We started off well…haha. It took us 40 minutes to get on the freeway, then another hour to get to Santa Clarita (normally it should take less than and hour from our house) so, we were not nearly as far along our drive as we’d planned by the time Britton woke up from his nap.

Then I chose poorly for dinner. We stopped at a little town (little did we know there was a bigger one 5 miles further) and we ate at a Mexican place that looked really authentic, with half of its menu in Spanish. Those places are usually delicious. Well, not so much.

Stopped off for the night in Sacramento. Not so nice of a Holiday Inn. And we thought we were going to have to backtrack 10 miles in the morning.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip went well. The mountains are gorgeous, with lots of waterfalls and still a bit of snow. It made me miss Utah a bit.

We couldn’t check in yet when we got there, so we looked around the town. It’s a lot bigger than I’d thought it would be. A little over 75,000.

Britton found a fun play-place.

Nice bench

Climbing

Made it!

Yay water!

We got settled, had dinner and went swimming. Brit loved it! Those lessons are paying off.

The next morning we went up the Gondola (or helicopter as Britton calls it) at Heavenly.

Our route.

Very excited.

The Lake from the observation deck. Sooooo beautiful!

Though, at the top it was cold and snowy. All that was missing were skis. Unfortunately, snow and crocs don’t really mix.

Then we headed for a drive around the lake. We heard it was a good idea. It was. This is Emerald Bay. Apparently Kodak says it’s the 2nd most photographed place in the US after the Grand Canyon.

It was really greenish and lovely.

Monday we planned a hike, and a visit to Tallac. It’s one of the first luxury summer homes on the lake. The homes are large and beautiful. Britton had fun with a couple of favorite past times.

Running Away

Attack of the Giant Pinecone

So, the directions to our hike were a little confusing, so we decided to go on a different one. But, we didn’t really follow those directions either. We were supposed to end up along the opposite side of the lake, but we drove around and saw all the cabins along the right side of the picture and had our picnic lunch here instead.

Fallen Leaf Lake

Lounging

Sadly, it started to sprinkle a little as we left. Isn’t it a rule Memorial Day is supposed to be nice and sunny?

I really want to go back and get in some bike riding and more exploring. Maybe in a couple of years. It made me miss the mountains though, and I’m determined we’re going to get out more. (Not that I was a big hiker/out door girl before LA, but for some reason I feel like I want to be now.)

Like–distance is measured in miles there, and no one thinks twice about driving 10-15 miles to  get somewhere because it’ll take 10 minutes. Here, distance is measured in time and going 5 miles can be an afternoon trip.

There, seeing a tractor drive down the road is probably a common occurrence in some parts. Here, seeing one would cause accidents and it would promptly be run off the road.

This is what we had driving behind us one day. So awesome.

In Utah now Britton also gets the opportunity to try out life as a non-city boy. My dad likes motorcycles and rode around with us all over the mountains when we were little. He picked one up for a friend and had Brit test it out.

This was before it was on. I figured it would terrify him since loud noises tend to do that.

This is him riding it laughing his head off.

When it was time to be done he cried and kept asking for the “cycle” Oh no!

Just as I’m thinking he’d be a stinkin’ cute cowboy…

HATED it! When she started to move he bawled. Sorry Shae!

Guess it’s a good thing he’s a city boy.

We had a lot of fun visiting with friends. We spent one day with my friend Charlene and her cute kids. Didn’t get a pic till the end…

Saw cousin Kaylee…they had fun running around and eating lunch at Cafe Rio.

Brit also got to spend a lot of time with Great Papa and Great Mama (we’re testing it out for my grandparents.) and Grandpa. He got to show off for them and make them think he’s pretty cute. We ate dinner at Mandarin (the best Chinese restaurant) with Ethan and Shaela too.

Saturday we went to the zoo. Check out pics here: EthanandShaela.com

On our way up there I got to meet up with my awesome friend Melissa.

By my fantastic luck her girls had a dance competition in SLC, so they were down from the far northern part of the state. Yay!

Britton had fun with Aunt Shaela’s dogs…the 3 little ones anyway. He wasn’t a huge fan of Addison the Great Dane. By the end he was saying “Addison, no no!”

