Picture-less Family Vacation

We just got back from our family vacation. This is the first vacation that we have taken that has just been the 3 of us. Every other trip we have done has been to be with family. So this was definitely something new. The other "new" element, was that we splurged and got a hotel. For 2 nights! Brek now wishes he could live in one. (Isn't there an old tv show/movie or 2 about this?)

Anyway. Like always, I brought my camera. I actually pulled it out to take a few pictures the first day, and the battery immediately died. I did at least remember to bring the charge cord for it, so we plugged it in our first night. And then I remembered to bring my camera along for the remaining 2 days. And never pulled it out again. So thus the title. An awesome and memorable family vacation, and no photographic proof. (To be perfectly honest, I think I have 3 or 4 pictures on our phone, but in case you weren't aware, our phone is still in the "flip" variety and it's photos don't even upload to facebook, so ...)

Our family vacation was 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. Originally we were going to go to Cheyenne, but Joe was able to get an appointment with is doctor on a Monday WITHOUT school, so we changed the original 2 days, 1 night in Cheyenne to 3 days, 2 nights in Denver. I had assumed that EVERYTHING would be closed on Easter Sunday, so that meant that we would need the day prior to be able to play around the city. After spending Easter Sunday in the city, I am reminded how that culture is SO.COMPLETELY.DIFFERENT.THAN.SMALL.TOWN.NEBRASKA. I shouldn't have worried about it. But I'm also not sad that we had the extra day.

I'd say there were 3 downsides to our trip. Maybe to some, some of these might sound like excuses or justifications or whatever. But I really only am writing about them because despite the fact that I have been enjoying my time with my 2 boys these past 3 days, these elements have been on my mind. It has been my inner battle, and for the safe of journaling and expressing thoughts and reality, I want to include them BEFORE I write about the actual vacation. So, judge all you want. I'm just being real and me here. First, it was over Easter. Although we enjoy the fun "hunt" and "basket" elements of Easter, I really try to focus on the spiritual element. It is, after all, the MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF LIFE. Brek was of course rather upset that we missed our town's egg hunt on Saturday. And then by Sunday was even more distraught that we were not joining in on somebody else's egg hunt either. And in all honesty, although we talked to him about what Easter was about, and he can tell you that it's about Christ being resurrected, we didn't do anything else SPIRITUAL with Easter. We let it pass this year. Hard to do. But done. Second, our trip also fell over General Conference, which is a really important 2 days for Mormons where we listen to our modern, living Prophet and other church leaders. We receive counsel and guidance and inspiration. I have only ever missed watching Conference in my lifetime because of something I could not get out of. But once again, for the safe of our family time, we decided to not watch any of the sessions. Not necessarily proud of it, nor could I say I'm ashamed or embarrassed either. It's just what happened. (And since I've missed it all, I've also been trying to decide what kind of spiritual study I want to start so that I am catching up and watching or reading these talks that I have missed. I am grateful that they are so readily available via the internet.) The final downside would be health. Having a son who is go-go-go almost constantly, with 2 parents that battle such physically limiting health issues is a challenge, and often what makes our parenting less than ideal. I battled a very intense headache/almost migraine for the first 2 days, joined with some "normal" but no less debilitating back/neck pain. And Joe, well, just needed a toilet.

