mitchell happenings

Last Post Here for Real!

Collette — 2009-10-13T13:12:26-07:00

If there is anyone who didn't get an invite, please let me know if you wanted to be added on the viewer list for the new blog. You can either email me or leave a message here. I've been trying to put up a post every day from my big trip, so there are all sorts of new things to read and look at.

On Second Thought...

Collette — 2009-10-05T10:52:29-07:00

I'm making the new blog private.
(sorry if this will deter you from visiting)

The New Blog Home

Collette — 2009-10-04T16:26:25-07:00

http://nathanandcollette.blogspot.com/

This old one will be around for about a month and then I will axe it.

Good-bye

Collette — 2009-09-22T21:52:26-07:00

So, two things.

1 - Somehow, amazingly, in the past week my old blog was recovered. I knew it had to be out there in cyberspace somewhere! So, nothing was really lost at all. Hooray! I had the text to it all and was piecing it back together, but even using my Google Reader archives I couldn't get it all. It appears that is no longer the case, as best as I can tell.

2 - Where was I piecing the old stuff back together at? A blogger site. And I incorporated most of my old blog that was lost and the blog before that (that was actually on blogger). I currently cannot start a post and leave it as a draft to finish later, people have trouble leaving comments, and Blogger is WAY better than it was when I first used it. So, in a few weeks I will just do my posting there and leave this site for other stuff. So, I will let you know when the change happens. And I almost promise this will be the last "mitchell happenings" move!

P.S. Any favorite sources for add-ons and backgrounds for blogger sites would be appreciated. :)

Just a Peek

Collette — 2009-09-17T15:50:24-07:00

We're still on a vacation and I have tons of old stuff to post. But, before I do, here's a peek of what we've been up to.

Park City

Collette — 2009-09-06T22:11:09-07:00

It's been almost a month since Nate's family reunion (the only reunion attended this year because of my work and I was only there part of the time). It was held in Park City again. I don't really know what went on the days and times I wasn't there, but one of the first stops upon my arrival was the park. Last year Zeke was quite confused by the name of the town, certain that we were going to a park all weekend. This year the confusion was held by Alexander, only he thought Park City was the name of the hotel.

At the park with all took a turn on some playground equipment. Here's is Uncle Spence testing his coordination.

Zeke tried out the tire swing with me.

Nate attempted a rolling log thing.

And Alexander resisted the slide, using all his might to stop on the way down.

There was a rugby game going on in the field next to the park, so we stopped and watched for a bit. I'd never watched rugby before. Interesting game.

We wandered around town a bit and ran into a car show. I love them, in case I haven't told you this enough.

Unlike other car shows I have been to, this one focused primarily on European cars. No Mustangs or Bel Airs or old Chevys to be found here.

Surprisingly, the boys did not enjoy this. For kids who love the movie Cars, I guess they needed some speed and action to go with the automobiles.

Zeke tried dragging me along to just get done. He was not pleased when I told him we had to walk past all the cars on the other side too.

Once we were FINALLY done with the car show, we planned on riding the ski lift in town, but after purchasing our tickets we decided it should wait for another day. It looked like it might rain at the top and if not, it'd at least be cold and we weren't dressed for it. So, we saved them for another day. So, we wandered more and saw some amazing wildlife.

A brass bird.

A molested bear.

A confused moose.

----------------------------

One of my favorite spots in Park City is the ski fence.

I also like to eat here. We chowed on some delicious pizza at Main Street Pizza and Noodle.

Apparently neither kid could walk after dinner and ONLY MOM could carry them. Thank goodness I have two arms and they aren't too heavy or they may have just melted with sadness right there on the sidewalk.

We cheered them up with chocolate shortly after. Even though we were stuffed, we devoured expensive chocolate: Oreos for the kids and truffles (MMMMMMM!) for the parents.

It was about time to get back for some reunion-ing. On the way back to the car, Zeke and Alexander entertained themselves by following Uncle Spence.

The main event is dinner. The delicious meat is usually grilled up Nate's dad Dave.

I didn't take any pics of the reunion itself. I saw others snapping away and figured I'd get a copy of something at some point. So, here are some of Nate's cousins just before dinner.

After din din there was some gaming. Nate's sister had a game for the kids called Don't Eat Pete. I think she made it up, I don't know, but the kids loved it!

Some of the grown ups got in on the games too. (Another borrowed picture - proof that it wasn't just us there.) We played some Ticket to Ride after the kids were in bed.

But before we did that, we hung out in the "park" across the street and Nate played Frisbee with our kids and some others. Alexander's skills cracked me up.

He was so determined with every throw. It may not have gone far, but it went there with a purpose!
That's it. Like I said, I missed out on most of the action, and even though he had the camera, my sweet husband took zero pictures. You probably would have been bored with more anyway, right?

More Bees

Collette — 2009-09-03T11:54:04-07:00

After the great success of of our first Bees game with the boys this year, we decided to go a few more times.

And they fell more in love with it all (everything but the game, that is).

Me and my zombie child.

Alexander overjoyed by Nate rolling him down the hill. Again? Again?

In love with the train. They had to yell and wave at it the first 20 or so times it passed.

And Zeke needed to take a picture of it. I thought you had to pay for the train so despite pleas to ride I said no and no and no. Then I learned it was free, so I made a promise to let them ride next time.

And I made good on my promise. We got in line as soon as we arrive to avoid the very long line. The boys liked it and that made me happy.

