NORMANDY

I think I have been mentally postponing this post because I knew it was going to be massive. So, before my brain forgets all of those wonderful little memories, here we go.... Like I mentioned in my last post, our trip was awesome. The White family campaign "Aim to not be Lame" was inspired by the fact that for the last 5 years we have been totally lame. We've had really good excuses, mainly revolving around our kids and Ryan's busy career, but now we're just ready to live life to it's fullest, children in tow. You ready? You're a trooper if you make it through this....

Thursday we drove to Normandy and spent the day learning more about World War II. We started off at a couple of the D-Day beaches, followed by the Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial and my kid's favorite place, Pointe Du Hoc. The area at Pointe Du Hoc has been left in it's original condition and the ground is just rittled with large crater after large crater from bombs dropping. The kids loved running in and out of the craters and playing in the cement "forts" where the German soldiers sought protection. We ended our day in a wonderful little town, Bayeux, and had dinner at a local pizzaria. The husband/father of the other family we went with served his mission in France and so not only did he speak fleunt French (which was EXTREMELY helpful) he knew all of the best places to eat. We were well fed.

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Friday morning we went to the Bayeux Cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry, both of which were amazing and beautiful. We had pastries from bakeries every morning for breakfast, and, in my opinion, Bayeux was home to the best ones. The Bayeux Tapestry was one of my favorite places overall, partially because the tapestry is so old, and the story is so cool. The boys also really liked the tapestry and both of them seemed to soak in the story. We were driving to our next destination and Brayden said to Landon, "Let's play. You be England, and I'll be Normandy, which means I always win." True Brayden style right there. The gift shop had a number of really beautiful tapestries that Ryan and I were ogling, starting at 600€ ($900). I wish! It also had a really great children's book that re-told the story that has been really fun to read with the boys. From the Bayeux Tapestry we went into another great little city, Granville. The kids played on the beach and I did a little shopping along a small street filled with shops. We were talking with some locals (one of whom knew English) and it came up that before we moved to Brussels I had never been out of the US (true story). Anyway, this guy was shocked, and said, "Really?? Not even on holiday?!" The culture here is just so different. Everyone goes everywhere and sees everything (broad generalization I'm sure, but you get the point) and now I'm excited to be a part of that.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Mont-Saint-Michel. I don't know how many times I said, "Amazing!" that day, but it was a lot. Mont-Saint-Michel has to be one of the most amazingly constructed buildings I have ever seen. It's an abbey on an island and it's 1300 years old. Along with the abbey there were also quite a few little museums within the village, that we didn't see due to cranky kids and hunger. From Mont-Saint-Michel we headed to another crowd favorite, the city of Saint Malo. I think I could buy a little place on the beach and retire there. The ocean view was incredible, and the city itself was so cute. Saint Malo is a walled in city full of shops and eateries and hotels. It's small, and all the buildings look the same. I believe at the time of construction it was a military base of some kind. The kids played on the beach until after 9pm that night, and even at that they were disappointed that it was time to go. It was a nice relaxing way to spend our last night in Northern France. By the time we got to our hotel it was midnight and Charlotte was trashed. She was so tired she could hardly walk (poor girl). Ryan had picked up some food for a late-late dinner and I set her in the pack n play to eat. When I turned around, she was zonked. Totally snoring, in the middle of the room. She's still recovering from her lack of sleep.

   

 

Sunday was our most low-key day with a morning at church and our drive home. Belgium and France both have lots of really great rest stops with play stuff for the kids, so we took advantage of those and had a leisurely drive home (or something like that) all the while planning our next trip.

We got the keys to our new house yesterday and will be moving in this weekend. I am so excited! The house ended up needing more work (as in cleaning, painting) than we originally realized, and here in Belgium those kinds of things can fall on the tenants often times, and does in our case. So, we have a bit of work ahead of us, but I don't mind doing it...at least for now. Stay tuned....

