Catching Up - California

For a week in July, we went to California. We started off by heading down to Provo to celebrate Will and Sawyer's birthdays. We stayed at a cabin at the KOA in Provo, which actually turned out to be pretty nice!

helping pack

cabin right before we left

I spy a Charlie! 

All packed up. Are we forgetting anything? 

Oh yeah. Charlie. Sleeping away while we packed up.

I don't have any pictures from Will & Sawyer's birthday parties, but they were pretty awesome. Sawyer had a kitten/puppy themed party, and Will had a Spy party. Both parties were a hit! It was fun to help out. The next morning we left bright and early for California. Charlie was pretty good in the car, except for the major diaper blowout about a half hour from Chad's house.

We went to church and visited Chad's grandma.

We also went to the State Fair. 

Footsie Wootsies!!! I haven't seen these since the Big E in high school.

Tiny box of free raisins.

Sun Maid Raisin Girl.

This goat liked nibbling on Charlie's toes

What's wrong with this picture?Apparently you have to click on it to see the whole picture.

 While we were in California, we also went to visit Kyle and Jess and meet baby Heather (who is 6 weeks older than Charlie).

Heather is tiny! Or... Charlie is huge.

I spent one day mostly being sick. The last night we were there, we packed a picnic of sorts, and went to the Strauss Festival. This is a free concert in the park near Chad's house with costumes, dancing, staging, choreography, narration, and singing. This year was the 25th year. They end the night with fireworks. (No pictures?!) It was fun!

Charlie took a couple of baths:

While we were in CA, Charlie started crawling on his hands and knees.

On Friday, we drove back to Idaho, stopped in Pocatello on the way to visit mom who was in town for the day, and then drove on to Ammon.

Taking a break at the rest stop in Winnemucca.

It was a fun trip - But we were glad to be home after the 12 hour drive.
Everyone was pooped. 

Catching Up - Coming Home

When we got home from Connecticut, there was just enough time to take a break before going back to work for the 4th of July Parade. We held rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday, and marched in the parade on Wednesday. It was hot, but we were prepared. Everything went extremely well, and the kids were AWEsome. Our band won Best Band! Go Hillcrest!

We also went to Scoop Jam. This is Idaho Falls' version of Zoofari. It turned out to be a bust. Instead of ice cream coming from the same vendor (like Zoofari) it was a bunch of different vendors set up. This might have been a good thing, except you had to hope that their ice cream was decent after you waited in a 10 minute line. Most of it wasn't. Some of it was downright gross. However, there was a place called Graeter's (you can only buy it at Fred Meyer) whose ice cream was delicious! We went through their line about 4 times. Charlie got his first taste of cotton candy.

 

Chad's free sunglasses from Idaho Central Credit Union.

 Speaking of which, Zoofari is on SATURDAY!!!! I look forward to this day every summer. 2 1/2 hours of all you can eat Breyer's ice cream at the Pocatello Zoo for $6/adult. We missed it last year because we were in California.

We also went to a local baseball game with our neighbors. Charlie had some more cotton candy.

Charlie the baby with Charlie the Chukar.

I also got my first Bountiful Basket ever! I was SO excited!

Here is what I got:
Blueberries - I made blueberry muffins
Peaches - I ate some and made some into peach salsa
Radishes - Chad ate some raw and I threw the rest away when they got chewy
Bananas - I left most of these with Erin before we went to CA
Melon of some kind - I left this with Erin before we went to CA
Cauliflower - I left this with Erin before we went to CA
Plumcots - Interesting cross between a plum and an apricot. I ate them
Squash - I cooked it and pureed it for Charlie
Tomatoes - Made some into salsa - ate others on salad/sandwiches, etc.
Kale - I boiled this and stirred it into a pasta dish. I read online that kale is the little piece of green that shows up on your plate at restaurants as a garnish. It dawned on me that kale is the crap we used to dare each other to eat when we were little because we knew it was just for decoration! ... it should still be "just for decoration". Whoever tried to convince the rest of us that kale is healthy and delicious is downright wrong.
Red corn - This was such a pretty color raw. I thought I would take pictures after I boiled it for dinner (on the cob). But when you boil it, it turns a weird brown, purple-y color that is not as pretty

 

It is crunchier than regular corn and has a stronger taste. We liked it.  

At some point I bought strawberries and found this Siamese specimen.

We also went to a retirement party for my clarinet professor.

Bill Holman, Charlie, me and Chad. I'm sad this picture is blurry.

Catching Up - Connecticut

This summer has felt long and short at the same time. Work starts again in a couple of weeks. It sure has been nice to have a break. But before we get into the thick of work, football, pep band, etc., I thought I better get our summer updates on the blog. I still owe updates from Christmas!

The last day of school (Friday, May 25th) was a half day. We packed up and drove down to Utah after school, stayed with Erin & Bryce, and flew to CT the next morning!

On the plane! Charlie slept almost the entire way there.