It became increasingly important that we have snacks. I brought in a bag full of drinks and candy to one game.

The Mt. Dews were not good with the sweet stuff, so I remembered plain water for the next time.

And the kids devoured the Toostie Rolls and Peach Rings. (I let them pick them out.) Alexander insisted that we get Tootsie Rolls for the next game.

Being alone as a family at games is fun, but can always be improved upon with friends.

The kids played catch with a dad or two.

Ran around like crazy.

And also created some massive dog piles.

Chit-chat among the dudes (and I must point out, Nate had his back to the game almost the entire night!)

Once again just sitting out on a summer's night was nice.

And something about baseball games and sunsets is always pretty to me. I think it is the darkening sky against the contrast of the stadium lights keeping the field bright as day.
As a sign of the end of summer, there are only a few games left, none of which we can attend. Thanks to the friends that met us at the games. It was good to spend time with you.

Sporty

Collette — 2009-08-31T22:01:58-07:00

I have not been feeling bloggy, can you tell? I've been good at reading blogs, but just haven't felt like posting. It seems like a lot of friend and family blogs have been that way this summer. I'm hoping you'll all post more now that summer is almost done (really, tomorrow is September?!).
Instead of going through a community program for soccer, our friends thought that we could manage it for free with our own group of kids.

My kids just watched half the time, but still had a lot of fun.

There weren't really any "games," just skill learning stuff.

And for some, just not touching the ball with their hands was a huge success.

Nate also got a few games of softball in with my old work. They forgot to tell us when the season started, but that's ok, some is better than none.

The boys liked watching dad play "baseball."

They found some golf balls laying around and gathered a stick to try their hand on it. Needless to say, Zeke needs to work on his reaction time a little. Whenever the ball accidentally hit the stick as they were pitching, they got so excited about the hit and ran fake bases.

Let's Go Ride a Bike

Collette — 2009-08-26T10:43:23-07:00

Nathan and I have a bike trailer for the kids. It has been nice. Nate uses it a lot. I've used it once (hey, I just go the parts to hook it to my bike, leave me alone!). Eventually when kid #3 comes along (not pregnant, repeat: not pregnant) we will need a way to haul our kid load.
Enter:

I would love one of these. And guess what? They are GIVING AWAY one a week. Free. Click on the picture to learn more.
Let me tell you a little secret too, and I promise this is not why I am telling you to go there. These bikes are popping up on blogs everywhere (like here, here, here, and even it's even been featured on Martha Stewart's website). I know they will be nothing short of well made because the founder, Jared Madsen, and I used to work together (and strangely before that his mom was my landlady!). He is such a genius and so talented at making stuff. He spent a lot of time overseas researching the way bikes were used in a more useful way in places like China. The end result, bikes like the Bucket bike. I totally want one.

Fashion Sense

Collette — 2009-08-20T09:28:01-07:00

I am not hip, trendy or cool. I am fine with that. I hate the ebb and flow of fashion. (Like why should I wear skinny jeans today when yesterday I was told they are not flattering on most body types?) I like the staples in clothing. The classics. The things that don't change. But, I also like some fun in my wardrobe. And as much as I like that by taking good care of my stuff so that it lasts, I also like to get new clothing now and then. I found this website called Sensibly Styled a few weeks ago and immediately liked it. My fondness grew after seeing THIS POST today. Now I just want to go through my closet and drawers (and truthfully the bin in the garage full of stuff that will likely never fit again, despite my want) and clean out. I have way more clothes than I actually wear, but still need just a titch more - solely for variety. (I am trying to step up my sewing to assist with this.) I would love to know where your favorite places in-store or online are to shop. (That means leave a comment today!)
I'm never going to be trendy. It's not me, it's not my thing. Occasionally there are trends that I do really like. The cute shirts with slightly puffy sleeves, the ruffles in the front, plaid shorts - I dig all of those (yet own none). I don't understand things like scarves and I doubt I'll ever put on leggings again (or heaven forbid - stirrups, which I saw in the store the other day!) Those are me in 4th grade, not now. But, I won't say never to them.

And, as to not leave you a post with no picture - this is from when I was about 9. My mom always made sure we had mix and match outfits. See, the shirt looks great with PURPLE or blue pants.

I Lied to You!

Collette — 2009-08-17T22:59:42-07:00

Remember when I said no more water posts? That was a lie. I fibbed to you. Please forgive me. I forgot to post about our boating trip. Nate loves to wakeboard. He tries to go at least once a year these days. We didn't go at all last year, so he was very excited to go a couple of weeks ago.

Nate used to have a boat. It was an old school 1970's boat not made for wakeboarding. Being the handy guy that he is he made a tower for it and went out boating a lot.

A year before we got married he sold the boat (seems like a big mistake now, but it was a good idea then). I'd just like to note that I LOVE this picture of him. We went down to Lake Powell (my one and only time) with a friend of his in 2001. It was so much fun - and all I did was sit in the boat.

My brother-in-law, Ryan has an uncle with a boat. It is stored at Ryan's house most of the year, so Ryan gets to take it out sometimes. We are thankful. :) We headed north for our boating day and went to Willard Bay.

The dudes (all except my brother who was having knee surgery the next day) got up early to get the real wakeboarding in. We met up with them later. We hung out at the beach and the kids had so much fun just playing in the sand. Zeke kept himself entertained by dumping buckets of water on his head. Bailey followed suit with some pouring of her own.