New Blog

We're home and our trip was great! So great in fact that it inspired me to start a new blog with all of my family's travels (this is still a work in progress...) I'm hoping to keep it updated often, with some attraction or place of interest a day along with travel tips, products I love for travelling, etc. If nothing else it will be my little travel journal and a place to collect all of my travel information. I would love to have other contributors as well - places you have taken your small kids and your experiences - so if you are interested in being a contributor please let me know! For a quick vacation recap: We ended up just going to Normandy (which was UNBELIEVABLE) and we went with some friends who are seasoned travelers. In 4 days, we saw about a dozen major sites, and they and their 4 kids (ages 6.5 to 9 months) made the White family warriors look like the White family weaklings. By the end of day 3, my kids were so wiped out by the pace and lack of sleep that the meltdowns came in torrents. Their kids? Happy little travelers. So, we've got a lot to learn in the travel with kids department, and I can't wait to keep practicing. Our next long weekend trip is going to be in the middle of August (still a toss up between Holland and Paris) and this time I hope things will go a little smoother. Along with the big sites, we also did some really fun "small" stuff. We went to church on Sunday at this tiny little branch in a quaint little French town and it was wonderful. Our attendance doubled the number of people there and we sang hymns accompanied by a CD. We played quite a bit on a couple of different gorgeous beaches, and that seemed to be the main hit with the kids. We also hit a random street fair that had a mechanical bull that both Brayden and Landon rode. It was hilarious. Stay tuned for more of the big attractions that we saw - I think we took over 500 pictures!

Just trying to get to the flea market

We made it to the flea market today. This was my second attempt to find the flea market -my first was last week - and although I thought I had cross referenced the metro map and my city map well, I ended up wandering in circles through the city and never found it. On my way back to the metro to go home I asked someone for directions to the flea market and they told me that I should have gotten off at a different stop. So, this week, armed with new knowledge, my interior decorating-flea market savvy friend and I loaded up our double strollers and headed out.

I usually avoid taking my double stroller on the metro unless Ryan is with me because often times the only way to get down into the station (or onto the platform once you have made it into the station) is by taking the stairs. There are NO elevators, but usually there are escalators that you can take. (Get this: there is even a sign that shows mothers with strollers how to properly use the escalator. Admittedly, it's a weird experience riding an escalator with a stroller and tons of people around and none of them looking at you like you are total sinner, or bad mother, or both.) Today though, I took the double because I knew I wanted Landon cooped up so that I could browse at the market. Well, heck of a day to take my double because literally 75% of the escalators were down for maintenance. As my friend and I took turns helping haul the others' stroller up and down the zillions of stairs (we had to switch trains 3 times each way), I felt myself literally out of breath. We joked that we felt like we were taking a cardio/weight lifting class - for free! Fringe benefit of city life baby.

Once we got to the "right" stop, we asked for directions to the actual market and found that we were still about 1.5km (roughly 1 mile) from the market. We started walking and found ourselves right in the middle of road construction, trying to navigate with our strollers. The road construction ended and as we looked around we realized we were in a sketchy part of town. Our eyes met as to say, "Ready for a little jog?" So, we upped our pace and when that particular street ended, there was the market. At this point, I wasn't quite sure if the market was just internet lore and map trickery since I felt like I had drug my children across the world to get there, so I was happy to finally see it.

Within a couple of minutes my friend had made her first purchase (a beautiful lamp for only 10€) as I slowly looked around. Admittedly I was a tad ADD about the whole thing, as I couldn't quite focus on just one "shop" at a time. I did find a perfect teal-ish buffet with red accents and a marble top that would be gorgeous in my new veranda for only 80€, and had I had a car with me, I would have bought it on the spot. We are going on vacation tomorrow (more on that later) but I'm planning to go to the market - with the car - first thing Monday morning. I figure if the buffet is still there, I should be able to score it for 50€. If not, I'm sure something else will pop up.

We eventually made it home, sore limbs and all. When we got in the elevator Brayden said,
"Whew mom, that was a hard day!" and I rapidly agreed.

In our "Aim to not be Lame" campaign, we are heading out on our first European trip since our arrival in Brussels. We are headed to Normandy and Paris for the weekend. Stay tuned for pictures...I am hoping to get quite a few!

I heart Brussels

I'm struggling a little bit with blogging lately. There are so many things going on everyday I could fill post after post with it all. At night when I sit down to blog, I immediately get writer's block. Should I talk about the amazing, plentiful farmer's markets? The fashionable women? The beautiful architecture? The crazy gypsys? The weather? My kids being naughty on the metro? My kids being well-behaved (for once) on the metro? There is just so much to process!

