We went to California, Part 1

Everything our little family does is done quickly and our vacations are no exception.  In the spring, Ross found out about a soccer game between Manchester City and Real Madrid being played in Los Angeles in the Summer and a trip was born.

We had three days, book ended by half days of travel, to get as much sight-seeing and fun in as we could.  Now, nearly a week later, I'm still tired.

We left on a Tuesday afternoon and I realized that we always leave for vacations, at least when we are flying, and it's really stressful so in the future, we need to leave in the morning or at least mid day, not 4 pm.

We arrived at the Long Beach airport.  We found the house we were renting and I had a mini panic attack that it was too hot and too musty and it wasn't going to work.  After dinner at Wahoo's I calmed down a bit.  It was a cute but very old house with bad wifi, no TV (even though it was promised and yes we complained), and one bathroom.  But, we survived.

Day two had us up bright and early in the morning to head along the Pacific Coast Highway to Crystal Cove State Park Beach.  It's my new favorite.  We had the beach to ourselves for a very long time and the boys had so much fun playing in the water, hunting for crabs and urchins in the tide pools and getting covered in sand.  We wrapped up the morning with a walk up a hundred or so stairs to Ruby's Diner Shake Shack and it wad delicious.  The beach is just so calming and great.












After that, we headed back to the house, got cleaned up and drove into Los Angeles to go to the LaBrea Tar Pits.  Pretty cool.  Smelled like asphalt.  Boys had fun.





We ate a quick snack at the Farmer's Market food place at the Grove shopping center, found a MUJI for me to buy notebooks to my hearts contentment and then headed to the soccer game at the LA Colosseum.

The Colosseum is incredibly old, outdated, unsafe, and gross.  The seats were rusty and had holes and were covered in spider webs.  Quinn wouldn't even sit in his and spent the first half of the game on my lap.  There were also no railings anywhere in the stadium.  When the stairs are THAT steep, and everyone is THAT drunk, you'd figure some railings would come in handy (get it, handy!) .   We however, persevered and watched the game.







We were directly across the aisle from a huge contingency of Man City fans, which made Ross pretty happy.  They were fairly calm the first half and we only endured a little rowdy behavoir.  That was however made up for in the second half.  People without seats in the section were filling the stairs (fire hazard), the 32 oz beers in souvenir cups were flowing and the borderline appropriate songs were being sung.  Once Man City was up 3-0, I convinced Ross that we could leave.  It was a pretty interesting experience and when I left to use the restroom in the middle of the second half, I ratted out all those crazy fans as a fire hazard to the first security person I could find.

Rule follower I am.

The great thing about going to a soccer match that doesn't start at 8:30 pm, when your kids brains thing it's 9:30 pm is that everyone falls asleep on the way back to the rental and minus the fact that the house was pretty warm, slept like babies for the whole night.

Day 1 was a victory!

Quinn plays soccer!

This is the first year my littlest buddy is playing an organized sport.  Starting with soccer, when your dad is the coach, and your bestie cousin is on your team is a pretty good introduction to competition.  Ross is an excellent coach and Quinn is pretty competitive apparently - more so than I ever thought was possible.

The first couple practices, he melted down a little.  The first game he wasn't sure what to do and only RAN when we all yelled at him, "QUINN....RUN!"  But, since then he has been a goal scoring machine and last week, out ran and hustled a giant bully of a girl (who, by the way, was not a 4 year old) and even scored a girl on her as she tripped him and knocked him down.

It's so exciting and fun to watch him get excited and have fun.  Let's face it, kids a couch potato who loves TV, french fries and riding in shopping carts so to see him have energy and run and be enthusiastic is really really great.

The Griswolds Go : Argentina! (Seattle, day 4)

On this, the last full day of our vacation, we didn't really have a solid plan for the day.  We had a few options, like the Japanese Botanical Gardens or the Ballard Lochs.  But, we decided to start with the Woodland Park Zoo and see where the day took us.

This day, Tuesday, was the "worst" weather of the trip.  Pretty chilly and off/on rain for big chunks of the morning and afternoon.  Luckily, I managed to remember to pack enough warm clothes for us so we were pretty okay.

We started the day with the zoo and it was pretty impressive.  Not so much for the animals, but the scenery.  It was so green and wooded and the zoo felt like you were more on a nature preserve than a zoo.  All the animals had really big habitats, and in 4 hours we walked almost 3 miles.  Yes, the zoo was big and yes, we were there longer than my boys have ever spent anywhere.

