Home Again

I forgot to put this picture in my last post about Bear Lake, and I've already re-published that beast twice.  So... we're just going to do a post script, here. 

Tyler and I both knew this would happen.  It happened last year after Yellowstone.  After several days of unfamiliar territory and a totally different routine, you'd think it would be a relief to come back home.  You know, that "ah, home!"  feeling you get, even after the best of trips?  Yeah, well, Lincoln doesn't go there.  His reaction is more like, "WHAT?  This place again?  I thought we'd left for good and started anew in the wilderness!  Why'd you even bring me there if we weren't gonna stay forever?!"  Yep.  Kicking, screaming and an all-out tantrum; behavior that didn't happen even once on vacation. 

We seriously need to move to a 1,000 acre farm. 

Bear Lake 2010

Tyler's family has camped at Bear Lake for 80 summers, ever since his grandmother was a little tike.  Now I am a part of the tradition, as is our son.  Lincoln was born into a heritage of clear waters, rocky sands, campfires and group meals.  Lucky kid.

Bear lake started with a long, leisurely drive.  Speckled with moments of terror, when my father-in-law's truck, pulling TWO trailers, nearly toppled over in the winding canyon.  They made it, though.  Catastrophy skillfully avoided!

Lincoln slept,

and ate.

Upon arrival at our group campsite, we adjusted into typical Bear Lake mode.  Clock and calendar went out the window, and our priorities adjusted to include:

Jet skis, sun, sand and water.

Here's Tyler's parents and mine heading out to explore the lake.  Awesome adventures?  Yes, please!  I was really scared at first, but once I adjusted to the idea of going as fast as a car over the choppy surface of a lake without any helmet or the body of a car to protect me if I fell, I was ok.  When the lake was smooth, I even amped it up to 56 mph!  Of course, I was still gripping the handlebars like death and screaming, while everyone else was doing tricks and turning the jet skis on a dime, cranking out donuts, etc.  My mom is a daredevil on those things!  I always forget she grew up in California, near a lake, so it was like coming home for her.

Evan outdid us all by driving with a broken wrist. 

And Lincoln?  Well, Lincoln was in heaven.  He's an outdoor, water baby in every fiber of his little baby-boy being.  He played in the water, played in the sand, played in the grass.  He was a busy little explorer.

He had both sets of grandparents there on Saturday. 

Obsessed with wheels, Lincoln was pointing them out everywhere, 

even scouring Home Living and Family Circle magazines for those rare car ads.  An excited "OOOOOH!" erupted when he spotted one.

His favorite toys involve wheels, too, of course.

I thought my tummy would get some sun.

Instead I burnt my legs. 

I forgot to reapply sunscreen in the midst of all my picture-taking.  As usual, I was snap-happy.

(Yes, Lincoln's fingernails looked like this the whole time.)













My mom took some of my favorite photos, though, while I was out jet skiing.  Bill (father-in-law) was playing with Abby with his typical boyish energy.  Love it!

Tyler's mom has had many birthdays up at Bear Lake; that's what you get when you're born in July in this family.  This weekend was one of those for her.  I really like my mother-in-law.  She's easygoing and knows how to balance her life to protect her happiness.  Dollmaking, running, eating healthy, and loving her family are a few things that characterise this woman.  I'm learning a lot from her.  :-)

Thanks to Bill and Lori for letting us sleep in their trailer this year.  We even brought Lincoln's crib mattress and put it on the floor so he would feel at home as possible.  And aside from me getting embarrassingly cranky about getting interrupted while putting the baby to sleep, this situation worked out pretty well.  Maybe next year we'll bring a tent, though, so Tyler's parents don't have to sleep out in their truck! 

What would camping be without a huge fire?  This family knows how to build a good one, too.  It gets cold up there at night, so we all huddle around to get warm and eat smores or bratwurst.  I didn't want to bother everyone with my flash, so I didn't take many pictures around the campfire, except of course of Katie, who is really fun to photograph.  Mainly because she's so adorable. 

Every year there is a craft, and I was so happy to bleach shirts again.  I wish I had taken more photos of other people's shirts, because they were all so awesome!  Tyler's pregnant cousin Alyssa even made a "bun in the oven" shirt.  I loved how into it the teenagers were. 

Here's mine:

I made an octopus in Evan's honor.  It's his favorite animal.

Katie's looked cooler.  I'm going to have to get more practice in the octopus-drawing department. 

When I first met Tyler, I quickly realized that Bear Lake shaped his summer.  He has never missed a trip his entire life.  And I can understand why.

I wouldn't want to miss this much fun, either! 

Already looking forward to next year.

Nouns and Verbs

I'm reading a library book (nonfiction! yay for me!) right now in which a health care provider attends a patient-relations seminar and participates in a fun group activity.  Each person writest down a list of as many verbs and nouns that describes her/himself.  Then the lists are passed randomly around.  You look at the jumble of words that embody a mystery person, then write a paragraph about what you think he/she is like. 

I decided to write my own list for fun, but of course there isn't anyone else to switch lists with, and now you'd know this is mine anyway.  I enjoyed it, though, because typically when you describe a person you use mainly adjectives.  I kept thinking of things like, "soft, quiet," then crossing them out and reminding myself "NOUNS! VERBS!"  I filled a small notebook page while Lincoln was eating lunch, only stopping twice to refill his drink and to wipe him off.  In those few minutes I came up with:

dress

words

think

book

smile

banana

cookie

eyes

curls

run

walk

move

sew

water

wine

face

wash

beans

water

bath

curve

window

touch

love

compliment

care

lounge (smiling as I wrote this, not admitting even to myself whether I meant the the thing or the action)

book

paper

hair

eat

baby

rock

squeeze

agree

outline

contrast

honey

salt

listen

emulate

worry

breathe

pray

Several times I caught myself beginning to write a word the second time, but there are two I didn't even realize I had already written. 

