R & R in Idaho!

While 99% of our trip was spent in the great state of Idaho, our journey began in Salt Lake City, UT where it was considerably cheaper for all 3 of us to fly into. We arrived after midnight, so after sleeping in a bit Thursday morning, we headed from our hotel to take a quick peek at Temple Square. My kids have never been, so it was really fun to show them the SLC temple and look around the Visitor's Center.

But first we needed to refuel so we headed over to the newly remodeled City Creek Center which was really amazing-- and got some delicious french toast at Kneader's Bakery for breakfast.

We quickly toured Temple Square and admired the beautiful Christus statue before we had to get on the road to Idaho. Since my parents had to drive down to Utah to pick us up, we decided to make the most of that weekend by heading to my grandparent's cabin in Island Park, ID which was only a couple of hours away.

Ahhhhhhh, our cabin. It's such a beautiful little haven perfect for rest and relaxation, which was the name of the game. The fish were calling to my dad, so the first thing we did after arriving was head down to the dock to try and reel the little guys in.

It was a picture perfect night with still water and lots of fish jumping. Zach LOVED destroying this peaceful setting by chucking rocks into the river (and peeing "on the fishies," but we won't mention that).

Luckily my dad was catching them like crazy, so both kids got to take turns reeling them in and then getting them in the net for an up close and personal look.

It was hard to go to bed after all that excitement, but sleep we did, so that we could wake up to a delicious breakfast provided by Grandma Joanie. Yum!

That afternoon we headed over to Harriman state park for a little picnic which rated at least a 9 on my mom's Picnic-Meter, due to the great scenery, great food, and especially great company.

The next morning we headed to Yellowstone National Park, which has been the focus of Lucy's darkest imaginings for years (well, at least since last summer when she saw hot pots and buffalo for the first time-- scary stuff to a 4 year old!). We did have to make a quick detour for Zach's sake once we hit the Montana state line to purchase some illegal fireworks though.

While the purchase of fireworks WAS thrilling, Zach soon became fascinated by the "hot lava" (geysers) we soon saw everywhere. He would bend over really close and just stare and stare at that stinky, hot, boiling mud. Cool stuff!

Even though I literally grew up with Yellowstone it still never ceases to amaze me. It really is such a fascinating place!

We enjoyed seeing lots of wildlife, including these elk right by the road, and of course a few buffalo (my favorite) along the way which totally freaked Zach out.

We stopped for another quick picnic before heading on to Mammoth Hot Springs. Luckily we didn't run into any bears, although there were TONS of warnings posted.

Okay, while getting some ice cream, we did see one bear!

That evening my mom treated the girls to "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. It was right up Lucy's alley with the cute music, fun costumes, and plethora of yummy concessions. She had a blast!

Sunday we headed down to Ashton for church, and then had a spectacular lunch made by my Grandma Charlie before we packed up to leave for Boise. This girl loved the cabin! She was sad to leave.

And this boy loved the cabin as well-- who could resist 24/7 access to the great outdoors?

Thanks to my grandparents for hosting us! It's so fun for Lucy and Zach to get to spend time with the great grandparents as well-- I'm so glad they could come!

We made it home just in time to celebrate the 4th of July. We started the morning off at the Boise parade downtown. Lucy was dressed in her most patriotic clothes (thanks to Grandma Cardon) and she was THRILLED to be at the parade!

I don't know if it was just because we were towards the end of the parade, but we got 0 candy which was hugely disappointing, but we did end up with some popsicles so all was not lost.

(I love this picture of my dad cowering before my naughty children! Bwhahaha!)

That afternoon we went to the movie "Pirates! Band of Misfits" and then swam and enjoyed a barbeque and homemade ice cream.

And then as dusk fell, the pies de resistance! Zach was SO. EXCITED. FOR. FIREWORKS!!

Our most impressive firework show, thanks to Tom-Tom and Zachary. It was a very explosive celebration!

Thanks to my mom, I got spoiled the whole time I was there. In fact I even got my first birthday cake in years (who wants to bake their own birthday cake, you know?), and since it included toffee and mousse it was worth waiting a week for!

Zachary certainly thought so-- look at those eyes!! I love it!

Next up on the agenda you know we had to include a camping trip if Tom Tom had anything to say about it. We headed up towards Garden City and since we were camping midweek (as opposed to 4th of July weekend) we found a prime spot with lots of peace and quiet. It was HOT, so the kids enjoyed cooling off in the river.

That night after dinner we headed to the outdoor Starlight Mountain Theater to see Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." Zach opted to play the iPad about halfway through, but Lucy was enthralled and couldn't wait to meet the actors who played Cinderella and the Prince.

