Hiking Might Be A Problem...

Considering I've got 50 pounds of baby weight to lose.
And I can't seem to last on the elliptical for more than 17 minutes.
And I'm out of breath just sitting some days.
And I only fit in sweatpants right now.
And I just ate 3 Chips Ahoy because reading this made me depressed.
And I don't normally eat because of depression.
So really I just ate those Chips Ahoy because they looked oh so good.
And I'm not even sure that 17 minutes on the elliptical would burn off the calories in those 3 Chips Ahoy.
Which is really depressing isn't it?

I'm thinking Chips Ahoy might do the trick.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

One of my favorite books is not a memoir or an exciting biography.
It's Frommer's National Parks of the American West.



I've read through the entire thing more than once and I never get sick of it.
I find it incredible that there are so many diverse, beautiful and original National Parks on this side of the continent.

There are so many parks in this book that I want to visit.

Yellowstone in Wyoming, Olympic in Washington, Bryce in Utah, Yosemite in California.

I'd be well on my way to visiting all of them...
If I didn't go to Zion National Park every time I get a weekend away.

See Zion is what I think heaven is going to look like.
(with a little of the North Shore of Kauai mixed in) ;o)

And every time I get a chance to get out of Vegas, I want to head straight to Zion.

We've camped there through rain and thunderstorms.

Rain in Zion makes for some great waterfalls.

We've hiked there in snow and hail.

We've visited in the fall and seen the most beautiful autumn colors imaginable.

Some of our greatest memories as a family are from Zion.

We've camped more times than I can count.

Stayed in the cabins at the Lodge.

Stayed at Flanigan's Inn.

(If you stay at Flanigan's... splurge on the David Pettit Suite.  It's got a wood burning fireplace and amazing views.)

We've hiked nearly every trail in the park.
I'm still waiting to conquer the Narrows... but that's a tough one to accomplish when you've got kids with you or not a lot of time.

And now... because wishes do come true...

We're heading to Zion again.

It's only for one night.

But I can't wait.

Serenity, beauty, and peace are in my future.

Matthew won't be coming with us.
Which makes me sad.
But I'm thinking 90 degree heat and hiking all day are probably not on his top list of things to do at 2 months old.

For me... it will be a much needed break from Vegas.

And another chance to see what kind of market there in down there for Zion Wool.
Hey... you never know!

I May Have A Philanthropist On My Hands...

A while back, Michael was informed that pets that go to animal shelters (or the pound, in his words) are killed.

This was devastating news to him that he really struggled to process.

Of course, because he's 7 years old, he automatically assumes that the President of the United States can fix this no problem.
So he insisted on being put on a flight to Washington DC immediately where he would just march right into the White House and "explain" to Obama what was happening at the pound. He was certain that once he plead his case, the President would put a stop to this craziness right away.

Obviously he was unhappy to hear that:
A: No one can just "walk right into" the White House to talk to the President
B: We were certainly not going to be placing him on a plane to DC alone with only cab fare to the White House.

So he did the next best thing he could come up with.
He created a video message to put on YouTube that he was positive the President would see.

I don't think Obama's come across it yet.
But I'll tell you this.
I have a compassionate, sensitive and caring child on my hands, who will undoubtedly go on to do incredible, amazing things for humanity.

Here's his video... if you happen to know the President, could you pass it on?
Michael would be forever grateful.
;o)

An Unhappy Birthday.

Matthew is celebrating his 8 week birthday today.

The morning started out with a celebration meal of formula.

I think he was really enjoying himself.

If he could talk... he would have told me so, I'm sure of it.

But then we had to go and take him to celebrate at the Doctor.
For his 8 week checkup.

And of course, to celebrate his big day, the Doctor recommended that he receive his 2 month batch of immunizations.
Gee thanks Doc.
I'm sure that's just what he wants to be doing on his 8 week birthday.

So he got his shots.

And he spent the afternoon crying in obvious pain.
I did what any desperate parent would do and ran to the pharmacy to get him some Tylenol.

Except that Tylenol is entirely recalled right now.
Thanks alot Tylenol.
So I bought generic.

And now we wait.
And as I rock my baby, who's obviously in pain, I sing him Happy Birthday.
I bet if he could talk, he'd be telling me he hates me right now.

Unmotivated.

I wanted to go to Zion this weekend.