So, now that the negatives are out there, it's time for the positives (and the narrative): We left Saturday morning. We spent Friday (which was the first day of our Easter Break at home, relaxing, cleaning, and mildly getting ready.) We woke up Saturday and packed. No real rush. We got to Denver around lunchtime. We ate at KFC. With a child who fights eating, the constant reminder of "We can't go play until you finish eating" still gets REALLY OLD! And he sure was excited about the playing part. We went to the Children't Museum there in Denver. My mom and I took him there a little over a year ago. Joe had never been, and Brek has been begging to go back ever since. We were not prepared for huge massive crowds. Apparently, the day before Easter is a big one for the museum. This put Brek in his "observation mode" despite his exuberant outbursts and huge smiles about going to the museum while he was supposed to be eating lunch. He still had fun. And he handled the masses well. We stayed until closing, and even then, he wasn't ready to leave. Most of our time was spent at the ball area, of course. But he explored and played in some of the parts he hadn't in the last time. Then we went down to the firetruck area, which hadn't held his attention much a year ago. But he really like it during this visit. At one point, another little brown boy about his age engaged Brek in some awesome "pretend play" and the 2 of them were off fighting fires and exploring houses and driving trucks to their little heart's content. It was precious! After the firetruck, we went up and did bubbles for a bit. Brek really loved the vapor/smoke ones that he could catch. And then he convinced us to go outside to the carnival area which was part of the Easter extravaganza and he played with hula hoops and got to ride a little barrel train. He had only minimal interest in the instruments that were there, but then again, he's around those (and of a much more "realistic" variety) on a regular basis. He then went over to the playground area and attempted some monkey bars as well as an attempt at engaging with/showing off for some other kids. Then joined a large group on the tire swing. And then we ended back at the firetruck area for the last 15 minutes before we got kicked out.
From there, we checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at PF Chang's. I've had a gift card and free appetizer coupon for several years. We ended up eating on the patio since it was a 10 minute wait instead of 40, and in reality, it was closer to 5 minutes. It was still almost too cold to eat outside, but not bad really, and the atmosphere was fun. Our waitress scored us a 2nd free appetizer so we ended up with lettuce wraps and green bean fries. Brek had his first "sweet and sour chicken" and kept talking about how the sauce was AMAZING! I got "almond cashew chicken" which was yummy, but also made me wish I had just gotten honey chicken instead since that's my favorite. And Joe got "salmon avocado sushi." He let me try a bite, and as I had never eaten sushi before, I was pretty hysterical and nervous. But it was yummy. I also tried their strawberry, cucumber, and lime infused water and it was DELICIOUS!!! We ordered dessert to go and went back to the hotel and enjoyed their famous chocolate cake and some chocolate raspberry wontons. It was a really fun night!
Our hotel room had 2 rooms in it, so that was nice because Brek got to sleep in his own room. He also enjoyed the tv time, tho he is still getting a grasp on the concept of tv since we watch everything on the computer. He doesn't fully understand that he doesn't get to watch WHATEVER he wants when he wants to. Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then went swimming. Brek was disappointed that there wasn't a hot tub, but the pool was nice and warm and felt good anyway. And the shallow end was only 3 feet so Brek was able to get around on his own. We brought our own food to make paninis for lunch (although we forgot the panini press at home, so it ended up just being fancy sandwiches) and then took naps. Once we were up, we went on a search for a park. With a bathroom. This proved to be more challenging to expected. We ended up in the heart of a huge residential area, with a really huge park. And it seems going to a park on Easter Sunday in the afternoon is what EVERYONE IN DENVER does. Haha! We did find some portopottys at least, but the playground area was on the complete opposite end of the park, and then there was no parking anywhere either. So after some deliberating we decided to head back towards the hotel and try and find another park. I think we tried 3 or 4 before we found a park area with a visitor's center with a bathroom, and after paying an entrance fee, had less than 30 minutes to play there before it closed. We wanted to fly kites; there was no wind. We also had some "Easter basket toys" that I hid around the park for Brek to find. I guess the way we do Easter baskets in our family is that we hide everything, not just the eggs. And there wasn't much candy anyway. Brek's favorite toy was a rocket that I found. He actually had asked for a rocket for Christmas, so I was excited when I found this one for less than $5. And it's something he can totally power and do himself. So after Brek found all his toys and we played for about 10 minutes, we got back in the car and went back to the hotel and swam again. Then we ventured out for dinner. This also proved a little more challenging than expected. We ended up in downtown Denver. Joe was on the hunt for a bathroom. I was in charge of finding parking. Had to pay for it over the phone, after setting up the car and the credit card into their system, and then having to call several times because it didn't make sense. Then, the restaurant that we had looked up wasn't open, so we had to improvise. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe. The food and experience was meh, but still memorable. :)
Monday, after enjoying breakfast at the hotel again, we did some swimming. Then packed up and left the hotel. We went shopping at Costco, which, after living in such a small town, is always a fun thing to do. Then we enjoyed lunch at Panera Bread - because Joe knows I love deli type places. Then Joe had his doctor's appointment, and after that took 1 1/2 hours longer than planned, we headed home. We had to go home via band practice for Joe tho, so we actually didn't get home until late.

Saturday was definitely the favorite of the trip. But truthfully speaking, it was just nice to spend time together. We played board games. We watched cartoons. We slept. We cuddled. We laughed. We swam. We spent a ton of money, which is only a big deal because, as Brek says it, "we're trying to dopt a baby." We made memories. We were together, focused on each other. And someday, we'll do it again.

November

November was a pretty great month for our family. Brek officially participated in his first Primary Program at church. (Primary is for all kids ages 3-12). (And, last year when Brek was still in nursery (ages 1.5-3) he got to join the bigger kids and sing a couple songs, but this year he was up on the stand the whole time, sang the songs, and had a speaking part.)

He took his tie off and wore it on his head, tossed it around a bit, and fought when dad tried to take it away. He picked his nose and ate it. He said his lines quietly, but clearly. And he held notes out WAY longer than anyone else, requiring Daddy to give him his own, special cut-off. It was cute and endearing and funny and precious.

One day, Brek and I were wrestling. I declared that I won. And Brek responded, "I'm four!"

Other "highlights" included our microwave blowing up and the furnace going out one night. When the microwave died, Brek suggested we just ask Santa for a new one. Thankfully we were able to purchase a used one from some friends. When the heat went out, honestly, we didn't notice at first. But once we did figure it out, it felt like quite the ordeal to get things working again. Here's a picture of our thermostat, and it had actually started to warm up at that point. I think the lowest the house got was 50 degrees. I ended up being late to work waiting for the guy to come and fix it. Thankfully we have a space heater, so we set that up in our bedroom and tried to contain Brek there (which didn't work.) So grateful for heat!

