Since we've been home + real life pirates

We are settling back into our normal routine now that we've been home for a few days.  Daddy took the rest of the week off which was a major treat but he's back to work today so now it really feels like vacation is over.  I love vacation, but I'm a creature of habit so its nice to be back into our routine (except that we wish daddy was still off!).  The boys and I are back to hitting up cardio barre in the am + the park + doing errands.  Owen's naps are getting back to normal and we resume swim lessons today.  I feel like we are truly in the heart of summer and its been great.  

Tangent:  The other day I was in Trader Joe's and Scott was acting AWESOME (sarcastic, he was having a tantrum about something, I think not getting a cookie from the sample counter because they didn't have cookies) but I stood my ground and we survived (it might have been the closest I've ever come to abandoning my cart and walking out while dragging my children by the ears...).  A woman walked by and gave me a knowing look (and I appreciate those, we have all been there, kids aren't perfect and I always feel like it helps when another mom looks at me or says something so I know I'm not alone, once and mom of teenagers whispered to me "Go mom, you're doing great!" - awesome, love that) but then she said "don't you just hate summer?"  Sort of that thought of "I can't wait til my kids are back in school."  Don't get me wrong I get it, routine is nice and school can be part of that, but the way she said it was so negative.  It made me pause and think I hope I never say that out loud to someone.  Already I can't believe that we will be 'participating' in a back to school season this year.  Bizarre.  And before I know it Scott will be in school more days a week, then every day, then he won't want to hang out as a family because he'll be 16 and driving around with his buddies and (gasp) girls.  And next year Owen will most likely start preschool and the same thing will happen to him.  Why do parents hate having their kids home with them?  Its so fleeting.  Its challenging for sure, and busy, and some days we get bored and its too hot to go out in the afternoon but I'm surely not ready to give them the boot.  I hope when I feel those feelings I can remember how short of a time I get to have them home for and I hope I never come off as negative about it like this lady did - and in front of her kids.

So back to what we've been up to.  We arrived home to a weeks worth of mail including my first ever stickygram order.  F-U-N.  If you don't know stickygram they basically take your instagrams and turn them into magnets. 

And this book arrived from amazon.  I feel like I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I just discovered her blog and I kind of am in love.  I'm excited to jump into this book (but first Inferno by Dan Brown, Brian just finished it and he's excited for me to read it so we can talk about it.  Its like our own little couples book club.  Romantic. Haha.)

Play dough dinosaurs:

Owen's still in travel mode.  He loves wearing (empty) backpacks and pulling (empty) suitcases around the house.

We have made a few stops at my office which usually calls for a lollipop to keep the boys amused for a few minutes.

We hit up the library while daddy was home with us which was an extra treat for me.  Corralling Owen while trying to pick out books with Scott is a task.

Saturday was pirate day and the boys were up early to practice the sword skills:

The Ventura harbor hosts a pirate day every summer and this year Mimi got the down low and we decided it would be fun and appropriate for the boys.  (I had visions of a drunken mardi gras type event with pirates and slutty wenches, loud music etc. but everything my mom learned was that it was very kid friends with lots of kid activities, so we gave it a shot...glad we did)

We met Parker J. and auntie there and besides a bit of a walk because the parking lot was full things went smoothly and the crowds really weren't bad.

 Costumes were encouraged and we know how much Scott loves to be in costume (and in character).

There were real pirates roaming around and while Scott was so excited to see them and meet them he was pretty unsure of posing for any pictures with them.  These two were the first ones we met and they were my favorite.  Really nice to the boys and patient with their nervousness + they handed out gold doubloons.  Good thing Scott already has a treasure chest to store them in ; )

Parker tried a picture but wasn't really convinced it was safe.

As close as Scott came to a picture, safe in Aunties arms

The real highlight was meeting Captain hook.  The boys got to ask him questions and touch his hook. 

Mimi and Papa treated to boys to a few tickets so they could go on some of the bounce houses (Scott loves him a good bounce house).  They ended up going on this pirate ship slide 3 or 4 times because some of the other slides were too big.