The trip home was the best part though…

Britton threw up 4 times. Maverick threw up 2 times (about doubling the total for his life) and poor Paige had to clean up a lot of it. With Britton I pulled over as soon as I could and changed him…but still. Then I tried with Mav but it made me about puke. We were going to stop in Las Vegas for the night, but decided to keep going since they’d likely sleep the rest of the way.

Good thing the rest of the trip went so well!

Christmas Eve pajamas, with train slippers

Playing "train" with aunt Sara

Enjoying the gift of music

Being a human present...or bow catcher

Seeing slides and a castle made all of ice

Seeing this!

And this...a life-sized Nativity of ICE!

Waking up Christmas morning to Britton's presents

Having to play with a toy before it's all unwrapped

Holiday Lights

The DC Temple bathed in fog

These are just some of the great joys we had this Christmas…and we look forward to keeping the Spirit of Christmas with us throughout this year!

The plan: Leave early Monday morning, catch the 7:15 bus to NYC, get there by noon. Have the whole day, and leave at 10 the next morning.

The reality: Metro train had a problem. Took twice as long to get to bus stop as planned. Missed bus. Had to wait till 9:15. Barely made it on that one because of no shows. Later in the day=more traffic getting into city. We arrived at 2:45. We were really hungry, but didn’t want to drag our little suitcase all around, so we headed to the hotel. Should’ve walked the whole way. Would’ve been faster than the metro. Finally arrive, check in and all is well.

Head down to The Hog Pit, a BBQ place recommended by the fabulous Missy and Ari. They were right. It was FANTASTIC! I like pork and bbq, but it’s not like my favorite thing in the world. This was the best I have EVER had. I had the pork sliders and Mark had brisket. So delicious. I was full too, so a lot bummed we’d already made reservations for dinner back at the hotel.

That glowing thing in the background is their “Hog Pit” Sign.

True Texas bar decor as well. Since it was 4 pm, we were the only people in there. That felt a little weird. But, it was nice too. Thanks for the suggestion ladies!

When we looked on a map to figure out where to go next we realized this place was only a few blocks from the bus stop! Ah man, we’d have saved a lot of time and hunger if we’d just headed straight there.

We headed north toward Macy’s and Times Square. Stopped here:

We got Britton M&Ms in all the colors they had, and some mini ones as well. He loved them, as expected. Then we stopped here:

Can you guess? It’s Macy’s. They had the ground floor decorated very nicely. We were in there for a long time…and eventually made it all the way to the 8th floor. Yeah. It’s that big. A little ridiculous. Outside it was so cold, and I had forgotten my scarf and gloves at home, so I really considered actually buying a scarf or hat there. For those that know me, I don’t really do either, so to consider paying $35-40 for one it must have been really bad.

We also made a stop at the Hershey’s store and stocked up on good stuff. Well, I stocked up on their Cinnamon Chips. I can’t find them in LA, and there is the BEST cookie recipe on the back.

We turned east and ended up at Rockefeller Center.

I realize this is blurry. Maybe I really should give in and let Mark order the new Canon Powershot. Oh well…

Just across the square they had angels and trumpets, which looked through to Bloomingdales and their Snowflake Show…seriously, they danced to music.

More food: A stop at Magnolia Bakery for a slice of Pumpkin Cake, and we were off back south to make our dinner reservation.

Asia de Cuba. It’s basically what it sounds like, Asian style food with Cuban influence. It was a lot nicer/fancier than we were expecting. Especially being from LA when you can walk in almost anywhere in jeans and a casual shirt and be fine. The food was actually really good, and there was a lot of it. But, it was a bit pricey for my taste. Especially when I wasn’t really hungry at all after lunch. I was quite pained as we paid the bill, but it was a nice experience.

By that time we were pretty tired. I wanted to badly to see a movie since we hadn’t been to a theatre for months, but our hotel was calling. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt next to Grand Central Station. It was probably the most comfy bed ever. Especially compared to the last hotel we stayed at (Days Inn Barstow, we still hold a grudge.) I loved their pillows and their comforter. The morning came much too quickly. Luckily, we can buy it if we want through their “home collection.” Not sure yet if I want to spend $65 for a pillow though.

The next day I realized that the outfit I was wearing was twice as warm as the one from the day before! Blast! On our ride home we made another discovery–almost all of the money we spent in NYC was on food of some sort…lunch, M&M store, Hershey’s store, Magnolia, Asia de Cuba…I mean seriously, it was a little ridiculous. But, it was all pretty good. The Magnolia cake? You could pass it up. The cupcakes in there didn’t look super yummy either. I think it’s a cute little bakery that got famous, and is now a MUST SEE.