And while we were away, we had some noisy high school neighbors move in next to us, who kept the music blaring until well after midnight. Guh! Luckily the kids slept right through it, but I wasn't the freshest daisy that morning.

Luckily Tom Tom had the hot cocoa brewing and that was more than enough to make Zachy happy since it's one of his favorites!

My two little buddies enjoying camping. Now if only Mommy could get on board...

Once home from camping we enjoyed LOTS more swimming (Lucy is our little fish and learned to swim unassisted in the deep end), and lots more treats.:) We checked out a brand new cupcake shop in Boise which had GREAT reviews.

I could pass on Lucy's bubblegum blue cupcake though. No thanks!

Our last weekend in Boise we drove out to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Charlie and Lucy got to play with my Grandma's old Barbies and admire her jewelry. They are two peas in a pod when it comes to anything that sparkles-- Grandma Lucille and my Lucy.

Zach enjoyed playing cars with Grandpa Charlie and it was hard to say goodbye not knowing the next time we'd see them again! Hopefully it's just next summer.

We had to stop at Krispy Kremes since my kids had never had one-- ironically although the original location is somewhere in North Carolina.

Monday morning bright and early we headed for Washington to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Cardon. First we swung by the Oregon Trail museum in Baker, OR. Lucy really seems to like history and enjoyed checking out the different exhibits all about the pioneers.

We had an amazing couple of weeks enjoying Idaho and it was happy trails the whole way. Then it was on to Washington and Canada with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Cardon. Stay tuned!

Think Pink!

Good news!! We (think) we know the sex of our newest little bambino set to arrive in November, and drumroll please...It's a GIRL!!

She was very, very uncooperative throughout the ultrasound (Jon says she was just being modest)-- super wiggly moving up and down and side to side etc., plus she was twisted up like a pretzel for most of it, so the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting good pics (they're all blurry or I would post one). At one point she had her legs, feet, and arms crossed which made it hard to see anything, but the best news of all is that she looks perfectly healthy. 10 fingers, 10 toes, cute little nose and lips, and measuring right on schedule (about a week ahead, actually). A wiggly, big baby?? Why should that surprise me?? Sounds like Lucy!!

As my lovely baby bump continues to expand (promise I'll post a picture soon!) I decided I need to get this shirt for teaching my class at the gym. I finally announced I was expecting, so it was nice to set the record straight, that as the instructor I wasn't just getting a little chubby around the midsection, I was actually growing a baby. I think some people had already guessed that, but lots were surprised. I never know if to take that as a compliment-- that maybe I always just look 20 weeks pregnant?:)

We are flying out tomorrow to spend the month visiting family between Idaho and Washington, so our blog will be on summer hiatus for about month, but I'm sure we'll be back with a monster post to describe all of our fun experiences as we head back West!

A Wonderful Week of Whit-it!

Well, our summer is really starting to heat up as our visitors and vacations start coming to fruition! First up, we had my sister Whitney fly in from Utah (where she recently graduated from BYU and was teaching elementary school) to stay with us for a week. We drove up to the airport Monday evening and captured our first prize of the summer! After a late night for the kids who "helped" Whitney unpack and in return got some fun new presents, we spent the morning sleeping in late and relaxing. Then we took Whitney to Olive Garden for lunch, which was Lucy's dream come true! Both my kids love getting to go to restaurants, including this little stinker; you give him some chocolate milk and he'll sit still anywhere. Then we went to the brand new Hobby Lobby, and headed back home for some more play time. Whitney then got us addicted to the new BBC mini-series of Sherlock Holmes and we stayed up waaaaay too late watching season 1! Wednesday we met some friends for lunch at Sonic and played on the playground, Whitney made treats with the kids, helped Lucy build some beautiful tangram desgins, rocked the choo-choos with Zach, and then pumped it up at my Body Pump class that night. Oh yeah, she also cooked us a totally incredible meal of banh mi as well. I love having this girl around! Thursday we decided to venture up into Raleigh and visit the famous "Pit" restaurant for lunch. Best authentic Southern BBQ in North Carolina! Then we drove over to "Marbles" which is a really great children's museum. Both my kids were SO excited to be there, that while Whitney and I went to pay our admission, Zach made a b-line for the museum and we couldn't find him for like 5 panic-inducing minutes because it's a BIG place, and he is SO fast! Naturally he was wandering around looking for us near the train table. Uggghh! Heart attack city. Lucy enjoying being in a "simulated" aquarium and bouncing on the bubbles! After spending a couple of hours there we found our way to an AWESOME cupcake store called "Gigi's." I couldn't find my camera while we were inside, but they were some of the biggest, yummiest, prettiest cupcakes I've ever had. Since it's right by Costco, I'm sure we'll be back. It was such a fun day! Friday we splurged and took the kids to "Madagascar 3" at the movie theater. My kids LOVE going to the movies since we hardly ever take them-- and they really liked this one. There were a couple of parts where Zach busted up laughing out loud-- he loved it! That night Whitney watched the kids so Jon and I could go on a date. We tried the Bonefish Grill in honor of my birthday next week and it was so good! Saturday was the day Zach had been looking forward to ALL week. He has been begging to go back to beach ever since the last time we went, and this time was even better because we got to take Whitney, as well as meet Devin and Sarah and their kids. Yea! This time we went to Ocean Isle Beach (just north of Myrtle Beach), and this girl loved the water! She had so much fun playing in the waves with Eva and came home with about a pound of sand in her swimsuit. Monster trucking in the dirt! We had to wait for me to teach my Body Pump class Saturday morning so we couldn't leave until noon, which got us there around 2:30 p.m. We tried to squeeze as much sand and surf in as we could before it got too late. For dinner we hit another Southern BBQ gem on the way home. Thanks to Whitney's iPhone she found "Bart's BBQ" which had great online reviews. Zach loved his hot dog and the hush puppies were AMAZING! I LOVE THIS GIRL!!! She is nannying in Richmond this summer and I am so glad she's on this side of the country for a change, even if I'll be gone for half of it. Guh! We also read that the banana pudding was to die for, but I wouldn't really know... This guy got to it first and never let go. I think it must have been pretty good. It was an awesome week with Whit-it! I'd tell her to come back soon, but since I already bought her a bus ticket for this weekend, there's no need.:) YES!

