I started looking as Chris parked the car and thought this could take all day. All of a sudden after looking for maybe five minutes, I looked down and saw a familiar name, or so I thought. I shouted to Chris “I found it! Nope, I guess not. Yes, it is.” Needed a double take to really sink in that it was actually the site we were looking for. It was simply a metal name plate set atop the site that was sinking in a bit. We were excited to find it, and Chris took some pictures. We were on our way again.
We stopped a few times throughout the day for potty stops. Amy did pretty well about not having any accidents. We were happy because it was her first long trip after being potty trained. We also stopped for lunch and at a park later in the day so the girls could get out and play. We had picnic lunch at a rest area next to a river. The girls didn’t eat much but preferred to be climbing around or throwing things in to the river.
We continued on with an eight hour trip turning into almost twelve hours after stopping for breaks, lunch, dinner, and play time. We finally arrived in Provo around 9 pm and drove directly to Kevin’s apartment where we would stay. He was in Vancouver visiting family so we had free reign of their apartment. The girls took some time to wind down; Amy was pretty good about going to bed in a strange place but Misha was having nothing to do with going to sleep on her own. And so began the saga of sleeping next to her or with her to get her to sleep each night, well that and driving her around until she fell asleep. We tried her in Jonathan’s bed and she climbed right out. We tried his play pen and she was out in a flash. We tried putting her in Kevin and Candace’s bed and she wouldn’t stay put. Then she would wake up in the middle of the night crying because she was somewhere new and would have to spend the rest of the night in bed with us. Chris usually moved somewhere else to sleep and that is how most of our nights went.
On Sunday morning (May 4), we decided to drive around and see if Misha would fall asleep for her nap. Didn’t happen. But we did stop at King’s house to visit a bit before church. The kids took a few minutes to warm up and then had fun playing in the park. Since it had been raining, “the park” in the backyard was wet and Amy had to stay in the house which was disappointing for her. We left around noon to go back to Kevin’s to get ready and church began at 1 pm. Amy sat with Grandma Rice and was as quiet as could be the entire time. Misha, on the other hand, was pretty noisy. Chris tried taking her out and rocking her to sleep, but no luck. He finally drove around with her during Sunday School, and she finally slept then.
Carson blessed Melissa Brooklyn in Sacrament Meeting and it was nice to see so much of his and our family in attendance. We had a dinner after the meetings and then went back to Susan’s for awhile to visit more with family.
Chris worked most of Monday (May 5). He had a telephone meeting with a patent lawyer concerning a product that he has developed for IBM called MQTools. It is possible that they will apply for up to seven patents for this product. He was thrilled, but also kept busy for most of the day. He had originally planned only to work a half day on Monday and Tuesday. He ended up working full days for both days and part of Wednesday and could have still worked more. As it was, he worked at King’s house for part of the day so the girls were able to play and enjoy themselves. Donna brought Angie and Wade over as well, and Mom and Dad even came later in the afternoon.
We had to pull the girls away from “the park” to go to dinner in Eagle Valley at the home of some of Chris’ Novell friends. Eagle Valley is on the other side of Utah Lake and is growing tremendously. Home prices are pretty good, but you have to balance that with the long commute anywhere you go.
Tuesday was another play day at Kings while Chris worked. The girls were having a great time. Susan brought out popsicles so all of Amy’s memories of last summer were complete. Donna met Susan and I at the mall with all of our kids and mostly we let the kids play and then had lunch in the food court. After Chris finished working, we left the girls at Kings with Jenna in charge and Chris and I got away for a little while. Driving in Provo is so scary. I passed three accidents on State Street one afternoon and the next day narrowly missed being in one.
We went back to Kings and then out to dinner with them at Brick Oven-one of my favorite restaurants. Kings had never taken their kids there, so it was a special treat for them.
Chris had an eye exam at the Practice on Wednesday midmorning. Susan decided to come up to Draper with us though we did leave Amy and Nathan at Donna’s to play with her kids. We took Misha and Melissa with us because I didn’t want Donna to have to deal with Misha’s crankiness. (Donna was eight months pregnant!) We dropped Chris off and Susan and I went down to the factory stores. We were both disappointed to discover that the Carter’s outlet store had closed. They have clothes for kids. At least there is still one in Loveland close to me. It rained most of the morning so we were poured on when leaving the mall to go back and get Chris.