The zoo had a few interesting animals on exhibit too.  They had a small farm area with cows, pigs, sheep and a few goats.  Strange, but I guess city kids don't regularly see such animals.  And, even though we didn't see them, they had a small herd of elk, too.  There were four white wolves, a stellar sea eagle and 2 komodo dragons which were super impressive.  The zoo was also proud of a brand new baby gorilla but even though she was out on exhibit with her mother, they were not visible in the enclosure.










After our time at the zoo, it started raining (again) and we were hungry.  We found a little taco joint and got our food to go.  It was time to carb load and rest ourselves before the ultimate event of our vacation, the Copa America soccer game between Argentina and Bolivia.

Now, Ross should really write the next part, because soccer isn't my thing (I mean, I just don't get it.  The whole thing just feels like a giant time suck and all that anticipation for nothing?  Maybe that's why everyone does freak out when a goal is scored, because they get so little out of their 90 plus minutes of watching).  Anyway, the jersey's were broken out, the jumping and skipping (Elliott and Wyatt) had started and that dad of ours just couldn't stop smiling.

Expectations were high because, well, it's Lionel Messi and because Messi had scored a 19 minute hat-trick the previous Saturday.  Aren't you impressed with my soccer lingo?  Hat-trick?  Yeah!  We got to the Seahawks stadium a mere 2 hours before the start of the match to see some of the festivities.  Lots of crazy and drunk Argentine's chanting in the streets, and a few Bolivian fans spread out in the crowd.  I'm pretty sure that it was at least 80% Argentina fans to 20% Bolivian fans, and of all those Argentina fans, at least 80% of them were wearing some kind of Argentina or Messi jersey.  I wore a blue scarf.











The short version: Argentina won.  Messi played the second half.  He didn't score but he had some penalty/corner/whatever kicks and nutmeged the goalie (More soccer terminology for you).  Everyone in the whole stadium, including my husband, got their phones out to record anything that guy might do that had the potential to be amazing.  That was pretty funny to watch.  My boys left happy.  Wyatt drank almost 2 full 32 oz. diet cokes (The NFL does contracts with Coke, not Pepsi, hooray!) and used the bathroom about every 12 minutes.  We got some great souvenirs.  The boys were excellent, even Quinn who struggles to be excellent.  But, watching soccer laying on my lap was about the same as watching TV at home laying on my lap, and he had a box of skittles so he was at peace with the world.

That night, after finding an open late gelato shop near our apartment, we all went to bed around midnight.  Exhausted.  But, ready to go home the next morning.

The Griswolds Go :: Seattle, Washington (day 1)

When Ross told me that our rental car while on our trip to Seattle was going to be a suburban, I wasn't thrilled.  Mostly because it didn't feel like such a large vehicle was appropriate for such a small city with no place to park.  But, I have to admit, now that we're home and we aren't driving the brand new (only 7 miles when we picked it up), Quinn and I miss it.  Quinn asked on Thursday morning where the black shark car was.  It was a winner and possible my future.

Anyway, we'd been planning a trip to Seattle for several months.  The Copa America soccer tournament was taking place this June in cities all over the United States and Ross wanted to cross seeing Lionel Messi play soccer for Argentina, in person, off his bucket list.  Who am I to argue with bucket lists (Remember our trip to the Redwoods last year?  Yeah, bucket list.)

We arrived in Seattle on Friday evening, around dinner time, piled into our pimped out ride and headed towards our vacation.  The excitement of the boys was pretty palpable and we were starving.

Note:  Flew to and from on brand new planes with tv's in the headrests.  Quinn watched Jurassic World both going and coming.

Our first stop was dinner on the westernish side of Seattle in a hip neighborhood.  Zippy's for burgers, fries and tots.  Delicious.   It was a super small joint with only 4 tables and greasy, hipster, beatnik types working and heavy metal blasting on the radio - and no AC so we were sweating and swimming in burger grease.

But, it was delicious.  The tots were diving and my burger was a perfect heart attack with thick bacon, and barbeque sauce.



After dinner, we drove to meet Autumn, the manager of our VRBO.  There was a mix-up and our first night the five of us were crammed into a one bedroom, maybe 400 sq. ft. apartment.  We survived and moved to a bigger, two bedroom place the next day.  It's pretty hard to get your kids to go to sleep when they are all in the same room, and Elliott and Quinn are sharing a sofa bed.  Wyatt chose to sleep on couch cushions on the floor.

