Spokane vacay part 2

Ok, so I feel like I have neglected my blog, as well as all of yours, but I am back and ready to blog about our last couple of weeks. We had a fun 2 weeks in Spokane with Nate's family. **Pictures will follow... Nate had our camera in Ireland, so we used Lizza's, and so as soon as she emails them to me, I'll post them** I think it would be appropriate to name this trip the "battle of the two year olds". Man, it was pretty crazy having 3, two year olds in one household for over a week, and then 2, two year olds the rest of the time. There was a lot of pushing, toy stealing, screaming, hitting, crying, there was even an incident with Asher being put in a headlock (seriously, no joke!) by Parker, and he wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon. It was sad, but kind of funny at the same time. There may have been a little bit of laughing and having fun in there as well, but that was mostly when one of them was down for a nap, or during a rare moment when they just left each other alone. It, was awesome!

It was actually a nice trip for me, as I would have been very lonely in Provo without Nate. It also would have been super lame to not be able to go anywhere in the evenings, not even for a run, as there would have been no one to watch the kiddies. But as it was, there were plenty of people hanging out at the house, so it was never a problem to go running when the kids were asleep, and there was always someone to visit and laugh with. I took every opportunity to relax, and watched plenty of tv, as you can see from 2 of my most recent posts. It was great! Nate's sister Lizza is seriously amazing for letting so many people invade her home. (when I asked if it would be ok to come visit during this time, I had no idea that Andy and Kacey were planning a 2 week trip to spokane, for the same time, as well. Kierstin is living with Lizza and her husband Zach. Then, Mackay and Analee, and Bart and Erin decided they would come for a week as well, so it was everyone except Tyler (Analee's husband), Duffy and Tessa, and Nate) She even made sure there were meals for every lunch and dinner, and they were scrumptious! Lizza got me hooked on the food network, which I sadly can't watch at my house, as we don't have cable. But in NY we will have cable, so no worries! Lizza always inspires me to be more adventurous in my cooking, as well as to be a better mother. I have never seen anyone who could handle having 4 boys, ages 1-5, as well as her. She is such an example to me!

Anywho... we didn't do too much as far as activities in WA, we went swimming a couple of times, did the sprinklers a lot, took them to the arcade and mall playplace, and to the park a couple of times. But Asher was pretty content to hang out at the house as there were plenty of new toys, a sandbox, a swingset, a trampoline, and tons of bikes, scooters, and basketballs, to play with, to his little heart's content. By the way, basketball, or rather "baakeball", is his new favorite word.

Nate flew into Spokane on July 2nd, spent one night there, and then flew home with me and the boys on the 3rd. Both boys slept on the plane, so that was a piece of cake. The whole trip was a success, and I am so grateful to Nate's family for putting up with, and entertaining us for 2 whole weeks. That's kind of a long time, although it didn't feel like it to me. I was actually not quite ready to leave, and kind of sad. Usually, after such a long trip, I am done, and ready to be at my own house, but the Olson's are super laid back, and just fun. So thanks again, Chris and Heidi, Kierstin for letting me sleep in your bed, and especially Lizza, for taking such good care of us! Miss you all! Well, I think it's safe to say that Asher won't miss Parker for quite some time, and visa versa, I'm sure! ;)

Santa Cruz

Last Monday, the 19th, after spending a ridiculous amount of money getting the a/c in our car fixed, we hit the road to California. My family has a tradition of camping in Santa Cruz over Memorial Day weekend, and it is seriously one of my favorite things! Nate is always asking me what the big deal is, and why I always insist on going, as his allergies are the worst there, so he gets pretty miserable. But I have been camping at New Brighton Beach since I was like 5 years old. I can even remember the very first campsite we stayed in. So many of our friends go too, so it has always been a time to visit and catch up, play, go to the beach, eat, laugh, and eat a lot more!!! Seriously, I think I gained 5 lbs this last week... so bad!!

Don't mind my bedhead!

It is a little more challenging to camp with 2 little kids, but it was still worth it. Asher was in heaven, being outside all day, every day, getting dirtier than I thought possible. Sayer was actually really good as well, and both kids slept pretty well. I really can't complain! The hardest part was keeping Asher from driving his truck into the street, but my whole family was so helpful, especially after Nate had to go home for some gigs, so that was nice to have lots of eyes watching him, and hands to retrieve him!

A little recap of our trip...