To throw a blanket over it all right now, we are doing wonderfully. Is it possible, having been here such a short time, to feel as changed as I feel? I love the city, and right now I am loving Brussels. Brussels has such diversity in both nationalities and languages. It's facinating. My mom always says that "change brings growth" and I am definitely feeling that, and it's empowering and wonderful.

Today, we took a bit of a break from our unable-to-understand-anything-anyone-says world and went to an English bookstore (as much as I like my life, I don't mind speaking English in a store once in a while :>). I have been wanting a new journal like this to record my experiences and a couple of wall maps to hang in our new house. We didn't find either, but we did buy a couple of books that the boys have been enjoying today. I would highly recommend this one in particular:

Very funny and a great way to answer one of Brayden's favorite questions, "How did the dinosaurs get extinct?"

Tomorrow I think we are headed to the flea market to see what I can find to furnish our new place here. I've been drifting off to sleep at night dreaming of finding the perfect kitchen table and chairs, dining room buffet and hutch, or dresser for the kids, ready for a little sand paper and new coat of paint. Wish me luck in my quest...I'll keep you posted on my finds!

Quote of the Day

Funniest Brussels quote of the day, thanks to the funny man in our house....

When talking to his Nana on the phone, "Remember when my dad used to have a black car? Now he has a blue one. But not my mom, she takes the bus."

Dos Donuts

Today marks day 14 - week 2! - since we arrived in Belgium. For whatever reason, I am feeling less "together" today than any day so far. Shouldn't I have everything figured out by now??? The days pass so quickly and leisurely, yet very little on my "to learn" or "to see" lists are being accomplished. And my french? How is that coming along you ask? My answer today would have to be Not. At. All.

We went for a walk this afternoon in search of a bakery as I was craving sumputous buttery crossiants to go with my large batch of homemade chicken salad I made this morning. I had no idea where to go, but figured that since I am in the city, a bakery couldn't be too far away. So we headed out and sure enough about 15 minutes into our aimless city walk, there was a bakery. We all jumped with delight (at this point I had talked up croissants so much to the boys that we might has well been in search of Disneyland). I mentally practiced what I would say to the store clerk..."Je voudrais sis crossaint" (I would like 6 crossaints) - not that hard, right? But instead we walked in and I stared stupidly at the clerk and said, "Uhhhhhh, crossaint?" To which she shook her head and pointed to the tray where they USED to be. AGH! At this point I was already mad at myself for not using "my french" therefore reviewing what I should have said in my mind all the while zoning off into my own little world until I realized the clerk was still staring at me as to say, "Is that all?" and the boys were begging for a chocolate donut. Chocolate donut? Sure, why not. Maybe it will help my memory. So I turn to the clerk and say, "Dos donuts." Yes, that's right folks, "DOS DONUTS." Since when do I know spanish?! I have NEVER taken spanish! The clerk gave me an even weirder look than before when I asked for "Uhhhhh crossaint" but thankfully she must have known a little spanish because sure enough we ended up with 2, "Dos" yummy chocolate donuts. Spanish lessons anyone? Apparently I know a bit...

Home Sweet Home

I am so happy to be connected to the internet again (and so much sooner than I thought!) We have been keeping quite busy these last couple of days and some of the euphoria of being in a new exciting place is wearing off and in it's place is the stark realization that someday I'm going to have to figure out what everything at the grocery store is and learn how to talk to people around here. I did ask for directions the other day and was very pleased with myself, even though my American accent was thicker than I would have liked. However, the woman that I asked for directions did not seem too impressed by my ability to spew out a few french words, but rather annoyed that I had obviously butchered her beautiful language.

