When I think back to Memorial Day Weekend 2007 I will have two words in which to remember this trip… Diareah and Vomit.

Although this may be one in a million weekend posts, we had a fun little road trip despite a little stomach bug so here I am to tell you about it…

One thing we love about UT is the beautiful national parks we have here. When we moved here we thought we’d get outdoors a lot and see tons of cool stuff. Well, we have, in a small way, but there is so much cooler stuff to see than the hikes we’ve done on in the Wasatch Mountain range.

For a while now, Jer has been all revved up to go to Zion’s National Park. He booked a hotel for an over night trip and the luckily my uncle offered his spank’n brand new winter home in St George to stay at. It’s a little bit further from the park but hey, it was free. So we packed up and ended staying the whole weekend. yipee!

Our adventures started on the drive down. Isaac was just screaming the whole way.

We thought, “Gosh, what is wrong with our mild boy?”

“He must be really bored… here, feed him all the junk food we can find…”

Then all of the unexpected sudden… gush, spray, vomit… flowing out of his little body!! I’ve never seem so much liquid and chunks flying out of such a little mouth. The memory of it makes my stomach churn. I didn’t catch an ounce of it in a bag or cup of anything. It all ended up in his lap. The stench filled the air.

“Hurry, take that exit!” I exclaimed a moment too late.

The next sign read “Next gas station 30 minutes”

“Oh, no” we cried in unison.

Isaac was sobbing. Looking at me with terrified eyes, “Mommy, save me from this retched existence of a vomit covered lap.”

The stench was making me dry heave. I couldn’t look back at my poor boy for fear of what might happen to my stomach contents. I begged Jer to pull over along the side of the road. I just couldn’t wait 30 minutes. We spent the next hour using water bottles and wipes to clean up our stenchy boy and his car seat. Why do they make so many cracks in car seats? It is such a pain to clean out crumbs, let alone throw up.

Well, we were all happy to get back on the road again an we arrived (late) at our comfortable quarters without any other catastrophes.

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On Saturday we took our time getting up, headed to the pool (because this is the number one thing that Emma wanted to do) for a quick dip and then headed up to Zions. Zions has changed things up a little bit since I was there last. You have to take park and take a shuttle to the main canyon. We first drove up to see the tunnel built in 1930 and then caught a shuttle to Weeping rock. Super cool. The water seeps out of the cliff constantly and drips down like rain. It was hot so we enjoyed getting splashed. I guess the water has been in the ground for thousands of years. Woowzers! They can test the oxygen in the water somehow to find out how old it is.

We then headed up to the bottom of the narrows. I loved this. Way fun! I’ve always heard of the narrows but have never hiked them. I guess the real hike is a full day long. We just got a taste of it. It’s a river hike. There is no other option but to hike in the river. It was a lot more cooler because of the shade from the steep canyon walls. (pictures will be coming soon)

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On Sunday we relaxed and saw a few sites around the town of St. George. We took a tour of an old Pioneer house. I have made this note to myself…

Note: One year olds do not like being confined in tours with old jabbery ladies!!!

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Monday: Rode our bikes up Snow Canyon. Beautiful!!! Jer pulled the kids in a borrowed bike trailer. I rode behind huffing and puffing carrying only the diaper bag. (I enjoyed the ride down.) After the hot ride, it was a must that we took a dip in the pool with Popsicles in hand. Ahhh, life is so hard some times. (he he)

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Now we have packed up and are heading back home. I am sitting on I-15 in road construction using Jer’s work laptop that has a mobile internet thingy that allows me to access the internet from ANYWHERE. Covet me, I dare you. He he….

Overall it was a pleasant trip besides the many runny, messy diapers we had to clean up. Poor Isaac!

Check back later for fun pictures…

I called my sister last night after reading her post about Blueness and it got me thinking about this road of motherhood that a lot of us have chosen to walk down. I know being a mother is one of the greatest, noblest, most honorable callings in life but WHY does it have to be so hard sometimes? The daily drudgery of diapers, laundry, crumbs, crying, cooking, ouchies and always coming last in line is just that– DRUDGERY!

It’s hard not to say to yourself “Why me?” or “They must have it better than me” or “How in the heck do they keep their house so clean?” “Gosh they sure are skinny and stylish!” Then we look down at ourselves and feel depressed. How do we stop this cycle?? Some people look so put together but I’ve realized it’s all a facade. They have their troubles too. They are spending just as much time looking inward and wondering why others look better than they do. It’s a viscous world.

Maybe some of you are reading this and thinking “What? I don’t get what she’s talking about. I am put together.” So correct me if I’m wrong and tell me your secrets but my feeling is that a lot of us feel this way.

DRUDGERY DRUDGERY DRUDGERY

It’s so hard not to get down about it. Especially when it’s you know what time… aaaawwwww!!!

“Look out here comes mom! Everyone lay low. Don’t speak, eat or move in her direction. She might explode at any minute.”

One thing that I’ve been struggling with lately is getting a proper balance of alone time. I find myself always wanting it. Shop, climb, date night, scrapbook club …whatever! Just get me out of the house. Don’t get me wrong. I love being a mom. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my kids. I love my husband BUT what is so wrong with wanting some time alone from the kiddos? It’s healthy for us isn’t it? I just need a proper balance. What’s too much or too little?