Anyway, we had a great time and I’m excited I finally got to see NYC at Christmastime…now maybe for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, we drove up Tuesday night and stayed with my dad in Vegas. Then had breakfast with Mark’s cousins Adrien and Lauren. It was so fun to see them and the super cute girls. The food was great too! Thanks guys…hope to see you again soon!

In Kanab we stopped for a visit with Angie, Bryan and Lexie. Looks like they still like holding hands.

We had a great little visit…always too short!

Then it was on to our destination. It’s right by Lake Powell, the south end.

Brit enjoying a football game with aunt Shaela

Eating Thanksgiving dinner. He wasn’t super into all the food, but he liked the roll and turkey. Ugh! What happened to my child who ate everything? I know…he’s a toddler now.

Some under-the-chair acrobatics….or something.

Rocks! Brit loved picking up the rocks. And every time…Rocks!

All the cousins…yes, there were this many of us, plus about 9 more. More on that later.

The nothingness that is Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Though very pretty. Sunsets and storms are amazing.

Brit didn’t do too well with other people. He was really a mommy or daddy’s boy all weekend. Even Grandma holding him wasn’t ok. He did buddy up with my cousin Casey though. She’s 8 and he went to her a lot.

Finally getting a decent hair cut! It was dire. He liked it until the bottom…he hates that part.

The family girls…and boy. I was taking the picture. Shaela, Tracy, Brit, Chezney and Mom

What there aren’t pictures of:

20 people and 7 dogs crammed in a 3 bedroom house.

Us sleeping on an airmattress in the dining room and Britton waking up throughout the night, needing a drink or something and me trying to make sure he didn’t wake up everyone else.

The 3 pies I made…2 apple and 1 cherry for my birthday. I have to admit–it was dang good!

Britton throwing up 3 times on our way home. Our fault really…we let him watch a movie and play with the iPod. I just feel bad making him sit there with nothing to do (even though he doesn’t complain) but he just can’t do anything else or he suddenly gets sick. Super fun!

Our HARD AS A ROCK mattress at the Days Inn in Barstow–never stay there. We were so tired we knew we had to either stop or crash…so, much to my chagrin we stopped. We may as well have slept in the car.

The great time we had together with family that we see very rarely. We’re glad we went and for the blessings we have.

Thanks Trac!

The Melbourne Museum of course. We seriously spent most of the day there. And, we don’t usually go on tours, but this time we did and it was pretty interesting. We learned things that we definitely wouldn’t have otherwise.

Dinosaur Walk

The Forest

Mark and his Mommy. Same smile no?

Human interaction with the forest

Please don’t ask why we’re posed like this. I know we look a little silly. The notches represent human impacts on the forests.

Where's the animal?

Blue Bird who likes blue things

Seriously, the guide said he would collect blue things and sometimes people would give them to him. The branches on the left are his house.

Walking Stick

There were so many different exhibit areas. There was a whole bug wing that had thousands of insects. Some are sooooo creepy!

The Aboriginal wing is interesting too because it had some of their artwork, and told about the history of “tribes?” in the Melbourne area. There was also a curator who had objects traditionally used by them. One was a possum skin ball. They sew pieces of possum skin together and stuff it with grass or something like it and play games with it. Brit loved it. He kept chasing after the ball and kicking it.

Royal Exhibition Building

Built for a fair or convention in the 1800s, the building isn’t used much anymore, but looks really cool.

View from the hotel

It was Karen’s last day. so we took her to the mall/casino/hotel too and we had dinner there at a place called Automatic. There was a mixture of foods, but we all really liked what we had. There was only one meal we had there that I wasn’t really thrilled with.

We wanted to take a river cruise, but they have to have a certain number of people to go and at the time, we were the only ones. So, an hour later we came back and took a ride with 2 different school groups. Teenagers and like 6 year olds. The cruise wasn’t too terribly exciting, but we did get the see more of the architecture of the city and learn about their bridges and buildings and history. Brit didn’t love it though. He wanted to climb all over the dirty stairs and things.

And, because we’re super awesome we didn’t take any pictures of it.

