At double arches

Dear Friends and Family,

This has been one of those jam packed weeks that miraculously left everyone still feeling relaxed and happy.  Perhaps we are getting better at handling the ups and downs of everyday life.  I better not say that too loudly as then I know I will get hit with something big this next week!

The garage floor on Jeremy's side is now painted so his side looks better than mine which I painted 6 years ago.  Just a little dirt has been ground into my side during those years.  We still have all the extras piled on top of the work bench and shelves that need to be cleaned out. But the truck can park inside again and the floors are not covered with junk that needs to find a home.  It really didn't take too long to get to this half way point but it is one of those jobs that take a lot of gritting the teeth and bribes of chocolate afterwards to get down to doing.  Next the workbench...

Monday, some friends invited us to attend Hotel Frankenstein with them and a few other families.  It was one of those corny, campy productions that our kids could come in costume in and just loved every minute of it.  Robyn's Cinderella costume arrived two hours before we were leaving which was just perfection.  She was ecstatic with herself and could not stop twirling and being a princess all evening.  She told me when I tucked her in that night that I could just call her Cinderella from now on.  Spencer has decided he is too old for costumes and trick or treating.  Such a sad moment.  While Allison is being her King and I character again.  Mainly I think because she likes dying her hair black. 

Wednesday night was a night of comedy in our house.  While Spencer was busy repairing a light switch he broke, he mumbled that he thought he saw a mouse.  And he did!  Since I took care of the last one, I wimpily left it in Jeremy's capable hands.  A full half hour of Jeremy trying to sound encouraging as kids "helped" - "when I say watch out, that means you need to actually watch for the mice, not let him run across your feet".  Robyn is there grabbing Mickey and jumping up and down on the couch saying "Eat him Mickey, get him" - full of bloodthirsty glee.  After 30 minutes of me laughing, the mouse finally went into the piano.  It must have snuck out while Jeremy was taking apart the piano with kids "helping" once again.  So now we have a mouse on the loose in our house.  Yuck!

Thursday and Friday was our fall break.  We started it off with a bang by taking all the kids to the dentist.  They actually like going!  Its the return visits that are not their favorite.  Allison has 3 cavities and Spencer has to get two teeth pulled as the adult teeth underneath them are growing in side ways.  I seriously had no idea how many problems teeth could have.  I thought they just came in the way they are supposed to!

Then we packed everyone in the van and headed off to southern Utah.  We stayed in Green River which is around 3 1/2 hours away - where all the good watermelons come from (don't worry, we picked up a beauty to take home with us).  We were in a hotel with a pool and free breakfast plus the Disney channel so our kids thought it was the best hotel ever.  Especially since the family suite wasn't wheelchair accessible, so they gave us two adjoining rooms.  There are definite benefits to having a kids room.  Thursday night at a cold water geyser by the Green River.

Spencer trying to be like his dad, had his camera out everywhere we went

Who knew the Green River has better sandy beaches than most beaches I have been to

Friday we explored Arches National Park.  We did a ton of hikes with Jeremy pushing Taylor over non-accessible trails and attaining super dad status.  Kids were great hikers until the last hike.  Robyn stayed in the van with Jeremy and Taylor and when Spencer looked like this, he went back too:
But Allison and I had a delightful time by ourselves.  By then all the kids had done over 6 miles of trails not counting all the pull-outs and climbing over rocks so I can't be too harsh about Spencer.  He redeemed himself the next day.

See the kid at the top - thats Spencer

  Friday we packed everything up and spent the day at Goblin Valley.  It is a small state park full of hoodoo or goblins.  They look like mushroom rocks all over.  Kids climbed, explored, found caves and had a great time running around.  Spencer and I went for a hike that was our own mini-adventure as only half the trail was maintained or marked and several ravines had to be scrambled over.

This picture does not do justice to the difficult terrain Jeremy pushed Taylor over

It was a great trip away and everyone came home happy and still getting along.  I came home all relaxed mostly because of Jeremy doing all the heavy lifting.  I would sleep through kids poking each other in bed and grumbling or Taylor chirping away at 4 am.  And then there was the time our kids decided to spill their hot chocolate - three times in a row!!  involving a soaked bed, two outfits and a chair.  And the time that Robyn had an upset stomach and told me she had made a mess of the bathroom and I told her to just go back to bed.  I decided that I am not a good mom at 2 am.  The next morning when I saw the clothes and bathroom I decided that sometimes I really do need to get my butt out of bed and see what is going on.  Taylor did much better this trip thanks to a bunch of weight gaining shakes we brought along for him - calories keep him happy.

To confirm Jeremy's super dad status, after driving us home and cleaning out the van, he got all dressed up to go to a play with me.  Little did we know what is meant by a Greek Tragedy.  Now we do.  We saw Medea full of women screaming and crying, disturbing dynamics and events and some over the top acting.  The story was one I knew bits and pieces off and it was interesting to see it all fit together.

Tonight everyone is happy to relax a bit and hang out together - always the sign of a good vacation.  Jeremy is trying to figure out a talk for next Sunday.  I am trying to figure out when I can clean up our garden this week.  And so life goes on...

Love to you all, Heather

Taylor in the middle of Goblin Valley - along for the ride

If you look closely you can see our kids in the middle shimmying down