After a few hours with pirates Mimi and Papa headed off with the big boys to a play in the park.  I don't have any pictures because Hilary, Owen and I went on a coffee date at Palermo (happy sigh!) but I hear it was really fun and I hope to steal some of their pictures to post later on.  The play was Jack and the Beanstalk and was only about 45 minutes long, perfect for the boys.  At one point while the giant was on stage Scott got up and sort of nervously watched, my mom reassured Scott that it was ok and he could sit down, the giant wasn't going to get him.  That's when Scott said: "No, mimi, if he comes down here I'm going to get him."  He takes his roll of protector seriously and is always practicing his sword skills and karate moves (which he doesn't take or legitimately know any) in order to protect his friends and family.  He cracks me up.

After the play we met back at Mimi and Papa's for dinner and ice cream cones.

Love these 3

Owen is pretty stoked that he is old enough to get in on this ice cream thing now...

 Scott also had the special privilege of having a sleep over at Mimi and Papa's that night.  It is so nice for each of the boys to get some one on one time with them.  I hear Scott had a great time and was (mostly) well behaved!

And just for fun some bathtub pictures from last night because I haven't taken those in forever.

These two tiny tushies: 

Now I really must get dinner prepared and get packed up for swim.  Til next time friends...

Jackson Hole

Where have we been all week?  Oh just a trip to Jackson, Wyoming ya'll.  

And Owen's first airplane ride to boot. (And Scott's first one that he remembers, the last time he was only 6 months old, he may remember his flight we GPA though...)

 We were up at 4:15 so the excitement may not be present on any of our faces...

 Hang on to your hats and glasses because this is gonna be a long post folks....

We arrived in Salt Lake City mid morning and hopped right into our rental car (minivan) and hit the road for our 4 hour drive to Jackson.  Shout out to the hubs' gold membership at Hertz, no line, his name was on a board and we just got in our car with the keys in it and drove away.  I guess it pays to have a hubby that travels....

The boys took great naps on the way which made for some blissful mommy and daddy chatting time, I may or may not have taken a short nap myself....

We arrived at Aunt Lynne and Uncle Taber's cabin before they arrived home from picking up Grandma and Gpa, so we let ourselves in and proceeded to start destroying the place.  I'm kidding, we didn't destroy it, well not completely, at least not yet...

 After everyone arrived home we had our dinner and crashed, it had been a looooong travel day and we were all pooped.  Late that night the Roush cousins arrived, but we didn't get up, too tired.

The next morning Scott headed downstairs before the rest of us to meet his cousins,  I think he was shy for about 30 seconds before he became Mason's shadow.

 At 12, 8 and (almost) 6 Scott had a lot to keep up with with his cousins, Zane, Mason and Addison, but they were so wonderful to him and included him in activities, shared their things and put up with his 3 year old isms.

The big kids got to sleep in the loft and while we didn't think Scott was quite ready to sleep up there (the only way down is a steep ladder that lands you directly at the top of a staircase) we did let him get up and play.

No surprise that Gpa brought his bike, and after Owen pointed at it several times Gpa even let him have a go....

Solo......? (Gpa just out of the shot so no worries)

After breakfast and coffee we packed a picnic and headed to the hot springs.

It was glorious fun for our little swimmers!

Then it was back to the cabin for bug catching...

And stump "swording"....

And beautiful views...

And more bug catching....

And a walk...

Just before the rain rolled in.

Handsome little devil:

 Nearly everyday we got some rain in the afternoon.  Most days it was complete with thunder and lightning and even some hail.  It was glorious.  I love thunderstorms.  Love them.

When we had to move the party inside Zane was ready with some card tricks.

 And the other kiddos amused us/themselves with some dancing and ninja moves.  Hilarity ensued.  Sorry, no pictures of those moments, not that you could really tell what the heck they were doing in those moments.

The following morning we hiked down to Granite Creek

And Owen got to pick some wildflowers...

From there we headed over to Teton Village for some lunch and ice cream (duh!) and we got to look into renting bikes for a bike ride the next day.

