Charlotte, North Carolina

Hubby had a conference in North Carolina, it just so happens it was over spring break.  I had thought it would be fun for all of us to go, but in the end we decided it would be better (and cheaper) for just me to tag along and leave the kids with the grandparents.  Couldn’t have been a better decision.  We were right downtown, where it is a corporate world.  Most stores and fast food places were only open from 8 am to 5 pm, and no fun places to take the kids (except one museum).  Any ways, back to the beginning.

Saturday night after the Priesthood session of General Conference, we dropped the kids at their grandparents house.  F and I got a good night sleep before being up at 4 am – if that is a good night sleep!  We had two flights to get us into Charlotte, on our first flight the cabin pressure changed and my ear clogged up, and also a few masks dropped down for some passengers.  After our second flight, my ear had not acclimated properly and didn’t adjust for the whole next day. Really made me feel off and strange not being able to hear well out of one ear, it drove me crazy!

We arrived in Charlotte just after 2 pm, took a taxi to the hotel, checked-in and went to walk around the city.  We found it interesting that most places were closed and destitute.  There was a shopping center across the street that had a few restaurants that were open, so we ate dinner at Vida Cantina.  We devoured a wonderful meal consisting of fresh guacamole made table side.  The next morning, F was up and off to his conference.  I slept.  He came up to the room during his first break (10 am) and couldn’t believe I was still in bed, my reply… “It’s only 8 am at home.”  I spent the time that F was in his conference, just walking around the city.  There are so many skyscrapers and not much green space. 1 did find one little park by the library. It had several sign posts with the names of famous authors which are also cities – see picture to get the full idea.  I found a little spot on a bench near the water feature and read. 

F and I were amazed at how during the regular business hours, the city was bustling with people in the corporate attire, I felt out of place in shorts.  Everyone was in a hurry and many of the large buildings had armed guards posted outside the main doors.  I enjoyed seeing the city and began to feel quite comfortable with knowing where things were. I did spend most of the time walking around, not really shopping (there wasn’t much).  Monday night, F and I met up with one of 'F'’s former co-workers who also was in attendance for dinner at Champions Sports Grill at the Marriott Hotel. It was the night of the NCAA Basketball Championship, so hence the sports grill We all shared one order of the Triple Play (one dozen Buffalo wings, a half order of Champions cheese fries & three “Sliders”) Definitely enough for the three of us. 

Tuesday, more walking around and reading by the pool.  I found online that Charlotte has a walking art tour around the city.  Packed up my camera, and put on my shoes, grabbed my list of address and set out.  It was fun to walk around and see the art work around the city.  I even took F around to some of them later that night after we had dinner, which was at Mert’s Heart and Soul. F had heard of this place on the food network.  It was great!  The cornbread, delicious.  We did have trouble finding it…it is a little hole in the wall place off the main streets.  Before dinner and right after (well, F had to leave a little early) F’s meetings for the day, we went to the museum to go to their Mummies of the World.  It was awesome, to learn about mummification and see mummies that have been discovered in various parts of the world. Well worth it!

Wednesday, last day. When we got to the airport, we had extra time before our flight, so we grabbed lunch at the local fast food chain (they were only open during the day in the city, so this was the only time we could go together), Bojangles Chicken and Bisquits.  Nothing like some southern fried chicken with big buttery bisquits.  Kept me filled for a few days afterwards!  Thanks to F for wanting me to tag along and a big thanks to the grandparents for taking on three kids for us!! Kids did have a great time being with grandparents.  The plan was for them to stay at our house, but the kids wanted to be at grandma and grandpa’s house.  I hope they at least missed us a little because I missed them a lot!

Effervescence

Writer’s Desk

Newport, Oregon

Wednesday, October 5th

We spent the day driving south toward Florence, OR.  As we drove, we pulled over whenever we saw a sign that intrigued us.  The first stop was at Seal Rock, which was a set of large outcropping of rock right at the water’s edge.  At Seal Rock, F took the two older kids while I stayed back with the babe, when he came back, I went off on the trail while the kids ran ahead to show me what they had seen.  Seal Rock is gorgeous!