Alexander also did some "swimming." He would sort of float on his tummy and crawl with his hands.

I was very happy when I got this shot because it is more to me than just cousins playing. Jaxon and Logan are my sister Natalie's boys. They are the only boy cousins on the Best side. They are spaced almost the (accidental) distance apart as my 2. They do not look alike, nor do mine. Both oldest boys have blue eyes and the younger brothers brown. Both younger brothers are meatier than their sibling. Logan and Alexander are both shy. Jaxon and Zeke are both very smart at figuring things out. Nathan and I like to watch our nephews just to see a sneak preview of what our sons will be like in 5 years.

During the boat runs more wakeboarding occurred. Both of my sisters made their attempt and Kevan and Nate got out on the wakeboard again. Natalie took this picture of Nate while I was hanging with the kiddos on the beach. Nate had so much fun but had some sore muscles the nest day. Maybe he needs to wakeboard more often! I am certain he wouldn't complain about that.

When I went out on the boat it was just for the ride. If Nate would have pressed me into it enough I would have finally made an attempt to try and wakeboard. Much to my relief, and a surprising bit of disappointment, he did not. So, I was just on flag duty and keeping the kids happy.

The boys had mixed reactions about the ride. They were both terrified at first. Then Zeke just wanted to go faster and faster. Alexander hated it and ended up falling asleep in my arms.

Jaxon and Logan took a turn on the tubes. Logan had to be coaxed into it but enjoyed himself, until they crashed and somehow he ended up with rope burns on his arm and abdomen. After that Zeke for sure had no interest in going out on the tube with Nathan. Jaxon kept going though. And going and going and going. That kid loved it!
We had a picnic lunch and then spent the rest of the evening at my parents' house. It was a good fun day.

Waterlogged

Collette — 2009-08-12T17:58:39-07:00

This is the last "it was hot so we got in the water" post. It's also not a new topic. I've mentioned in years past that my parents irrigate their yard and we go play in it. It brings back fun memories of mine and the boys have so much fun.

Tentative at first, just wanting to fill up and use their water guns.

Then some running was attempted, resulting in water splashing in the face.

I'm all wet, mom.

Help! There is a blade of grass stuck to my hand!!!

Floating the boats. (They made some styrofoam boats inside before the lawn was soaked.)

Try to get us, Grandpa. Ahhhhh!

Mmmm, lemonade.

Let's swing. Cute Nana gets her feet wet.

Mom gets splashed by a Hoo.

And the only small Mitchell brave enough to swing. And he LOVED it.

New version of the dog game.

Thanks for the fun, parents. We'll be back again next year, maybe even again this year if we can time it right.

Summer Birthdays

Collette — 2009-08-09T22:10:58-07:00

Between our two families there is at least one birthday a month - the spring being the busiest. For those actually living near us, the summer birthdays are the most scarce. We celebrated a couple of birthdays in the past few weeks. They were both water related fun to make the heat more tolerable.

First up was Kyla. She's my little sister Rachel's girl and she turned two.

The kids had a great time splashing around at a splash pad. It was m,y first successful attempt at going to one and I was quite pleased (the first time I tried the water was broken that day).

Breaks were made for opening presents and making messed with cupcakes.

There's an easy solution for the mess - head back to the splash pad! It was a fun day.
We also had a great time at my sister Natalie's birthday party.

Her mother-in-law has a pool so we got to have a fun day splashing around without the disruption of strangers.

It took them a bit, but with helpful floating devices and some nice aunts and a grandma to play with them, both boys liked being in the water.

Zeke played a fishing game with his cousin Logan. They caught sharks and whales and dolphins, and occasionally just an ordinary fish. We had to leave before cake and ice cream so I could go to work, but we still had a lot of fun being able to play for part of the day.

The 24th and One HOT Mama!

Collette — 2009-08-06T22:33:25-07:00

So, here in Utah we have a state holiday. Not many states have them (Texas has more than one actually), but we do. Pioneer Day on the 24th of July. It's like Independence Day part 2.

We went to a neighborhood breakfast at 7am. Nate actually went over even earlier to help set up. I'm not a morning person (so it's super hilarious that I purposely picked a 5:30 am shift two days a week for the next four months). This is why I look so smashing. We actually had to wake the boys up to go. A bunch of lazies, that what we are...

We ate (and Zeke kept making weird "smiling" face for the camera).

We went back to the house. I put some streamers on the boys' rides. Nate went to work.

We went back and lined up for the kids' parade. Since Zeke can't/won't pedal his trike, I told him just this once I will push you. I wanted to pull them in the wagon, but Alexander wouldn't go for that.

The parade was more like a race. The bigger kids just wanted to go as fast as they could. Actually, Alexander wanted to go ultra fast too. I had to keep telling him to stop because we couldn't keep up.

The middle of the day was uneventful, despite all the events going on all around. I'm not into the 24th, so I was happy to stay home enjoying the AC. Plus, I had to work that afternoon and night too.

Nate took the boys on a bike ride and then over to our friends' house to light some fireworks. I got some of the end of my shift off and was able to be festive too.

The men turned into little pyros. I say little because it reminds me of how boys are when they start playing with fire. These two were no different. It was fun to watch. I don't think my kids really watch any and didn't even touch the sparklers. They did watch some snakes though. Anyway...that was Pioneer day.