Owen has mastered signing "please"...nothing like a little ice-cream-motivation ; )

Grandma and Aunt Lynne planned wonderful dinners everyone each night and the kids enjoyed helping when needed (forced?)

Grandma surprised all the kids with water guns.  Our boys had not experienced these yet and had a blast messing around with them.  Also this picture CRACKS ME UP:

The next day we rented two bikes for Brian and myself, a trail-a-bike for Scott and a trailer for Owen and rode from Teton Village to Wilson and back (~15 miles roundtrip).  We were a little unsure of how Scott would do with the trail-a-bike at first, but we figured if he got tired there was room in the trailer with Owen so we gave it a shot.  I'm so glad we did.  This was a highlight of the trip for sure.

 Scott kept saying things like, "this is awesome" and "I like this, its my fravrite (favorite)".  And it was mine too.  The scenery, the company, the weather, it was all perfect.   Not to mention everyone was in a good mood the whole time.  Owen even got in a little nap.  And who wouldn't love the trailer, comfortable, shaded, snacks - a toddler's dream come true (or is my dream? ha)

Pit stop:

These two, their expressions, I die.  Thanks for the smiles boys.

Scott rode the entire way except for about ten minutes when we were half way back when he said his legs were tired.  After he rested he was ready to hop back on.  At this point Brian and I had traded bikes so he could pull the two boys (extra 60lbs plus trailer) and I rode with the empty bike behind me, instead of switching bikes (and moving seats up and down) again I rode with Scott the last 3 miles or so.  Scott was happy about this for about 30 seconds and then he wanted to ride with daddy.  I tried pumping him up, telling him how much fun I was having with him (true story, it was glorious) and how we were a team.  He said, "I want to be a team with daddy. Daddy's team is winning." Story.of.my.life.

If you haven't used a trail-a-bike I highly recommend it.  Scott could pedal or not but he got to be active and engaged with us the whole ride.  He's great on his two wheeler at home but there is no way he could do 15 miles so this worked out perfectly.

We got back just in time for a late lunch and there just so happened to be a hot dog/braut vendor outside cooking up hot fresh food that smelled heavenly.  The boys had hot dogs (I'm not eating meat right now) and ice cream (duh!) and then the sky opened up and down came the rain.  + thunder + lighting + hail.  We were about half an hour or 45 minutes ahead of Kirstan, Mason and Addie so we were worried for a bit.  Turns out they made it just in the nick of time.

 Funny story, six years ago during my first trip to Jackson we did this same bike ride and the same thing happened, we got back and ten minutes later: HUGE STORM.  Some cousins weren't so lucky and got caught in it, they were fine and they dried quickly.  Moral of the story: keep up with the Campbells!

That night I bribed the kids with glow sticks to all sit on the couch and smile at me.  It kinda worked:

And commence "light sabering"

Scott had been unfamiliar with light sabers until this point.  Not anymore.  Sword fighting + glow in the dark = best.night.ever.

Owen even got in on the action, and don't worry with Scott for a brother he already knows how to sword fight with the best of them.

By this point of our trip I had lost track of dates and days of the week which is the absolute BEST.  It takes me a day or two to get used to slowing down but once I do I feel like I could commit to it forever!!!!  I think this was Sunday morning that we hiked around the falls and played in the water.

And maybe someday we will all look at the camera and smile, but not today.

Granite falls

I already want to go back....

My guys:

Grandma and Gpa

The sign as you drive into Aunt Lynne and Uncle Taber's "neighborhood" 

After another yummy dinner Grandma and Aunt Lynne made up some AMAZING cobblers.  With some special little helpers...

Meanwhile Owen climbed the stairs...

Cooking up a storm...

And he's still at it:

The next morning we headed into town where Aunt Lynne treated all the kids (and Brian because he drew the short straw) to a stagecoach ride:

And we got some obligatory pictures in Jackson Town Square (which I instagrammed because we had service in town, but when we weren't in town it was so wonderful to be "unplugged")

Grandma and Gpa with all theirs grands

And of course we shopped:

LOVE:

 And Brian and I were excited to find our Jackson Hole Christmas tree ornament, a tradition I just love from our trips.

