The rest of Idaho

Here we are in September so it's probably 'bout time I blogged about the month of June that we spent in Idaho. Oops! I've had blogging in the back of my mind for the past couple of months but it wasn't until I was talking to my brother (my brother!) last weekend, who mentioned that he reads the blog periodically that I got the swift kick in the pants I needed to get back to it. So Uncle Brian, this one's for you.

Our first weekend in Pocatello we went to Craters of the Moon. Adam had been there with his family 20+ years ago and had really, reeeeally fond memories of it. I thought it might be a bit of that old fashioned childhood hype but it actually turned out to be pretty cool! Adam convinced me to go down into a few caves (in spite of the warnings from park rangers and fellow hikers that the ceilings would be too low for us), we got our first sunburns of summer, and Anders was thrilled to hang out in the backpack all day.

Adam + Anders in the backpack. If this picture doesn't excite you 
you can stop reading here cause the rest of the post looks basically exactly like this.

See what I mean?

The family that grays together stays together 
(not talking about gray hairs although that's certainly happening over here)

We spent an ill fated weekend in Jackson Hole and Grand Tetons. Don't get me wrong, I looove that area and we had a great time. But I can't think of that trip without having flashbacks to the many looooong hours we spent trying to get Anders to sleep in a tent. It was 40 degrees at night so I can't really blame the kid but man were we tired. The first morning we threw him in the car at 5:30 and drove for 2 hours so he (and the rest of the campers in the park) could get some sleep. 

 After waiting 20 minutes for a bus full of Asians to take about 300 pictures, we got a chance to snap this one

Anders' first s'more. He can have another one when he's 16. 

Always down for a family selfie!

We took a boat tour of Jenny Lake. 

Above, one of the rare moments when Anders wasn't trying to throw himself overboard.

How to entertain your narcissistic toddler on a 1 hour long boat ride.  

We let Anders run off some steam in Jackson Hole before our second night camping. 
He slept a little better so maybe it helped. Or maybe it was the Benadryl.

Next up, Yellowstone! We debated going because A) we went in summer 2009 and really, what's changed? and B) Anders is a terrible camper (see above), but then we were like "yolo!" and also, "it's so hot freaking hot in Pocatello and we've done everything there is to do here a billion times" so we went. And it was great! We camped in Island Park and spent our first day there. Island Park is actually probably cooler than Yellowstone (sorry but it's true) and it's way less crowded and also free! But Yellowstone's okay too, I guess. The highlight of the trip was our moose sighting. We walked along probably 50 feet from him on the trail with no one else around. Those kind of things just don't happen in Yellowstone, btw. If you've found a moose you've also found 50 tourists with their cameras out. 

 

They belong among the wildflowers

My boys with our friendly moose. We got way closer but 

obvi you need another picture of Anders in the hiking backpack. 

...and another

Anders' favorite activity of the summer: throwing rocks/sticks into any body of water.

 

Back at the campsite, filling up a bucket with rocks for like 30 minutes (approx 4 hours in toddler time) 

Old Faithful. Word to the wise: if you catch a glimpse of the geyser going off from the parking lot, call it good and be on your way. It's really not worth waiting around for another hour to watch it go off again. 

Sorry if I sound like such a downer about Yellowstone and that I only posted one picture from the actual park.  Not that sorry but a little.

And to close it out here are a few last pictures of our time in Pocatello. What to say about that place? Crazy family friendly. Everyone was either tattooed or Mormon. Lots of teen moms in clinic. 1:12 ratio of helmets to motorcycles. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Winco! Soooooo hot, but guys, AC. Having spent 21 summers with a dad who doesn't believe in AC (in Virginia, mind you), and then moving to Seattle where no one has or really needs AC, I never fully appreciated it until this summer. It definitely helped that we weren't paying our own utility bill since I've heard the grown-ups say it's super expensive.

At the $5 zoo. Yes, $5. On this particular morning we were the only ones in the whole place. 

As a self proclaimed hater of crowds this is a pretty big selling point for small town living. 

 

Anders discovered a new love for yogurt and granola this summer. And self-feeding with a spoon. Not technically in Pocatello but we went to Lava Hot Springs a couple of times. 
Best part of water parks? Post water park nap. Hands down.

My guys on Father's Day. Probably one of three Sundays we went to church in Pocatello. 

And that's a wrap! Thanks for having us, Idaho! Forever in our hearts (and in my uterus for the next 5 months).

Idaho oh Idaho

Well folks, it's that time of the year again. The time for all Seattlites to rise triumphantly from the ashes, pull our Chacos out of storage, and maaaaaybe even crack a window. This is the moment we've been waiting for for the past nine months. Time to flee to the mountains, lakes and beaches for 16 sunny hours a day. The three glorious months where we have the best weather, the lushest lawns, and the lowest utility bills of anyone in the country. This is it! Except, not for the Ottleys. We have headed to what has (probably) been described as Southeastern Idaho's Premiere Summer Destination. That's right, you guessed it...we're in Pocatello. 