Cause it's pretty much my favorite place on Earth.

But that's not going to happen this weekend.

And I'm pretty sad.

And gloomy.

And unmotivated.

All because I wanted to go and now I'm not.

If I had my way... I'd just up and move my family to Springdale and open up a little B&B.

Okay... let me be a bit more realistic.

I probably wouldn't open a B&B cause I don't really like people that much and the idea of having strangers staying in my house with me and my kids is not exactly appealing.

My cousin has a B&B.

It's called the Spahn House.

And he seems to love having strangers in his house.

But me... I'm not so sure.

I mean, what if I was in a bad mood?

Sometimes you just wake up in a bad mood.

What kind of host would I be then?

And breakfast?

Well, Michael's lucky if he gets a Toaster Strudel in the morning.

So the idea of waking up in a good mood and cooking a large breakfast every morning is pretty much hugely frightening.  

Okay.  So the Bed & Breakfast outside Zion is out.

That's fine.

I could open a little restaurant.

I mean, I do run a Food and Beverage Department.

I must be capable of running a little restaurant.

I'm thinking something simple and family friendly.

Pizza.

Yes pizza!

With beer.

Shit.

That's already been thought of.

But I will tell you... Zion Pizza and Noodle does have some great beers!

My favorite?

Polygamy Porter of course.

(Although I get some strange looks when I wear my Polygamy tee shirt...)

Maybe a yarn store in Zion?

That's something they're lacking...

I could raise my own sheep and make authentic "Zion Wool".

I'm sure there's a huge market for Zion Wool.

And I'm such an accomplished knitter and all.

Oh... right... not quite.

So I guess I'll be spending the weekend in Vegas.

2nd Grade Complete!

He's done it!
Michael is finishing his last day of 2nd grade today!

I truly believe that the incredible teacher Michael had last year changed school for him all together.

Michael now knows that he's capable of succeeding in school.
Is it easy for him?
Nope.
Never will be.
But he knows he can do it.

His teacher this year told me "Michael's the type of kid that would get straight A's without ever opening a book if he didn't have ADHD." And I think she's right. He's incredibly intelligent. Unfortunately, he just has to work a little harder than his friends to get the same results.

But he's doing it.
And he's excelling!
And I'm so overwhelmingly proud!

And he's growing!
Fast!
Michael is growing out of pants in a matter of weeks. (Thank god we're into shorts season now!)

Here's a quick montage of Michael's year of 2nd grade!



















3rd grade here we come!!!

DMB... Up Close and Personal

News has just broken that Dave Matthew's Band will not be touring next summer.

In our little household, this is devastating news.

I mean... I realize that the band has been touring every summer for the last 20 years.

But don't they know that some of our summers revolve around this fact?

Obviously we are crazy Dave Matthew's fans.

I'll admit it.

Hello?

My son's name is Matthew.

If I'd had my way, he would have been Matthew David.

We were actually at the show at Staples Center in L.A. on the day that Leroi passed away.

Here you can see how I reacted to that...

I was a total and complete mess for the entire concert.

We traveled to the Gorge in Washington to see them.

But the Gorge really should be a post all it's own, it's located here.

In December though... we got incredibly lucky.

Dave Matthew's was performing acoustic with Tim Reynolds at Planet Hollywood here in Vegas.

A friend of mine happened to work for the venue and happened to get us pretty much the greatest seats of all time.

I've been to alot of Dave shows.

I've never been very close.

I've always been pretty much okay with this because a DMB show has an indescribable energy and just being there and being able to experience it has been enough.

But my friend... and the Planet Hollywood show...

3rd row!!!

Here's how close we were...

We were so close that I could see the beads of sweat on their faces.

So close that I could hear their fingers hit the strings of the guitars.

So close that I could probably have jumped on the stage and hugged Dave before security dragged me off the stage.

(I chose to avoid the last possibility being that I was 5 months pregnant and that I wasn't moving as quick as I normally could). ;o)

I felt like it was my own personal concert.
When you're that close, you almost forget that there are tens of thousands of people behind you.

We got pictures like this.


And this.


And this.


And videos like this.


It was a magical evening.
I spent the majority of the concert trying to figure out if I was dreaming.
The whole thing was unreal.

We'll miss you next summer Dave.
For now... I have a trip to plan.
Maybe DMB in San Diego???
Here's hoping!