The biggest thing that has happened recently though is that we have found our permanent resting place here! We will be in our temporary corporate housing for another 3 weeks and then we will move into our new home. It's perfect, and nothing short of a miracle that we randomly stumbled across it. It's a cute red brick townhouse, oozing with all of the charm you would expect from a European home. It's small and cozy, yet very open and spacious all at the same time. It has a little backyard - another small miracle - that will be perfect for the kids. Since we've been here we have struggled a little trying to decide city vs. suburbs, but in the end we couldn't get over the fact that we came here for a true, city-life, minimalistic, European experience and all that goes along with that. This limbo period that we are in now is a little weird, and I can't wait to get settled into our life here and our cute little European maison (not to be confused with its big brother "mansion").

More pictures

Here are some more picture from our outings the last couple of days. These first pictures are the Grand Place in downtown Brussels. It is gorgeous! Being around such pictureque settings makes me want to become a photographer like some of my talentented friends. Who knows, along with learning 2 languages I may just have to add photography to my "things to learn in Europe" list.

Putting on my big girl underpants

Ryan has a funny phrase that he says everytime someone needs to buck up and get something done. He says, "Well, it's time for him/her to put their big boy/girl underpants on." Today was that day for me.

Ryan started work here today, signaling the entrance into my new world of figuring out Brussels by myself with 3 kids in tow. I wish I had lots of fun horror stories for you, but we actually had a really mellow day. We spent a whopping 4 hours at the park with some new friends, so that took a mighty chunk out of our day. I also tried cooking something other than pasta tonight in my wholly un-equipped kitchen which took another chunk of time (and just in case you're ever wondering like I was today, chicken breasts DO cook in a toaster oven - quite quickly in fact!) Throw in a couple of random French cartoons and a little cleaning up and you've got yourself a full day.

The park we went to today was gorgeous. It was lush and green and had these wonderful walking paths and little animals running around, and swans in the lake - even a little donkey with his own little house to go to when he's in need of "me" time. It will definitely be one of our favorite spots and whenever I find myself in need of a break from my "big girl underpants" you'll find us there collecting sticks, running down the tree-lined paths, waving to the donkey.

(note: I tried uploading more pictures but my computer was having issues, so if it corrects itself I will upload the rest of my pics from today!)

Best day yet!

I knew today was going to be a good day before I went to bed last night. I have been looking forward to today with anticipation since the day we arrived. Why all of the excitement? We went to church today!

I feel really fortunate that there is an English-speaking ward here in Brussels because at this point it feels like my only connection to home and other American families. A lot of the people in the ward are American expats, either with the military or professional, while others are long-time residents that are English speakers. I just can't even express how thrilled I am to have this church connection. The immediate support network that it provides is invaluable to me at this point and I am excited to be a part of such a great ward. As silly as this is going to sound, even the "trip" to church was fun. It is about a 25 minute tram ride to church, with a 10-15 minute walk both to the tram station from our apartment and to the church from the tram, making the whole trip to get to church about 45 minutes. It was so leisurely and calm, as opposed to our usual running around, grabbing things last minute, yelling at kids to "get in the car - we're going to be late!", etc. etc. So, today was a good day, and I figure that everyday has to get a little better, so my spirits are high. Oh and to top it off, everyone finally slept normal hours last night, so that may be a contributor to my high spirits as well. :)

How many Americans does it take to....

This phrase has been uttered quite a few times the last couple of days and I'm sure it will be uttered many more times. Allow me to share a few examples...

Run the dryer...The laundry is piling up. The washer and dryer are so small that I can hardly fit one outfit for everyone in the wash at one time, which means that I am doing laundry often. The first time I went to use the dryer there was a light that kept coming on that had water drops and an "x" through it. It took about 15 minutes to figure out what that light meant and why the dryer wouldn't start. Turns out there is a plastic container inside the dryer that fills with water when it is used. That plastic container needs to be emptied after each dryer cycle and when it isn't emptied the dryer lets you know.

Figure out the bus schedule...Maybe we just haven't used the bus system enough times in our lives, but this looks complicated to me. We took our first big outing today using public transportation and it took the both of us plus one really old French guy that didn't speak any English to figure out the schedule.

Ok so this picture doesn't really fit the theme, but I just had to share because Charlotte is turning from baby to little girl and I just can't get enough. It's weird to think when this whole adventure is over Charlotte will have become a full-fledged preschooler.

Excitability may occur.