Adam is required to do a two month rotation at an away site through his residency program. There are six different sites throughout Idaho and Washington and well, here we are. I've never been to Pocatello before and don't know much about this area, despite having been 2.5 hours away from it for four years?? I set my expectations pretty low and, as these things usually go, I've been pleasantly surprised. I mean, there's a CAFE RIO! And a Costco with no lines and a playground that blows any Seattle playground out of the water. And speaking of water, there's a water park. Also, a zoo, a pretty good library, and most importantly a Cafe Rio. And if that wasn't enough, we have a constant stream of motorcycles and trucks driving by our apartment every day and Anders basically can't even handle it. Our first day here we went to Costco (duh), and when I pulled him out of his car seat he started whipping his head all around saying, "truck! truck! truck! truck!" So there's a little something for everyone here, I suppose.

But let me backtrack a tad. We had originally planned to break up the drive to Pocatello over several days but Adam's grandpa passed away and we realized we'd have to make a more hasty trip to Ogden for the funeral. The thought of sticking my squirmy toddler in his car seat for 13 straight hours was pretty unappealing to me so Adam drove and Anders and I flew in for the funeral. We spent a really nice weekend remembering Adam's Grandpa Hodson and seeing lots of immediate and extended family.

 Sitting on Great-Grandpa's tractor

 Saying goodbye to Grandpa's barn. Adam has lots of fond memories from this place. Sadly, the house and barn will mostly likely be torn down in the near future so this was probably Anders' only chance to have this experience.

We spent Sunday afternoon walking around Temple Square
 and touring the Conference Center.

And by "we" I mean this portion of Adam's family. Missing three siblings, two spouses, and seven grandchildren. Yup. It's crazy town when this family gets together.

Grandma and Grandpa with their "London babies" (one of whom is actually named London). These are the three grandchildren born while they were on their two year mission to London. It will be interesting to see how many are born during their 18 months in Denmark. So far no one is pregnant, but I told them I'd have a baby if it meant we got another free T-shirt out of the deal. haha! No, but seriously.

Before heading to Pocatello we stopped in Provo for a day. We visited with friends, did a food crawl of all our favorite restaurants, stalked our old apartments, experienced the Provo Rec Center, and took a tour of campus. Adam hadn't been back to BYU since my graduation five years ago! And more importantly, how has it been five years since I graduated college?!

 

Anders, lover of outerwear (and balls), couldn't have been more thrilled with this too-big, not at all seasonally appropriate sweatshirt. We had to pry it off him once we got outside and were afraid he might have a heat stroke. This kid!

 Adam was hoping to catch one more glance of the TA lab where he spent many hours molding the minds of BYU co-eds. Wish granted?

Apparently I sucked at taking pictures in Provo so we'll just move right along, fiiiiiinally, to Pocatello!

Anders models our very on trend couch.

Riding a fake triceratops at the library. Serious business.  

Like I mentioned, Pocatello has this amazing playground that's designed specifically for handicapped children. Meaning, lots of ramps and lots of stuff low enough for Anders' to play with. Brooklyn's Playground, I think I love you.

And that's about all there is to say so far. We're looking forward to lots of fun weekend trips and I'll be sure to post more about those. Anders and I head to Virginia in four weeks and I'm thinking the time is going to fly by.

McNottleys in California

At the beginning of April we took a very relaxing vacation to California. Hahaha! Just kidding. We have a toddler. The words "vacation" and "relaxing" just don't go together anymore. But when our Seattle besties decided to leave us last June we were all, "you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape our love". So we coordinated our vacation week to match theirs and followed them to their new home. I'm 90% sure the love is mutual.

We touched down Saturday night and pretty much went straight to bed. Sunday was Easter and also General Conference so we headed to Courtney's parents house for brunch and an Easter egg hunt. We ended up being there for the majority of the day. Anders was in heaven with two giant dogs (which he liked to observe from a distance), a trampoline, waffles and seemingly endless screen time.

Then Brent had to bring out a giant bunny suit and ruin everything. 

The picture on the left already made it onto Courtney's Instagram but I wanted to post it here for those who didn't have the pleasure of seeing it. It was eerily reminiscent of Anders' reaction to Santa Clause 4 months prior. Thankfully, we have a few more years until he needs to learn about the Tooth Fairy.

We headed to Yosemite bright and early on Monday morning because we could see snow looming in the weather forecast and wanted to give ourselves as much time in the park as possible. This turned out to be smart thinking because we ended up getting snowed out of the park on Tuesday and Wednesday. Weeeee! 

On top of Vernal Falls Overlook. The only legitimate hike we ended up doing.

On Tuesday after we gave up on getting into the park, an hours drive from our rental house. 

We took some snow pics on the way back.