We had planned to go to a Mexican restaurant for lunch, but it was packed so we went over to Carl’s Jr. instead. That was my first time eating there. Misha loved it because they had a great play land and barely ate anything. We usually only get a few french fries and maybe a chicken nugget into her though. After that we walked over to Cold Stone Ice Creamery for dessert.
Chris and I wanted to look at some luggage at the factory stores, so we went back. By this point, Misha was way past her nap time and very crabby. After a half hour of fighting with her, she finally fell asleep in the stroller. Hallelujah! After purchasing some new luggage, we dropped Chris back at the practice so he could work on their computers a bit and Susan and I drove back to Donna’s in a downpour. It was pretty bad, but we finally made it. Mom and Dad and Brad were there as well when we arrived and Donna had to go to a dance recital practice for the evening. We stayed there with Wade and Donna took Angie. Chris and Dallin got there after we had finished eating and were cleaning up. Luckily, the girls fell asleep on the way home and we didn’t have to struggle with Misha to get her to sleep.
Both girls slept late the next morning (Thursday May 8) and we had to rush to pack up and get to the airport before 9 am. We parked at the Thrifty Park and Ride in SLC and made it to the airport with a little time to spare. Because we have kids, we got to pre-board and Chris picked a spot of front with a little more room for Misha and Amy to move around in. Washington is one hour behind and we arrived there at 11:15 their time.
Grandpa Ball was in the vicinity of the airport to pick us up and we loaded up and were off. The landscape was so beautiful with the abundance of green trees, flowering trees of fuchsia, orange, pink and white. After dropping us off, Chris immediately headed back to the airport to pick up Grandma Andrews. The girls took some time getting acquainted with the house, the backyard, the trampoline and cousins. Didn’t take them long. Chris and I took Misha for a drive with Grandma Andrews to try and get Misha to sleep that afternoon. We were finally successful so both Chris and Grandma went to visit Grandma Ball at work while I stayed in the car and rested.
Grandma Ball didn’t get home from work until about 6:30 their time. We had to feed the kids early since all the cousins were used to eating on an earlier schedule. Everyone was home for this big weekend. And since it was Mother’s Day, Grandma Ball had requested (strongly) that all of her kids be around for church on Sunday. Kevin and Candace and Jonathan were staying at Candace’s parent’s home but spent most all of every day at the Ball’s home. Becky and Kyle and Drew and Katie had moved from Utah and were now living in the basement. Lori was home for the summer, fall and maybe winter trying to decide what to do with her life. She had originally planned to go to China to teach English in the fall, but because of the SARS epidemic, the program had been cancelled. I think she was thinking of a mission at some point. Jenni flew home for the weekend from BYU. So the house was full, and we all shared one bathroom in the basement.
It wasn’t quite so bad as it might have been since Lori and Jenni and often Kyle and Becky slept quite late. Grandma Andrews stayed next door at the Reynold’s house and enjoyed a private room and bath.
We had dinner quite late but it was quite tasty. The kids had a little tiny table to sit at and fought over who was stealing whose plate, fork, food, etc. The dad’s got to referee that night. After dinner the kids got to swim in the hot tub. It wasn’t quite as hot as usual and they had a ball. Misha had on her new swimming suit with floaties built in and Amy wore some of Grandma’s floaties on her arms.
The sad part was when we took them out to put them to bed. No one was happy about that. I was hoping that all of the excitement of the day would wipe Misha out and she would fall asleep quickly, but not so. I think I fell asleep beside her. Sadly she woke up in the middle of the night. Lori and Jenni were still awake and they found Misha trying to open their door about 2 am. They weren’t quite sure what to do about her but finally something woke me up so I went out to get Misha. Chris and I got to sleep in the lovely trundle beds–basically two twin beds on different levels. I put Misha in bed with Chris while I went to the bathroom. He didn’t sleep all that well from that point on.
