Am I Really This Stupid (Or the time I road tripped it alone w/ the kids after knowing what I was getting into)

Yes, I did it again.  I had too many people complaining about not seeing me last time I was in Salt Lake (it was 2 days, guys!), that I loaded tons of stuff in the car, put on my Big Girl Pants and drove to Utah alone.  And this time I didn't have a sister in Albuquerque to break up the long first leg.  We left after The Captain's gymnastics class since we had missed a few already and we would miss a few more on the trip.  So we didn't get going until 10am.  We went all the way to Farmington, NM.  I thought it would take 10 hours plus a few for stops.  Apparently Google lies sometimes and it is 12 hours to get to Farmington.  Also, I underestimated Joy's potty training skills and it took us 15 hours to get there.  I was good until the last 3 or 4, but then things got hairy.  Luckily for me, I have the best sister-in-law who let us treat their house like a hotel and just crash for the night.  She also fed us in the morning and gave us a great idea for a place to stop on our drive up to Salt Lake.

we totally followed your advice!

Which started our theme for the trip: hiking.

 A) I was really glad that I brought jackets for everyone because we definitely escaped 100+ degree weather and it actually got quite chilly in Utah and New Mexico.
B) THANK YOU to everyone who suggested hikes for us.  It is one thing we certainly cannot do in Texas.  I'm not up on all the child-friendly ones, and I wanted us to do as many as we could.

We packed in a ton of fun stuff into this trip.  Last time, we were basically in the car the whole time.  This time, we did that part super fast so we got have family dinners, play dates, zoo visits, birthday parties, camping trips . . . well, except for the sleeping outside thing, and lots of hiking.  Of course, I was enjoying myself too, so I don't have pictures of most of those things, but speaking of the zoo--

They had a Lego thing going on at Hogle Zoo, which involved life size Lego animals throughout the park and these fun Legos at the entrance.  Here are the kiddos and their cousin. 

This is a good example of the Legos.

Joy was the best.  Everything was the most exciting thing.  It was like "Oooo, Monkeys"

And "Oooo Elephants"

And "Ooo Owl. Who, who".  She loved the Bird Show.  They brought the owl (a different one) into its cage behind the audience before the show started and she kept looking back there and pointing and saying "who, who" in her sweetest, smallest voice.

 And "Ooo Crocodiles! They're so cute!"  That started an epic family battle.  The siblings still argue over that one.  Every animal was the cutest.  This girl has no fear.  Even of this:

We learned all sorts of cool things about gorillas.  Did you know they are herbivores?  They only have sharp teeth to intimidate other animals or gorillas, as demonstrated by this male.  And their jaw muscles are huge so they can chew plants all day.  The same is true for elephants.

See, she happily sat here after seeing the live gorilla

 After we sweated all day at the zoo, we went into the canyon for dinner.

Joy got super dirty, so we must have been camping.

Then we went on a hike, of course.

Poor Joy fell behind because I kept stopping her to take pictures.  But honestly, wouldn't you?

Eventually we did make it in time to pose with a tree and the cousins.

 After three more play dates, my friend told me about Rocky Mouth Falls, a great little hike in Sandy.

I'm glad she warned me that the trail head is literally between two houses.  The other fence is what all that green stuff is growing out of.

We got to get right up close, not that the kids cared about the fall or anything.

Barefoot means cleaning out rock toe jam.

Even though it started raining pretty hard on our hike down, The Captain still wanted to explore all the caves.

 I thought it would be fun and fitting to have a little birthday celebration for Joy at Wheeler Farm since we had gone there for The Captain's 2nd birthday.  I had great timing for both since The Captain's was right after my sister-in-laws wedding, and Joy's was right before the same sister's baby shower.  But this time was much more fun because it wasn't so cold, and Joy was way more excited about all the animals.

This cow looks angry.

Don't worry, it just wanted some love.

Can you tell my mom grew up near a dairy?

She may be a horse whisperer.

Yay, more animals to pet!

I may print this up as her 2 year pic.  Thoughts?

Joy sporting her present from Grandma, dress up shoes!

we got to play with cousins, and my sister told us about another great local hike.

Poor Joy was not happy because she woke up wet from her car nap and is wearing The Captain's pants.  She did like walking across the stream on the logs, though.

And she perked right up once we got to the falls.

On the way back, we stopped to watch the skeeter bugs skip on the top of the water.

And everyone ended up happy.

We even got to see some Native American ruins in New Mexico.  I was feeling left out because apparently all my sister-in-law's visitors get a tour.