We got into Sacramento early Tuesday morning, and both boys woke up. Asher was so happy, jumping on the bed, but when we put him in his bed, he just laid right down and went back to sleep. When we woke up again, Asher discovered the trampoline and just loved it. He is such a funny kid, and I seriously love seeing him so happy and having so much fun, and experiencing new things.

We left for the campground Tuesday night, and in true Busath fashion, set up camp in the dark. At least it was only 9pm, and not midnight like it normally is! The next day was beautiful and warm. Asher and Sayer needed to go down for naps at the same time, so Nate stayed up at the campsite while I went down to the beach by myself for a couple of hours. It was bliss. Whit and Lexi were down there too for a while, but then the boys needed naps, so I just stayed and relaxed, and even napped a little. I love the beach! On Thursday, we decided to go do something, especially since Nate's allergies were bad, so we thought it would be good to get away from whatever it was that was causing them. We drove up the 1 for about 45 minutes to Carmel. It was so beautiful. We went down to white sands beach, but it was so windy, and Sayer was not a fan, so we headed up to the shops and walked around for a long time. I loved all the little shops, they were so cute. Here is an example of all the cute little buildings and houses that we saw:

We had a delicious lunch at a little cafe, then headed out to walk around some more. They also had a ton of cool art galleries, so that was definitely fun to look around in those.

In front of White Sands Beach

When it was finally too cold and windy, we got back in the car and went on a 2 mile scenic drive along the coast. We saw some of the most amazing houses, which I am sure, were very reasonably priced! Then we went on the 17 mile drive, which is just more scenery and cool houses, and coast. My dad was fascinated by the waves crashing up against the rocks. It was actually really cool to see the ocean so wild and restless.

Nate and Asher strolling the streets of Carmel

On Friday, Nate and my dad woke at 4:00 am, so Nate could catch his 6:30 am flight. Later, we all left to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The little boys all loved it, especially Joelie and Kadin, as they have pretty much every type of fish memorized, so they were pointing out lots of cool stuff for us! Asher mostly liked to climb all over stuff, but he also like to watch the fish swim around in the big tanks, saying "fishy". Sayer slept in the bjorn for the second day in a row, and loved it, even though my back didn't really love it so much.

The boys watching the fishies

Asher lounging by the Tuna tank

Playing with Aunt Lexi

Saturday my old roommate Maren came down from Mountain View to visit. It was fun chatting and catching up, and watching Leah laugh like a hyena and bathe herself in dirt! It was pretty cold and cloudy, so we didn't head down to the beach as planned, but just stayed around the campfire for hours. After Maren left, we decided we should just go down to the beach so that the boys could play, as Asher hadn't been down yet. He of course loved it. He helped Grandpa dig big holes, and then got inside the holes. He also spent a lot of time stealing shovels from other kids and mooching food from some family friends, but for the most part, he just played in the sand.

Yummy spaghetti!

Joelie and Kadin

Joelie, Kadin and Asher

Sunday we went to church, and I decided that I was going to pack up and head to Sac, so that my drive wouldn't be so long on Monday. It looked like rain, so the rest of the fam decided to pack up too. I got to my parents house, bathed the boys, fed Sayer and got their pjs on, and then decided to keep going as far as I could so that the boys would sleep for part of the drive, and so that they wouldn't have to be in the car for 10 hours straight. I tied Asher's binky to his pjs so that he couldn't throw it somewhere and then cry for it. I was by myself, so there was no way I was going to stop a bunch of times just to find Asher's binky. It worked like a charm! Both boys didn't make a peep until we pulled into Winnemucca. Nate went online and found the cheapest hotel, which was the Scottish Inn that was run by an Indian couple... hmmm, interesting name choice I'd say! I actually got super tired after Reno, and was just waiting for a rest area so that I could stop for an hour or so, but was really nervous, so I called Nate to talk and keep me awake. By the time I got to the next rest stop, we were deep in conversation, and I was feeling good, so I decided to just keep going another hour to Winnemucca. Nate talked to me until I got there at 1:00 am my time, 2:00 am his time, which was very sweet of him. We got back on the road at 9:30 am, and the boys were actually really good. Asher would have his moments, but I found that it was very easy to distract him by pointing out random things along the way, like road signs, cars, mountains, houses, etc. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds in Wendover, and an hour later (things just take so much longer when your by yourself!) we were back on the road. About 45 minutes from home, Sayer decided to wake up and cried the whole way home. It was sad, but what was I supposed to do? I was actually really grateful that the drive went as well as it did. But we are home now, and it is nice to be back in our own beds. Now I just need to tackle the laundry.

Sorry for the long play by play!