Friday was a day for much of nothing. The girls played on the trampoline, in the fort and watched movies. I finally got Misha to sleep for a nap which she truly needed. After the nap, we took the kids to the playground for a change of pace. Grandma Andrews came with us and enjoyed being able to spend time with her Great Grandkids.
We had kind of a late dinner again followed by another trip to the hot tub for the girls. After finally getting them to bed, Chris and I enjoyed a little time to ourselves in the hot tub. Because they had turned the heat down for the kids, it wasn’t quite as hot as I would have liked, but enjoyable still. In a house full of so many people, finding a few moments of quiet was a challenge.
Saturday, May 10, was a big day. We had a family photo scheduled for 11:30. Right at nap time! I don’t think the girls, especially Misha, smiled in a single picture. The family picture was kind of a hodge podge of people with Grandma Andrews (an ex-mother-in-law for Linda), Larry and Linda, Aunt Lori (Linda’s sister) and her new husband, Keith, Uncle Roger (Larry’s brother), Kevin, Candace and Jonathan, Becky, Kyle, Drew and Katie, Chris and I, Amy and Misha, Lori, Jenni, and Grandma Greve (Linda’s mom).
Pictures were completed with only a few mishaps and we were on our way. We stopped to pick up stuff at Burger King and headed back to the house to get ready to go to Saturday market in downtown Portland. That was one thing that I wanted to do so we went with our family, Kevin’s family, Linda and Gr. Andrews. It was fun though I didn’t find anything this year.
We got back to the house around 4:30 or so and Grandpa Kline arrived shortly after. Dinner was another big affair and if you thought about letting others go first, you missed out. I was helping get the girls fed, and by the time I was ready to eat, most of the food was devoured.
The kids headed for the hot tub again. It was hotter than before so they were coming out nearly cooked with rosy cheeks. Keith and Lori were staying at a hotel and had booked a room for Zoe (Lori’s daughter) who didn’t arrive until the next day. Since it had already been paid for, they offered it to us for the night. We worried about leaving the girls since Misha was up in the middle of the night every night. We hadn’t ever both left them. You’d think we would jump at the chance to get away by ourselves since it has been well over three years since it has happened, but after Jenni said she would listen for Misha in the middle of the night, we convinced ourselves to go.
We had a wonderful night together and returned the next morning to a flurry of activity. Church was at 9 and Grandpa Kline had taken over breakfast in his usual style and was making french toast, hash browns and bacon. I fed the girls and myself Cheerios and tried to get us all out the door for church. I think he felt a little slighted that we didn’t eat his breakfas,t but it was crazy to even think people were going to sit down and enjoy it. I think they inhaled it more than anything and then rushed out the door. (Sadly, all the dishes were still there when we got home from church, and Candace and I cleaned up the kitchen).
Since it was Mother’s Day, Linda proudly sat with ALL of her kids and their families on the front row. Amy was pretty quiet and Misha, miracle of all miracles, fell asleep on my shoulder! We had given her motrin before church because she was so crabby and seemed to be teething and it pretty much knocked her out. She slept for a couple hours even through the car ride home. Grandma Andrews and Grandpa Kline left around noon for home so we only stayed for Sacrament Meeting so we could go say goodbye.
Chris, Kevin, Lori, and Jenni made dinner so that mothers could have a break– especially since these mothers had been doing most of the cooking. Amazing how some of the men and daughters in this family are so lazy. I won’t name names. Zoe arrived in time for dinner–and left for home later that night. Short trip but fun.
As we were sitting around talking later that afternoon around 5 pm, Amy came and sat on my lap. Less than a minute later she was breathing deeply and was fast asleep. I held her for awhile and then laid her down on the couch as everyone was going their separate ways. I tried to wake her up an hour later and she wouldn’t budge. Her eyes opened for a minute or two and then she was out again. Finally, Chris and I carried her downstairs, put jammies and a pull-up on and covered her for the night. She slept until about 8 the next morning. She was pooped to say the least.
