Sun Valley 2012

Recently, Sam and I took our kids to Sun Valley for the Annual Utah Bar Conference.  When we were married, we generally went to Sun Valley every year and took the kids.  Our kids really love it and were sad they didn't get to go last year (when we were in the throws of getting separated.)  This year, Sam got a condo and invited me to come along and split up our time with the kids.  It was very Bruce and Demi of us. I am proud that we can do stuff like this for our kids.

Here are the highlights:

The Opening Reception.  The first night, the Bar puts on a reception for all the attorneys and their families.  We get there the second the thing starts so we can get all the good food (because we are classy like that.)  After dinner, I ate two gigantic peanut butter cookies and took one home in my purse that I wolfed down later that night.

There is free ice-skating at the reception and luckily every year, Sam gets the coveted job of dragging the kids around the rink.  His back will never be the same:

Ryan looked extra cute in skates:

We always feed the ducks that first night.  This year, the ducks had mysteriously disappeared so we fed the swans instead.  Yes, there was a "Please Don't Feed the Swans" sign but I justified it because there were no ducks...(good rationale right!)  The best was that my mom (who was also up there) went table to table asking people if they were going to eat their roll and collected a bunch of rolls to feed the swans.  She has no dignity when it comes to her grand kids:

The Paddle boats:  This year, my kids were begging to do the paddle boats.  They looked really cute in their life jackets (and I felt like an awesome mom for a few minutes)

Then we started peddling and Buster and Sammie were dead weight.  Imagine peddling a bike up hill through water.  That is basically the idea of paddle boats.

Luke and Ryan enjoyed it though:



Sun Valley is gorgeous in the evening.  I loved hanging out on the grounds with our good friends the Hawkins and just tossing a football around:

And stealing kisses from this guy:

One of the funnest and most hilarious parts of the trip was discovering this pogo stick at a toy store on the property:

Luke became obsessed with it and got really good at it.  I decided to try it and it is way harder than it looks.  My kids got some awesome photos of me doing it.  They could really blackmail me one day:

I challenged our friend Jason (who is about 6'6) to give it a try and he did..I love this action shot.  Hilarious:

I will always associate Sun Valley with biking.  I was able to take a bike ride with my parents on Friday because that was Sam's day to have the kids (Notice my sweet Goldilocks Jersey!  That was a gift.)



We also did lots of swimming but for some odd reason I have no pictures from that (except one of Sam cramping as he got out of the pool that he would kill me if I posted!)  It was so great to see so many old friends in Sun Valley as well.

I rode home with my parents and they introduced me to the Jack In the Box taco.  Where has it been all my life?  I ate three and they were delicious!

Sammie didn't want to say goodbye to her BFF Halle.  But hopefully they will get to do it all again soon!

Back to My Buster

I just returned from an awesome, relaxing, refreshing trip with Sam full of shopping, eating, sleeping in, more shopping, more eating and a little sight seeing. Sam was there for business and I was there for pleasure.

I will report soon but currently I am spending all my time doing this:


I can't get enough. I missed him like crazy...the other ones...not so much.

Disneyland in 2010

We returned home on Friday night from a week in Southern California. Most of it was spent at Disneyland with one day at Legoland. Like I said in a previous post, I like Dland in small doses. Sam could go there every day for the rest of his life and be happy. We compromised with the four day pass. I survived but barely. For my recap, I decided to go with the Best of Times, Worst of Times format again--at this point in the pregnancy, I'm lacking originality.

1. I loved seeing my kids get along so well.


I didn't love telling them to be quiet in the hotel room at 6:00 am for the bazillianth time.

2. Sammie, my niece Kate and I had a wonderful time at the Princess lunch.




They brought this dessert platter to our table and I felt obligated to eat the entire thing myself (this was after the tri-tip, mashed potatoes and two other courses!)


3. After four years of attending Dland's Star Wars Jedi training, Luke finally got picked to go onstage.


We have twenty long minutes of video footage of him rubbing sunscreen out of his eyes.

4. Ryan was really cute on the trip and developed a love for Mickey, Dumbo and It's a Small World.


He also developed a love of churros, hot dogs and diet coke.

Yes, he ate the whole thing.

5. Being hugely pregnant, I learned to love the rides like Pirates, Small World and Jungle Cruise where you sit in a cool environment and take a load off.


I was mortified when I accidentally sneezed on the people in front of us on Pirates. They turned around to glare at me and I couldn't even blame it on one of the kids.

6. After walking for three days through Dland and Lego land, I resorted to this beauty for the fourth and fifth day:


I felt pretty smug tooling around on it until Sam and Luke both started referring to it as "the fatty cruiser."

7. We had the most beautiful weather of the trip at Legoland.

Pretend this is Legoland. I'm having temporary problems with my Legoland pics.

That is, until we were hit out of nowhere with a torrential downpour at 2:00 pm that ended our day. Side note: Legoland is really clean and fun but not for the under four crowd. Ryan couldn't ride anything and it was a total bummer for him.

8. I enjoyed seeing Sam love every minute of Dland. He lives for the magic. Here he is enjoying watching a barbershop quartet called the Dapper Dans perform. He will hate this picture and it is my payback for subjecting me to four days in the park.


Every night, I collapsed into bed with the kids by 8:00 pm. Sam would head back over to Dland to ride the big rides and watch fireworks and basically partake of the magic.

9. I loved people watching more than anything. I started taking photos for a "People of the Park" type post but then looked down at what I was wearing and realized the hypocrisy of doing so. But I will give you a taste:


Though I didn't wear a kilt with combat boots, I did wear the same pair of camo capris the entire four days at Dland. Before you pass judgement, let me just say, they were the only pants I had with pockets and thus I was forced to continue to wear them.

10. I returned home to find my cabinets painted!

No pictures yet--I'm making you all wait until I can present the finished product.

I made Sam promise that we will not return to Disneyland for at least two years. Let's see if he keeps his word.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today is Sam's 35th birthday and he has promised to leave me if I do another blog post about him. So I won't say anything nice about him. I will simply say that I am leaving him with the kids today, on his birthday, to go down and visit my sister in California. It was the only weekend that worked for both of us and he encouraged me to go. I don't think I would have been quite as nice if the tables were turned. (Kind of reminds me or when I turned 30 and he took me to NYC for my birthday and while there, we reflected that when he turned 30, I took him to Chili's.)

Anyway, I have a really good track record for making gorgeous cakes. See here. I'm kind of a one-trick pony so it will not surprise you that this was Sam's birthday cake:


This cake topper reminded me of a very funny picture I have of Sam from our newlywed days. I won't embarrass him or I by posting it--this is a family blog after all--but I do think it looks like Sam. When Ryan saw the cake this afternoon, he kept pointing at it and saying "Dada." So I guess I did well.

Sam also threatened me to not put a picture of him on the blog--but this one really doesn't count:


Yes, the cake has a large portion with no nuts--that is for Luke. We are fancy like that.

So as I said, I'm leaving today for a little slice of paradise. Ashley and I are going to eat and shop our way across the bay area. If you want to read more about our plans--go here. I'll be sure to give you a full report when I return. We will definitely be slumming at all of our favorite chain restaurants that our husbands are too good for.

I'm hoping that by leaving for the weekend, I'll actually be excited to see these three when I return!


Happy Birthday Sam--muscle man! (If the rest of you really want to know more about Sam--go to my birthday tribute post to him from last year.)

Sun Valley 2009

We took a road trip to Sun Valley, ID about 3 weeks ago. When we returned, I wrote 10 Rules for a Successful Road Trip with kids. You can find them here.

Sun Valley has a special place in my heart. Sam and I figured that we have been there 9 times in the last 11 years. We usually go each July for the Utah Bar Conference. What I love about Sun Valley is that we always do the same things, eat at the same places, and see the same people.

The first evening there is always a BBQ/opening social put on by the Bar.

Sammie and her little friend Halle stole rolls from the BBQ to feed the ducks. It isn't obvious is it?

Here are the kids feeding the ducks:

I had my first "celebrity" moment when this cute girl named Jenn came up and told me she reads my blog. I've done this to other people so this made my day.


The highlight of the first evening for my kids is the ice-skating. Sam literally drags them around the rink until his back is ready to give out. I get to sit on the side and laugh at him.



As the week goes on, we do a lot of bike riding:


We even take one long ride to Hailey, ID where the little ones ride in the trailer. They look pretty squished but they both fell asleep within minutes.


Luke was a trooper and rode on a "tag-a-long" bike on the back of mine. The picture of the two of us on that bike is too heinous for me to post so you get this one of us looking at the scenery.


We also did a lot of swimming (notice the matching trunks--what can I say, I have a problem):


Luke loved showing off his skills from swimming lessons:


Here he is with his little girlfriend Halle. I love this picture:


My kids always get out and warm themselves on the cement. Do you remember doing that?


Once again, I love this trip because while Sam is doing this:


I'm doing this with my friend Brandi:


This group of young men were in the pool right in front of us. They kept yelling to Ryan "Hey Gordo!"


Here is my little "Gordo" (translation: fatty) in his swimsuit. Rude huh?


They may have been referring to me. I'm praying they were talking about Ryan.