Returning to our Happy Place: A Vacation(!)

In the midst of Life Happening in the last month, Tim and I both had the thought (separately, but at the same time) that we should take a trip to Torrey. Torrey is in southern Utah just outside of Capitol Reef National Park, and it's been a special getaway for my family and for Tim and I. We really needed some family time and the thought of being in Torrey again literally brought tears to my eyes, so we took advantage of Tim's week off between school semesters to head down.

The last time we went down to Torrey was two years ago when Georgie was only 7 months old, so this trip was way overdue. We've done very little traveling since having kids, which sometimes makes me feel like a wimp, but the price of not sleeping is usually just too high. But for Torrey, we decided it was time to brave it. It was literally this huge, freeing epiphany when I realized that we could take extra measures to make it work and we could, in fact, have a vacation. (As a side note and for posterity's sake, we put Rosie in the tiny bedroom in the pack-n-play and set up our baby gates in the loft to create a pen for Georgie so she couldn't wander during the night. We also let Georgie stay up super late so she was tired enough to sleep through both nights. Whatever works, right?)

It was rainy and cold for 2/3 of our trip, which meant no stars, and we never did get to take the girls hiking (we had a low tire that we wanted to take care of before it went flat and ended up missing our hiking window), but we got our family time and we got to be in Torrey - the only two things that really mattered. The best part, for me, was when we went to the park for lunch on our second day and had a blast flying a kite, swinging, and just playing all together. The sun came out on our last day and we had another wonderful picnic before setting out for home (and as a bonus, the girls slept for most of the car ride home). It was a great first vacation as a family of four and we will most definitely go back!

Rosie's first looks-like-a-selfie-but-wasn't

We're in Torrey! We prepped her on how exciting it would be and she reacted appropriately when we got there. Granted, she may have just been happy to get out of the car.

Dinner at Slacker's!

Tim got the girls to look at the camera by blowing raspberries, which of course, they copied. Love those lips.

Let's go fly a kite!

She insisted on going higher and higher...

Rosie asked to get back in the swing at least three times while we were there. I'd say she loved it.

It was super-duper windy. Can you tell?

The view from the back porch. I take this same photograph every single time (usually, multiple times) we're down there. I can't help it, it's so beautiful!

Awkwardly laughing selfie, but we had to document that we were there.

Just drinking some juice on the floor while Mama tried to do dishes, no biggie.

Eventually they ended up on the back porch so I could finish packing us up. They loved it for about twenty minutes and I love this picture of my littles soaking up our view.

Our one "hike" to Panorama Point - again, super duper windy!

Sometimes Rosie poses for the camera; other times, she specifically and pointedly will not look at me. This is as good as we got.

This one is getting printed. I just love everything about it - my girls, they're holding hands, the gorgeous cliffs in the back, the blue blue sky and green trees - seriously. It does not get better.

Summer catch-up

We had a crazy summer and I did a terrible job of recording it in any form. So quickly, a rundown of the last few months...

We kicked off the summer with a trip to Capitol Reef. It was Georgie's first time in Torrey and I think she liked it? It was her first trip anywhere and she didn't sleep well, so that made her super cranky. But it was still gorgeous and fun!

This is where Georige took her first crawling steps.

June was full of the usual craziness - Father's Day, Tim's birthday, our anniversary, birthdays for cousins, and this year, weddings for two of my cousins. These pics were from Addy's 3rd birthday - it's so fun to see all the little cousins together!

Tim wanted to do something fun for the 4th of July so he planned, organized, and put together a huge bbq party at our house with a swimming excursion at our community pool. It was so much fun! We had a ton of food and lots of great people. And at the end of the night, we went to an overlook and watched fireworks from up here and holy cow, people. All the fireworks were little but there were dozens going off all over the valley at the same time and it looked so cool!

Georgie loved having all her cousins to play/destroy her room with.

The only problem with the pool is that it's windy and therefore chilly sometimes. All the littles were freezing!

The rest of July was pretty normal - another birthday celebration for Tim's brother, the 24th of July, etc. Then at the end of July, we found out Tim's Grams had passed away in California after six months of battling cancer. Tim really wanted to go out for the memorial service so we packed up, rented a car, and went the next day! I took zero pictures from this trip but it was great to see all the California folks and really nice to be there for Tim's Grandpa. We had some wonderful friends in St. George who let us stay there on our way back to break up the trip and the rental car, though expensive, was soooo nice! Georgie was teething and didn't sleep at. all. during the trip, so we ended up coming home a day early. (Plus we found out I was pregnant and I wanted to be home.)

August was full of my birthday, adjusting to the idea of being pregnant, feeling sick and exhausted, a major landscaping event at the house (that gets its own post), and finally, a Herrick family trip to Bear Lake for a week. This vacation was planned back in January so it seem surreal that it was finally time to go. It was super fun to be with everyone and the lake was incredible! It was also super stressful because we blew a tire on the way there (in my mom's car) and had to drive on the spare, Georgie didn't sleep well, and I felt sick at least half of the time. So we were really really glad we went and really really glad to go home. Hopefully next year's family vacation will be a little less crazy for us.