Around the House

Collette — 2009-08-06T09:42:08-07:00

I decided to un-lump my post I was working on and post it in smaller, more manageable pieces. Here are some sort of everyday type events that have been going on in the last month.
It's been a bit hot, so to alleviate that some we have relied on the little pool in the yard, although not as often as we should have.

It is a lot less work to just eat popsicles on the porch, so we've made that a bit of a habit.

Our garden is doing well. Some stuff is slow or small in number because of the quails ruining my first sets of plants.

All is not lost though, we have had our first harvest already. (Not the corn - I just took that picture because it looked like a muppet - and it is also this Iowan's first time growing corn since 6th grade!)

Our sweet 100 tomato bush is actually going crazy and is so big! The boys love them and they are a great snack. They also taste delicious in a salad.

Everything is garden fresh except the onion. The cucumber is from my dad's garden. Mine won't be ready for awhile, thanks to the quails.)

We still walk. We try to make it around the block - although the walks have dwindled from nearly every day to just a couple of time a week.

Some highlights remain the same and some have changed. We have to stop and listen to the fire hydrants because you can hear water when you put your ear up to this one.

We have to stop and look at all the displays in the wall - and sometimes touch them.

Sometimes we're fast and sometimes we're slow. When someone's sprinklers are on it is always an uncertainty as to whether the boys want to stop and get soaked in it or hurry and just get past it.

Pretending to be Horton looking through the clovers is an addition this year, especially after re-watching "Horton Hears a Who."

And the newest adventure added to a walk - splashing in the gutter. I was stopped talking to a neighbor and they ventured in. I thought it was gross, but they were having so much fun that I just rolled with it.
The boys do what kids do and get filthy, usually counterbalanced by a bath and a good nail clipping.

Unlike his bro, Alexander needs to have nice clean short nails. And he likes to help when he can.
Zeke is also a good assistant. Usually it is with the dishes.

But, he also is a great helper with food prep when I let him.
A few other things that have gone on around the house include insulating the ceiling to my "office" for work. That term is used VERY loosely here. Perhaps I'll take a picture at some point so you can see what I mean. Anyway, prior to being a sound barrier for me, the insulation had another use.

We had our very own American Gladiators going toe to toe in the living room. They were sad to see their platforms go.
Just because their arena was gone, didn't stop them from finding other ways to battle.

They found that they could put their soft blocks (aka baby blocks) on their hands and box.
Here's the last one (it looks like only the kids have been doing stuff around the house and Nate and I are just present. I assure you that is not the case, but they certainly are more active around here that we are. Seeing a picture of me at the computer is not interesting, nor is seeing Nathan put away his laundry. For Christmas the boys got these remote control Mario Karts.

They have been treated as a special toy and are only played with when we get them out and they boys are totally supervised (except when I didn't put them away afterward and they had at them. Oops.)

The kids love them. The only problem with these is that they are on the same frequency, so they can't control just their own. Alexander liked carrying his around a lot though, so that helped resolve the issue.
Anyway, fun times at the Mitchell's house. There are more posts coming about fun stuff NOT at our house. Until then, adios.

Nothing Meaningful

Collette — 2009-08-01T08:38:54-07:00

I've got a conglomerate post that I am working on and debating if I should break it up into smaller, more bearable posts (and make you think I am blogging more often too). So, in the mean time, I thought I would share with you some recent likes.

First of all, I am so ashamed that I didn't totally plow into your brains how much I fell in love with the new 311 CD Uplifter. New as in over a month old. Sweet Nate bought it for me when I was working all those long hours and not seeing him. Absolutely LOVE the CD. It is by far the best one they have put out in years. And one of the best parts - I only have to skip ONE song so my boys don't hear it! And in fact they love it too. Proof:

In September Harry Connick, Jr. has a new album out which I am very excited about.

It's actually being released on vinyl first - a month before the CD comes out. Um, I'll be skipping that. Despite loving how records sound, I do not own a player and can't see myself buying a record from anywhere other than the thrift store or a garage sale for $.50. The CD, however, I will be in line to purchase the day of its release.

Nothing else in music right now, except the re-discovery of Michael Jackson's P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Things) - so much more amazing than I was a kid...and another that the boys go crazy over.

In the movie department I could just direct you to the list of movies where I write something about them after watching them. But, I wanted to highlight a few here.

The first one is an independent film called Coyote. You may remember me mentioning it before because some of Nate's friends from his fantasy football league made it (and starred in it). I wanted to bring it up again because I have seen it now. I know you might be thinking - independent? made by some fantasy football dorks (your words, not mine!)? Mmm, pass. Don't. It was good and was actually a new idea. You haven't seen this one about a million times before. I really enjoyed the story, the camera work, and it's always fun to watch a movie with someone you know in in. Since I would ruin telling you what it is actually about, here's the officially synopsis "After their Mexican friend gets deported, two young Americans decide to begin smuggling illegal immigrants into Arizona for profit."

I finally saw Benjamin Button! I did my best to hear anything about it, but people who had seen it couldn't help but say it was too long and uh, well, not worth repeating. I don't know if the downer tone set before it was an influence, but I loved it. I will admit that I really like Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett too. That could have been another influence. I did fee a little bit sad during most of the movie and it definitely had its flaws, but it didn't feel like this enormously long movie not worth watching again to me.
The last two movies I want to mention are Stardust and Penelope.

When Stardust came out I thought it looked silly, but read enough good comments that I noted it might be something to watch later. When later came, I was quite pleased. This one was liked by both Nate and me. It was sort of magical and had some Princess Bride qualities to it. A highlight - Robert DeNiro. Once you have seen it you will know why.