Book. 

Water.

 Which is funny because one day when I was pregnant I spent 6 straight hours in the tub, reading Jane Eyre.  Every month when my Parenting Magazine comes in the mail, my first thought is, I better take a bath tonight so I can read this!  Book and water: my repeats. 

Once upon a thunderstorm

Hello.  I thought I'd take a minute out of my busy, beautiful, perfect summer day to describe Lincoln's first thunderstorm.  He's 19 months, so of course he has caught a glimpse of lightning once or twice, but always from behind a window, inside, where it's dry, and warm, and a lot less exciting.  Usually Lincoln and I are out exlploring the city in the afternoon, with our best friend the Stroller.  But yesterday I was cooking and baking stuff for our camping trip this weekend.  Eventually we were tired of the indoors and decided to breathe some fresh air on the balcony.  And then....

The sky rumbled.  And turned gray.  The green leaves darkened as they tossed in the wind.  First one drop fell, then a thousand.

At first Lincoln looked worried and confused.  I smiled and reached out to the rain drops, knowing he takes his cue from me in unfamiliar circumstances. 

One smile is all it took.  A whole thunderstorm of joy ensued, complete with dancing and spinning, laughing and splashing, gaping at the flashy zig zags in the sky, and constant falling across the slippery balcony floor.  We. Loved. It. 

It felt so good to cool off.  Shiver, even!  Of course what's a summer afternoon without getting just a little dirty?

And doing a few pushups? 

But after all the fun, I had to get my baby into the bathtub.  I guess that's just the kind of mom I am-- comfortable with dirt, but also quick to the cleanup.

I don't think he minds.  Not one bit!

California!

There were a lot of firsts this past weekend.  

First plane ride for Lincoln:

He didn't sleep on the plane even though I tried to keep him awake beforehand.  A very kind couple from Luxembourg carried my backpack while I carried my 25 pound sleeping toddler through bag claim and security.  He woke up each time before boarding the plane. This lovely woman read to my son and let him sit on her lap to gaze out the window.  Lincoln was loud and full of energy, but thankfully we avoided tantrums and explosive diapers during both 1 hr and 10 minute flights. I don't know how parents fly with multiple children on longer trips!



My mom and brother Evan drove to Sacramento as well, so that we could all meet up with my grandparents and my aunts.  It's the first time in 9 years that they were all together again, and also the first time for Lincoln to meet my Aunt Sue, cousin Nico and Grandpa Brown.

                                                                                         Aunt Sue is my mom's older sister.  Aunt Sheila is the youngest, which of course leaves my mother as the middle child.

Lincoln was pretty cool chilling with all these new relatives!  And my Grandpa got a kick out of the little guy.

We went swimming at our hotel to escape the heat.  There was a marked difference between us Utahns and the Californians.  I have a horrifying farmers tan.  And my baby brother and baby son are both angelically pale.  Ha ha!

My grandma, meanwhile, was not at all concerned about perfecting her own tan.  In fact she made every effort to find any square inch of shade available!  

We took our turns posing with Linc...

  

... and had a couple bathtub races, refereed by my Mom.  I bragged that I had won before we even began.  Big mistake.  Pride does indeed come before a fall!

Aunt Sheila was the uncontested winner, and Aunt Sue was a decided second.

Evan and I gave up in the face of obvious defeat!  For shame.  Maybe it was the hairy legs that put me at a disadvantage?

 

Yeah... that's it.  I really should have shaved. He he!

My cousin Nico has a son now, and I got to meet the 3-week old for the first time.  Nathaniel looks just like his father!  Lincoln was a little confused by this younger child who stole the limelight, but then he took a closer look and saw what all the fuss was about.  CUTE!

Here are some pictures of everyone at our picnic:

Aunt Sheila, her baby grandson Nathaniel, Nico and Laura.  This young family is so cute and friendly!  I wanted to hang out with them more, but I'm lucky to have met them.

Reaching for... some patience?  Lincoln got tired and slightly fussy toward the end of this thing.  

Nico, you're a great dad!  I love your little family!  Isn't it great to be three?

Speaking of threes, it was cool to hang out with my mom and brother a lot, since I don't live at home anymore and even though we see each other often, it's different being on a trip together.  My mom was a great example to me to go with the flow and enjoy things.  And Evan made me laugh a lot.  One time Lincoln shut his fingers in the hotel dresser drawer, and instead of me, he reached out to Evan for comfort!  

I took a picture of Evan taking a picture.  :-)

Here is me with my son and grandparents, the morning of our flight back home.  Tired but happy.

This trip was also the longest Lincoln and I have ever spent away from Tyler.  I missed him very much, not only because I just like his company, but also because I depend on him quite a bit for help with Lincoln.  I tried to rein myself in sometimes and let other people (mom) take care of him at times during this trip, but really I knew he was my son so therefore my responsibility.  Which is why I have no problem handing the little guy off to his father when I need a break, because it's HIS kid, too.  :-)  And I'm lucky enough to have a husband that takes his fatherhood seriously, so he never complains.  It was a huge relief to see my man standing near bag claim in SLC airport, a bouquet of roses in hand and his signature, warm smile lighting up his face.  I love my family, both immediate and extended!  And I'm glad to be home.