Escape from Smoke Mountain...

On my birthday, my older brother called and offered his vacation home in Saint George, Utah as a present/escape from all the smoke.  I was so grateful and accepted happily!  We made plans (hoping the smoke would clear before then) to drive out to Saint George in the first week of October.  The little kids had minimum days for school all week and everyone can just take school with them anyway.  It seemed like a no-brainer.  To add to the ease, Wyatt has been in Utah visiting cousins for the last two weeks and Lorien went to Utah to visit a friend.  So the 10 hour drive would be made with just three kids!  It was going to be so easy!

We headed out early Saturday morning.  The sky was thick with wildfire smoke.  The lack of visibility gave us all an unsettling feeling.  The skies were smoky all the way through Bakersfield.

Once we got through one particular pass outside Bakersfield, the air cleared.  It was shocking to see blue skies again!  It was also 100 degrees as we headed into Death Valley.  Fun times!

Because we had the time (and desire) we stopped in Las Vegas for dinner and took the three little kids to eat at Will's all-time-favorite restaurant, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.  We strolled around the casinos and took in a quick Bellagio Fountain show too.  

Adell and I stopped to ooh and ahh over some fancy clothes in a designer store.  I pointed out an Alexander McQueen dress so she would know what the judges were talking about the next time we watched Project Runway.

For a laugh, we stopped into one of the designer stores and enjoyed the high quality customer service!  They told us all about their hand crafted purses and these amazing shoes that smelled like chocolate.  Colter even got to try the shoes on.  I was impressed!  This was a high end, designer shop.  There was no way we looked like typical customers (see our traveling outfits in the picture above).  Yet, we were treated with kind enthusiasm and politeness.  They let us try on shoes and handle purses.  None of the kids were told to keep their hands to themselves or to leave.  It was really lovely!  If I ever become an high end, designer item shopper, I'll be shopping here!  

Mesa Grill was a hit.  Will and I love this place and it was beyond fun to treat the kids to a really yummy dinner.  Everyone ate something new and something they liked.  The only draw back was the chilly air conditioning.  

Our waitress told us in normal times they would provide shawls to the female guest who got cold while dining.  With COVID 19 they weren't doing that anymore.  However, one of the other staff members suggested extra table cloths!  They brought two out and draped them over Adell and Clare's shivering shoulders.  It was awesome.  Say what you will about the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas, the high end restaurants and shops care about taking care of their customers...I'm a big fan.

"My butt crack itches"

That's what I have to say to get Colter to give a natural looking smile for a picture.

See: 

Viva Las Vegas...

 We snuck away for a night in Las Vegas.  We were supposed to go for out 20th anniversary in March...but COVID.  We were supposed to go for my 40th birthday earlier in September...but kids.  We finally made it for one night.  We dressed in fancy clothes.  Ate at restaurants INSIDE.  Enjoyed smokeless air.  Wore our masks.  Lounged by the pool.

It was perfect.

First day of school!

 Here I am.

On my first day of school.

The Life Coach School.

I am going back to school.

Wish me luck.

I am excited.

I am nervous.

It will be fun?

Happenings here and there...

Addie baddie got a hair cut!  She took the plunge and chopped six or seven inches off her head!  So cute, right?

 

I am loving having my own office space.  I get dressed up like a professional and enjoy a few quiet hours of "work" a few times a week.  

Will took Wyatt and Clare to Utah for their intended hiking trip (the one that had to be delayed because of Will's shoulder surgery).  They stayed for the weekend and hiked Mount. Timpanogas.  They crushed the hike, even though it was hard and cold.  I was so proud of all of them!  Poor Clare forgot her chapstick and was suffering by the end of the hike but she did it!  Wyatt and the boy cousins made it to the top first.  Wyatt was able to text me the good news from the mountain top.  I am so proud of them!

I AM 40 YEARS OLD?

 True story: I am younger than my peers and this makes me uncomfortable.  I stress about the moment of revelation in any new conversation "You're how old!?" I don't like it.  I feel down a peg when people cannot believe I am as young as I am with the number of kids I have.  I worry about the assumptions people make about me knowing I am a young mom.  

With all of that awesome baggage, I look forward to my birthday every year, just to be turning more year older!  

One more year of legitimacy.  

One more year closer to being "old".  

I love it.  

And this year I get to turn 40!  40 is old!  I've been looking forward to turning 40 since I turned 35.  Alas, COVID made it impossible to have a big bash but with my mental baggage about age I didn't think I'd be able to have a big bash because all my friends did that a few years ago...I am still younger than them...I cannot catch up.  So maybe I am glad to be turning 40 in the COVID times.  I'll save the big bash for my 50th birthday.

My sweet family and friends did all the right things to make me feel special and cared for.  I got a nap!  Friends from back east sent me nearly 100 roses and a cake!

I got to wear a pretty skirt and feel fancy all day.

Will and the kids took me over to his offices.  We sometimes slip over there for a change of scenery.  I thought it was just that but when I walked it there was a surprise!  They had set up one of the unused offices as my office!  A space for me to come for peace and quiet since they all have taken over every room of the house.  For my 40th year I enrolled in life coach school.  Yep, I'm becoming a life coach.  Who knows how that will turn out (hopefully, awesome) but I am doing it!  I cried happy tears when I saw the office.  My family is so good to me.  

Lorien made me the most delicious carrot cake ever!  I am going to dream about that cake for ages (and eat it for every meal until it is gone...tomorrow night).