I really wanted to write a goodbye blog before we left Oregon, talking about the last 6 years in Oregon and all of the things and people I will miss, but with everything going on I never got the chance. So much has happened in the last 48 hours that I hardly feel like I can reproduce those goodbyes, so I won't, but rather will shout out a big thank you to Oregon for treating us well and an even bigger thank you to our friends for loving us and being there for us. We appreciate you all! Now onto the present....

We arrived in Brussels about 30 hours ago. In case you're wondering, the trip here was everything I thought it would be and more. And not in a good way. :> Our plane trip and airport experiences alone are enough for 6 or 7 really good blogs and someday if I'm lacking in blog material I will share some of them. My only notes here are to say that Benadryl DOES work to knock your kids out. On the back of the bottle it gave two separate warnings: "May cause drowsiness" and "Excitability may occur." The first was true for my kids; however, a warning should also include "may cause such deep sleep that your children may not be able to control their bodily functions," which was also true for my kids.

Another note for you future travelers is that you should only take the bare minimum luggage as carry-on with you to Europe. Both the Amsterdam and Brussels airports were so large that we literally walked miles through corridors, up and down stairs, through narrow walkways, all the while hauling our massive amounts of carry-ons. I'm sure we looked like an overpacked American family, and we were!

We are slowly adjusting to the time change. Everyone, including Charlotte, only got about 3 hours of sleep on the trip over and then we were able to keep the kids up all day yesterday. Charlotte zonked out about 5:30pm last night and the rest of us went to sleep about 7pm. The boys were up by midnight, hyped up and ready to play. It took the combined efforts of both Ryan and me and the next 4 hours to get the boys back to sleep and then they slept until noon. Charlotte on the other hand slept un-interrupted from 5:30pm until 11:30am the next morning. If I ever thought it was impossible to sleep 18 hours straight, Charlotte proved me wrong. We are planning on keeping everyone up until 10 or 11 tonight and hoping the boys (and us!) sleep through the night tonight. If we get everyone up at a normal wake-up time in the morning hopefully we will be back on track.

With as many different experiences as we have been having, I'm hoping to blog everyday. I definitely have the material, it will be a matter of time - which at this point I have plenty. Thanks for tuning in! Au revior!

The Blue Screen of Death

Last week I was minding my own business, checking my email, when all of the sudden my computer shut down on me. I didn't think too much about it until I tried to restart it and got "The Blue Screen of Death." Most (if not all) of you have probably encountered this screen at one time or another in your computer-using life, and it's never fun. Things have been so busy around my house that Mr. Fix Anything (aka Ryan) hasn't really had time to look at it until today. Well, the prognosis isn't looking good and it seems as though we have lost everything since the last time we backed up (which was 6 months ago!) So, I will send out a thank you to my blog, for the pictures on my blog are the only pictures I have now from the last 6 months...sniff, sniff.

However, in other news - other GOOD news - we sold our house again. Yes that's right, 1 week and many many prayers later and our house is officially off the market again. This whole experience has just been one big Faith 101 class. I swear I have taken the class before, but for whatever reason I can never remember the curriculum I so diligently studied. I guess that's why I have to keep taking it.....

In even more good news, my parents are taking Brayden and Landon for the rest of the week. Ryan's parents have been visiting this past weekend and they are dropping the boys off in Boise on their way back to Salt Lake. I think it will be so fun for the boys to party and will definitely be amazing for me and Ryan to have this last week before we go to get things done. The thought of starting a "project" and being able to finish without child interruptions is almost more than my brain can process. I'll let you know if I survive.

