Bottom Bunk for Holly

When we returned from our trip to Utah, Damon had the bunk bed all set up in Gunnar's and Holly's room. I took pictures of Holly on her first night in her truly big-girl bed. Up until now she's been in a toddler bed.  

I didn't realize until getting ready to do this post, however, that it was also Gunnar's first time in a truly big-boy bed! He's also been in a toddler bed all these years. In fact, it was his height that prompted me to finally make the switch and get them out of those toddler beds.  Still, the night we were back from Utah we were still one twin mattress short of having enough for all four kids, so Gunnar was sleeping on the top bunk, but on an undersized crib mattress! Now I wish we'd gotten a photo of THAT. If you look carefully, you can see that the bed above Holly is not quite right. 

And now, just to show what a sassy little grown-up girl she is:

 

Our Trip to Utah, or the Longest Post I've Ever Made

School started for us on Monday. Summer vacation is officially over and here I am still blogging about June. I know being two months behind is pretty standard for me, but I always have high hopes of catching up and then being a more timely blogger. So, in the interest of speed (notice I didn't say brevity--let's be real; it's me), I've crammed a whole week's trip into a single post, rather than splitting it up by day or theme, as I've been wont to do in the past. (I like to organize.) I hope you enjoy. Perhaps this is easier for us all!

My parents returned from their mission in Calgary, Canada to Salt Lake City in mid-June. The very next weekend my brother Logan and his family were also in Salt Lake. It had been a year since we'd seen my parents and three years since we'd seen Logan, Kate, and Soren. So, even though it had been less than a week since we'd moved into our new house, I decided to pack up the kids and drive us to Utah for a visit. Damon decided he better not try to take a week's vacation with only two-day's notice for the boss, so he stayed home to go to work and keep unpacking at the house.

It was a long drive--and we very nearly ran out of gas in between Wendover and Salt Lake (really, the engine cut out as I pulled up next to the gas pump in good ol' Delle)--but I'm so glad we went. We got to spend Saturday with my parents, and then my mom and I saw her sisters and many of my cousins--and their wives and kids--at a bridal shower. Sunday we all hung out with Logan, Kate, Soren, and my brother Pete at Pete's house. We spent the hot part of the day in his air conditioned townhouse, but in the evening we were able to go out in the shady communal yard and just relax, play, and chat.

The cousins had great fun. Gunnar and Soren, both 5, had a great time playing together and would disappear upstairs for long stretches of time to play pirates or who knows what. Here's cute Soren, giving me a silly pose:

This is the best shot I got of everyone all together. Sorry, Adah. She looks like she's mid-sneeze.

Pete's community has this great swing set as well as a lot of green grass for playing frisbee. My dad has a special frisbee that's always at hand when he's with the grandkids.

 

 

 

Logan, Kate, and Soren had to head back to Massachusetts on Tuesday morning, so we only got to hang with them on Sunday and Monday. My parents were busy with different post-mission doctor, dentist, and other appointments, so we usually had a portion of each day to be on our own. In most cases I made plans with some of my Utah family and friends. We picnicked in Bountiful City Park and the kids got to play in the water features at Liberty Park in Salt Lake while I visited with good friends Melanie Larsen and Amy Gines. I was so glad those friends were free at the last-minute, since my planning was pretty poor.

One afternoon we met my cousin Marc, his wife Liz, and their 4 kids at Clark Planetarium in downtown SLC. You can pay to see IMAX movies and other special features, but there are many free exhibits that we investigated with the kids.

Maggie had a little trouble breathing on this moonscape. ; )

. . . as did Gunnar on Mars.

She's got the whole world in her hands. (Cliche, I know, but how could I resist?)

The moonwalk?

One of the big highlights of the week came while we were shopping with Gumpin and Nana. Maggie got her ears pierced!! She'd been asking me for a few months, which is one of the prerequisites, i.e. sustained interest, so I consented.

Before . . .

. . . during . . .

 

. . . after! (She's delighted and has faithfully cleaned them all summer long. She wants to shop the jewelry section in every store and has just started to take out her studs and wear some of her other earrings.) 

One day we went to Tracy Aviary with my parents. For anyone who loves birds or zoos, this is a perfect outing. There were so many interesting and beautiful birds to see, but because it's smaller than a zoo, it meant that our day wasn't too long and we could see everything in just a few hours. (And, we got in free with our Happy Hollow Zoo membership!)

Our first stop was at a keeper talk with vultures and buzzards. They really are ugly buggers, but fascinating just the same.

 

I liked this bird with its long, long legs. It almost looked like the wrong bird had been stuck on top of those legs.

Here are my parents and the kids checking out some of the water birds.

Here are a few funny fowl we found:

 A toucan: that beak is really big.

A scarlet ibis: I've read about these birds, but never seen one in person. I was amazed at how brilliant its feathers were.

 Flamingos:

This ground hornbill had eyelashes! I had NEVER seen eyelashes on a bird before. Can you see them? (My camera really wanted to focus on the fences and not the birds behind them.)  They also clacked their beaks together; it was pretty loud. 