Taking a break to get some energy out at the Baltimore airport. 

We stayed in CT for about a month; partly because plane tickets were so expensive, we wanted to get our money's worth! It gave us plenty of time to do everything we wanted to do. (Except that one week when it rained...)

We kicked it off by going to the annual ward Memorial Day Picnic at Watrous Park in Cromwell:

Mom, Mollie and me. Lots of food. Yum!

We went to Gillette Castle:

View of the CT River from Gillette Castle. 

On a train car from Gillette's estate. Well, it's a good picture of Mollie.

We also spent some time lounging on the grounds of the castle.

Giant tadpoles in the pond.

We went to the U.S.S. Nautilus:

Mom firing a deck gun.

We went to the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT:

We rode in old cars and saw this French soldier in Lebanon, CT on free open house day:

Free ice cream and rhino noses.

We went to Boston and walked the Freedom Trail:

Skyline

On the swan boats in Boston Common.

Ha.

Old North Church

U.S.S. Constitution. A.K.A. Old Ironsides

Where we finished

Stop along the way for some pastries. I got a Napoleon that was less than stellar. I guess I should have had a cannoli since that's what they're famous for.

  We left Charlie with mom and dad and spent a couple of days in New York City for an early anniversary.

On the train eating Subway.

On the rooftop of our hotel - The Pod.

Mollie's feet on the rooftop of our hotel. 

Times Square

We ate delicious baklava on our way to the show.

This is the show we saw Sunday night. It wasn't that great (skip it!) for a "Broadway" experience (Chad's first), so we got half price tickets to see Phantom of the Opera (classic!) on Monday night. It made for a verrrry long day in NYC, but I think it was worth it.

We were there on the night of the Tony Awards - this was a Tony watching party set up in Times Square. 

We ate at a little restaurant in Hell's Kitchen called Vynl. Mollie's friend Sean told us about it. It was YUMMY!

My dinner - chicken and waffles.

Chad's dinner - sesame chicken. Also delicious!

Mollie and her friend Sean - he's going to med school in NYC.

Times Square again. 

The next morning, we were up bright and early to go see the Today Show.

Encounter with Al Roker! He talked to the baby right in front of us. Too bad we couldn't have brought Charlie. He totally would've gotten on TV.

The set of the Today Show.

Rockefeller Plaza.

Us with Matt Lauer's cardboard cutout!

Mollie got us tickets to the 9/11 Memorial: Note to anyone who plans on visiting - they do a full security check like at the airport (except I think you can keep your shoes on) but they send your bags through xray machines and you through a metal detector. I didn't know this when I showed up carrying my overnight bag.

The Freedom Tower

We ate lunch at South Street Seaport and went to the TKTS booth nearby. We rode the Subway down to Battery Park and took the Staten Island Ferry. (FYI - They make you get off at both stops now)

I think the grumpy guy in the back looks like Mike.... only taller.... and with hair.

Ellis Island

Mollie and the Statue of Liberty

  That night we went to Phantom of the Opera. Woo!

This picture is not zoomed in! That's how close we were. A little pricey, but fun! We were all impressed with the technical effects.

With a sighting of the Naked Cowboy and the mounted police, our trip was complete, and we hurried to catch one of the last trains out of NYC, getting back into New Haven around 2:00am. Thanks for picking us up, Evan!

We went to New York state for a weekend so Mollie could go to a wedding. We stayed at the Howard Johnson's where they were holding baptisms in the hotel pool! We went on a Hudson River Boat Cruise, hung out at the hotel, toured a cool lighthouse, and drove through Woodstock.

Watching TV at the hotel with Aunt Mollie.

Mom would want you to know that there is a backpack behind her.

Rinsing off in the bath after swimming in the pool. Only included because Charlie looks cute.

Dad, Charlie and me in the lighthouse.

We also took a day trip to Newport, Rhode Island to see the mansions. It was HOT! Pictures aren't allowed in the houses, so we only have a few.

 We took a trip to the Dinosaur Museum in Rocky Hill, CT.

Chad is dying from global warming.

We also spent a day at the beach. We are not really beach people. We're a little high maintenance because we require complete shade at all times or we burn. Growing up, I never really thought anything about going to the beach - but now I live in Idaho where there are no bona fide beaches. So we went to Hammonasset, and we were all surprised by how rocky the sand was!

That's as close as Mollie ever got to the water.

We also spent a day at Mystic Aquarium but we only have videos from that. 

We enjoyed food you can only get in CT/on the east coast.

Vecchito's Italian Ice

Not pictured: Devil Dogs, Friendly's ice cream, Freihofer's chocolate chip cookies.

Charlie got to hang around with grandma and grandpa, and meet his Aunt Mollie and Uncle Evan. While we were there, Charlie started scooting (using his arms to pull himself around), and tasted his first solid foods. He's an eater!

New toy from Lizzie McKeever.

 Goodbye Connecticut!

 Goodbye Grandma!