Another fun story from the month: One morning, just as I hopped in the shower, my body wasn't even all the wet yet (thankfully) Brek came into the bathroom and said that someone was here at the house, and that he opened the door for them. *Great* So I hurriedly dried off and put my pjs back on, and came out to 2 sheriff officers standing in my front room. *Trying not to panic* They were responding to a report from our back alley neighbors that someone in a purple car came into our yard and sneakily carried something away. So, thinking that they had broken into our garage or something, the neighbor called the cops. Turned out, it was just the tree-trimmers from the day before who had left their chainsaw in the backyard (un-covered and in a PERFECT place for my 4-year-old to play with), and then came to retrieve it for that day's job, or so I assumed.

Apparently when Brek answered the door, he also told the sheriff that neither his mom or dad was home. 

(And a side story to that, which is the reason for the tree-trimmers anyway, was that the big tree in our backyard started to fall and was leaning on the power lines going through our back yard. The tree-trimmers had to come out 3 different times to get the job done right. And still, they broke the back fence and hit the neighbor's house as well.)

We spent one weekend up in Chadron visiting some family friends and receiving a much-needed piano lesson. On our drive up, Brek was telling us about a fight he was in at daycare that day. As we started asking him about the details, he told us that he was playing "Elsa" and was "zapping" but his friend Grady wanted him to stop and pushed him. 

It was wonderful to get away even just for a night. And I really learned a lot and all the advice from Jim has really helped. Brek had a blast playing with Jim's youngest Westley, or as Brek says it, "Wrestley," who is 7. Brek said it was the greatest sleepover ever! They started getting ready for bed around 7pm, but were up well past midnight. After we came home, Brek told me that he wanted to join Wrestley's family. He did say that Joe & I could join Wrestley's family too.

Two days before Thanksgiving, as we were anticipating my parents' arrival that evening, and shortly after I got to work, I got a phone call from daycare that Brek had thrown up (which he has never done before). So I got to go get him and bring him home. And after arriving home, he of course had no interest in resting and wanted to eat, and thereafter never acted sick at all. And then I got sick, and ended up with an ear infection. Otherwise, Thanksgiving was wonderful!

It was great to have my parents visit for a couple days. It of course snowed, but we survived several trips into town despite the weather. We carried on our Thanksgiving tradition of making fancy turkey panini sandwiches. This year I also made homemade stuffing (which I slightly ruined by misreading the amount of spices to add) and we made pies. Joe made homemade pumpkin pie which was DELICIOUS as well as my family's tradition of chocolate peanut butter pie. It was low-key, not a ton of kitchen/cooking time, and just good time with family. We played games each night too. It was a really wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joe making his homemade pie crust

 

My mom taking her Thanksgiving Day nap

Joe & Brek playing "Pass the Pigs"

Posing for pictures with Grandma and Papa

Brek's favorite part was the pie. Scratch that. Brek's favorite part was the whipped cream on top of his pie.

Brek made this really cute turkey at daycare.

Here he is having a converstaion with the turkey:

Here are our 2 yummy pies:

The day after Thanksgiving, Grandma and Papa took us into town to see "Big Hero 6." We all LOVED it! And Brek has been on a pretty big "Baymax" kick ever since. We were sad for Grandma and Papa to have to leave the next day, but we were grateful knowing that we would see them just a few weeks later at Christmastime.

After my parents left, we decided to decorate for Christmas. Last January, Joe's mom gave us her old Christmas tree. So this was our first year ever having our own Christmas tree. Brek enjoyed helping to put it together and then adding the lights and ornaments.

Gotta love Brek's "creepy eyes" before he hung up his Brek bear that I made last year. (My family had these ornaments growing up.)

A little less creepy

The last element of our November was that Joe participated in "No Shave November." He decided that he wanted to know what it was like to have a beard. People kept asking me how I felt about it, which was kinda strange. I guess I really didn't care. It wasn't the most fun to kiss, (as my dad can tell you!) but I wasn't against him trying it out. I actually thought he looked pretty good, and it was kinda fun to play with it. But Joe didn't like it. He didn't like how long it took for it to actually look good since his hair is so light and hard to see. But mostly he didn't like how much it itched. I started making fun of him during band because he would be conducting with one hand and scratching his face with the other. He was very excited for the month to end so he could shave it off.

During one of our family conversations, Brek said, "Mommy, our family needs to have another little kid so that I have someone to play with."

"Well, you should know that even if we had another kid, she would be a baby, and she'd be too small for you to play with."

(pause)

"Well, maybe we could just *borrow* a kid from another family..."

Hair Cuts

After our trip, we decided it was finally time to cut Brek's hair. I am always sad to see it go, but this hair cut was partially needed because we couldn't get sand out of it. (His cousin Anna dumped a bucket full of sand on his head on his birthday because they got in a little disagreement; something involving sand castles.) Brek is not really a fan of hair cuts, so Joe made an agreement with him that Brek could cut off Daddy's hair if Daddy could cut his off. And, with all those curls, it really was easiest to shave it all off instead of doing a trim. (It actually made it less painful for Brek, so it ended up being a good thing all around.)

So here they are. I'm honestly not a fan of either one of them with hair this short. I called Brek my "chemo baby" for weeks. And it's not like Joe needs anything to add to the visual perception of his health. But like always, hair grows back.