Happy 500!

Five Hundred posts! hip-hip-hooray. We are making peach cobbler this evening in celebration.
Today we also went to the zoo and zeb had fun playing with the goats. He wouldn't ever stop to look at me so I only got this shot.
The rugrat seems to be feeling somewhat better! The last time he needed a breathing treatment was last night and he isn't waking up in coughing fits at night anymore. He is still glued to his blanket though. It all started with his illness in Utah and now he's our little Linus. It's cute- but his blanket is really dirty. We are going to have to lay down some ground rules for "greenie".

He has also been obsessed with the present Grandma Pat gave him. He will go to our shelves and pull every thing off until he finds his book. He walks up and hands it to us while simultaneously sitting down in our lap. This kid loves music and rhythms and will dance to just about anything. He frequently bounces up and down to the rhythm of the train saying "I think I can, I think I can". Thanks for the present gma Pat - he loves it! I think we've read the book six times today.

Zeb is down and out. Maybe it's the airplanes, perhaps it's traveling, or probably just bad luck and weak lungs- but this kid has the hardest time breathing sometimes! We are on breathing treatments again but little Z is eating and drinking really well, so hopefully he pulls out of this one fast. Tonight kent and I took him to "Toys R Us" to play with the train sets and bouncy balls to get him to calm down. He had a blast and giggled the entire time we were there.

Then this evening we finally made Kent's Christmas present from this past year. I got him a kit to make homemade pretzels from "Auntie Anne's" and they were AMAZING. They may not look so scrumptious but they tasted just like the ones from the mall. We also got a FREE dvd from Redbox. Ohioans just don't get it yet so EVERY new release was available :)

Thanks for sending us our stuff mum!! I'm going to try and get the rest of our yellowstone trip all in this one post. It was such a wonderful vacation and we are VERY grateful to mum and pop Oswald for taking us all there! It was the perfect end to Kent's last summer vacation EVER :)

Pictured above is the Z man and his reaction to Old faithful. I think he mostly loved all of the people.

We went paddle boating on the river one evening and it about did us in. Warnings on the boats actually stated that using them in water with currents was a potentially dangerous idea. We weren't ever in any danger but we sure did work our tails off. For the majority of the time Kent pushed us upstream. While we were on the river we ran into a moose!! He crossed the river right in front of us!We also went on a great hike in yellowstone to "Fairy Falls". It's crazy to see how many dead burnt trees there still are everywhere. We all got a little sunburned on the hike- but Zeb was in heaven riding in his pack.On our second to last day we went and floated the river in St. Anthony. I don't have any of the pics on my camera for some reason but I did get some of our adventure afterwards. ALL week long I wanted to go to "Big Jud's" . The place specializes in homemade buns so big that they are baked in pie tins and one pound hamburgers to match the buns. We used to go all the time when I was at Ricks. The place was no disappoinment. Kent ate 3/4 of the burger and gave me a quarter pounder. He also finished off his waffle cone and a basket of fries. It was actually really delicious, but I hadn't eaten a burger and fries in literally YEARS and the place (or the toxin producing bacteria in their food) did not agree with me (or a few others for that matter) at all. Within a few hours Taylor, Daysa, and I were vomiting violently. I actually felt a little relieved to get the nasty food out of me, but I didn't enjoy having to experience it all for a second time. After the long vomitious night we decided to head home a little early! All in all, Yellowstone was WONDERFUL. We had frost a few nights, got to sleep in a tent, had lots of sun and hiking, saw tons of wildlife, and enjoyed buckets of great shopping and eating! What else could you ask for in a vacation?!? thanks mom and dad!!!!

Hip hip hooray.

Yesterday when we dropped by the supermarket I saw a wondrous sight. Less than three miles from our house and right across the street from Kent's school they are putting in Redbox!!! Oh, we are so excited. All we want free new release rentals. I couldn't be happier. I've already made a list of the movies I want to checkout.