The peacock caused quite a bit of excitement for us.  It was perching on this fence, on the far side of an enclosure for other birds.

Do you see the peacock's tail at the top of this photo? Gunnar asked me to take a picture of these sand cranes, and just as I did, the peacock flew over my head and landed just beyond a planter that was behind me. Maggie was standing just behind me and about 2-3 feet to my right, and the peacock's tail brushed the top of her hat!

 Then the bird wandered around these picnic tables. See how close we were?

 Such an amazingly beautiful bird.

Our final stop was to meet Andy the Andean Condor. While we waited for the keeper talk there, we measured ourselves against the wingspan of a few birds.

The yellow outline represents the Black Vulture and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture with a 5-foot wingspan. The red outline is the Turkey Vulture, King Vulture, and Greater Yellow-headed Vulture at 6 feet. The blue is the California Condor at 10 feet. And green is for the Andean Condor with an 11-foot wingspan!

Holly showed her wingspan at a different sign. I don't think the color corresponds to the red of the other one. 

Just call me a Turkey Vulture. Actually, I think I'd prefer to be the queen to the King Vulture or the Greater Yellow-headed. 

 

Here is Andy. He has been at Tracy Aviary for 54 years--longer than any Tracy employee! He comes out of his enclosure and walks around in this nose-to-beak encounter.

And here's that impressive 11-foot wingspan: 

...followed by a small flight. Andy was a remarkable bird, and at one point was less than a foot away from where my mom and the kids were standing. We were all behind a low fence, but following the keeper's presentation, Andy went for a walk through the aviary and guests were invited to join in. We only went a short way and then, as we'd seen everything else and it was well past lunchtime, decided to leave and get some burgers.

We visited the new City Creek Plaza in downtown Salt Lake several times. We had lunch there with my parents and the kids and I parked underneath and wandered through on our way to visit Temple Square just across the street. The plaza is a mall that is partly outside, although the roof can be opened or closed depending on the weather. It spends most of the summer open, but on a particularly hot day we were there they closed it so they could use the air conditioning.  There are several cool fountains in the plaza, not to mention actual City Creek coming down a rocky waterfall and flowing through the main walkway of the mall. 

 I love this photo of the kids all lined up by age and looking up at the water shooting into the air.

We had a GREAT time on our trip. We missed Damon, but it was sure fun to spend time with my family and some friends, go shopping with my mom, and see the sites. We played hard and went to bed late every night. We stayed with my good friend's parents in Bountiful, which was a bit of a drive from Pete's house in Sandy, so we got in late every night. Despite all the driving and long days, the kids were very well-behaved and got along with each other quite well. It was a great way to kick off our summer vacation.

Our final adventure happened on the drive across Nevada. I saw an electronic highway sign announcing an accident 45 miles ahead and that we should expect delays. Well, we were delayed. They closed down the entire westbound side of the freeway for this mess:

After we were stopped for about twenty minutes and chatted with other motorists who left their cars to take a stroll, we saw this medical helicopter take off and fly away. Once we got moving and drove past the wreck, it appeared to just be a single-vehicle accident. A large two-trailer semi had overturned in the median.

We were blessed to arrive home without any accident (or fuel-related drama) in time to have a late dinner with Damon. 

We interrupt this summer re-cap. . .

. . . to bring you a short blog survey.

Do I need to change my blog title now that I no longer live in view of Mt. Hood?

Or should I just adjust the subtitle & photos?

School Is Cool...Even in the Summer

We moved into our new house the weekend after Adah and Maggie finished school in Milpitas. Monday morning I was still busy unpacking and the kids were ready to go back to school. Well, they at least were interested in making their own school at home.

Teacher Adah (or "Mrs. Ashburg"--notice her name badge, just like a real teacher) set up the living room as her classroom. She's also looking official in her tie. She used the chalkboard on Maggie's easel for lessons and had stacks of leftover workbooks and other school materials.

Student Maggie has on her pleated skirt and is also wearing a tie. I think they were part of the official school uniform. Adah began reading Johnny Tremain aloud to her students and gave Maggie the homework of writing a summary. This was serious school, I tell ya.

Nine o'clock was the announced time for the second day of Adah's school to begin. Gunnar, in his obligatory tie, was very excited. He got up, ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, got dressed, donned his backpack, and then sat on my bed to wait for 9:00.

He was sitting on my bed because that way he could stare at my clock. You can't make it out in this photo, but the clock says 8:17. He was very eager. I think I finally convinced him to do something else for the next 40 minutes...or maybe I convinced Adah to start school a little earlier that day.

The kids kept at their school pretty seriously for many hours those first two days and made grand plans to continue it all summer long. However, by day three there were conflicts over a proposed teacher co-op (i.e. Maggie wanted a turn to be the teacher; negotiations with Adah did not yield a solution satisfactory to all parties) and some classroom management issues. School was disbanded. While I loved the teaching, learning, and cooperating going on, I convinced them that it was okay for them to take a break from school and to just really take a vacation from school during the summer. 

They finally agreed.  Stay tuned for reports on all our summer fun.