Summer Vacation '14, Part 2: San Francisco

After a few days in Utah, I had to go to Stanford to work with a colleague on a research paper.  We figured that since my work was paying for my ticket and hotel room, Jenn might as well tag along to see our dear friend Brittany who lives in Palo Alto as well.  Many thanks to the grandparents for watching the boys while we gallivanted around Northern CA!

Our first night in Palo Alto, who should come to Brittany's house but our old Layton High friend Kylee Simmons!  She happens to live in the same ward, and it was great fun to see her again after 14(!) years.

Brittany, of course, spoiled us with spectacular food such as this really amazing caprese salad.  Thanks, Brittany, for being such a gracious hostess!

Did I mention that Shug flew down from Alaska to hang out as well?  Well, she did!  So, the way it worked was Jenn, Brittany, and Shug would pretend that none of them had any responsibilities or budgets or cares of any kind while Brittany gave the grand tour of the San Francisco area.  Meanwhile, I slaved away in a small, un-air-conditioned room working on my research with my co-author.  So, the pictures are all of Jenn, Brittany, and Shug.  Here they are at a goat farm and a beach.

I heard that they had spectacular pizza at Delores Park overlooking SF.

This is 826 Valencia: a pirate supply shop.  How cool is that?

Jenn picked up some eye-patches for the pirates in her life here.

Brittany looking San Franciscan

Jenn trying out the California beach-model look.

On one street corner, there were all of these books hung on wires above the sidewalk, and then words scattered all over the concrete.  

Words like "lavenderously" and "sharp edges."

Bob's Donuts is a legendary place in SF.  Rumor has it that the fresh donuts are available only after 10pm.  That rumor might be true, because we showed up at 9:15 and the only fresh ones were French crullers.  So we bought some of those. 

The crullers were good enough that we just sat in the car and waited until 10pm to get round 2.  Totally worth the wait.

Hopefully you're realizing by now that food was a major part of this trip.

A selection of some of Jenn's favorite SF houses, which of course reminded us of Full House.

Jenn and Shug at Muir Woods to see the redwoods.  This was one stop I was really sad to have to miss.

Jenn professes to be a tree-lover.

Shug was a trooper, in spite of her delicate condition.

This was probably the best view of the Golden Gate that Brittany showed us (she provided many spectacular views of it).

These are the dancing lights of the Bay Bridge, an art installation going on for the next several months.

And thus ended our SF adventure.

Summer Vacation '14, Part 1: Driving to Utah

After living on the East Coast for 7 years, Chicago feels SO CLOSE to Utah that we decided this year we'd just drive there.  No big deal, right?  We're a road-tripping family, and it's only a two-day drive to get there.  So, we all piled in to the van; Ellis and Sam in the back where the DVD player is, Henry in the middle as the go-between-man, and Jenn and me up front.

It didn't take long before Ellis was pretending to smoke like a Newsie and Sam had his shirt off.  A little boredom is good for a kid, right?  And, Jenn was prepared for this: Each boy had his own clipboard, complete with worksheets, stickers, and the license-plate game (by the end of the trip, we had every state but Arkansas!).  And, we had Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to listen to, along with many DVDs.  

We didn't stop much along the way, but you can't drive through Iowa and not see Uncle Jacob.  He showed us around Iowa City, which turned out to be a really cool town.  

Other highlights of the drive included seeing Mater in our hotel parking lot in Ogallala, NE...

... and a cool rest stop just outside of Laramie, WY at the highest point along the old Lincoln Highway route (which runs from SF to NY).  Is this Henry's criminal face, or I've-been-in-the-car-for-1200-miles face?  You make the call.

The drive was uneventful, and actually quite fun most of the way.  Then, about 30 miles from the Utah border, they decided it would be fun to close the freeway.  Like, close it down completely.  Suddenly, instead of being just over an hour from Layton, we were 3.5 hours away, as they diverted us onto small, twisty highways.  At the end of a 22 hour drive, that's a real bummer.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and we broke out Hedbanz to keep our minds off our woes.  Here I am being ice cream.

But this is what is was all about: Utah heat, Otter Pops, and play time with the cousins.  Totally worth any drive.

This year, Jenn's parents had a new slip 'n slide made out of an old billboard.  It was epic.

For some reason, Sam got on a weapon kick right when we arrived.  Here he is with his two favorite weapons: his gun, and blue nigh-night.  If his gun doesn't get you, he can whip that blanket pretty good!

As if the slip 'n slide wasn't enough, the next day Jenn and the boys went to Cherry Hill for even more water action.  (I got to work both of these days, actually.  Lucky me.)

Evenings we did what we always do: ate amazing food and played games, mostly outside.  Here I am dominating at Dirty Hearts.

Somehow we failed to arrange our schedules so that we could hang out with Tanner and Meagan very much.  So, we had to visit Tanner at work at Great Harvest Bread in Ogden.  He's a model employee, as you can see.

While in downtown Ogden, we found a U.S. Presidents horse, a Newsie horse, and a few other horses that called our names.

At the requisite Cafe Rio stop, we put all of the boys on their own table so that the adults could talk at our table.  I bet more than a few customers wondered who the heck those kids were and how they had gotten to Cafe Rio without parent supervision.

We made it 1,400 miles across the middle of America, only to have a flat tire along I-15 on our way down to Sandy.  It was a good time to teach Henry how to change a tire, and we all learned a lesson about how hot it can feel when you're straining at lug nuts while standing on black asphalt in 98 degree heat.  Ugh.