 

Up next came Devil’s churn. The name says it all.  I would not want to get stuck or fall into this part of the water.  Devil’s churn is where there is a small inlet where the ocean water is force up and creates a spray of water and the water is definitely churned.  It was cool to see the waves come in and splash up against the rocky coast.

And because I love the look of lighthouses, their history, and how unique each one is, I was loving the fact that the coast is full of lighthouses.  From our hotel, we could see two! F was kind enough to stop and explore them with me.  We found Heceta Lighthouse, but was sad to see you had to pay for parking and pay to enter the lighthouse.  With how many lighthouses that were close by, we didn’t pay, but got our fee in the sand instead.  B was napping during some of our stops, which meant F and I took turns staying with her in the car. So, the only pictures I have of the lighthouse are from the beach. 

F found a river that ran into the ocean. When the waves came in, it pushed back the river. When the waves receded, the river water again flowed into the ocean. I think he could have watched it all day!

Here is B when she woke up, happy as can be!

We had heard of place called the Sea Lion Caves near Florence.  We decided to check it out.  After a long walk down stairs, a path along the coast line, followed by an elevator ride, we reached the cave.s.  We were able to learn about sea lions, could get another view at Heceta Lighthouse.

The cave was pretty cool, the only downside – the sea lions were out to see to feed (we did get a discount because of it, and knew that we might not see any). We did, in fact, see a group sea lions that were swimming along the coast line. When the sea lions are in the cave, they fill up the rocks and are all around.  If you look closely on the right side, you can see the sea lions.  It’s difficult to take pictures with the waves moving around and the sea lions swimming, but I was able to get some of them in the frame!

Next stop, this place is called Smelt Sands.  The waves come up the sand and larger waves crash over the top of the rocks.

 

Another lighthouse! Yay!!  This light house is Yaquina Lighthouse.  The first time we went to the lighthouse, we had the GPS give us directions, which took us out and around the lighthouse before reaching it.  We discovered later that all we needed to do was follow the road on which our hotel was located and it pretty much got us right to the lighthouse.  I took the older kids to the lighthouse. As we were standing in a doorway looking at one of the rooms, a really creepy guy came right up behind us and tried to make conversation.  He got a little too close for my comfort, so we moved on and stayed away from him!  One thing K liked learning about at this lighthouse was the cistern located just outside that collected the rain water. 

Time for some relaxing time at the hotel pool. It was long and cold walk from our room to where the pool was located and it didn’t last long, but we still enjoyed it.  The water was cold, but we did have the entire pool area to ourselves.  On of the perks of vacationing off season.

For dinner, we bbq’d at a picnic area right by the lighthouse. We were there just in time to watch the sunset.

After we cleaned up from dinner and headed back to our hotel, we grabbed our coats and walked down to the beach.  We could see the beach from our room, but it was fun to be at the beach.  The beach is very flat, which meant that when the waves receded you could walk out quite a ways with it. The kids enjoyed the game F started by following the waves out and then running away at the waves came up the beach. What a beautiful day on the coast!

 

The Great North West

Monday, October 3rd

Packed up – again, headed to the ferry – again.  We sailed from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA.  We drove on the 101, the Pacific Coast Highway through Olympia National Park.  We stopped to eat lunch at the Storm King Ranger Station next to beautiful Crescent Lake that was a gorgeous turquoise color.  We saw a family of deer just enjoying their lunch by the lake as well. 

Some of the things that amazed us on this drive were: how tall the trees are, how green and mossy everything is, and how sparse it was to find civilization.  We drove down into the rainforest and as we drove further along the road, the darker it got, and the more the rain fell. Our destination was to see Big Sitka Spruce in Hoh Rainforest.  Even with the pelting rain and the panic to get in a few pictures, it was worth it. 

We did (for my sake) stopped at the sign for Forks, WA, only long enough to get a few pictures by the city’s welcome sign. In this one day, we made it all the way through Washington state – barely.  As the day got later, the more worried we became about find a hotel, being again the lack of civilization.  Our last adventure before finding a hotel in Astoria, OR was crossing the Columbia River, spanning 14 miles. 