Oh, and have I mentioned how great it is to be home? Little Z slept in until NINE this morning! I got to go to walking group, we went swimming at our pool, and I spent the whole day with Kent. Plus, the fifth season of Project Runway started this week!!! Life is great.

Home at last!!!! with one minor issue that may gross you out.

It is so wonderful to be home. I didn't make it very long without complaining about the humidity- but I am very happy to be here nonetheless. Today on the news they made mention that the last day Toledo's weather was in the nineties was June 9 (I left to Utah June 10) and that today was the first day we'd be back into the nineties since then. There were five weeks of perfectly warm bearable days while we were gone and the humidity and heat showed up just as I did. Grrr. On a positive note- we did fill up today with gas that was less than four dollars a gallon. Plus, the weather is so worth my bed and normalcy for the rugrat. No more worrying about staircases and fingerprints on my mom's windows.

We managed to forget every possible cord we could have in Lehi, including my camera/computer cord- so the rest of the Yellowstone pics will have to wait until Friday (my mom sent everything in a package this morning). We do have a few blog worthy stories here in Toledo already though.

We had one minor/major problem when we got home this morning. I cleaned the house spic and span before we left so that we could come home to a pleasant sight. Unfortunately there was some flooding here while we were gone and it caused some problems. I stole these pics of our apartment complex from a friend here (thanks lindsay). Check out our pool!! Completely full of mud and dirt! I'm sad that I missed the adventure.
There's a little creek (Swan Creek) running right behind our complex and in some of the crazy storms in overran its banks. The water didn't reach our place or car- but it seemed to have caused some sort of water pressure/sewage issue. We came home to find our toilets (remember- I had cleaned them spotless before we left) full of brown nasty residue (poo and whatnot) and FLIES. There were at least twenty flies in our bathrooms- and MAGGOTS. I am NOT JOKING. I could not even think about taking a picture I was so disgusted. I pleaded with Kent to clean them out immediately so that I could go to the bathroom (remember- it is now 3:30 AM). Even after they were clean I dumped ajax all over in them again and could barely use them without freaking out. I felt like the were going to climb on me. I'm still creeped out and we are still eradicating the last few flies. I just have to remind myself that I lived amongst THOUSANDS of cockroaches and mice in Russia- oftentimes in my bed. A few baby flies (maggots) aren't going to hurt me.

On day two of the vacation we actually did some hiking and sight seeing. We stayed in Island Park and decided to head to Mesa Falls (some really amazing falls not actually in Yellowstone) for one morning. It was well worth the excursion- minus the vicious attack of mosquitoes. We took a hike to the lower falls lookout and some of us were a little more susceptible than the rest. I think that Kent was bit at least ten times. Laney, Taylor, Metta, my dad, and Zeb were also attacked. My mom and I were left bite free. The upper right picture is of Metta and Kent doing the "mosquito dance" trying to avert the mosquito bites.

The falls were really amazing- and not very crowded at all. Zeb was so happy to be in the carrier with Kent.Kent's parent's arrived later in the day and we went to into the park to see Old Faithful and some of the Hot Paint Pots. Yellowstone really is an amazing place. We saw Old Faithful erupt twice- and we saw a ginormous Buffalo (American Bison) in the road. I wanted to get out and get a picture- but recently a young boy was gored by one and we were already three feet away IN the car. Being OUT of the car probably wasn't the best idea.

We also had bison meatloaf for dinner at the lodge cafeteria. I was not impressed.

the big day is TOMORROW!! we get to board our flight home for TOLEDO. Unfortunately we don't get home until early wednesday morning- but I am excited nonetheless. I miss Toledo so much it's ridiculous. Zeb has reached his limit and is way past the point of normalcy. We are going to have to do a complete reprogramming once we get home.
I'm even willing to deal with humidity for a day or two just to be home (but then I'll be back to moaning like usual).

I can't get any pics to post today so the yellowstone details will have to wait until tomorrow!

Island Park. day 1

Our much needed week long vacation to Island Park and Yellowstone was wonderful! We stayed at some place called "Grandma's Cabin". The beds were super comfy and they had BRAVO! I got my fam hooked on Project Runway reruns.