It's a Cupcake World...

A few weeks ago I finally was making cupcakes with my little sous chef Zach (he begs at least once a day to be able to do this), and he got so excited he started singing, "It's a cupcake world!" which definitely got a laugh out of me. Cupcakes are by far his ultimate idea of the perfect treat. In a new effort to embrace all things Pinehurst--it's a diamond in the rough, right?--imagine my elation at discovering a fairly new cupcakery in downtown Southern Pines, just a few miles from our house, called Cups Cupcakery. I took the kids for a special treat Friday afternoon to try these little delights out, and they were actually really delish. So good in fact, we went back the next day with Jonathan and bought a half dozen. There was a such a plethora of flavors we had to try as many as we could! Red Velvet of course, The Blondie (all vanilla), The Best Friend (double chocolate with chocolate truffle frosting), Miami Key Lime, Cookies 'n' Cream, and Salted Caramel, to name a few. Zach interestingly enough opted for a cake pop instead of a cupcake (the traitor!), but it was also super yummy. Lucy enjoying her Red Velvet. It's definitely becoming more of a cupcake world now that we've found this place!

Beach or Bust!

Jonathan's office has been preparing for an HSI Inspection basically since we moved here, and it was finally completed last week. He's had to stay late, work through many of his lunch breaks, and complete projects that had nothing to do with him just 'cause the boss said to, so in many ways it's felt like the residency all over again. As a "reward" the clinic was given Monday off, and we decided to FINALLY make our way to the beach. A major reason we were excited to move out here was because of the close proximity to the beach...needless to say, it hasn't panned out for us much since 10 months later this is our FIRST trip. Better late than never! The day kind of started out like a bust because I had to be back in town to teach my Body Pump class by 5 p.m., so when the GPS was saying it would take 4 HOURS to drive approximately 140 miles to Wrightsville beach, I sorta freaked out, but Jon convinced me we could find a faster way (our GPS is 5 years old and STINKS) and he was right. Two hours and twenty minutes later we were there. These two beach bums were in absolute heaven. Lucy kept asking, "Can't we build a house right here?!?" Even though the weather was less than desirable (75 degrees and rainy), we had a good time. We couldn't keep this girl out of the water. She watched some of the surfers and decided she'd like to try it, so Jon took her out on the boogie board and she actually did catch some waves and did awesome! She has absolutely no fear of the water and even though she got dunked a couple of times she begged to get right back on. The rain really picked up about an hour into our stay so we had to picnic under Jon's makeshift shelter, which was a little cramped but kept the rain off, but not the sand out of the sandwiches.:) While Jon and Lucy spent most (if not all) of their time playing in the water, Zach and I remained on the beach, where eventually Zach was buried in the sand. He found it hilarious to be up to his neck in sand! There are many times I wish I could bury him in the sand when he's being naughty at home... The Sand Monster! He was COVERED head to toe in sand, and enjoyed chasing Lucy all over the beach flinging sand at her. Right before we had to leave Jon took both kiddos out for one last rinse off and tried to catch a couple more waves, which Luce loved and Zach HATED. He's not much for cold water, and I'd have to agree! We'll definitely be spending some more quality time here.