The sky was still weird and smoky...it will never end.  But my birthday was fantastic.  I felt loved and cheered.  Happy 40th birthday to me.  I am old!

It's the end of the world as we know it...

I woke up early this morning to make breakfast for the kids.  The light outside was orange and gloomy.  I couldn't figure out why it was so dark but chalked it up to the early hour of the morning.  I got the kids settled at school and went back to bed for a nap.  Two hours later, the light was exactly the same: orange, gloomy, weird!  I went outside and the car I had taken through the wash just the night before looked like a kid had thrown sand all over it at the beach.  What was going on!? 

Upon closer inspection, I saw it was fine ash.  Looking at the sun and sky I understood this was a smoke problem.  The fires in California continue to rage and while we are still physically safe, our air is weird and scary to behold.  

I woke Lorien up to witness the weirdness.  I looked up news reports only to see photos of landscapes and cityscapes even weirder than we were seeing.  It was a very eerie day to be sure.  Turns out, we had a marine layer of fog roll in overnight.  Then the gulf stream stalled keeping the marine layer in place and trapping the smoke under the fog making the daylight SO WEIRD.  Just another drop in the 2020 bucket, right?

Smoke and Seattle

 

The wildness of 2020 just doesn't want to S-T-O-P!  The weekend of August 15th-16th we had some major lightning storms.  The flashes and thunder cracks kept me up for most of the night Saturday to Sunday.  Lightning struck in places all over the Bay Area and started several fires.  The dry, hot weather did not help things.  The lightning strike fires quickly turned into full rushing wildfires.  We've had the biggest fires in history since the lightning storms.  To make matters worse, the two biggest fires are raging north and south of us.  Like I keep telling my family,  we are not in any danger but it is troublesome.  The air is also incredibly smoky.  

Smoky, smoky, smoky, it has been uncomfortable to be outside for any amount of time.  The cloud covered sun makes the light red and eerie.  It feels like we are living on Mars.

After a week of incredible heat and unbreathable air Will and I decided on a Friday night to escape the Bay Area for clean air.  We checked our unused frequent flyer miles to see how far away we could get with short notice.  Our options were Southern California, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Seattle.  Seattle was the only place where it wasn't going to be hot and smoky.  So off we went (with some drama and fighting on behalf of some of the kids). 

It was too sad to see all the smoke as we rose over the Bay Area in the plane.  We also flew over the biggest fire north of us.  

We arrived in Seattle late at night Friday night and took Ubers to our hotel.  The air was fresh and smoke-free!  Saturday morning we got up and explored the area around our hotel in Renton.  Will found this cool walkway we dubbed the secret tunnel.  All weekend we sang a song from the Avatar The Airbender cartoon about secret tunnels.  It was a good family joke.

 

We also discovered loads of wild blackberry bushes and picked ourselves a feast.  

Lorien graciously offered to do my makeup for the day...I agreed and woop!

Saturday was a day of exploration.  We met dear friends from our Boston days and took the ferry across the Sound to Bainbridge Island.  

We enjoyed a hike around the Gazam Lake where Lorien tapped into all of her Orion Elementary School charms: finding a banana slug for kissing and climbing on rocks.  Orion used to have a family camping weekend every year in the Redwoods.  We went once or twice and it was always a tradition to have the kids smooch a banana slug on the trip.  Good times.

We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant called Proper Fish with our friends and said our goodbyes.  

Sunday was another day of exploring, except downtown Seattle this time.  We did all the touristy stuff we could!  First up, a ride on the gigantic Ferris wheel.  

Next touristy stop was Pikes Place Public Market.  We wandered the shops and stands enjoying the outside air.  We ate some delicious food from a Chinese Market stall and some treats from a bakery.  

Our last touristy to do was the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum.  Dale Chihuly was a Seattle artist who pushed the boundaries with blown glass sculpture.  The Museum is like a glass version of the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.  It is beautiful!  We also enjoyed learning about Chihuly's process for assembling chandeliers (totally random and unplanned...) and watching a glass blowing demonstration live!

After the awesomeness of downtown Seattle, we went over to our Boston's friend's house for dinner.  The Feinstines have been our friends for twenty years.  We met in the Revere 2nd ward.  Suzanne and I were visiting teaching companions.  We learned a little bit about being foodies from the Feinstiens.  Dinner was spectacular, no surprise.  Harlan made us sourdough pizza!

Monday we tested out remote learning from anywhere and the hotel's wifi abilities.  The little kids were able to attend school just fine.  Clare was ok with one or two hiccoughs.  Wyatt was ok too but didn't pack his charger cord...so it was a bit of a bust once his battery died.  Alas, we learned home is best for distance learning and that our kids are not adaptable with their education strategies.  

Once school was over we packed up, checked out, and hit up Pikes Market one more time where we found the famed and disgusting gum alley.  One fun discovery, in the office building next to us was Wizards of the Coast.  Will and I didn't know what that was but Wyatt did!  Apparently, Wizards of the Coast makes Dungeons and Dragons.  After dinner from the Mecca Grill, a hole in the wall middle eastern food place Will found.  

We loved our time in Seattle.  The kids were hit and miss on their love.  Lorien, Adell, and Colter had the most fun.  Clare and Wyatt didn't feel like the trip was worth the interruption to their education...so we probably can't actually learn from anywhere this year.  Well, maybe we will just leave Clare and Wyatt home the next time we want to go.  That should work!