Reminiscing Tag

I was tagged by my friend Aundrea and thought this was fun, so here we go: 20 Years Ago: I was 7 years old and lived in Farmington, Utah. One of my best friend's name was Whitney Lacy and I had another friend named Lindsay - whose last name I've forgotten. Another important person in my life? My elementary school crush, Jeff Williams. My parents had just built a new house and we didn't have a fence between our house and our neighbor's house and I remember the "mom" at the neighbor's house used to sun bathe topless. Ah, the things you remember from your childhood... 10 Years Ago: I was a junior in high school and was just running for student body president. I spent all of my time either on the golf course, in the gym playing basketball, or hanging out with my friends. We had some good times. For prom that year I remember having the best tan of my life, and maybe the last tan of my life. 5 Years Ago: Ryan and I had just bought our house and I was 7 months pregnant with Brayden. We were loving Oregon and "being on our own" but I was hating the people who told me that Oregon summers are so mild that you don't need air conditioning. Obviously they had never been 9 months pregnant in August. 3 Years Ago: Landon-man had just joined our family and I began thinking that my family was shaping up how I'd always planned it - all boys! We spent a lot of time that summer outdoors and took the boys on lots of camping and hiking trips. Later that fall we bought a minivan, doing something that I swore I would NEVER do, actually drive one of those. Not only did I buy and drive, but I loved it! 1 Year Ago: Charlotte's arrival put a hault to a family of white-boys and I have been grateful ever since. Ryan was traveling constantly and with no family around it was just me and the kids. She saved my life! With 2 busy (and occasionally naughty) toddlers, Charlotte's fun, bubbly disposition made the days pass by quicker. I felt like I experienced a lot of personal growth, learning to do a lot on my own and do it well. I also discovered the wonderful world of blogging and have loved making contact with people I maybe wouldn't have otherwise kept in touch with or re-connected with. This year so far has been, in all, the hardest year of recent times. Not necessarily in the obvious ways, but this last year has brought me to a lot of soul searching and time on my knees. Not only have I experienced growth in personal areas, but Ryan and I spent a lot of time deciding the right direction for our family, and we are confident and thrilled to be moving in the direction we are going. Yesterday I got my house back on the market and cleaned my window screens. I sorted through more closets and put things into my "ship" and "store" piles. I also watched a movie last night called "A Long Engagement" (French foreign film with English subtitles, and the edited version I might add) which was one of the best movies I've seen in a while. A very complex and smart movie and one I would recommend to anyone! Today someone is coming to look at my house, and if I'm really really lucky or blessed, or a combination of both, maybe they'll buy my house. Tomorrow Brayden and I are starting French lessons. We are starting a little late as far as a timeline is concerned, but I figure something is better than nothing. I'm hoping to at least be able to say "hello," "Do you speak English," and other phrases I have mentioned in past posts. (Ok, so I already know how to say "hello" but you catch my drift...) In the next year I hope to be a seasoned European traveler and be on my way to becoming totally fluent in French and maybe have learned some Dutch in there too! I hope life will be fun and exciting, but at the same time mellow and chill. 

For Sale...again

We found out yesterday that the sale of our house is not going through. The buyers weren't able to get the financing they were planning on. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. But, there is only one thing to do - get back on the horse, the work-horse that is, and try to get my house sold in the next 3 weeks. We are re-listing our house with a new agent and hoping to gain some momentum.

So, in the spirit of getting my house back on the market, I have been cleaning like a mad-woman trying to make things presentable again. We had a very busy morning and when I finally sat down to eat lunch, Brayden was the only one still awake and sat down at the table to talk with me. The following conversation ensued:

Brayden: I’m going to be a cowboy when I grow up.

Me: Ooh – that sounds fun.

Brayden: What are you going to be when you are a grown-up?

Me: I am a grown-up and I’m a mom!

Brayden: THAT'S IT?! You’re not someone who does anything or works?

Needless to say I was dying, laughing so hard. So, here's a little shout-out to you stay-at-home moms who don't do anything or work. Happy Friday!

Going "Under the Knife"

So much has happened in our little world here since my last post that I hardly know how to catch up, so I'm not going to. Rather I will just begin with a clean slate and start with what happened today!

When Charlotte was born she had a small, dime-sized scar on her forehead, that wasn't really a scar, but something called a nevus sabaceus. It was explained to me as an overproduction of the oil glands in that particular area causing the skin to raise. It's not a big deal now, but as she gets older it has the potential to grow warts and ooze (every girl's dream, right?) So, although she is the youngest member of my family, today she earned the elite privilege of becoming the first person in our family to have plastic surgery. They had to put her under an anesthetic and she did so well. Before the actual anesthetic was given they gave her a little something that made her very loopy. It was hilarious. She was acting like a drunk - a very happy drunk I must say. She kept trying to walk and her legs would buckle and then she'd look at us with a huge sloppy grin like she didn't have a care in the world.