Tuesday, October 4th

We started off by heading back into Washington to go see a lighthouse, but the road was closed and we were – disappointed, which was likely to happen, since the lighthouse is at Cape Disappointment.  Oh, the irony, especially since the night before we had passed by the Cape of Foul Weather in a rainstorm.  We went into Lewis and Clark National Park and learned about the explorers and saw the home they made for themselves in the winter, saw a wooden canoe replica of what they travelled in, a dog which is the same breed (Newfoundland)as the one that travelled with Lewis & Clark, and a little historical video.

  

While in Astoria, we drove up and saw the Astoria column, and ate lunch by the 36th Street pier serenaded by the sounds of sea lions! 

As we drove down the coast further, we followed visitor brochures to hit some sites on the way, making sure to stop for me to get a few pictures of Haystack monolith at Cannon Beach.  The weather was cloudy and a little bit rainy, so we didn’t stop for too long – we were also in the search for a bathroom for the kids. 

Our last stop before our next hotel was – drum roll please – the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  We had fun seeing the cheese be cut and packaged, sampling various cheeses, and enjoying some Tillamook Ice Cream, yummy!  We drove into Newport, OR and checked into hotel #5 and settled in…Here is where we ended up staying for the majority of our time, and loving it….more in the next post.

Birthdays and Baptisms

We have had quite a great month! We have celebrated two birthdays in our family, and one baptism. I hardly feel old enough to have an 8 year old child. Our first birthday was Baby B’s. She is officially 1-year-old! And my, how fast that first year has gone. Up until this month, she has had only two bottom teeth and now has 4 (the top two just coming in in the last two weeks). B has been a cranky baby because of the teething. She does love to eat and gets mad when she is in her highchair without any food in front of her. F and I are often giving her pieces of food during the prayer just to keep her quiet and busy. She loves to take baths and play in the water, but doesn’t like to lay down to be rinsed off. She smiles, laughs, and loves to play with K and L. For her birthday, we invited family over to celebrate with presents and cake and ice cream. It is so funny to watch baby’s on their first birthday. B had no idea what is going on. She loved to tear through the wrapping paper and low and behold a toy! As soon as she sees the toy and wants to play with it, its taken away by K and L and replaced with a new package. She would not want to open another gift when she just wanted to play with the toy she just saw. She got new clothes and some new fun toys. When we gave her the cake and let her dig in, she was not that interested. F took her hand and smashed the cake and gave her a little bit. She played a little, but didn’t care to eat any of the cake, she would push it away when we tried to give her a bite. Ice cream is another story. She loves ice cream. Some of the presents she got for her birthday were a baby doll, a little piano, a toy dog, and a wagon. Since she is not walking yet, but very close, her wagon is more of a carriage for her. K and L love to have her sit in the wagon, in which she is just the perfect size, and pull her around the room. B will sit there and enjoy the ride, usually with the dog, baby doll, and piano on her lap.

This last weekend, she woke up around midnight, just screaming. F got up with her, tried to give her a binky and rock her back to sleep. B was not going for it. She continued to cry and point to our room, where I was still in bed. After a little bit of this, I got up and decided to sit in our room with her. Shortly after being in my arms, she took her binky and settled down. She did not, however, go back to sleep. She laid her head on my shoulder and was wide awake. I did try to put her back in bed after a while, but she screamed again. I tried to bring her into our bed and hold her there, again screaming. By this time, I was done. F took her again and gave her some pain reliever. This time, I got bundled up and sat/laid on the couch in our family room and we stayed there for about an hour. She was wide awake, but laid still, adjusting every so often. I tried to get a little rest with her, and I might have, but I was thinking how I love this! I would have preferred all of us in our own beds sleeping peacefully, but loved the fact that she only wanted her mommy and how she simply wanted to be cuddled. She won’t want this forever and I was loving it – as tired as I would be the next day, it didn’t matter because of the moment.