Penelope was one suggested to me by a good friend. That, too was added to a later list. I watched it with the boys this week. They fizzled out before it was over (I was amazed how long they lasted for a non-cartoon movie) and I was left finishing it alone. I thought it was cute and just a fun little story.

PNW

Collette — 2009-07-24T00:49:50-07:00

Ahhhh! I've needed one of these. We took a mini/whirlwind trip to the Pacific Northwest. On the list was Seattle, Victoria, and Vancouver. Oh, and a pit stop in San Diego.
It was the inaugural trip using our free flight benefits. I'd say it was a success. The boys LOVED watching the TVs on the back of the seats. Zeke was all set up with headphones and Alexander refused them, being perfectly content just watching. They watched a lot of SpongeBob, who they believe is a piece of cheese.

We flew in to San Diego and had almost a 3 hour layover. Nate's brother lives there, but we didn't think until it was too late to call him/we thought they might be busy. So, instead, we went across the street from the airport and ran off some energy.

We looked at boats in the harbor and the kids played on a little playground there for a bit. They both declared the slide too hot and found chasing pigeons to be an alternative form of good entertainment.

When we initially picked Seattle as our destination, we intended to stay in the area. Both Nate's sister and one of his friends from high school live there. Smartly, we just picked dates that worked for us and then let both parities know we would be up there. Unfortunately Carson was planning on being at Scout camp and Nate's sis Melissa and her husband were both deep into their studying for the Bar. So, we decided Seattle would be the book ends of our trip. After picking up our rental car (which are absurdly expensive in Seattle!), we headed to the Calderwoods house to have dinner with them since Carson wouldn't be leaving until the next morning.

Carson and Marisa fed us a yummy dinner. Then we talked while the kids played. We got a tour of their beautiful house, enjoyed the fresh air, ate some milk and cookies, and stayed up too late! It was super fun to see them, especially in their own home setting, since normally we only see them when they are visiting Carson's parents. We're excited to take a trip back to spend more time with them and see more of what there is to do in the area where they live.

We snoozed in a little later than planned (but we needed that sleep!) and the lameness of our day began. As I have already shown with our timing on the trip, this one was not well planned. In fact, it is the worst planning job I've ever done on a vacation. That being said, I still did an OK job (since normally I am fantastic at planning trips - yes, I am totally patting myself on the back. What can I say? I love planning trips!). I did overlook a few things though. I picked the Ramada to stay at instead of the $20 lower priced Motel 6 (hey, we're not hotel snobs!) because they normally have a really good continental breakfast. We figured breakfast in the hotel would save time and the difference in $ between the 2 choices would be made up for by the food. Well, not ALL Ramadas have breakfast apparently. So we ate a greasy breakfast at McDonald's. Then, with tummies all hurting a little we set off for Canada. My super safe map obsessed husband at the wheel in our sweet rental car. (I'm not telling you what it is yet, just play a guessing game with me and see if you are right later.)

We drove past downtown - proof that we were indeed in Seattle. (Awesome shot from the car with picturesque lamp pole included!)

Our arrival at the border was much later in the day than we hoped. We weren't sure what sorts of food options we'd have between the last town in Washington and the ferry port, so we stopped in a town called Blaine. We didn't take the main stop, which was probably a mistake. It was a mini strip mall with a Subway, Little Caesar's, a grocery store, a Greek food place and a few other shops. Nate sad no to Subway and headed for the Greek food (made by a Russian name Sergei). I thought I'd just pop into "Cost Cutters" and pick up some sandwich stuff for the kids and I. They pretty much did not have what I needed and everything was really expensive. So, i left with a bag of pretzels, some bananas for the kids, and a diet DP. Such a great lunch! Oh, and I snagged a 4 piece of Crazy Bread because I would have to wait like 10 minutes for a slice of pizza. So, our already mini bad moods got a little bigger at this point. At least the border crossing into Canada went smoothly.

Our first adventure in British Columbia was to hop on the Tsawwassen ferry and ride across the Strait of Georgia into Swartz Bay. After we purchased our tickets, the ticket attendant gave the boys their very own (fake) tickets which were a prized possession, at least to Zeke

Not interested in posing in front of the ferry for me or with his ticket, Alexander spent his waiting time making phone calls. I believe this particular one was to Grandpa Dave.

Ok, so this is obviously not the trip we just went on. The last time we went on a ferry ride was in Alaska and look how small this little bugger was.

And how so big he is now! I didn't even intend for the pictures to sort of match.

And like our visit to Alaska, we saw some Orca whales on this ferry ride. Do you see it in the picture?!

No? How about this one - it's a much better shot! I guess because I had seen them in the wild before I wasn't ooing and ahhhing, but apparently it was a real treat. I overheard a guy who'd taken this same ferry ride many times say he'd never seen whales along the way.

And the kids were super excited about it. They saw the whales too, but if they add on that they also saw sharks and dolphins, well, that is just not true.

The boys and I took a look around on an upper level outside. This ferry really was massive. If I'd done my planning properly beforehand, I would have known that there were full on restaurants inside and we didn't need to stop in terrible Blaine and shop at Cost Cutters!

The views were spectacular along the way. The northwest is beautiful and so very, very green. Densely green and evergreeny. And how fun with all the water around too.

