Yellowstone, Part 1

Most of my family's "vacations" through the years have been to different National Parks. (You can go ahead and call us outdoorsy). This time we went to Yellowstone National Park, and it was awesome!

Mammoth

Hayden Valley. We watched these buffalo for so long! It was so cool to be up close.

The view from the Artist Point

Old Faithful

Yellowstone is huge! There are so many cool things to see, tons of hikes, beautiful meadows and lakes, weird gurgling mud puddles, steaming hot springs, plenty of animals to slam on your brakes for, rivers to swim in, yadda yadda yadda. We loved it.

Sunday Evening with the Hawkins Fam

It was so fun to get together with the Hawkins family in Utah. We loved hanging out with everyone and seeing Bryn play with her cousins.

Bryn and Vela playing on the tramp

Josh racing Joe (his twin)

So fun! I married into the best family!

Little Sicky

Like I mentioned, Bryn got a little sick on our trip. This was Bryn's first time being sick (beyond a runny nose) so maybe I'm just being dramatic, but here's the story anyway..... PART 1: Basically, Bryn caught a little stomach bug in Yellowstone, she got really dehydrated, and ended up at Primary Children's Hospital. She was lethargic and limp (scary), but after ten hours on an IV she started perking up. They advised us to keep her til the next day, since her blood tests hadn't looked so good, but she seemed fine to us so we wanted to get out of there! So we convinced the doctors she was okay and to release her early. (Which was an embarrassingly stupid move on our part. We definitely should have kept her there til the doctors were satisfied. )

Finally perking up and having a few bites of mashed potatoes. PART 2: So we took her home to my parents house and then took off for California the next day. She still was weak and didn't have an appetite, but she seemed okay. Then when we were about two hours from Huntington Beach she started saying "Yucky, yucky, yucky" and, just as Bryn had warned, things certainly got really yucky. And then even yuckier. And then ever yuckier. Can you tell from this picture it was a bit of a wild ride?

Bryn was crying in discomfort and we were really worried she'd get dehydrated all over again. But we made it home, bathed her and cleaned everything up, and put her to bed. (With a much-needed blessing from Josh and our Home Teacher). Thankfully, she had a great day Sunday, munching on dry toast and applesauce slurping Pedialyte popsicles. (And hooray that she kept everything down!) She is still a little weak, but at least the stomach bug is gone and I think we're past the dehydration stage. Woohoo. Anyway, that's that.

- - - - -

Okay, go ahead and laugh at how dramatic this little experience was for us. We can laugh about now. Until I smell her car seat. And then the laughing stops.

High and Low

Well, it's been a week of highs and lows.

HIGH: Our trip to Yellowstone National Park

LOW: Our trip to Primary Children's Hospital (stomach bug + super dehydration)

Actually, the real low was the drive from Utah to California. I'll spare you the messy details of that lovely trip.

(I'll post more pictures from our Utah trip when things slow down.)

Road Trip

We're taking off for Utah, for a fun week with family. It will be the first time the three of us have DRIVEN to Utah since we moved to California.

Our last Utah-California drive was an adventure with the three of us in the cab of a U-Haul, our car being towed at the back, no air-conditioning, a close-to-overheating vehicle, and a 6-week-old baby who nursed every three hours.

We're hoping this trip will be a little smoother....but this time we have a busy toddler, so it will probably be right up there with last time. Any great tips for long drives with toddlers?

Blackout Curtain

Bryn's room gets a lot of light and she was waking up pretty early because of it. Her window is six feet wide, so I had trouble finding black-out curtains or roller-shades wide enough. (Plus they were expensive!) So I made a simple black out curtain a few weeks ago and it's made such a difference!

I bought two yards of "blackout" fabric from JoAnns, and with a 50% off coupon it was only 2.99 a yard. Then I cut it to fit the frame of the window. (Actually, I cut it too short and so I had to sew an extra strip to the side. Figures.) I stuck a line of sticky-back velcro to the top metal frame of the window, and then sewed regular sew-on velcro across the top of the blackout fabric. And that's it. It only takes a second to stick it on each night, and then I just fold it up and hide it under Bryn's dresser during the day.

Here's Bryn's room this morning without the blackout curtain up.... (Just focus on the amount of light, not the bare white walls, lack of curtains, or mismatched decor. Ha.) And here it is with the curtain up. It makes a huge difference! She used to wake up at 6 am, and now it's closer to 8. Hooray for a quick solution, and for more sleep!!!

(We only use it at nights. If we used it for her naps too, then she'd get used to sleeping in a black cave and never fall asleep when we travel!)

Cute.

I'm watching this sweet little babe on Mondays and Wednesdays and it's sooo fun to cuddle and rock a baby again! And it is the cutest thing ever to see Brynlee play the role of Big Sister. I can't wait til Bryn can be a full-time big sister! (This is not an announcement, by the way.)

Such a cutie!

Sewing Class

I spent last Saturday at a marathon sewing class at the Bernina store, with some cute little ladies who have spent more money on sewing equipment than we'll earn in ten years. The class was a little lengthy, but it was actually very helpful. I learned lots of tips and techniques that would have been oh-so-nice to know during big projects the last few months! It made me excited to try some new projects...and go back and redo some old projects that had issues! Three cheers for sewing!

Orange County Fair

Bryn asks for a "Party Party Party!" every day, and our outings rarely qualify as such. But our Friday night trip to the Orange County Fair definitely counted as a party, and she was all smiles the whole night. She kept saying "Party! Fun! Party! Fun!"

Petting goats, llamas, deer, and other generic furry things.

Josh wanted a big turkey leg to gnaw on with the rest of the men folk, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Bryn was loving all the animals! For instance, this little pair

She was in HEAVEN playing the piano in the Kid Zone... with Josh and I dousing her in hand sanitizer between songs. (How many children...or animals?...have touched those same keys? Brandi, you would have loved this place!)

Yum.

Worn out after her fun "Party Party". What a fun night!

THANKS you-know-who for the extra tickets!

Ohdeedoh Feature

My favorite children's blog Ohdeedoh featured the little play kitchen we made for Brynlee. Click HERE if you want to read the little article on their site. The best part of the write-up is the term "rejigger". If there's one thing Josh and I love to do, it's rejiggering something!

Fun Fun Weekend

On Thursday afternoon, I got a knock at my door and three of my siblings were standing there! Surprise!!! Itwas such a fun weekend! The best pictures from this weekend are on my siblings' cameras, but here's a few of mine...

Uncle Mark, Jae, and Josh at LUCILLE'S!!! I am not even a BBQ person, but I really love this place.

Me, Marie, and Jordan

Bryn (cheeks full of biscuits!) and Mark

Yum.

On Saturday we went to the Getty Museum. It is such a beautiful place! We stayed for hours. The art collection is nice, but I especially love the architecture and the gardens. It's also super family friendly with free art projects for kids, free stroller rental, and a fun family room with little activities that related to the art collection.

My photos don't do it justice.

Crescent Bay look-out point on Sunday evening.

Bryn and Rie

Jord and Bryn having a heart to heart

Bryn loves all my siblings, but Marie might just have earned the top spot this weekend.

Awww....sisters. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the surprise visit! It was soo fun to be with you guys, and so great to see Bryn being silly with all of you. Wish we lived closer!

The weekend was great, but it definitely would have been better if Logan was with us! He was at Scout camp in Utah, but he was missed! Love you Log!