We got up in the morning, Saturday, and got ready to play tourist.  On the agenda for the day: Pike's Place Market and doughnuts.  Aquarium.  Harbor Cruise on Elliott Bay.  Seattle Mariners baseball game.















The kids were pretty impressed with Pikes Market and the doughnuts we got there on the recommendation of a friend of mine. We found the gum alley under the market and then headed to the aquarium.  I had a great Cesar salad and french fries at Elliott's Oyster Bar on the bay.  The aquarium was tiny but interesting and the Harbor Cruise was very information.  Did you know that "Fraser" in all it's seasons on TV only filmed one episode in Seattle and that the Jetsons were set in 2062, and that the Space Needle was inspiration for the cartoon.









Oh, and I couldn't resist grabbing myself a bouquet of peonies before we left the market. The flower vendors were fabulous of course, but oh the peonies.  So many colors and they were all as big or bigger than my fist.  Just breathtakingly stunning.  Really, they were just too pretty to pass up and I got to stare at them the rest of our vacation.



Wyatt and Quinn spent most of the day starving because they don't eat real food but luckily, there was pizza at the baseball game.  Saved their bacon I tell you what.  Actually, I think they starved most of our trip but that's their problem and a story for another day.

We finished out the night with tacos from a food truck and a brisk walk to the baseball game, seranaded by a radical religious guy yelling into a megaphone about Jesus, the devil, and how we are all going to hell!  Pretty appropriate for baseball?  The weather was perfect, the game was boring (I mean, baseball right?) and everyone willingly crashed out when we got back to our apartment for the night.









A pretty good day one (and a half) of vacation.

A Dapper Trio

Over the weekend we were shopping at the Salt and Honey Market, mostly to check on my inventory because I was a vendor at the show.  While there, Wyatt decided that he wanted a bow tie, as part of his birthday presents.  We obliged.

On Sunday morning, he started to get dressed and then Quinn decided to jump on the bow tie bandwagon and, thanks to the last couple years of dressy Christmas presents from Grandma Judy, we were able to find a bow tie for Elliott, too.  I must say that these boys of mine, especially when the big boys have fresh haircuts, end up being a pretty dapper trio.

And as we all came down stairs ready for church, I realized that we were all dressed the same - navy blues, so it warranted a front porch selfie before we left the house.

13 years

Today is the wedding anniversary of Ross and Annie.
We have been married for 13 years.

A while ago, we had one of those late night, reminiscent talks, and it was concluded that I live life in two memory formats: BE and AE.

Before Elliott and After Elliott.

After Elliott, I remember a lot of stuff.  In fact, I remember most of it.  Before Elliott, I remember practically nothing and Ross has to regularly remind me of people, places, and things we did together before kids entered our lives.  I feel bad, but there isn't much I can do about it.

I do remember the day we were married, in snippets.  It was Easter weekend and the sun was shining on a beautiful Saturday morning.  It was warm and the tulips were absolutely beautiful at the temple.  I remember that after our sealing, we went out side for pictures and I had forgotten to put on my necklace so I looked a little casual for having just been married.  I remember the location of our luncheon, in a church gym by the Utah State Capitol, but nothing of the food or the things that were said.  I remember that after lunch, Ross and I headed out on our own to run some errands before meeting everyone back at the reception.  I have pictures to remind me how beautiful our wedding reception was.  My parents were generous, the location was spectacularly breathtaking, and I smiled a lot.

That's where the memory ends.  No details.  No recollection of our honeymoon, except for a few sparse details that Ross has reminded me of over the years.  No remembrance of the open house at Ross' parents house in Arizona except for a few frustrations and throwing up at the end of it with food poisoning.

Fast forward to today.  We have been married for 13 years and tomorrow embark on year 14.  To be honest, this past year has been extremely stressful.  Job, family, church, relationship, health have all gotten in the way of our path and caused some pretty big speed bumps.  Some of those bumps were that, just bumps, others felt more like pot holes that I really wasn't sure we were going to be able to pave over.  The last year has been hard.  But, we have perservered, fought our way through the muck, and have come out on top, and at least recently, have maybe been getting along better than we ever have.

Because I'm a nerd, I've spent the last year trying to come up with our "song".  Not a song that we danced to at a wedding (there was no dancing) or a song that we both really liked, but a song that, when I hear it, it reminds me of the why:  Why we try to make it work year after year.