So, we get done with the ferry ride and immediately get on a city bus. So, if you are following you'll note that in just over a day's time, we have drug the kids around in 2 cars, 2 planes, 2 shuttle buses, a boat, and now another bus. The ferry from Tsawwassen, which is south of Vancouver doesn't actually go all the way to Victoria and we opted to NOT take the rental car on the ferry to save some money. That was probably a mistake, but "should haves" are our thing on this trip, I guess. While on the bus Zeke freaks out because he has to move to another seat to let people sit down. Bad moods move up yet another notch, especially for Nate because he was on Zeke duty while Alexander slept on my lap. And it does get worse. We discover that the hotel I chose (Howard Johnson because I like using my rewards card and it was priced nicely for us) is a little over half a mile from the closest stop for our bus. That's fine, but we had all of our bags with us (thankfully not the car seats!). So, we walk and walk. We get to the room and just want to crash. By this time it is around 6pm. Totally wasted day (but the ferry was nice). Not only was our hotel not near the bus stop, but it also wasn't near the points of interest in town. The places we wanted to go were roughly a 30 minute walk away. So, no time to rest. We prepped the kids for another long walk. Thankfully the trek was along a nice trail called the Galloping Goose Trail. There were a LOT of bikers and Nate I wished we could be biking on it.

It was actually a fun walk, minus the part where Zeke found a rock and then lost it and freaked out (again on Nate's watch - another notch up on the super happy scale). Here is our first glimpse of the harbor from the Johnson Street Bridge.

We had no idea where to eat or really where to go (great planning, guys!), so we just wandered a bit. The boys got out of the strollers and made a new friend.

We found a place that totally hit the spot to eat. It was called True North Gelato. We ate pizza - good and they cooked it fast! The boys were fantastic generally and especially drinking out of fancy glass glasses.

And really if there is anything that even resembles ice cream, we want to eat it. Nate picked a hazelnut-chocolate gelato. Mine was orange-chocolate (and so much tastier than Nate's!)

Post dinner I went into a couple of souvenir shops to find long sleeve shirt for the boys because it was kind of cold and their really organized mom didn't even think that it might not be blazing hot up there all the time. Nothing long sleeved for such little guys, but I did get them each a cute Canada shirt for later. Our first tourist stop (and it's at least 7:30pm by now). The Empress Fairmont hotel. We thought about going in, but as I was taking a picture of Nate and Zeke (you might notice that Alexander is not in a lot of pictures. I swear he came with us, but is really not into getting his picture taken properly), Zeke started doing a familiar jig.

I took a quick shot of us together in front of the hotel - 1 because both of us went on the trip too and,

2 - because 5 years ago we visited another Fairmont hotel in Canada, this one was in Calgary.

So, back to the potty dance. When a boy has to go he has to go. Nate took off with Zeke to find a bathroom ASAP. I tried to follow right behind with Alexander as to not lose them. We decided that we needn't bring our phones with us on this short voyage into town because we would not be separated. Well, Alexander didn't like that I put him in the stroller and rolled out of it before I could cross the street, insisting that he do it all by himself. So, we lost Nate and Zeke. We wandered a bit in the general area they went and finally I gave up and just went back by the Empress where I'd last been with them. Over 20 minutes later Zeke and a very mad Nate-dad appear. Nate reported that Zeke refused to go pee once he got in the stall and screamed for like 15 minutes. If it wasn't for the fact that Zeke actually needed to pee, we might have seen them sooner, but Nate wasn't interested in a second act of potty dance just a few minutes later. So, he waited in frustration until Zeke finally went. Typically on a trip I take a gazillion pictures and just show you what I consider the best. This time I am sharing pretty much all of them because we were all so grumpy that no one really wanted to pose and be all happy like. Again, I don't want you to think it was a terrible trip. It was not. It was really great and fun, but could have been much better. Moving on...Post the breakdown in the toilet, we walked over to the Parliament House. There was a totem pole on the way so we took a picture.

And then we looked at the Parliament House. It was pretty. We didn't go inside, we didn't look around much, we just essentially checked if off the list.

And did our best to keep these munchkins out of the fountain. They really wanted in there.

Then after a lot of running to and from the fountain, we pause by the statue of Queen Elizabeth (we're looking at her butt, she is not in the picture) and some nice couple snapped a pic for us after watching Zeke try to get one of Nate and me.

Then we called it a night with the possibility of swimming in the pool when we got back (which of course closed at least an hour before we wanted to use it). The sunset was nice and the walk back to the hotel was pleasant

And these kids went out like a light! Poor, over bus/boat/strollered kids!

Wake up. Check Out. Skip breakfast. Walk to bus stop. Watch kids battle on bus.

Actually, they were good except a few moments. Unlike our bus ride into town, which was the express, our ride drove through some of the small towns in the area. So beautiful. So many of the yards had amazing gardens and it was just quaint and lovely. Not New England quaint and lovely, but it still had its own special charm. Less than 24 hours after boarding the ferry to get us there, we were on the ferry to get us back to the mainland - and this time we ate breakfast on the boat!

No whales, but we did move around on the boat more. We let the kids burn off some energy outside...

and then we (Nate) relaxed...

and the kids made good use of the on-board play area.

I wish, wish, wish I had more pictures of our next destination. (Um, actually, if I really had 3 wishes I wouldn't use them all for this.) Vancouver was fantastic. We loved it there. It seriously was perfect and we did not have even a fraction of enough time there. Like Victoria, I want to go there again and rent a bike. I'd like to explore more on foot too, but as it was, we just saw what we could. This is the street where we stayed. I really liked all the marquees.

