A day of Vacation...

After I got back from Orlando at the end of July, I took one day off for vacation. I know, it's rare that I actually take a day off, but family is much more important than answering e-mails at work. Monday, the 3rd we decided to head over to Florence for some fun.

Monday morning I went over to Laura's to help her plant some things in her yard so it doesn't look so bare. She's trying to get her house on the market to sell, so I became her self-appointed landscaper. I spent a couple hours sweating and digging, with one planter bed looking much nicer, then Luke and I headed home to zip on over to the coast.

This time we went to Honeyman park just north of Florence. The weather was perfect! Not too hot, not too windy, and the sun came out every now and then... enough to give me a slight sunburn on my face and ears and Brian go a slight burn on his knees. The kids were slathered in sunscreen so they were OK.

We rented a pedal-boat for an hour and went around the lake. I love Honeyman lake. It is so warm, peaceful, and quiet. The bottom of it is covered in weeds, so I've never enjoyed swimming in it (just thinking of all the odd things living or dropped into that water makes me shudder) so we just pedaled around, taking lots of great photos. AnnaMae was so excited to be on a boat. She couldn't stop talking about getting on the boat, and was giggling the whole time we were on the lake.

Luke kept trying to fall over. No matter how many times we told him to stay put, he just couldn't keep his feet in the boat. Then, he noticed that he had splashed a bunch of water into the boat so he grabbed our DRY towel and began sopping up the water. Aaggh! We tried to explain to him that it was OK for there to be water in the bottom of the boat. I should have just thrown him overboard...

We haven't gone to Honeyman in years. i think the last time we went was on a campout with the single's Ward before we got married. That was the night that Brian and his buddies got lost on the dunes with only an LED light to lead them back to HWY 101 while I sat back at the campground wondering where the heck they could have gone.

This time we didn't get lost, we just palyed and laughed. Here I am with AM and her big, happy smile. She really didn't stop giggling until we went back to the beach. Luke just wanted to talk to the nice park workers at the dock, and kept trying to run onto other boats while we were getting our stuff off our boat. Brian was pretty sore after pedalling for an hour - I wasn't too bad, as I do that regularly on my way to work (though with all my trips I really need to get back into the habit of riding again.



After boating we headed back to the lodge to gather our plans and figure out what we wanted to do next. AnnaMae just wanted to play in the old stone drinking fountain - check out that tongue! We got a ton of photos of her with the fountain becuase she liked it so much. Too bad she's too small to turn it on AND drink from it at the same time.


Then we drove around to the dune-side of the park to play. here's AM next to the sand castle I built. It doesn't take me much to have fun at the beach, just a quiet spot to build my castles and a little helper to try and knock them down (this time it wasn't my own kids knocking it down but some other little boy).



Luke followed daddy wherever Brian went. There really is no seperating those two. It's great when your best friend is your dad. here they are attacking each other with noodles they borrowed from some kids. I think Luke ended up the winner, as he had snagged a sliding disk and was using it as a sheild. Way to go Luke! After a few hours of intense playing we were getting tired and hungry so we decided to head home.

We couldn't think of anywhere in Florence we wanted to eat, and it was still a little early for dinner, so we headed for home. We picked up a pizza then went to have a small picnic at the Rose Garden.

Here I am trying to catch a bit of a nap. I was worn out even if the kids had plenty of energy. I think I needed a vaction from my vacation! The roses were beautiful, and all the floweres were so pretty around teh gazebo and walk area. It was a perfect time of day too, as the heat had already left the valley as well. We even bumped into one of my co-workers as she biked home from an appointment (I know I had more fun than she did that day!)

The maze of roses are a great place for kids to run and hide. Anna Mae had so much fun darting between the plants. Luke was tired and he kept doing little things to get him in trouble, so he was kept on a tight leash, so to speak. Then we walked over to Skinner Butte Park for some final water and sand play time before we finished off a very long vacation day.

I don't know if I have the energy to do too many more vacation days like that, but that was the perfect summer day with family!

AnnaMae and Mom in Utah

Whew! What a week! We're exhausted, but had a great time.

Friday morning I had a little spare time, so we headed down to the conference center. It was really neat to see, since the last time I was there was for my brother's wedding, and we didn't have time to wander around. Before that, Brian and I had visited while it was still under construction. It was hard to keep AM from climbing into the fountains on the roof.