Well, Birthday #2 was for our oldest – K. She is now 8 years old. She has had nearly a weeks worth of celebrations and attention. It all began with a birthday party with her friends. She wanted a makeover party. When the girls came, they began with decorating their own little bag and colored a picture of a face. We then had a little bit of food – a popcorn-trail mix, strawberry jell-o and juice. After that we separated into 3 groups. Thankfully my mom and sister came to help out! There were four stations. Make-up, Nails, Hair, and Accessories. Here is what we did at each station:

Make-up: Eyeshadow & lipstick. My mom had picked up some eyeshadow that looks like a lipgloss and was bright colored and a big hit.

Nails: Crackle nail polish and several colors to choose from.

Hair: Combs, elastics, headbands.

Accessories: The girls made felt flowers to put onto their headband and spelled their name with letters that slide onto a bracelet.

After we finished that, K opened her presents and ate cake and ice cream. The girls had a great time and loved being able to put on make-up and paint their nails.

The next day we had family over for presents, cake and ice cream. We saved a few of our presents for her real birthday. On K’s birthday she opened up a new outfit before heading off to school. I volunteer for her class and teach art, so I had arranged to come in and teach that day, which I also brought in cookies for her to share with her class. As we drove home, F (who was home for the day) set out her big gift – a new bike. K was excited for her new big bike (the other one was getting a bit too small). Thankfully the weather was warm enough that she was able to ride for a while before we headed out to dinner. K chose to go to Black Bear Diner for dinner, She had a great day, and so did we. Only one more event!

Friday, K had the day off from school. I had plans to go to shopping for food for her baptism, but we got a call from a friend who said they were going to go sledding (it had just snowed the day before). We jumped on the chance to go. B was not fond of the snow (we don’t have snow clothes for her). The kids had a great time with friends going down the hills, despite the fact that their snow pants were too short. After sledding, K went to her friends house, and I took the other kids shopping. We got all the food we needed for the baptism and as an added bonus, I found snow pants on clearance for $3-5!

Saturday, we spent getting food cooked and ready, and cleaning & straightening up the house. K was baptized and confirmed by F and we  were glad to be surrounded by family and friends. K had invited our next door neighbors who came, they have been like an extra set of grandparents to the kids. F’s mother gave a great talk on Baptism and my dad gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. We invited everyone over following the baptism for an early dinner. The menu was simple, but delicious. We served BBQ Chicken Salad, fruit and dessert. F had spent all morning cooking the chicken and we devoted quite a bit of time to shredding the chicken before the baptism. It was a beautiful day and wonderful way to end the birthday month. We are so proud that K made her own decision to be baptized and know she is blessed because of it.
It was fun to see how excited she was for all of it! When she and I were in the dressing room changing before the confirmation, she kept telling me to move faster. We still got out before F. Both of our girls are beautiful smart girls, with a smart and clever brother in the middle. We love to cuddle up with each of them and see their smiling faces each day. We love them all!

Vancouver Island

September 30

Making our trek across the border!!  We set our GPS to guide us to the border.  However the directions it was giving us and the signs on the road – were completely different!  We followed the signs on the road which took us to the right border crossing (the other one was apparently ridiculously out of the way).  At the border, the nice lady checked our documents and asked us a few questions. One question was where were we headed.  When we told her the town, she replied “Why are you going there. It’s not really a destination point!” We told her our reason. After declaring all that we had and why we were travelling, we were allowed to enter into Canada.  We made way to the ferry. The signs pointing us in the right direction suddenly had no ferry port listed, so we thought we had made a wrong turn. After turning around and driving another direction for about 5 minutes, we figured we originally had been on the right track.  So, back on our first course and just yards after our turn around point, we came into full view of the port.  We got to the ticket booth and found that we had just missed the last ferry (by moments!) and the next ferry was scheduled to leave in 2 hours.  If we didn’t make our turn around deals, we might have made the ferry, but no, we had to hunker down in the duty free shops until it was time to board the ferry.  We got seats on the ferry right at the front, being able to view the water.  The ferry ride was about 1.5 hours.  They made mention of a children play area, so I made a lap around the boat with B in her stroller to get a lay of the land.  When I got to the play area, it was a small room, a few things to climb on, chairs for the parents, and The Wiggles playing on a television… I think we are better off at the front of the boat.  The children did great and had fun. 