....aaaaaand then we got stuck behind a jack knifed RV for 2 hours. The fun never stops!

when Anders took a break from stress eating to take in the sights

at the oh-so-classy children's museum in Oakhurst: Children's Museum of Sierra
alternate name: We Know We're Your Backup Plan

On Wednesday roads into the park were still closed or requiring chains (which we didn't have), so we decided to head to our next destination, Carmel. It was also Courtney's 30th birthday so we did it up right with In 'N Out on the way there.

In my next life I'm going to come back as a Point Lobos seal

Anders looking like he was having an ok time when he was actually having a miserable time. Life's a beach!

my three favorite Californians

We spent the next couple of days hitting up the beach, eating good food, visiting the aquarium, and exploring downtown. So many verbs, so little time. Basically, I love Carmel and when my very rich, very yet unknown to me uncle dies and leaves me his fortune I plan to buy a house there and let Adam play golf at Pebble Beach every day. Until then we'll just pray that the McNaughts end up moving there so we can come visit them often (and Adam can keep walking around the course early in the morning and collecting discarded golf balls).

 looking for "sar-kahs", his new aquarium word

warming up to the beach on day 2

always breakin his muthuh's heart

cute boys playing with beach toys

 

William travels to dinner in style

waiting for dinner (not pictured: ruining dinner 10 minutes later)

cute boys playing with beach toys 2.0: matching shirts!

matching babies and matching moms. stop!

 

I  do need to add, in defense of this trip and as a testament to our friendship with the McNaughts, that even though things didn't always go exactly as planned, we still had a really fabulous time. Like, even when we were stuck in the car with two toddlers for a couple of hours, it actually was fun, kind of. And even though it was cold and hailed giant hail balls on us our second night we just built a fire and talked until way too late after we put the boys down. This past year has been a weird one in Seattle for me and this trip just reminded me of how much I really value this kind of relationship. I'll certainly never take it for granted again and I hope this means our friendship with these guys will last a long, long time. And not just because I'm hoping to stay in their guest bedroom....

*Disclaimer: any good pictures in this post are from Courtney's camera. But any terrible iPhone quality pictures are all mine!

Anders at 1.25

Anders is 15 months old and is in full blown toddler mode. Running around destroying the house, learning new words every day, throwing epic tantrums in public, the whole nine yards. There's so much about this age I don't want to forget (and quite a few things I'd love to), so I wanted to jot down a little bit about Anders right now.

Moving and grooving! He walks all over the place, is starting to run and figure out stairs, pretends to jump, wrestles with Mom, Dad, and Oliver, loooooves being chased around the house, climbs on play structures and can slide by himself. We're having so much fun taking him to parks almost every day but he's also happy to just hang out in the backyard in our little 12'x8' patch of grass. You take what you can get in the city!

Talking up a storm. Probably my favorite thing about this age. He's learning new words every day it seems and it always surprises me the things he picks up on. He has maybe 30 words that he uses on a regular basis and also speaks Hebrew fluently (we think, still waiting to have this confirmed). I can't wait until that magical day when his use of words helps avoid meltdowns. Tell me this happens at 16 months.

Still loves to read. He brings us a constant stream of books throughout the day (and has figured out how to scoot backwards into our laps so we can read them to him) which is mostly awesome but if I'm trying to get something done it can be a little heartbreaking. He's currently loving the Olivia books, Little Critter, and "Toot" which he discovered from his friend William who is obviously a terrible influence.

Loves Dad best. A new development while we were in California. If Adam tries to hand Anders off to me he'll cry and cling to him (Anders clinging to Adam, that is). So strange. I enjoyed it at first because it meant my hands were free but I can't say it doesn't sting a tiny bit every time. I've taken to whispering disparaging things about Adam in Anders' ear whenever we're alone together. #sorrynotsorry

Crazy mood swings! I don't know if we'll ever be blessed with a daughter, but if we are I'm so ready for the teen years. I'm not sure where he got his high stress personality (averts eyes) but Anders seems to go from happy to sad to happy at the drop of a hat. No longer will I secretly judge the parent who goes running from a restaurant/store with a screaming toddler. That has been me more times than I'd like to admit.

 

Sleeping pretty well but goes to bed late (8-8:30) and wakes up early (6-6:30). He still takes two naps and the late bedtime allows us to be out later when we want so I don't complain too much, only every morning at 6 AM. Especially after traveling with our friends whose baby goes to bed at the same time as Anders and then sleeps in 2 hours after him in the morning. Come on, man!

Also loves: group hugs, challah bread, washing machines, his binky ("key-key"), rocks/sticks, trash trucks ("ka kucks"), big kids and babies ("ba-buh"), all animals, balls ("da" for a ball in general or "dada" for a ball with a specific name (basketball, soccer ball, etc), no idea where this came from), the sand box, and food (especially carbs).

In conclusion, Anders is totally nailing the toddler thing. It's like he read the book on being a toddler only it wasn't him, it was me! I read the book and I'm still way out of my league with this firecracker. 15 months is the best and the worst but I wouldn't change a thing about him. Except maybe his umbilical hernia because it's weird and might require surgery.