And these were really special too. There were a couple of shops right by our hotel with these pretty neon signs.

In an effort to save time and our sort of battered leg muscles, we looked around town via the car. Here's the gate to Chinatown there. It was just a small area of town - just a couple of blocks.

We drove by Canada Place, which was part of the World Fair in 1986. Anyway, just a cool looking building reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Our main stop in Vancouver was Stanley Park. There were certainly other additional things on the list, but we decided to just focus on the park and give ourselves a reason to come back again later (not that we really needed one). There is a great view of the city from the edge of the park.

You can watch sea planes land and take off, check out the cruise ships hanging out at the harbor by Canada Place, and just enjoy the general view of town.

The addition of some Canada geese sort of adds to the whole thing. Oh, quick side story - when we were leaving the hotel in Seattle, the kids ran out the door with Nate and an old couple was so happy to see little kids. Then Alexander burst out, "We're going to Canada," which totally won the couple over. The boys have been excited about the idea of going to Canada. It means very little to them, but we have a Canadian flag at our house that the boys play with sometimes so they knew it had something to do with the flag. Anyway, they really liked it there too.

As we did a little reading and watched a short video on Vancouver, Nate was semi-annoyed/amused that in Canada, what to us in the USA are called Native Americans, are called First People. Here is Alexander by an entrance to the "First People's" totem poles.

The kids were not really interested in the poles. I thought they were really cool and pretty amazing.

And Nate's favorite First People work of art was the plain colored pole just to the left of his head. It was just a bunch of beavers climbing to the top where some dude or something was. I like the whales the best.

Right below the area where the totem poles are is a bike path and then down by the water is a walking path. I must repeat myself and mention again how beautiful it was there. I like light houses, so we walked along the path to the lighthouse. Ta-da! There it is.

And the man-folk looked at some boats.

And one of the highlights of the day for Zeke and Alexander? Pushing their own strollers "in a race."

Alright, what was your guess on the car? Did you ever picture Nate to look so sexy? Nothing says "hot man" like a PT Cruiser. That's right, Nathan Mitchell drove around in a PT Cruiser. It took a lot of courage and pride swallowing at the rental place to say yes to this one! at least it wasn't two-tones or covered with "wood" paneling.

We stopped at a view point in the park. It was under some construction so the view was a little obstructed. All the same, here is the cool Lions Gate Bridge.

And I was taking a picture of my family and a kind man offered to get one of all of us. Very nice - except I guess he didn't see Zeke sitting in the stroller, so it still ended up being 3 out of 4.

And thanks to a bunch of geniuses who feed raccoon like they are some awesome forest creature to get a look at, we saw this family in the middle of the day!

Finally, something for the kids. The petting Zoo was closed (thanks, mom, for checking on the times for that ahead of time) and we barely made it in time for the last train ride.

Did we take the train ride just to add another type of transportation on the trip? Maybe...no.

It was a nice little ride and cheap too - just $3 (and that's $3 in Canadian money!)

It was about 15 minutes long. We saw a couple of other little trains like ours along the way.

The ride surprisingly last about 15 minutes. And the kids and the parents liked it.

And afterward - the only thing they wanted all day: a playground!

After not enough playing we dropped the car off at the hotel and walked a few blocks to go get dinner. There were several of these Eagle statues around (preparation for the 2010 winter Olympics? or just for fun?) as well as some whales. Anyway, Alexander wanted to stop and give the eagle "a snuggle."

We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant mentioned in one of the guidebooks we brought with us. It was called SalaThai. It was a little bit fancier of a place than we normally take the kids but they were good. I don't consider a little game of Rock, Paper, Scissors bad behavior in a place like that. (The later wrapping of the cloth napkins on their heads wasn't the best idea though.)

I was VERY EXCITED about my food! I have a favorite dish and they had it there. So happy. Nate was pleased with his extra spicy food and the kids ate their shared meal almost all gone.

With full tummies we went back to the hotel, grabbed the car and drove around a little more while the kids fell asleep. We re-looked at the Steam Clock in Gastown. The first time we drove through was rush hour and quite busy. Despite the slower traffic later in the evening, my best shot was still this blurry from the window view (hence the sweet vintage effects on it so that you don't notice as well just how blurry it is).

And then we ventured across the bridge and drove around a bit in North Vancouver.

Then it was time for bed and we headed back, got some shut eye and start the voyage back home. We crossed the border this time on the freeway (which ended up being way longer because of some construction of something). We got to see the International Peace Arch and some cool flower beds made to look like the two countries flags. Because we were stopped for quite awhile I took the kids out of the car to run around. the cars started going before we got back and so the kids and I had to dash down the line to find Nate.

And Zeke had to say one last good-bye to Canada. (I love this picture, by the way.)

The second bookend - Nate sis Melissa and her husband Eric took a study break to hang out with us on our way out of town. We got to their house and their boy Alex was still napping. Our boys started to play with their toys and Nate laid down the law about Hooey not hitting toys on the table and Alexander wigged. Granted he was beyond nap time, but this was over the top. Not only did he wake up Alex, but he freaked out so much that he made himself barf (something he and Zeke think is hilarious now and act it out - including fake whiny crying). We picked up some lunch and headed to Green Lake Park nearby. The kids were so happy about another playground!

Zeke didn't want to sit by these guys for the cousins picture. I guess he was feeling left out that he was the only one not named Alexander.