Latergrams: In which summery things happen

First day of summer vacation: tagging along with the Severson bunch and their Chicago donut taste test adventure! We hit five different donut shops and, um, only ate one or two. My favorites were Firecakes, Do-Rite, and Stan's, to name just a few. #mindblowingdonuts #chicagofoodrules #fivepoundslater... 

 My king and three princes. #happyfathersday #stickercrowns #lovemyboys

 Ellis could not be more proud that he is old enough to play soccer at camp this week, with real shinguards and cleats. It also helps to have your best friend on the team and your little brother cheering you on. #aysosoccercamp #proudboy #soccermom

 I am starting to understand why one little boy would choose not to have his dad be his soccer coach in the fall. He absolutely worships coach Stuart from Scotland. Sometimes it's more fun to have another grown up as your coach. #aysosoccercamp #benisworkingonhisaccent

 Words cannot describe this day with my dear friend. #bostonldstemple #stephanie #holiness #spiritualrush

 Boston, you have the truest pizza I have ever met. #aftertempleparty #stonehearth #thincrustwithdrawals #ricottabythedollop #bostongirl

Just a walk by myself through the most beautiful place in this country. Perfect for this very spiritually awakening trip. #solitude #angels #mountauburncemetery #theplaceimissmost #nothinglikeit

 There are way too many people not pictured here, but it was such a rich day for me, full of happy reunions, laughter, tears, meeting new babies, scheming, planning, reminiscing, and contemplating how lucky we are to have been able to share part of life's journey together. I also couldn't believe how many times I got confused, thinking I was in Utah...because this place feels so much like coming home. #bostonfriendsforever #tendermercies #lifeisbeautiful

 Also, this girl melted my heart when she said, "Jenn, it almost feels like we're more than just friends...it feels like we're family, and like Henry and Ellis and Sam are my cousins." I feel the same way, Tabi! #friendsthatfeellikefamily #ourexpandingfamily #loveisgood #lifeisbeautiful

 Haircuts by Ellis: the latest thing. I woke up to all three boys happily drawing together, each with a chunk of hair missing right smack-dab in the front of his head. #firsttimeever #cutyourown #timeforabuzz

 Of course they're all mine. Isn't that totally normal to take six boys (8 and under) across a parking lot, through revolving doors, and up an elevator? #mylife #thethingswedo #kidswap #OTsportsgroup #BFFs

 Just in case Ella and Ellis get married someday, and we can joke about how she used to beat him up. #threeblondegirls #meetthreeblondeboys #bostonfriendsforever

 So glad that Eliza was able to stop here on her huge road trip from Boston to Utah! Her visit was way too short! #bostonfriendsforever

 This is happening. #iversonsgocamping #willingly #wishmeluck

 It appears that these three could occupy themselves all day long at the lake, while Ellis is fishing with the dads and Sam is asking, "What can I do???" #dayatmirrorlake #bffs #happyboys #iversonsgocamping

Boys. Each attempting to win the "daredevil contest" while their parents have mild panic attacks. #iversonseversonboys #wouldbebrothers

 The boys, all six of them. #iversonseversonboys #iversonsgocamping

 Family time is good. #hiking #familyphoto #iversonsgocamping

 The best part of this trip for me has been discovering how beautiful Wisconsin is. We have loved driving through the gorgeous hilly farmland, and the hiking trails were lovely. Can you tell who was ready to go home at this point? #wisconsin #pryingopenmynewenglandheart #iversonsgocamping

 Kind of surprised when the GPS said, "Turn right, then board ferry." #firsttimeforeverything #merrimackferry #headedhome

 Working on our skillz. #swimcamp #bigblue #wecandohardthings

 Is everyone else's basement flooding? #hugerainstorm #waterwatereverywhere

 Finally had a good reason to buy the dehumidifier we've been needing for a year. #dryingout #mustybasementsmell

 Ellis is more patriotic than you'll ever be. #stillknowseverypresident #justsayin #happy4th

 I was kind of hoping our basement would flood again while @beniverson is out of town. I didn't get my fill of this stuff last week. #dreamscometrue #basementflood2 #dejavu #houstonwehaveaproblem

 Sam appointed himself to teach the family night lesson tonight...and then proceeded to spend the next hour "getting ready for my lesson." This is the pile of supplies he gathered. #shouldbeinteresting #allbymyself #samsfirstlesson #theboywholovesgettingready

 Preparations for "Newsie Group," the activity Ellis has been dreaming up all week. As you can see, he has printed scripts, assigned roles, and roped a few friends into playing along. When I asked why Sam's assignment got erased, he said, "Shhh! I don't want Sam to feel bad that he got released...but he wasn't singing very well." #released #onlymyellis #newsieboy #meetsconferenceboy #lovehim

Business is booming on Grant and McDaniel. Or at least we hope it will be! #lemonade #summerjob #henrysfavoritethingever 

2 hours + 45 cups + a big batch of cookies = just over $43 profit. I wonder if their success had anything to do with Sam stretching out his hands and saying, "Just give me your money." #lemonade #bigmoney #quittingmydayjob

Pretty proud of this boy who hated coloring and refused to do any art projects (up until a year ago, when he found his calling). #colorbynumber

 Four boys, eight well-rehearsed songs, one epic production. #newsiegroup #directedbyellis

Couldn't resist the 7/11 Free Slurpee day!