After lunch, we made our way to the that awesome looking Flinders Street Station to take the train to Spotswood, where the Scienceworks and Planetarium is. We enjoyed being out of the city a little bit and seeing what the suburbs are like.

We immediately went into the planetarium for a film about climate and how it’s been throughout the world’s history, and today. Very interesting. Then we got to see the Southern sky with the stars over Melbourne. We sat the Southern Cross and some of the constellations.

Then it was on to the science part. We had fun with the “body” section with various strength, endurance, reaction time and other physical tests.

Brit had fun in the Nitty Gritty Kiddy City

Playing with food

Signing Orange

Aye Aye Captain!

Steering the ship

Sadly, we weren’t there very long before it closed! It was one of the better science/interactive museums we’ve been to. There was a lot to do.

That night Brit and Grandma had a nice time together while Mark and I hit the town. Yeah…we went to dinner and a movie! But, it was in a really cool mall/casino/hotel complex, so that makes it better, right?

We ended up eating at a buffet place, but it was the nicest buffet I’ve ever seen and the food was fancy and fantastic! Then we saw GI Joe. It was nice having our seats chosen beforehand so we didn’t have to get there early. It was really interesting to see what movies are playing there now, and what is coming out. Like, “UP” is still not out there, but then some movies (I can’t remember which) come out the same time as the US.

Anyway, it was nice to get out without the babe hand spend time together. Thanks Karen!

Unfortunately, the animals there like to sleep in, so a lot of them were hiding or asleep when we first got there. They had some interesting “large cats” of different types from Asia that I’ve never seen before. Even the lions in their huge enclosure were sleepy and non engaging.

Then…leave it to the reptiles to be up and naturally creepy. Due to my intense dislike for snakes, this is the only one I will post because it looks cool.

Mmmm tasty leaf

What am I? 100 points to anyone who guesses

boring kangaroos just eating breakfast

Would they walk around? Would they even look at us? No! They just paid attention to the food. Ugh.

I'm so cool I can lay around all day.

No, don't make me!

Brit was terrified of this wombat. It was a sculpture in a cave for kids to play with, but he wouldn’t get any closer.

The birds were awake too. Mark got a bird in flight!

Splash splash splash!

Brit loved the blue-billed duck splashing around.

Breakfast time!

I was there too

Meercat Pile! Everyone on!

Hello people

I love meercats! They’re so cute and funny looking–like they’re a four-legged animal trying out two.

I'd want to live there

So many thoughts, so little time

Chillin' in the tree

We met a Gorilla named Britton

Beautiful bird!

After the monkeys it was into the Butterfly House. There were hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand butterflies floating around us.

My friend

I even had a little visitor throughout the duration of our time in the house.

We felt like we were walking through India or something as we got near the elephant enclosure. It was huge and looked great for them.

Hi elephants

He was good, we didn't let him fall in...

My blankie!

This chimp was playing with his blanket, even putting it all over himself like a ghost.

Again, awesome zoo. We had a great time and would definitely go back.

But, the day was still young and we weren’t done yet!

But, unfortunately we were arrested and put in the Old Melbourne Gaol. Yeah. Gaol. How did you pronounce that? “Goal” or “Gay-oh-l” Even after our visit we weren’t sure, but then found it is JAIL! Oh Aussies. Mark stole something from a shop owner, but claimed it was his. Karen got caught with drugs and Britton was even caught counterfeiting! You think you teach them right and then…

Holding cell

Hallway

They decided Mark needed a padded cell

Exercise yard for women

Mug shot

No really….the Gaol really was the jail in Melbourne until the 1990s. Where we were was the holding area, or for just a few hours. Mostly until people made bail or saw a judge.

Then, this other part is the old jail built in the 1800s. This is where the infamous Ned Kelly Australia’s most famous bush ranger was hanged, and a lot of people were held. It was strange being in this old place where there was a lot of suffering with school children running around laughing and looking around.

Ground and 2nd floor cooridors

Inside each cell had an “exhibit” or sorts with a death mask and a story or a replica of what a cell would’ve contained or something like that. There was so much information and so many interesting stories.

The Gallows

In one cell there was a chart listing who was admitted into the jail, their age, and what they were accused of. One child age 3–yes, 3 was brought in for being disorderly and a 9 year old for vagrancy. Seriously?!?! a baby and a young child who were probably orphans held on such stupid charges.