I should have taken a really good "before" picture, but I didn't, so this is the best I have

Test run

We took a little vacation this last weekend, part test run for trips to come and part just to have fun! Seeing as though summer hasn't come yet here (it's cloudy and 52 degrees today) we decided to check out the new Great Wolf resort near Seattle. Outside of visiting family, we don't really take many family vacations and haven't done one since Charlotte was born. Seeing as though we plan on vacationing quite a bit the next couple of years, a test run seemed appropriate on our home turf. I took my camera with lofty ideas of getting some great pictures, but I was in the water the whole time so no pictures got taken.

The resort is basically a huge lodge attached to a 60,000 sq.ft. indoor water park. The accommodations were great and we had such a blast. After some initial water hesitation by Landon and Charlotte, the kids really enjoyed themselves and Landon even ended up going down the huge "adult" water slides. I would definitely recommend it with these 2 notes:

1. Go during the week if you can. It was so much less busy Friday than Saturday. We left Saturday late afternoon and it was crazy-packed. I think it's less expensive during the week too.

2. If possible, have a 1-to-1 ratio with your kids. As much fun as Charlotte had, she really held the boys back in their ability to do "big kid things" since one of us always had to be her and usually the boys wanted to go different directions. If your kids are older and can watch themselves, this wouldn't matter much. However, in my situation, it would have been awesome to have "Grandma/Nana" there to play with Charlotte while we took the boys around.

Overall, the "having fun" portion of our trip definitely succeeded. As far as a test run for our future European adventures? I think we are in for some interesting times ahead. Between here and Seattle and back we had 2 emergency "#2" stops (for the kids of course...), we lost Landon and had to contact security (which, as bad as this is going to sound, is pretty standard on any outing with that kid), and sleep was minimal. I guess as long as I can learn, "Where is your closest bathroom - this is an emergency!" and "Can you help me find my small child?" in many different European languages we'll be in good shape. Europe here we come, 4 weeks and counting...

SOLD!

Assuming that everything works out on the Buyer's end....
Hip-hip-hooray!!!

Stress Reliever

I have been massively stressed out lately. I don't ever remember a time in my life where I had so many things going on at one time, so many BIG things. I have never been a high-stress person and in fact I remember after graduating from college saying that I was so low stress that I was able to graduate from college without ever stressing out. My attitude towards stress has always been that if you focus on the fact that you are stressed out, then you are wasting lots of energy that you could put towards working on the things that are stressing you out. It has come to my attention that all of these comments and previous notions were said and developed before I ever had the chance to experience REAL stress . I'm thinking that the bulk of the stress is coming from trying to sell the house, but it is compounded by the fact that our move is getting closer and I really need to be focusing on sorting our stuff, not constantly cleaning the house. Add the bureaucratic processes I am dealing with just to get our paperwork together to get us to Belgium, a busy church calling, and 3 small children and it's just overload!

So, after feeling all of these things last night and this morning I decided I needed a breather and nothing is a better stress reliever for me than baking. Here is a great recipe for the best brownies on earth. They are baking right now, and I'm already feeling better. In my opinion, if baking (and eating!) these can't bring a little stress reliever, nothing will. Enjoy!

Heavenly Hash Brownies

Brownie:
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. melted butter
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

1 - 7oz. jar marshmallow creme

Icing:
1/2 c. melted butter
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla

Mix eggs and vanilla. Add sugar and flour. Beat well. Mix melted butter and cocoa. Add to flour mixture. Add pecans. Bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes. DO NOT COOL. Place mounds of marshmallow creme on warm cake and spread evenly. Cool, then spread with well-beaten icing.

The Wedding Report - Again!

Over this past weekend my sister Natalie got married! She is my only sister and we are so close, so I think it had a bit of special significance for me. Everything was gorgeous and beautiful, especially Natalie! She looked like a Disney Princess, it was amazing. It has been great to have all of these big family events the last couple of months so that we could get to see so much of our families before our exodus. Along with the wedding we celebrated my little nephew's baby blessing and my mom's birthday - both of which I don't have any pictures of. Saturday night we went out to the new Indiana Jones movie, and I officially give it my stamp of approval, despite a little cheesiness (I won't go into details for those of you who haven't seen it!)