I found the song.
Every single time I hear it, I am reminded of why we work, why we need each other, and why we keep trying.  As corny as it is, I cannot sleep when you aren't at home, and I get stressed out when you aren't close by.  We may fight like cats and dogs at times, but we work well together, have wonderful kids, respect each other, and are the best team I know.

Happy Anniversary.


You're the fire and the flood
And I'll always feel you in my blood
Everything is fine
When your head's resting next to mine
Next to mine

Since we met I feel a lightness in my step
You're miles away but I still feel you
Anywhere I go there you are
Anywhere I go there you are
Late at night when you can't fall asleep
I'll be lying right beside you counting sheep
Anywhere I go there you are
Anywhere I go there you are

The end of the year..

It seems that every single December sneaks up on me.  Here we are, just plugging along, living life, going on adventures, experiencing the seasons and then BLAMO!  It's Christmas!

Christmas completely and utterly stresses me out.  I have panic attacks and cry.  I miss my grandma's and strive to find their presence in all that I do, just to know, that they know, I'm trying.

The actual day of Christmas is a blur.  It is never as stressful as I think it's going to be and I do manage to find joy in watching my children's overwhelming excitement for all things wrapped (and not) in flimsy holiday paper.  We rush and rush and rush and then it all just comes crashing down.

Christmas should be the end of the year.  We should wake up the next day and ring in the new year all at once.  These days between December 25 and January 1 are just a jumble of sugar and chaos and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves every single day.

Today though, is my super cool brother's birthday.  He is 21 today.  Holy cow.  To celebrate, we are all going bowling (the Bing-Bings, the parental units and my family of 5), and eating lots of french fries, which is a pretty good way to celebrate the birthday of the one we love when he isn't here.  Because, if he was here, we'd probably be doing the same thing.

I'm excited for what the new year holds, what it will bring, and the adventures we will take both near and far.  I'm excited for my children to continue to grow and learn and be the great kids that they are.  I'm excited to get out of my 13th year of marriage and move on to the 14th, because the 13th has been a little stressful, to tell you the truth.  I'm excited to take more pictures, have new experiences, and maybe even go on an actual "date" or two with my husband, sans children.  I heard those things exist, but haven't been on one in so long I'm not sure I remember what to do.

All that being said, here is a quick slide show tribute to our 2015, may it rest in peace.  It seems that every year, my boys and I adopt a song.  One that's easy on the ears and can be wildly danced to in the kitchen (or the car, or anywhere else for that matter.)  Walk the Moon's, "Shut Up and Dance" seemed to fit the bill this year - and is probably one of the first songs we will have that Uncle of ours listen to as part of his missionary de-programming in two short months.

Happy New Year.  Bring on 2016.

no time to make time

we don't have a song.  We've entered our 13th year of marriage and we don't have a song.  It's really been bothering me lately, which I realize is dumb because it doesn't really matter.  One Sunday night, driving home from my parents after dinner I brought it up in conversation...the fact that we don't have a song.  Ross of course doesn't think it matters at all, but I told him that it does.  I also told him that I was pretty sure my parents had a song.

He said that he would guess that they didn't.

I called my mom.

She and my dad have a song.

I'm probably not supposed to say what it is (cough - stairway to heaven - cough) but they have a song.

I had no idea.

The next day, I texted my sister to ask her if she and her husband have a song.  She said no.  I asked her if she knew that my parents had a song.  She said yes, that it is (cough - stairway to heaven - cough).

I had no idea.

My husband is at scout camp.  He is supposed to be relieved and come home today.  Well, sometime late tonight is probably more like it.  We haven't had a real conversation with each other for days and days and days.  We haven't been on a "date" since, I think January.  We haven't even managed to tell each other good night because either one of us is already asleep or we're just too tired.

I read a blog post today, of a writer who I like, and she said that she and her husband are always doing things to "keep the romance alive" and one night after their kids were asleep they jumped into their hot tub in a rain storm with a big umbrella and that they just hung out listening to the rain and talking to each other and it was "so romantic".  I thought that sounded super strange, but I liked the idea of the talking part.

Keeping our lives afloat these days feels extra challenging and that there just isn't any time to spend together.  Do other people sometimes feel like their spouse is their roomate, or is that just me?  It's hard to figure out how to keep things interesting and engaging and not just be annoying, and a nag.

Maybe, we just really need to sit down and figure out our song.  That might be the solution to everything.