since she was 14, and now she's turning 28. From the beginning, she made me feel so welcomed into the family and has been a great friend, sister, and example of a wife and mother. I'm so glad our kids are so close in age-- Anna's just 16 months older than B&I, Scott is 1 month older, and their next little boy is on the way. It wouldn't be a birthday without dessert, and Jared, knowing his children very well, suggested we let them eat cake... in the tub. Another favorite moment.

A friend had told me that I absolutely had to see the Grand Canyon at sunrise. On Sunday morning, Jared & I woke up a few minutes before the kids and the sun, so he told me to run over to the rim to see it. I threw on my boots and coat and opened the door to this instead:

A snowy Sunday was spent seeing a really beautiful movie about the GC at the visitors center, getting some really foggy views at the rim, and going to an hour of church at the Grand Canyon Community Church, a cool little pine and stone building where they held LDS meetings as well as meetings for other denominations. Church started at naptime, which to be honest made me really not want to go when we would likely be out in the hallway the entire time anyway, but we went and the kids proved me wrong by being complete angels. Bethany played quietly with her cousins, and Isaac slept in Jared's arms for maybe the 3rd time ever. (One of our twin survival tactics was to not train them to fall asleep in our arms. It has occasionally backfired, but it is great how they've always fallen asleep on their own in their cribs.) It was definitely one of Jared's favorite moments.

We rode the train back to Williams on Sunday afternoon, and apparently no wild west train ride is complete without a hold up. So, "robbers" (actors) came up on horseback and walked through the train. Bethany surrendered a couple coins but Isaac was too afraid, so afraid he was shaking in my arms. I've never seen him scared like that! Kinda sad, kinda cute.

Sunday night was Jared's birthday celebration night, and Kristi's turn to host. She read some stories from his sister Johanna, about following in her legendary brother's footsteps in high school; Johanna's husband Talmage, about being nervous to meet his girlfriend's big brother and realizing they would be friends; from Matt, about Jared's confidence in Matt that he would get into dental school (and he did!); and from Brian, about walking in with Jared on Brian's first day of high school and being awestruck by his big brother's coolness. Kristi gave him a set of hillbilly braces teeth (the perfect gift for an orthodontist!) and passed out mustaches, which we all wore while I read Jared's famous mustache poem. (He wrote/performed it before I started blogging and deserves its own post, maybe on his actual birthday? Hee hee.) Favorite!

Monday morning we took the kids for a swim in the hotel pool before heading home. No pictures, just fun. We stopped in lovely Barstow, CA, where we ate at Chipotle and the kids had the time of their lives at a Burger King play space. We made one more stop to play at Grandma & Grandpa's house and change the kids into pajamas, and then at bedtime we got back in the car and went home.

Going into the weekend, I was most excited to see the big ol' canyon and thought that if we all merely survived the trip (and the canyon) it would be a success. I was so wrong, it was so much better than just the Grand Canyon! Dancing kids, generous grandparents, silly mustaches, sleepy snuggles, cake in the bathtub... The very best moments were all the moments in between.