Right now they are having an art show in the lobby of artwork made by members of the church. It was pretty neat to see the collection. Mom was getting re-inspired to paint, while I tried to keep AnnaMae from touching anything.

While I was busy teaching and demoing all week, my Mom took AnnaMae down to see her relatives. First they went and visited an aquarium. Ever since then AM has been obsessed with fishies. She already loves my mom's big fish tank at home, but these tanks were huge!

Then, Saturday they stayed down in Mapleton with my mom's brother. Mom's family threw her a mini family reunion because we were coming in town. Here's AM with her second cousin and my aunt that I adore.


I missed most of the fun, since I was still up in Salt Lake working, but I was able to drive down and get the last little bit of the action. AM had a chance to visit cousins and see lots of neat animals, like this horse, and the baby chicks that my aunt was raising in her bathtub.

Driving was a nightmare- they had thunderstorms the whole time we were in Utah. What should have been a quick drive was slowed down greatly by blinding rain, lightning, and water-logged roads. Luckily the roads were clearer when we drove back to the airport on Sunday.

It was nice to see my cousins and other relatives again, but it's also great to be home. Traveling with a baby and my Mom is definitely not as easy as traveling by myself.

From Florida to Oregon

Mom, Dad? Where are you? When will you get home? We miss you!

But we were having so much fun on our first vacation together since 2006! If only Luke were a little older he could have come and enjoyed everything we were doing. It would take AnnaMae a few more years and she could have come with us. As it was, we had 4 flights to get home, and running through airports with the kids then shoving them on airplanes would have been a supreme pain. All things must come to an end, but not without lots of fun and enlightenment in between...

USS Alabama
Saturday we left New Orleans and headed toward Pensacola FL. To get there you cross the bottom of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then Florida. It's only a 3 hr drive, but you see 4 states. On the way along the Gulf Coast we stopped at the battleship USS Alabama where they have a giant museum just outside of Mobile. It's really an all-day event, though we only had about 3 hrs. There was so much we didn't see!

I'll leave you a few pictures from the experience. The thing was massive...A true marvel of modern engineering, and it was de-commissioned over 60 years ago! All the wires, steel, and maze of hallways. With a full crew it held 2,500 men. I don't know where they all fit because once you get inside everything is so small. Where did they fit all the food for that many hungry men?

The thing was covered in guns. Almost every inch of open deck space was a weapon. We climbed into gun turrets, around gun turrets, and over gun turrets. Brian sat at many gun stations, some of which still moved around. We got photos of guns, saw the munitions storage, gun repair facility, and training areas where people practice loading the guns. This truly was a weapon of war. In 1944 it was on about 11 different missions, mostly in the Pacific, attacking Japanese positions and defending Aircraft carriers. We were interested to note how many Japanese tourists were visiting the battleship, taking photos and climbing around. How far relations have come in 60 years!

It took over a hundred men alone just to operate one battery of the giant guns you see in the photo behind me. A hundred men! I know little about today's military, but I have a feeling that it takes many fewer men to run our current large guns.

And think of the conditions- humidity, heat, storms, surrounded by enemies. All alone on a desert of blue. This is what sat out there protecting our Western shore from Eastern invasion. This ship was authorized to be built in 1934, although it wasn't commissioned until 1941. or '42. We knew early that we were going to war, and we had some incredible technology for the day. You can read typed reports of the Kamikazi attacks and what they recovered off the bodies of the dead pilots. Think of the honor and glory the Japanese were bestowed by their Emperor to attack the American ships. We also bestowed honor and glory for defending our way of life, and they proudly show how many Japanese airplanes they shot down painted on the superstructure as well.

What an honor to be allowed to travel back in time to see the real live tribute to our grandfathers. Boy Scouts can stay the night on the sip and really get a flavor of life on the sea.

On the ship they have a list of all the men who served there. I found a "Carl Hallock" which is the name of my uncle who has passed on- though I don't know if it's the same person (all Hallocks are related). He would have been the right age. My dad always lamented that he was too young to go to WWII, so his older brother was enlisted, and my grandpa Hallock was too old, however he was still re-commissioned as an electrician on the large ships (I don't know if he went out to sea or if he just worked in dock though). Every able hand was needed back then. America was pulling out of the Great Depression and we were more productive than we had ever been before.