Nate and Melissa. I used to think that these two were just like twins. They look more alike than I think any of the other siblings do. Melissa is like a genius - and I don't mean that sarcastically like the geniuses I have mentioned anywhere else in this amazingly long post. She really is super smart. She is only a year older than Nate and has a PHD in Chemistry and has finished a law degree as well. Super amazing. I often feel bad that she doesn't live nearby and I don't know her very well. It was a fun, but too quick afternoon with her and her little family. We actually almost missed our flight because we didn't want to end our visit with them.

So, we said good-bye and drove past the downtown again on the way the the airport.

Nate said the above picture was not proof alone that I went to Seattle, so here is my best self portrait in the car showing that, indeed, I really was there!

We hurry-hurried to the car rental place, got shuttle to the airport, dashed up to the ticket counter, were given a little tsk-tsk for our less than stellar arrival time, told to move fast to the gate because it was pretty far away. After our smoothest transition through security, we rushed to the gate. I was literally sweating when I went to the desk to get our stroller gate check tags. The attendant informed me we had a one hour delay. Good for our nearly missing the flight, but bad for our connecting flight. But at least we were getting out of one town and on our way to the next.

The plane ended up only being about half an hour late and we got to the Long Beach Airport with enough time to catch our next flight. I was told in Seattle that the standby list in Long Beach was super long and that we probably weren't going to get on once we got there. Thankfully and amazingly we got on the flight - with a catch. I had to ride jump-seat (where the flight attendants sit) and none of the other seats were together. After some serious tears on the plane and Zeke trying to be brave about sitting alone, the nice people around Nate traded their seats so that he was by both kids instead of neither. Let me tell you, we both flew much easier after that!

So, we made it home in one exhausted piece. Super pretty places that we went and for sure did not spend enough time at. I never thought I'd say this, but I really love Western Canada. Everything I've seen has been spectacular. Granted I have picked some of the best spots, but very few places I have been have surpassed their beauty. And Nate kicked San Francisco down a notch declaring Vancouver as his new favorite city. So, thanks for reading and get yourself to Canada!

Just a Question...

Collette — 2009-07-22T21:03:13-07:00

My blogging has evolved quite a bit from when I started back in November 2004. It used to be thoughts, ideas and random stuff - not a whole lot of my personal life. Since having the boys, it seems like all I do is give a report on what we did 3 days ago and possibly in too much, not very well written detail. I find myself not telling people stories in real life because I know they at least sometimes read the blog and I don't want them to have to rehear it. While blogs can be an interesting look into people's lives (hey lurkers!), in some ways it seems to break down traditional friendships/relationships. I like having the blog to report what I have been doing to help me remember it, but am wondering if I really need to share that with all of you - if my point is really to help be hold on to memories a little longer and more clearly.
So, help me to know not necessarily why you read, but what you like to read and what you can do without. A handful of you have read my blog(s) from the very beginning (when I began with Useless Thoughts) and have seen its evolution. Your thoughts? And please be honest. I like the truth.

Just looking for feedback. :)

And now I am off to start recapping our Seattle/Victoria/Vancouver mini trip.

Jeffy Bees

Collette — 2009-07-20T09:06:05-07:00

Back in 2000 I made a new friend. He was my friend Bill's friend from BYU. For a long time I thought of Jeff just as Bill's BYU friend and then the as guy who would always get my roommate Joleen and my name mixed up (Jolette, Colleen). It wasn't too long though before I just though of Jeff as my friend. And partially because of him and Bill, I met Nate.

Nathan moved in with them and they were such fun dudes to watch hang out. I choose the word "dude" very specifically because the 3 of them used just that word for full on paragraphs to each other.

For the next few years Nate, Jeff, and I hung out a lot. One summer it was an every day occurrence. That happens to be one of my favorite summers on record. Events included the demolition derby, hitting golf balls at the driving range, camping in the west desert, going to Vegas so I could see Madonna, a day we affectionately named "grumpy Saturday, and the occasional baseball game.

One fall Jeff met a great girl named Nicole. They got married and the friendship continued, now with the added bonus of Nicole. Through more life events: us getting married, the Willards moving to Phoenix and back again, and 5 kids between us, we are still great friends. In fact they, along with his other old roommate Bill and his wife Adele (who live in San Diego) are very special friends to me for many reasons, but one being that they have been our friends for as long as I have known Nate. We've been able to actually hang out with them and continue the friendship instead of just, as Nate calls it, having "glory days" with them. I love hanging out with them. Jeff and Nate are in regular contact through their fantasy sports leagues. Nicole was the one who referred me to the JetBlue job (so we are already thinking of a future trip together - Nicole's fabulous idea!)

It was Jeff's birthday on the 8th and Nicole invited us to go to a Bees baseball game with them. It was so fun.

I honestly don't think any of us watched even half an inning of the game, but it didn't matter.

We did watch our kids run and play together. We talked and laughed and caught up on what the other had been doing in the past month or so.

Having friends is really important to me and I just wanted to thank Jeff and Nicole for their friendship. They are both amazing and I am so glad we get to spend time with them.

Oh, and a little baseball fun is good too - even if just to snuggle a bee and spend an summer evening outside.

Tats

Collette — 2009-07-18T23:16:04-07:00

Sometimes being a bad example is fun (at least when it is as harmless as this). And I trained them to tell Nate as he walked through the door, "Dad, we went to the tattoo parlor."