On our drive to the hotel, the children played with stickers – they’ve got quite the imaginations!  They had decided to make curly mustaches with their stickers, even giving a few to Baby B! 

Well, since we were behind in our travels, when we arrived at the hotel, we found F’s family ready to get dinner before the reception and his brother came to get the remaining decorations that we had brought with us.  We had just enough time to check-in, unload our stuff, get cleaned up, and over to the reception to help prepare the food.  This time, some friends helped keep the food going, which meant, F and I were able to sit back and enjoy this reception a bit more than the last.  The kids stole off into the nursery room with their Canadian friends to play most of the time.

October 1

F’s family (minus the bride and groom) left to head back home today (so we only saw them at the reception and a few minutes this morning).  We went to downtown Duncan and walked around. Downtown Duncan is famous for its totem poles.  We followed the steps to each one and had a great time taking pictures, reading what had been carved into each pole, pretending to be totem poles, and enjoying a little down time after the busy days we have had. 

Next we drove up the coast to Ladysmith and met up with F’s brother, wife, her mother, her sister and family, and a cousin (who follows F’s brother – everywhere!). There is a beautiful beach (Transfer Beach) with a large wood/metal/old tires filled playground.  The kids loved it!! 

The beach also had plenty of rocks to explore, an kids sized boat to play in, and for the big kids (F, brother, and cousin) – ocean kayaks.  They rented them for an hour, got instructions, looked absolutely hilarious in swimsuits, sandals, windbreakers, and life jackets. 

The rest of us played on the sand.  F’s brother also brought us some local cuisine from the Dairy Queen – poutine  (pronounced poo-teen) which essentially is french fries covered in cheese curds covered in gravy (the gravy melts the cheese curds). It felt as if all my arteries were clogging up from the minimally bites I had.

 

Before dinner, we drove through another town, Chemainus, to see there murals through out the city.  We met up with brother, sis-in-law, and her mother to grab a bite to eat. For dinner we tried some more local fare at White Spot.  The big hit there was the kids meal that is brought in a large paper pirate ship (I think there is one still sailing about our house!)

October 2

Today we checked out and headed down to Victoria. Our first stop and where we spent most of the day, The Butchart Gardens. The weather has been about 50-60’s through this trip, so we all needed our coats, but it was pleasant weather for walking around outside.  F and I were both worried about how the kids would take to walking around a garden, but they did well.  It was a lot of walking, but there was plenty to see.  They loved to find plants/flowers that they liked. Just as we arrived and were getting out of our car, a deer walked by, crossing through the parking lot.  That was a great start.  This garden has been around since the early 1900’s.

When we had seen all that there was to see and ate our lunch, we travelled to Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard lighthouse.  F got his enjoyment through the old naval base and I got to see my lighthouse.  We also saw a family of deer.  (Got to love wildlife!) Next we checked into our hotel and drove down by the harbor.  We walked around and saw the parliament building and the harbor.  Most places were closed because it was Sunday and others had already closed up for the day (it was about 6 pm when we were walking around). 

Right across from our hotel was a nice little restaurant (which we got a discount because of the hotel). The restaurant, named ABC Country Restaurant, was one of the greatest experiences!  We were greeted by an older man, not from the US or Canada (mid-eastern country) and our waiter was also an older man a Jordanian parent/ Italian parent (he told us).  This man was crazy!  After being seated and ordered, he asked if we needed anything for the baby.  We said, “No, she can’t have anything.”  (mind you – she is 7 months old, no teeth and only eats rice cereal, pureed veg/fruit, and milk). Our waiter insisted – these words we hear all evening – “No, don’t worry about it, It’s free. It’s free! (add your own little accent here).  He brought out – saltine crackers and a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  B didn’t get much, but it was a great appetizer for the rest of us. The waiter was all over the place trying to tell jokes, stories, and dancing for all the tables (about 3).  When it came time to order dessert, we told him F and I didn’t want any, but again – he quoted his phrase – Don’t worry about it. It’s free. and brought us each a bowl of vanilla ice cream.  We had plans to get some donut holes after dinner from Tim Horton’s, which we did, but we didn’t eat them until the next day.  We tucked the kids in bed and got ready to have another day long day of travelling.