We took Misha to visit Renee and Allen Rhyasen. Renee is Dad’s cousin and amazingly enough their family and Chris’ family have been good friends over the years. The men at their house were making dinner so we sat and talked with Renee for an hour. We figured we could get Misha to bed better if we drove around after leaving. Took about a half an hour, but finally she drifted off to sleep while leaning against my shoulder.
We left for the beach on Monday morning (May 12). It felt wonderful to be just the four of us again. We had all been enjoying our time with family, but I think we had finally reached our limit. We took Grandpa Ball’s Taurus wagon (Yahoooo) and stopped first at Seaside in Oregon. Amy was absolutely amazed to see the ocean. We had been talking about all these wonderful things and finally she was fulfilling her dreams. We ate fish n’ chips at a little café, bought salt water taffy at a candy shop and then walked down to the beach. Amy was excited to put her feet in the water but as soon as Misha stepped off the sidewalk onto the sand, she was captivated. She didn’t care that the beach and sand went on for miles, she was so focused on enjoying that sand right there. She literally reminded me of a pig in mud. She rolled in the sand, ate the sand, let it run through her fingers, shoved her feet in deep...she loved it. We played on the swings for a little bit, but even those couldn’t keep her away from the sand for long.
Since we still had a couple of hours to go before reaching our hotel for the night, we decided to keep driving. Fortunately we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory and got to watch them cut and package cheese AND have ice cream. The girls were excited to be anywhere we stopped. But it was getting late, so we kept going. We finally arrived at Gleneden about 6ish (7 our time) and the girls were starving. We didn’t know where many things were so we stopped at the first pizza place and picked up a pizza that we had to cook at the hotel. No problem, it was a resort that Chris’ parents pay into and have access to all their accommodations world-wide for very minimal prices.
The room came with a separate bedroom, a murphy bed, a washer and dryer, full kitchen with some supplies, tv, vcr...plenty of things to make our stay wonderful. Sadly we were only able to get one night there. I immediately put the pizza in the oven and started a load of laundry (ended up doing three loads). The pool at this resort was closed for maintenance, so we were able to visit the pool at a nearby pool (also a WorldMark Resort). It was indoor and outdoor, but mostly the pool was cold. I sat in the hot tub, while Chris and the girls ran from the regular pool to the hot tub to get warm.
By the time we got back to our room, the girls were ready for bed, and I laid down with both of them. Didn’t take them too long to fall asleep, not sure though, since I promptly fell asleep as well and didn’t wake up until 11:30. Chris was fast asleep as well. Misha woke up in the middle of the night as she had been doing the entire vacation. I put her in bed with Chris, but the bed was so small that I got in bed with Amy for the rest of the night.
Tuesday morning dawned warm and sunny–unusual for the coast. We made the best of it though. We packed up our stuff and drove closer to the beach. We pulled the beach toys out of the back of the wagon and headed to the sand. It didn’t take Misha long to be completed covered by it. Amy was satisfied with walking in the surf on Monday, and both girls settled down to making sand castles and playing. We played a bit of frisbee and Chris tried to figure out how to fly one of the kites his mom sent with us but was wholly unsuccessful. Amazingly, it wasn’t quite windy enough.
Around lunch time, we went to turn in our room key and get some lunch. Sadly, just as we were arriving at the resort, Amy asked Chris to roll up her window. She didn’t realize that she would need to remove her hand and it was pinched quite badly. No bleeding, but it sure did hurt.
After driving around a bit, we found a nice little spot next to a lake to eat our lunch of leftover pizza. The girls were more interested in playing than eating, but that has been the way the entire vacation.
Amy has taken up saying “Yessiree, Bob” and someone in the family usually responds “I’m not Bob!” Even Misha has taken to saying something that ends with “Bob”. Other funny thing that Amy says is “dummersault” for sommersault and “roller toaster” for roller coaster.
We drove around for awhile after lunch and both girls fell asleep. They both actually had pretty good naps. We drove up the coast a bit and finally on our return decided to stay the next two days in Lincoln City. We ate dinner at “Sambo’s” and found that most restaurants are pretty spendy. Finding a place to stay was the next item on our list. We stopped at a number of places and finally chose an older hotel, the Coho Inn, right on the beach with a spectacular sunset view. The room was older but did have a separate room for the girls to sleep in. I can’t remember if Misha fell asleep with me laying beside her or if Chris had to drive around with her. The nights of putting her to sleep have blurred.