Arched ceiling along the corridor

It was really interesting learning about their history. Outside in the grass courtyard was a football game among friends. Brit totally thought he was old enough to play too and was seriously upset he couldn’t have the ball.

While looking for the “Greek Precinct” since Melbourne has the most Greeks outside of Greece (yeah, who’d have thought) we stumbled upon the mall. It was fun walking around their stores and seeing their popular stores, and a few American ones. Brit was being a little difficult and couldn’t decide on a shirt he wanted from Grandma. But, finally he found one! I’ll post when we have a pic.

Little Greece was pretty disappointing. It was just one street with a few restaurants. But, did find one that ended up being pretty good. Brit loved the hummus and pita.

He’s so funny too. He could be practically asleep in the stroller as we go back, but as soon as we’re in the hotel room he comes alive and wants to play. Sometimes it took a while to get him to sleep!

We’d have gone on Saturday, but it was closed.

Oh Dali

The "Lips" phone is fun!

Hmmm, maybe he likes the shoe better

We couldn’t take pictures in the exhibit, but it was really good. His most famous paintings weren’t there, but it had a great collection of Salvador Dali’s art throughout his life. You could really see his changes and progression as an artist. He had a love of Hollywood and wanted to be a part of several movies, but his taste was a little too strange for mainstream America. He finally got his break in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” He and Walt Disney worked on several projects together as well, but only one project actually came about. This is the closest thing I can find of the movie: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1462300

In my opinion, it’s still too strange for mainstream America.

After the museum, we went to the State Library of Victoria. It’s in this big old building with some steps and benches and there were a ton of people sitting around having lunch, or just hanging out.

Oh-and I don’t think I’ve mentioned, but every day on the trip there were at least 5-6 different school groups everywhere we went. Some were high school, some “grammar” and they were all in uniforms. I began to wonder if they were ever in class.

The library is really cool inside too, and has a big dome. We went up and saw some of the exhibits they had there–history or melbourne, rare books and literature, art etc. But, Brit found this:

I LOVE Buttons!!!!

It was an interactive map of Melbourne throughout its history. You could change maps, zoom in, pan etc. I think it was his favorite thing all day.

Pretty library

There are only so many things to see in a library, so we headed to the park.

Here birdie birdie

AHHH, this is soooo fun!

I'm so cute.

We tried going to the Queen Victoria Market, but unfortunately it had just closed. It’s a huge market with thousands of stalls that sell everything from food to crappy watches to clothes.

For dinner we ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant that was recommended by Mark’s friend. We loved everything. Brit really like the melt-in-your-mouth beef brisket with dumplings and the wontons. Their honey chicken was so good too. So, we’re thankful for that recommendation!

Every night was kind of early. By 8 or 9 we were so tired we all went to bed.

Gentoo Penguin--Fastest swimmer

King Penguins

Britton was so excited to see them!

I’ve never seen penguins with a home of snow before. It’s always been water and rock of some sort. But these actually had snow/ice. They were fun to watch swimming around too.

MoMo and Dory

We even saw Brit’s new favorite movie characters–Nemo and Dory. He was really excited to point them out.

He loved looking at all of them…I think he’s going to be just like his dad and make everyone go to every aquarium possible.

Shark and his entourage

There are so many other cool pictures that Mark took that he’ll be posting on his site soon. If I put them all, these posts would be miles long.

After the aquarium we went toward their area called The Docklands and Harbour Town. On the tram we met a family from the states (the dad was from Australia). They got off at a place that looked like a park–and we knew we had to go too. As you can see, it was a good idea.

Weeeeeeeee!

Slides are fun

"O" baby

We were a little bummed we weren’t staying closer to it because Brit would’ve loved to play all day. There were even some brightly colored stairs–kind of like bleachers–that he had to climb as well.

Karen under the "sculpture?"

Holy Cow!

Melbourners are into some interesting sculpture and art. Cow in a tree?

We continued walking for what seemed like forever and finally made it to Harbour Town where they have restaurants and shopping and just our luck–it happened to be the Grand Opening day of the first Costco in Australia!

We had to go of course, and were happy to find our card worked here as well. It was just as crowded as a Saturday at any Costco in the US. We got a few items for breakfast and snacks for the week and were happy to have such a native Australian experience.