An interesting side note, but when I took economics in High School, we looked at market trends. In America we go through 7 year cycles. Every 7 years we cycle from prosperity to recession. Every 70 years we have a much larger recessionary event. This current recession falls perfectly in line with the cycle and we had been warned a few years ago to be prepared. We should know better, and learn from history.

A question- do I look better with or without my glasses? I have the same glasses that I got back in 1994. I only use them for seeing things far away and driving at night. My office-mate, Justin, says that I act smarter when I wear my glasses. I think I just look more like a know-it-all librarian. Sophisticated or snobby? what do you think?

Pensacola, FL
We got into Pensacola late Saturday nite and found the house of the dear, sweet lady we were staying with, Jan Marie and her husband, the Colonel. Both were retired military, which is not surprising, since there are 7 military bases in Pensacola, and even NASA has a base within an hour of there. Pensacola is the oldest city in America, and it is celebrating 450 years this year. The King and Queen of Spain visited just last week (as all the locals were quick to tell you a dozen times while we were there).

Laura had visited here about a month ago, so when she was doing my nails before the trip she made me get my toes done in glitter so I could have pretty toes for walking on the beach. Everyone in my Sunday workshop LOVED the glittery toes, since papercrafters love "bling". Here are a few feet shots, just for you Laura, proving that my glittery toes out-sparkled the white beaches of Pensacola.

I had a workshop Sunday evening, so lunch time on Sunday was my only chance to visit the beautiful white beaches of Pensacola. Pensacola proper is on the mainland. To get to the beaches you need to drive across a 3 mile bridge and then out another bridge to get to Pensacola Beaches. This is a strip of land 1 mile wide at it's widest and 28 miles long.

All we could think of while visiting the beach was "Why would anyone be stupid enough to build out here when it is in a hurricane zone?" And according to our hosts, sure enough, during hurricane Ivan or something, the ocean water completely submerged the area.

The day we were out it was super cold and windy. They were also getting ready for their own local Mardi Gras parade, which we couldn't attend since I needed to be teaching a class that afternoon. So we had to park as close to the bridge as possible as not to get stuck by the parade. There were thousands of people out to see the parade. Parking was nearly impossible, and cars were parked between palm trees on the meridian of the road.

We really wanted more time to look around, but since it was so cold we ate our lunch and headed home. Brian went down to the water front the next day when I was teaching and he said it was warm, with no breeze, and no one was around. Go figure. As it was we wandered around the first main shopping area on the beaches, got some touristy photos and tried to stay out of the wind.

Did I mention it was cold? It was cold. I was in capris, a sweater, a scarf, and a jacket. Brian was without jacket or anything since he thought Florida was supposed to be warm. It's February for crying out loud! It's gonna be cold! I get cold just thinking about how cold it was, OK, maybe it was only in the 50's. But with the wind it was cold.

My class on Monday went very well, with about 30 - 35 people attending. I somehow picked up a cold on Sunday, so I had a sore throat sunday afternoon for my evening class, then was fighting a stuffed nose during my Monday class.

Monday during my class Brian headed down to the Navy Base to visit the air museum. They had over a hundred different restored planes. The best part is that it's free to visit.

Brian didn't have the camera with him, so no photos. If you ever get the chance to go he says it's great. Perfect for little boys wanting to climb in and out of airplanes, ride the flight simulator, and listen to war stories. If anyone needs a place to stay while in Pensacola, they can go look up the family we were with, since they have 2 guest rooms and a pool (too cold to go swimming though). Their house is a fabulous collection of antiques and trinkets from around the world.

Tuesday we flew home, and let me tell you- having your sinuses stuffed with 4 flights on one day was not a pretty event. Pensacola airport is about the size of Eugene, so we had to fly Pensacola to Dallas, Dallas to Denver, Denver to Portland, Portland to Eugene. In Portland we met up with Peter Raven who was on his way home from Arizona. Since it was fat Tuesday we left him with a few Mardi Gras beads to take to the family (out of our 80+ lbs that we shipped home). We got in around 9:30 to Eugene and got home around 10:15 pm.

Wed. I stayed home since I was sick and still recovering. The kids were thrilled to see us, and we promptly made a mess of the nice clean house we left last week. AnnaMae loved all teh beads we brought home. I think she would have played with them for hours if we let her.