The weather was AMAZING! The highs were low 80s and upper 70s and at night we even had frost a few times! Kent and I slept out in the tent a few nights and LOVED every second of it. The air was insanely crisp and fresh.

We arrived Monday afternoon and right when we walked in there was a wild bat flying around. I immediately grabbed the camera and my mom crouched onto the floor screaming for kent to get it out. I put Zeb down and tried to get a good shot while Kent tried to chase it out with a towel. It was literally dive bombing at our heads! Zeb got a little nervous (mostly because he was neglected in the chaos) and started crying- but eventually Kent chased it out and I got a few good pictures. If you zoom in on this one you can see it's beedy little eyes. I'm sure it was rabid.

We ended up with a full cabin of people. All in all we had Laney, Taylor, Hank, Metta, Daysa, Mom, Dad, cousin Penny, our fam and even Kent's parents came up for a few nights! Zeb got to know his cousin Hank a lot better on the trip. He is kind of bored by him though as he doesn't do much yet.

The next few days were the ones full of real adventure. I'm pooped for now and they'll have to wait till tomo.

We're back to Utah! and just a few short days from Toledo.

We are finally back- after a fabulous week of yellowstone, wild animals, river trips, hikes, and lots of vomiting. I'll have to blog all of the adventures once I get some sleep and my camera unpacked!
To grandma O and any other faithful blog readers- I am sorry for the prolonged absence. The upcoming posts will be well worth the wait.
For now I've included two pictures from our Fourth of July hike up Battle Creek Canyon. It was wonderful- but very steep. Zeb LOVED riding in the Kelty kids (thanks steve and hailey) on Kent's back and hummed along to the rhythmn of Kent's steps. He is such a musical rugrat. He dances to the dish washer and blender. He can find the beat in ANY sound.

happy late fourth

Our fourth was a day of grand adventure. We (my parents, sisters, Kent, Zeb and I) started bright and early up Battle Creek Canyon for a morning hike. The weather was PERFECT. The trail followed the water all the way up past lots of waterfalls. It was a bit steep- but really pretty. I can't get anymore pictures to post- but I'll try later. We went to the "One Man Band" for breakfast. The place was such a dive but Kent loved it. He says he's been craving it ever since.
We spent the afternoon at a picnic with Kent's family (I forgot the camera) and had more fun. Zeb LOVED the slip and slide. I wish we would have gotten some pictures. Kent just kept chucking him down and he'd giggle.

We had a bbq for dinner and went with my fam to Thanksgiving Point for the fireworks. They were pretty decent (although nothing compared to Provo's) and we had fabulous seats. Zeb was literally shaking with fear at first- but warmed up to them pretty quickly. After about ten minutes he totally zonked - even through the grand finale. The biggest adventure involved the drive home. It was HELL. We had to restrain my mom from exhibiting severe road rage. She almost got out of the car to freak at some another driver. Metta just kept honking and my little sis Daysa was in the back saying "WWJD". I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Kent was holding the sleeping rugrat or I think he would have gotten out of the car. I HATE TRAFFIC and can't wait to be back to no traffic land (toledo).

Zeb is so happy to have Kent home. Here's Kent entertaining the little guy. This kid LOVES music- especially classical. We've really got to get a piano because he's obsessed!

that was a long blogging break (for me anyway)!

It's been a few days since I've been on. Kent and I took a much needed break from the rugrat to spend some time with just us! We went to dinner, mini golfing, the mall, stayed at a bed and breakfast and went hiking. Everything was GREAT.

It isn't he hardest of hikes, but I think that Stewart Falls is one of my favorite hikes in Utah. It was beautiful and perfect weather (we went at nine AM). I love that we can hike here! The mountains are so accessible. We want to hike to Timp caves and Rock Canyon before we leave too. I love the cool CRISP mountain air. I shouldn't ever complain about Utah heat again because at least it reprieves in the mornings and evenings.

We are headed to Yellowstone next week and I can't wait.