Wednesday was not near as nice as Tuesday had been. It was overcast and much cooler and we even got a bit of rain. In the morning we went shopping at some outlet malls. We found some fun things and would have liked to spend more time there, but both girls were getting hungry and crabby around lunch time. By this time, they have successfully moved their schedule an hour behind to match Oregon time. We got lunch at Burger King and then drove until they fell asleep. We went back to the hotel and let them sleep there while we rested as well. That afternoon, since it was raining we decided to take them bowling. They hadn’t been before and we found this older place that was empty except for us. They had bumpers in the lanes so that the girls couldn’t throw gutter balls.
Amy was excited and once she caught onto the idea would stand at the end of the lane jumping up and down shouting, “Go, Go”. Once she even ran back to the bench and said “Oh, I can’t watch.” Of course, Amy and Misha’s balls traveled down the lane reaaaalllllyyy slowly so we had a lot of time to see if they would get a strike or not. I won with a score of 108 or something close to that and the rest of them were between 80 and 95–even Chris. Good thing he had the bumpers too!
We found a place for supper after that and were glad to finally get the girls home to bed. Misha ate mostly ice and didn’t want anything else. I wrack my brains trying to come up with things that they will even eat. They are both sooooo picky.
Thursday we headed for home. Amy had soaked through her pull-up and wet the bed. Misha came out early saying “Wet, wet.” Guess she didn’t appreciate it too much. Chris was still tired so he found a dry spot on Amy’s bed and went back to sleep.
We left for Grandma Balls after breakfast, and I must say I was happy to be starting for home. Our flight to Utah didn’t leave until about 5 pm so we had plenty of time to drive home, get some lunch, and leave the girls with Lori while Chris and I went to the mall. We stopped first to vacuum out the lovely Taurus wagon (we will never have one) and then went to look at the pictures we had taken on the Saturday previous. They weren’t spectacular or anything but we got a few, figuring this group would probably never be together again.
Lori drove us to the airport, and we were finally on our way back to Utah. Hooray. By this point, I was more than ready to go home. We landed around 8 pm, picked up some tacos and headed to Brad’s. So many changes, and Misha was in no mood to go to sleep in a new location and bed. Chris finally had to drive around with her again to get her to sleep. She seems to be catching on to the idea and stays awake longer and longer each time.
On Friday, Chris took the girls and I to Donna’s while he planned to go back to the Practice and work on their computers. Fortunately, Misha fell asleep about two minutes before we arrived and stayed asleep for about an hour and a half. She needs all the naps she can get. While she slept, I helped Angie and Amy fly a kite–mostly Angie did. She is surely a take-charge kind of girl. After that we headed over to the play area for awhile. Donna stayed back at the house and enjoyed the break I think. The toys were designed for five and up so they were a bit of a challenge for Amy, but she still had fun.
We walked back to Donna’s for lunch and had fresh-baked bread and peanut butter and jelly. The bread was delicious. Misha woke up just before lunchtime. I heard a huge bump upstairs and when I went to check, Misha was already at the bottom of the stairs.
Chris worked at the practice for three hours and finally finished when I called him. We drove down toward Provo and decided on the way that we had had enough of our vacation and were heading home. Thus, we had to see all the family to say goodbye. Chris had made arrangements to have dinner with his old mission president and one of his companions, so our time was a bit limited. Frankly though, I was glad that we were going to be leaving and after another delightful night with Misha, we were tempted to leave at 3 am when she had already been awake for an hour or so, Chris had driven around with her for an hour and she wouldn’t go to sleep. He was putting a video on for her to watch when she grabbed my hand and took me back to my bed. She climbed in and went right to sleep. We stopped at Fred Meyer for some groceries Saturday morning and were on our way by 9:30. Wahooooo! We knew we had made the right decision in coming home because both girls were acting up. Amy had accidents all day long, and not just the wet variety, and Misha cried in the car for 30 minutes solid before we stopped for lunch. Two weeks was just too long to be away.
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