Filling out our Junior Ranger applications.

Overall a very enjoyable trip.  I wish I took a video of The Captain getting sworn in as a Junior Ranger at the ruins.  It was the sweetest ceremony ever.  I may have choked up a little.

So, yes, I am crazy.  But I'll probably do this again.

Joy Turns 2

 Hard to believe that two years have gone by since this girl miraculously popped into our lives.  

She loves:

singing (she calls "I am a Child of God" "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find . . . a way")

shoes

books

bugs (both to admire and squish)

watching: Eebee and The Wheels on the Bus on Netlfix

eating: bananas, grapes, apples, cheese sticks, meat & cheese sandwiches, juice, "ice in the water", and chocolate

Since she loves her butterfly ("firefly") shirts and bugs so much, I decided to have a butterfly birthday for her.  This is apparently a common enough idea to warrant lots of stuff at the Dollar Store.  So $20 later, we were all decked out.  I got the butterfly happy birthday sign, the twirly, hanging butterflies in the foreground, the wings and headbands pictured below, some butterfly wall stickers for Joy's room, and the coloring books for her present.  Cheapest birthday ever.

So, Joy wore one of her butterfly shirts with butterfly hair (high pigtails), went to dance class where we passed out stickers (also from the Dollar Store), then took a nap while The Captain and I decorated the house and the cake.  Then we went butterfly crazy. 

We started with a butterfly craft that involved lots of paint.  Sorry no pics, I'm not finished yet, but they turned out so cute that I'm going to frame them in Joy's room.  I do have the two I used pinned on Pinterest with a bunch, so you can always try guessing. 

 Then they dressed up like butterflies and ran around the house.

The Captain was WAY happy to be a butterfly, just not so happy to get his picture taken.

And the cake.  The Captain did the sprinkles. 

I finally managed to capture a half-decent candle blowing shot.

Stuffing her face. Notice her hair is pulled out on one side and half out on the other.  Getting her hair done is not one of her favorite things.  

She likes it!

She was happy to get Grandma and Grandpa's card and promptly handed the birthday money to Daddy.  Even this girl knows who takes care of the finances in this house.

She got 5 coloring books and twisty crayons from us, since she loves coloring.  We got an Ooo.

It's been almost a month, but thanks for the birthday wishes.  My day was not perfect, but with two little children running things, one can hardly expect that.  I just bought my last birthday presents yesterday with my birthday money, so I guess it's not too late to post about turning 29.  I put together a list of my 29 favorite things, and I will intersperse it with pictures from my day.

I tried something new.  I'm usually not much for asymmetry, but my cooperative hair made me feel pretty all day.

1- crisp, cotton sheets
2- spontaneous hugs from children
3- packages

The Captain waited a good 5 minutes behind a chair to surprise me with this drawing after I got ready in the morning.  Johnny said it's the most patient he's ever seen The Captain.  The picture is our family and our house.

4- hearing a good song I'd forgotten about on the radio
5- listening to my children sing
6- hearing a random fact from The Captain

I let the kids play at the park by the fabric store, at which store I added to my stash.  It was my birthday present to me.

7- having intellectual conversations with Johnny
8- random phone calls from friends
9- finding new episodes of my favorite shows on Netflix

My first time getting free Slurpees!  The Captain DID NOT like them.  After his first two sips he informed me they were "spicy".

10- not waking up to an alarm
11- making someone feel loved and understood
12- comments on my social media postings

Joy got to enjoy all three free slurpees.

13- already knowing what I'm making for dinner
14- completing projects
15- spending quality time with my kids

Lunch, delicious chicken salad and melon fruit salad.  Made by me, but still yummy.

16- good hair days
17- reading a good book
18- trying something new and being successful the first time

After naptime was movie and popcorn.  Double points to anyone who can tell what movie we watched just from the title screen.  The kids actually were excited, it was our first time seeing this movie.

19- freshly shaved legs
20- taking advantage of a teaching moment
21- the kindness of strangers

I needed a reminder. 

22- small, acceptable PDAs from Johnny
23- being able to follow my schedule throughout the day
24- service from Past Tara

I made this cake myself, with help from The Captain.  We made it during Joy's nap.  Homemade angel food cake with homemade whipped cream and freezer jam between layers.  Yum.

25- new dresses
26- warm homemade bread
27- feeling useful and important

Presents are exciting

28- unexpectedly well behaved children

29- cold juice on a hot day

Don't my new clothes look good?