When I lived in MD I had a gym membership to Lady of America. I loved it. I would go 3 times a week in the morning. Babysitting was included in the fees and it was so reasonable. I would walk on the treadmill, take a class or even just pretend to exercise and chat with the ladies. I felt healthy and sane. I haven’t found a gym here in UT that is it’s equal and I think that is what has been so hard for me. I have this climbing gym membership but the babysitting isn’t up and running yet and it a little pricey. The hubby is willing to watch the kids once, maybe twice a week, but for some reason it seems crazy to go in the evenings when we could be home together. It feels like I’m running away… I should be home. Doing what? I don’t know… watching TV. That’s a good idea. Plus all the singles seem to go at night and I feel kind of silly. (Hello, anyone! I need a climbing partner.) I need a permanent babysitter so me and Jer can go together. That would be AWESOME!! I might just go every night. See… do I have problem?

Another thing that is crazy about being a mom is that we seem to need something to obsess about. Gardening, scrapbooking, quilting, shopping, crafting, cooking, eating, internet… (ummm… rock climbing)… the list goes on. We need something to think about other than the house and kids. (Well, I guess some of you do obsess over your house and kids) but we need some sort of interaction with the outside world. I tell Jer that I go shopping just so I feel like I’m contributing to the world of business. I’ll admit it… I’m a consumer. That is my job! But we need to find some sort of balance so that we are happy, the kids are happy and the hubbies are happy.

So I guess overall is that we are all in this together, right? We all have our blue moments, we feel happy and at peace when everyone is healthy and things are running smoothly. I think we all feel like we could bite off a few heads sometimes but that’s the point. That’s how our mom’s did felt (even though they may not remember or will admit to it because it was hush hush), that is how we feel and that is how my little girl will most likely feel too.

And so this must be what it feels like to be called MOM.

(somebody better go tell all those teenagers who are messing around and want to be moms way too soon)

So I’ve been scrap’n all afternoon and I’m in heaven. I had to make up for my lost days of no computer time. I think I might be addicted. But hey, it’s family history! Right? That’s why I am going to scrapbook my way into Heaven. If nothing else gets me there maybe this will. Ga Faaa!

I’ve done a couple simple layouts of Easter and now I’m working on Isaac’s birthday. Fun Fun. I’m sorry if you are not a scrapper and I am boring you. But a girls got to do what a girl loves… eh? (Or else no one is happy)

The only other thing I have to talk about right now is rock climbing and it sure doesn’t seem like I have any fellow worshipers on that subject so I’ll leave you with this…

ps. I always love to know what you guys think

 I feel like I’ve been on a small vacation from the computer. Oh how I’ve missed you all.

Isaac had a cat nap today and that was that.

It was a busy day today, actaully, if you care to know… We went and saw Shriek III with some girl friends, out to lunch, grocery store for milk (but came home with so much more), ballet, clothes shopping, pick up the hubby because it was raining (he rides his bike), quick trip to the climbing gym, out to dinner (don’t ask (two meals out in one day- lucky me!)) and finally home. I’ve been gone all day. Woowee. I’m exhausted.

I feel like I have tons to say… my soul to pour out to you… but not tonight. It’s late and I’m playing with the idea of getting up early to exercise. (My pouchy tummy seems to be getting bigger and softer so I think it is time to do something.) I need some cardio. Climbing just isn’t doing it all for me. I hate waking up early!!!

I also need to go to bed because my husband seems to be jealous of you. “Why spend time with a machine when you can have me?”

hummm… I’ll have to think about that one.

I thought I’d do a second layout in this style to match the sleeping layout I did of Isaac. That way they’ll make a nice spread in my book.

My mom sent me this card in the mail. Isn’t she funny? I just love it so I thought I’d share.

I am a Goddess! How about you?

I thought I’d share this layout I did today.

Well, I haven’t felt like blogging lately. Can you tell? Everyone wrote such lovely Mother’s day entries so I don’t think I’m going to. Besides it’s already Tuesday. I enjoyed myself but nothing really to write home about (oh, I mean write to the world about).

I do love the photograph that my sister posted last year of my mother.

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Jeremy and I did have some adventures though. They went as usual…

Friday evening we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a hike. Jer really wanted to do Donut Fall because he’s never done it. I thought that was fine because it was a short family friendly hike. Well, upon arrival we discovered the main gate was locked. So we had to walk up the road to the trail head. This probably added another mile round trip but being the trouper that I am I went along with a grouchy smile ready to say “I told you so” at any minute.

Half way up the road we ran into these (sorry, I know my shots aren’t that great) …

A momma moose and her teen calf. The about 100 years up the road we met…

the Papa moose. He startled me a little bit because he headed right for us. We stepped aside and he pass right by. Wowzers. Pretty cool, eh?

My grouchy smile went away and I began to enjoy myself. The hike continued but it started to get dark and the trail began to be covered in snow in shady spots. I had on my chacho’s, favorite hiking sandals, and every now and then my feet would sink down deep into the icy snow. Burrrr! We continued on only because I knew the trail and thought it wasn’t too much further.

We finally arrived and the falls. By now it was pitch dark and we had to feel are way around the river because we had no flash lights. Jer couldn’t see the “donut” of rock that the water fall had cut out but I think he still enjoyed himself.

I feel like I need to have some climax… like… I fell in the river or we got lost in the dark but nothing climatic happened. Just some dumb teens that showed up and ruined our quiet, dark hike.

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On Saturday we got a babysitter and headed up the Canyon again to go climbing. Just me and him. It was going to be lovely but instead we had some near death experiences. I didn’t take my camera to show you so I don’t think I’ll write about it. It might just bore you. (besides, I’ve been on the computer long enough)

Would you be depressed if you had my hair?

My friend Brookie made these templates for a mother’s day CD brag book. I just had to drop paper and pictures on them. Waw law! They were so fun to make!! I think they are stink’n cute!! Take a look…

I used the kit created by Shabby Princess at Songbird Avenue.