The picture-taking was a bit sporadic over the weekend, but we ended up getting some fun pictures overall!

Happy 1st Birthday Charlotte!

Charlotte is a joy in my life! It has been so much fun to see her grow and develop this last year. Her personality is such a little mix of Brayden and Landon, with her own little added bit of feisty.

I was thinking today as I was watching her play how blessed I feel to be her mom. When I first found out that I was having a girl, I didn't quite know how I felt about it. I had always thought of myself as a "boy mom" and had absolutely no idea what I would do with a girl.

The first time I held her all of my concerned feelings left and were replaced with this incredible bond that I don't even know how to describe. I immediately felt like I had my own little best friend. Charlotte is a bright spot in my day everyday and I am so thankful for her. We had a very fun birthday day today enjoying sunshine, cake, and presents! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE - I LOVE YOU!

The Wedding Report

Ryan, Charlotte, and I just returned from a great weekend in Salt Lake & Logan for Ryan's brother's wedding. The time-table was so quick and I knew we would have a demanding schedule, so we left the boys here with some friends while we went. The wedding was so nice, and always, humor followed us and we ended up having some very funny experiences. I'll share a couple.

All of the sisters and sisters-in-law were wearing matching outfits for the reception. Not really thinking when I packed my suitcase, the only dressy outfit I packed was the outfit for the reception with the thought that I would just wear that all day. When my sister-in-law Andrea picked us up from the airport she told me that no one was wearing their outfits all day, and so I ended up borrowing a dress of hers to wear for the actual ceremony. When we got to the temple I noticed that someone else in the wedding party was wearing the exact same dress. Only difference? She was 9 months pregnant! So, not only was I wearing the same dress as someone else, but now it also looked like I shopped at Motherhood Maternity for my everyday wear. It became the point of all jokes for the rest of the morning that my sister-in-law set me up and my twin was officially dubbed my "BFF."

After the wedding we went to the CopperMill where their wedding luncheon was. At this point, I was starving! I had eaten a bowl of cereal 6 hours earlier that definitely was not tiding me over and my stomach was getting a little queasy. The luncheon was buffet-style and I ended up eating a lot. As we were walking to the car after the luncheon my stomach was not agreeing with me very well. Everyone went back to Ryan's grandma's house to hang out for the couple of hours before the reception and once we got there my stomach had decided that everything I had just eaten an hour before had to be flushed. With the house being full of people, I was a little distressed as to what I should do (there are only 2 bathrooms in the house) and Ryan told me that if I used the bathroom in the basement, he would stay close by and run interference for me making sure no one tried to use that bathroom. Well, my stomach did what it needed to do and when I went to flush I all heard was "Clunk, clunk." You know, the sound of the toilet NOT flushing. I immediately called for Ryan to "Come in here, QUICK!" He did a various many things with the toilet trying to get it working again all the while saying, "Oh my gosh, Lisa" over and over again. All I could do was laugh. Thankfully, Ryan got the toilet working again and we were on our way.

Along with our funny experiences we had so much fun seeing family - especially family that we only keep in touch with over the blogosphere! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip:

Lions & Tigers & Gas Prices - OH MY!

You know gas prices are getting bad when you wait in line at Costco for 25 minutes for gas at $3.53. I have noticed the steady incline in gas prices, but I have to say it's getting a little ridiculous. I dropped Brayden off at preschool this morning and on the way home noticed that gas was $3.70 at most stations I passed. Knowing I had to drive by Costco anyway, I thought I would just fill up there. When I pulled in, there were 10 gas lanes, each with 6-7 cars waiting. I guess everyone else noticed the $3.70 elsewhere too! All of this expensive gas led me to reminisce on the "good ol' days" when I could fill my car up for $15. Even two years ago when we bought my current car I could fill it up for less than $40. Today I spent $60! I'm not even going to talk about our soaring utility bills. So, there's my little rant for today. If you see me walking down the street pushing my jogging stroller, miles from home hauling groceries or some other item, don't ask questions, just know that I decided $60 was too much to be paying at the pump and I wanted to delay the painful process of doing so again as long as possible.