Thursday I felt a little better, so I was hoping to only do a half- day of work. Hah! A week being gone and I had over 200 work e-mails waiting since Friday plus 70 some personal e-mails (most of which are work related). I am really behind on my artwork. So I had to work all day on Thursday.

Today is my 29th birthday. I don't feel 29. I don't know how old I feel, but it's not 29. Either older or younger. Younger when the kids aren't around, older when they are around. I guess it's the same with most people.

I gotta get going back to bed, but I had to update my blog, since it's my family journal. Have a great weekend!

Mardi Gras!!!

Brian and I are here in New Orleans, it's Mardi Gras weekend, and we're exhausted. We got in late Wed. nite/early Thursday morning. The flight from Eugene to Denver was gorgeous. Frost was forming on my window as I watched. Tiny, delicate patterns etched in an ephemeral crystal while I stared intently at a blank slate. The segment from Denver to New Orleans was delayed, so I got to chatting with a lady named Risha from Toronto. She also had business in New Orleans, and was going to her first Mardi Gras. She was my age, an engineer for some oil pipeline company, and was so sweet that we gave her a ride to her hotel as we headed to ours.

Thursday I worked for a few hours- I went and made presentations at a Fine Art distributor here that carries our product, then we headed down to the nearest spot to catch the parades for the evening. The locals are amazing! We are NOT in the French Quarter, nor were we down by Bourbon St. so we were in a group of locals who come to the same spot for over 50 years! They were really nice, with their kids, their friends, and they told us lots of lore about each parade. No flashing to get beads, you just stand there and wave and cheer. However, everyone had way too much to drink around us, so there were a lot of high-spirited people all trying to get the cool beads.

There were 3 parades on Thursday - Knights of Babylon, Knights of Chaos, and Krew of Muses. We got 2 LARGE bags of stuff that they were throwing from the floats. The Krew of Muses was loading right outside our hotel so I was able to get a few snapshots in broad daylight. Good thing, since the parades were so dark you couldn't get photos. This photo is the flavor of the Krew of Muses- lots of satire about current events, politics.

It was all women on the floats. To ride on a float you have to be a member of their club. It costs thousands of dollars, and you have to buy your own beads to throw! However, Muses has some of THE best throws (the locals can also vouch for that). I got some really cool stuff from Muses. Knights of Bablylon were a revival of one of the parades from the 1800's so their floats were on the original wagon beds of the old parade. We're talking wooden wheels creaking along under modern floats. Wow!

Between floats are regular parade things- Lots of stunning high school bands, dance teams, cheerleaders, and people on horses. Someone fell off their horse about 2 buildings down from us, which stopped the parade for 10 minutes. By the end of the evening (parades came from about 7 pm to 11:30) we were exhausetd and ready to trudge the 6 blocks back to our hotel.

Friday I had to teach my all-day workshop. Luckily there were only about 10 people in the class, so I wasn't asburned out as I usually get from my workshops. At luch I went to Mulates, a famous local restaurant. I had a fried-Alligator Po-boy for lunch. When we asked teh waiter what Alligator tasted like he said "Like Chicken, squid, and frog-legs". I don't know what frog-legs taste like (nor will I ever, thank you Muppet Movie) but now I do know what Alligator tastes like. Like sweet, rubbery chicken. I liked it. Brian didn't care much for it. For our evening repast we had Asian Fusion. We figured we'd had our share of local food, now we could get what we wanted.

Krew De'Etat, Morpheus, and Hermes were the parades on Friday nite. We thought they said "Herpies" as the parade name,so the locals really got a kick out of those two crazy oregonians. Friday night we had signs saying "love from Oregon". That was the best idea we had all weekend! I got so many piles of beads thrown right at me- it was great!! The locals just thought we were the most exuberant, happy people that they'd met in a long time because it was all so new to us. If anyone wants a good, clean Mardi Gras parade experience, head down to the corner of St. Charles and St. Joseph. On the south side of the street, on the East corner, go down about 1 building. There you will find the nicest, sweetest locals who will give you the best advice on what beads to get.

I gotta get going now. We're driving to Pensacola today. Have a great weekend! I'll try to post more photos later...Until then, we want you to ponder the name of the New Oleans Police- NO PD!