July 24 - July 31 Part 1: Vacation Adventures

It has been a while... and we've got a lot to write about! Since it has been a couple of weeks, I'm going to break this post up into two parts - Part 1: Vacation Adventures and Part 2: Back to Normal Adventures (which will come later)...

Part 1

California

We flew out to California on July 24th (Pioneer Day in Utah) and our travels actually went pretty smoothly. Austin (who had been sick the two days prior) held up during the two-hour drive from Logan to South Jordan to the Salt Lake Airport, the two hour flight to Long Beach, CA (except for a five-minute crying session due to his ear's hurting, but luckily he fell asleep during the remaining descent), and the hour or two drive from Long Beach to Thousand Oaks. 

Austin was in heaven when he arrived. He had so much space to crawl around, dogs to play with that didn't maul him with kisses and knock him over, and a seven-year-old aunt that would crawl with him wherever he wanted to go. I can't forget to mention that he also was constantly loved on by his other aunts: Alisa and Emily, Grandma Hunter, Great Grandma Lang (G.G.), as well as Stella (G.G.'s housekeeper). And we definitely can't forget our cousins Katie and Julie, Dean, as well as Mike & Katie with their little Lillyann too who spent a decent amount of time with us too. Austin taught himself how to crawl up and down stairs and ramps, pivoted in circles on his bum (on the hardwood floors) and even feet, and learned to blow his nose. He did it on command for his Aunt Alisa, but unfortunately won't do it for his parents now.

We spent four days in California, one of which was spent going to the beach. This was Austin's first experience playing with sand and initially he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I tried lowering him down to stand on the sand, but he held his legs up high to avoid touching it. I sat him down and he did NOT like it until, of course, he found a little stick to distract his attention from the foreign ground. After several minutes he seemed to feel quite comfortable and engaged in playing with the sand and any other objects he could find.

 

Part of the reason we decided to travel towards the end of July was because Jason's cousin, Danny was getting married the following week which occasion also necessitated a bachelor party. While I hung out with Jason's sisters talking and watching Doctor Who, Jason, along with the other boy cousins and a friend, threw a bachelor party which sounded like a hoot involving video games, eating at In-N-Out Burger, and singing ridiculous karaoke until about 2 am. I heard that there was some legitimate blackmailing videos of the karaoke session, but I still have yet to see them.

Illinois

A couple days later our travels took us to Nauvoo, Illinois for the marriage of Danny to his wife, Michelle. It was an awesome experience, especially given that Nauvoo is also a location with a lot of history for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church). While there we were able to stay in the Wilford Woodruff hotel (which was wonderful and historic), visit the Nauvoo Temple a couple of times (once for the wedding), as well as see a number of historical sites and shops.

The hotel was awesome! It was very historic looking, but also very very nice. Since there were many stairs Austin had to opportunity to learn how to slide down multiple stairs on his tummy. He is still apprehensive about positioning himself on the first step (once we set him on the second or third step he can slide the rest of the way down), but I'm sure that will resolve pretty soon.

He also enjoyed pulling my clothes out of the drawer

And cuddling with his little doggie in the hotel port-a-crib

Our temple visits were very special experiences. The wedding was especially wonderful and included many family members and a few friends. It is always so neat to see those you care about on one of the happiest days of their life when they make the commitment to be together for time and all eternity.

We went to a visitors center, watched as family played pioneer games in a park, and took a tour to learn about the masonry industry in historic Nauvoo. We drove past several sites of historic buildings that primarily pertained to the LDS church. One particular site of interest for our family was the home of Erastus Snow who apparently lived there during the 1840's. He is Jason's 4th Great Grandpa.

There were many special moments during this trip and we look forward to returning there again some day in the future. Until next time - happy adventures!