We watched the three littles while everyone went to the Minnetonka Caves - Georgie (11 mo), Lillian (9 mo), and Cora (1 yr 2 1/2 mo). Please note that Georgie is in motion while the other girls are sitting fairly still and that will tell you a lot.

Happy to sit with Daddy!

Gorgeous gorgeous water!

Georgie hated - and I mean HATED - being on the boat and having a life jacket on. This was her face for most of the 3 1/2 hours spent on the water - suffering. Just suffering. Luckily she fell asleep for the last bit and that helped!

We coaxed a smile out of her while we stopped for lunch.

Rob made t-shirts for all the girls and we took many many pictures in an attempt to get a good one of them all together.

The one thing we didn't get to do this summer was game night. We went down to Orem twice for it and then scheduling got crazy and it just was too hard to go down with a little one who essentially spent the summer sleep training. We also didn't go to any parades or concerts, but we did go swimming a lot. On the hot hot days, Georgie and I just ran over to our community pool for 45 minutes or so and chilled in the shallow end - perfect. We got to see our families a lot, which was fantastic, and we also had a lot of lazy time. I am thoroughly ready for fall but I definitely enjoyed our busy summer.

Busy month! And of course I took almost no pictures

June always turns into a crazy month for us, between Father's Day and family birthdays and our anniversary (which usually involves going out of town). This year was no exception, but it was full of very fun things! My cousin Anna was in town for just a few days but found time to throw me a baby shower with my dad's sisters. It was so great and I was so grateful for everyone's advice and gifts - I already feel much more prepared for this baby!

Sunday the 17th was Father's Day which meant treating Tim to his favorite breakfast (German pancakes) and spending time at my parents' house. My dad wanted meaningful, handmade gifts so I craftily put together a frame with the "Keep calm and carry on" poster inside; Ethan made him coupons; and Rachel and Jase outdid us all with a dollar-shaped pinata with Dad's face on it, filled with candy and sweet notes from his kids, that he whacked into submission between bouts of hysterical laughing. I think pinatas should always be a part of Father's Day because it was hilarious! And an all-around very lovely evening.


Tuesday the 19th we celebrated Tim's birthday with a BBQ and games in the park. Tim made homemade root beer for the first time and it turned out pretty delicious! I need to remember every year to let Tim make something for his birthday - it's really the best part for him. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and party with us! Tim had fun, which was the whole point, and it was great to see you all. (Special thanks to Rob, Christian, and Anna for participating in the most hilarious game of Werewolves I've ever played. That was amazing.)

Wednesday the 20th Tim and I celebrated his actual birthday with dinner at Tucanos and a movie - we finally saw The Avengers! There was also some work involved but overall, it was a good day. I think Tim enjoyed it, so I count it as a success!

That next Friday we took off work early and headed down to Torrey for an anniversary celebration. It was just about the most relaxing weekend I've ever had - we just enjoyed ourselves, slept in and took naps, listened to an audio book, played games, and spent an hour watching the stars under a perfectly clear sky with our massive quilt under and around us to keep off the bugs. The only thing that made it uncomfortable was the heat in the afternoon but with a little ingenuity on Tim's part (a fan blowing on dry ice), we stayed bearably cool. The best part? We bought these darling shirts for our little girl to wear next summer when we take her with us to Torrey.

This Monday after our weekend away, Tim started his one summer class and thankfully it looks like it's not going to be too much stress. It's only a few weeks long so we're just going to get through it as quickly as possible and happily mark it off at the beginning of August. And this morning we went to our appointment with the midwife - I did the glucose test (yuck) and we got to hear our baby's heartbeat, albeit only for a few seconds at a time because she literally did not stop moving the entire time the midwife was trying to find it. Now that she's getting bigger, I can tell exactly just how active she is and holy cow, we're going to have a hyper hypo on our hands in a few months! 

The Vacation, or There and Back Again

We're back from almost two weeks of vacation, and I can't believe it's over already. It was a prefect mix of anniversary celebrations and family time, and it was just amazing. Some people go on vacation for the beautiful scenery; some for the fun sites. Some people go hiking, some go to the beach; some go to visit family, some go with family. We just did it all. San Francisco (Jelly Belly factory on the way), down to Monterey (where we went to the aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, the beach, and shopping), then along the Pacific Coast Highway (GORGEOUS), down to Tim's family in Moreno Valley (home sweet home) and back up to meet my family in Torrey to finish off (Apple Days parade, hiking, and lots of naps). We didn't even mind the driving so much (except through SF, that was awful) because we were listening to podcasts of "Wait wait...don't tell me!" It was relaxing and fun and I loved that it was one big loop that took in almost every kind of landscape. Like I said, just amazing.

I took an obscene number of pictures, so here are just a tiny smattering to illustrate what I'm saying: