Gravity Can Be So Annoying

Lincoln's Random Quote of the Day: "Mom, sometimes I don't like gravity. It pushes down too hard on my head and makes my throat hurt."

[Thanks for the fun Marshmallow Shooters Papa! - Harrison quickly loved them too as he reaped the rewards.]

Jackson's First Field Trip

The pre-K field trip is always an adventure! Jackson had his first bus ride (loved it!) and we joined his class at the science museum today. You never know how these things are going to go, but I actually had a blast! Our group was small enough to be manageable and we had 3 adults for our 5 kids. I don't think I've ever spent the WHOLE day at the science museum before, but it was great to have time to do it all. The kids were very well behaved and really enjoyed each section of the museum. I wanted to take my extra kid home with me by the end of the day. Such a cutie.

I gave Jackson the option of riding home with me in the van (I drove separately to drop off/pick up Harrison), but he chose to take the bus back to school with his friends. He loved it! I'm grateful to have had such a special day with him.

Coming Home

I thought it would be fun to show Jackson that we found a street with his name on it in San Francisco and asked Jeff to pose by the sign. Later I noticed that the temple was on Lincoln street and continued the tradition of street name pictures as we were driving back to the city for our last night.

We found a hotel close to the airport because we had a 6am flight. We enjoyed their warm indoor swimming pool, found a local Pho restaurant and went to bed early. Everything went smoothly getting into our layover in Salt Lake City. It was so hard for me to be there and not want to run right out of the airport and see my friends and family there. Jeff went to talk to the people about our missing baby carrier (they found it) and learned that they had overbooked the flight and that they would be asking for volunteers to wait for the next flight. I quickly called Dayna to see if it would work for us to get together and she and her family adjusted their day to make it work! They got me on a flight TEN hours later and I was able to spend the day with my dear friend! What a blessing!

They begged Jeff to stay behind with me to open up another spot on the plane, but we didn't think it was a good idea with the baby having such a long day and the other kids needed to be picked up for school the next day. They used some serious dollar incentives and he was able to leave on a flight 4 hours later. Because of these vouchers we will be able to take our whole family on another trip - probably to Orlando in September. Jeff was a trooper to keep the baby by himself the rest of the trip and manage all of the luggage (which we'd kept to one big bag, his laptop bag and a baby backpack). THANKS JEFF!

Remember last week how I mourned my Dayna time? Remember I hadn't seen her in 6 years? I cried right there in the airport I was so darn excited. She was hosting a family birthday dinner that night for one of her daughters so we worked together all day getting it ready and talked and talked. We just can't let six years go by like that again!

While I was waiting for the flight back to OKC they announced that a mechanic was "out there" and they didn't know why. The girl across from me looked worried and I said, "don't worry... I'm having the luckiest day ever and I don't think anything could go wrong." It turned out that the mechanical problem was with the gate door and had nothing to do with the plane.

AWESOME DAY!!!

When I got home my boys had left me these sweet notes. You might have to click on them to see them closer up and truly appreciate them. I was so surprised and touched that Jackson tried to sound out words to write us a note (he's never done that before). He wrote I L H Q DD M - translation: I like you Dad and Mom. ADORABLE. I pointed out to Jackson that I was wearing a green shirt in my picture and he said, "no, that's your blood." Alrighty then. Lincoln's said, "I mist you. We got to play at church." Apparently both of the children think I have some seriously long finger nails. They probably miss the way I tickle their backs at night. I missed that too.

San Francisco Part 2

The next day we rented a car and headed out to see more distant sights. I was thrilled to see the Redwood trees at Muir Woods. We really missed our boys during that part of the trip and often talked with families with young kids trying to imagine what it would be like to have our boys there. We took a walk along Muir Beach, though it was far too cold to do more than dip your toes in. It felt fantastic to have my toes in the soft sand. In the afternoon we toured around Vallejo and Jeff showed me all of his important growing up destinations. We spent the evening catching up with Jeff's Aunt Judy and her family. They were busy preparing this amazing lego cake for their son's 5th birthday. They have a little cake business together. She does the baking and icing and he does the fondant work. They make a great team! Jeff and I really enjoyed watching their handiwork.

The next morning was the birthday party. Harrison and I joined the party while Jeff went out and had a quiet visit with his uncle. Afterward we headed back to San Francisco via the Oakland temple.

I've always heard that people live in California because it is beautiful and the weather is so nice, but mostly I've heard horrible things about traffic, smog, prices, etc. I'm sure those things have some truth to them too, but it sure was hard to convince myself that this wasn't the very perfect place to live. I was mesmerized by the beautiful mountains, soft grass, activities available, vegetation I'd never seen before, architecture, cultural diversity...need I say more?

San Francisco Part 1

Jeff planned a pretty spontaneous (2 weeks out) trip for the two of us (and Harrison) to San Francisco for an extended weekend. He did all of the planning and we had an amazing trip! Harrison was a stellar travel buddy. We were so impressed with his flexibility and cheerfulness through every experience (with the exception of riding in a car seat!).

Jeff grew up in the Bay area and was excited to show me his old stomping grounds. I hadn't been to California other than as a baby, so I was thrilled for the opportunity!

We decided to use public transportation for the first two days, which I loved. It reminded me so much of my mission to hop on street cars and trains and to walk through a big city and experience all of the sights, sounds and smells (for better or worse) up close and personal. Harrison loved being in the backpack carrier and would point to it and ask to get back sometimes when we took him out.

We took the BART system from the airport to an area that Jeff had researched for hotels which was right downtown. It turned out that the area he researched had nearly the same name as where we actually stayed. It was not what he was expecting. We had a good laugh at our super firm - feel every spring mattress, our cold showers, our view of a strip club out the window and our RGB striped tv. It seems that it was once upon a time a very nice hotel... it just hasn't really changed since then with the exception of new paint and carpet. It worked just fine for us though as we spent most of our time exploring the spectacular city and just came there to sleep.

Our first day we did most of the touristy stuff. We walked for about two hours just enjoying the scenery in the morning and then we got a day pass for the transportation systems so that we could do a little more. That morning we went down to Pier 39 and saw (from afar) Alcatraz and the famous SF Bridge and watched the sea lions that frequent the pier. We enjoyed the little shops there and had some clam chowder (not near as tasty as Seattle's!) In the afternoon Jeff kept Harrison at the hotel for a nap and I ran down and toured the Modern Art Museum. I was particularly inspired by this. There was an exhibit there that was about how photography can be inappropriate and voyeuristic, catching moments that shouldn't be caught. I tried to walk through it for a minute, but found myself quite uncomfortable in the space (as I imagine was intended) and left. Point taken, I didn't want to see these moments... though many people studied the images intently. I snuck into a tour group for the last 30 minutes or so and wished I had been with them longer. The guide was fantastic and asked great questions. She helped everyone understand a little better without giving much of her own opinions. Afterward we caught the cable car and rode up the steep SF hills into Chinatown for dinner. We went on a search for some See's candy for Gail which took us all over town and back to where we'd started. We learned after we got back to our room that she wanted any kind... except the one we'd bought! We had a good laugh and got her another kind the next day.