Our last day was spent getting some good pictures and hiking.

The Cabin (which Scott did not want to leave, I asked if he wanted to stay without us and he said yes, he even said he didn't need to go back to swimming or soccer (two activities that he loves) so he could stay at the cabin)

Trying for some good shots with Grandma, we gotta work on that "cheese" face SPC

And we hiked....to this GIANT rock.  Brian remembers coming and climbing on this rock as a kid and I just think it is so special that now we get to bring our kids here.

And played in the creek some more....

Owen was convinced he had to take his shirt off if he was going to get in the water.

By the way he is wearing my hat in these pictures.  Granted its on the smallest setting but still, it looks like it fits pretty well.  That boy has got a dome.

Scott and Addie hunting for snails (presumably)

Brian was just out of the shot, we did not let our kids play in the middle of the creek without a hand practically on them every moment

Scott dunking his head....

Goober:

Owen loved throwing rocks

We tried to teach him to say "rock" but he insisted it was "bah, a bah" (ball, a ball)

 Water was freeeeezing, it made my bones ache.

Wednesday we hit the road early for Salt Lake.  We gave ourselves plenty of time for lunch (can I get a hallelujah for whole foods in major cities near airports) and some running around before we got on the plane.

We were about 45 minutes out of town and cruising along at a nice clip when a lovely little black dodge something or another flipped a u turn and Brian said "oh crap" or something to that effect.  He actually pulled over before the cop even turned his lights on.  What a way to end a trip right?!  So the cop gets out and introduces himself and tells us why he pulled us over (duh!), license, registration, blah, blah, blah....so we are bummed but trying to be good sports.  Well he comes back over with the ticket in hand and is about to hand it to Brian when some bugs sort of fly in his face, he swats at them and goes, " 'Skeeters".  No joke.  I almost exploded from holding in my laugh.  It might have been the single greatest moment of the trip.  SKEETERS.  That plus the fact that the ticket amount was.....wait for it....67$ (he wrote us for going 5mph less than we were and you get a 10$ discount for wearing your seatbelt.  Shout out Wyoming.) and we were really able to laugh about the whole thing.  Not that we wouldn't rather put that 67$ towards something else but that ticket in California would have been exponentially higher.   And also: SKEETERS.

So back to the story of our trip home:

Owen's favorite toy is a ball.  He loves to carry them around, throw them, roll them, chase them.  Favorite.  When we were roaming Jackson one day we were in a store and he was particularly fussy.  Finally he started reaching out and asking for "bah" - so the rest of the time he carried around a giant blue basketball with the Wyoming flag on it - word.  When it came time to go I knew he was gonna have a hard time giving it up so I thought about just getting it for him (yeah, I'm that mom, judge if you must) but for 14.99 I thought better of it.  He sobbed "bah" for about 5 straight minutes after we walked out of the store.  Guilt city up in here.  So fast forward to lunch before the plane ride, there was a petco in the whole foods shopping center so we decided to kill some time letting the boys look at fish, hamsters and parakeets (as good as the zoo right?) and then Owen found the dog tennis balls and it was over.  Good thing these were only 99 cents - we splurged and had one happy kiddo!  And that's the story of why my children play with dog toys.

 After petco I said to Brian: "wouldn't it be perfect if there was a Barnes and Noble we could go hang out at nearby."  Totally forgetting I have a smart phone that could have told me that, whatever, smart phones make me dumber.  Brian says lets see what's around the corner and BLAM.  Barnes and Noble.

So we got to read and play trains for 45 minutes and it worked out perfectly!

We were home in time for some pizza for dinner and new goggles that came in the mail (better together obviously)

Thank you for an amazing vacation Grandma and Gpa and for opening your home to us Aunt Lynne and Uncle Taber (literally: they gave up THEIR room so our family of four could all be together, too much!)  We have wonderful memories that will last a lifetime!