Month in Review: April 2008

Welcome to Month in Review: April 2008, documenting events for our family history. This month kept us pretty busy, so this was a good chance for me to catch up...

• The month got off to a great start, with a very special General Conference--including a Solemn Assembly where we sustained Thomas S. Monson as our new prophet.
  
• One of the highlights of my month was being invited to Emily's baby shower, where I got to see quite a few Sherry family members--including Sara, Emily, and Leah, plus their mom and lots of extended family. I haven't seen any of them for many, many years, so it was a real treat to be there. This is a great example of the impact blogging has had in my life; I got back in touch with this family during the last year or so because of blogging, which turned out to be the only way they even knew I was nearby to be invited to the shower. Also, having been reading each others' blogs, it was so much more fun to see everyone and feel like we were all caught up! Having said all that, amazingly, I have no pictures of the event, and no link to point you to either (shame on us).
  
• Chris and I attended an Elder's Quorum activity, which was a session at the Bountiful Temple. It was my first time at that particular temple, and it was a great night.
  
• Our Stake Young Women Presidency (I'm a counselor) was invited to be in charge of a Ward Young Women activity teaching card-making. I've never really been into scrapbooking (with paper, that is), but I must admit, I enjoyed the chance to get a little creative with paper, glue, stamps, ribbons, and brads.
  
• We spent a lot of our spare time at the beginning of the month doing spring cleaning and getting ready for a big trip we were taking. I wanted to make sure the house was in order for our friends who were coming to stay with the kids. Chris took a day off, plus we spent a few weekends cleaning closets, and taking load after load to the dumpster and D.I. I love the feeling of having things cleaned out and put away--even if it never lasts long enough.
  
• We mailed in our taxes the night before the deadline (also the night before we left on our trip). Usually we take care of all that as soon as we possibly can in February, but this year the time kept slipping away as we tried to decide whether to figure it all out ourselves or hire someone to make sure we're getting the more complicated stuff right. I finally found out an old friend had started an accounting business, and we were very happy to hand all of the "garbage" over to her. Let me know if you need a referral next year :)
  
• We had a fabulous time on our East Coast Baseball Tour. We have always mused about this idea with Andy and Mara, and this year we finally made it a reality--just in time to count it as Chris's graduation celebration, and in time to see Yankee and Shea stadiums before they're torn down.
  
• Unless we were totally lied to, our kids did a great job for their babysitters (a couple we are friends with through Chris's work, plus their 1-year old daughter), and our babysitters weren't entirely miserable.
  
• At the tail end of our trip, it just so happened that my Mom and sister Karen arrived in Salt Lake City (before we were back). They got to take over with our kids and had a great time. We were happy to spend more time with them when we got back. I love having my mom visit, because she is not only great company, but she is constantly trying to find projects around the house that she can help with or do for me. It was especially fun to see Karen, who recently returned from a mission to Chile. She is so great with our kids and she always captures lots of fun moments with the kids and family:

(click to enlarge)

• Chris conducted his first training on the Getting Things Done program (he was trained to teach it last month in Boston). He presented the training to a small group at work, and even let me come be a fly on the wall, observing. Actually, can I still call myself a fly on the wall if I couldn't help myself a few times and interjected a few observations of my own...? oops :)
  
• Tommy (6) is learning about plants right now and has been busy with an experiment testing whether sunflowers grow faster in a darker pot than in a lighter pot. I'm pretty sure the experiment should have been to see if a mother with no gardening know-how can help her son salvage dying plants. Another highlight of Tommy's month was attending his friend's birthday party at the Young Chef's Academy, where they wore chef's hats and made their own pizza.
  
• Michael (3) is reading beginner books to us now. One of our favorite series is the Bob Books (there's a great deal on a boxed set at Costco). This month we discovered that Michael doesn't like short sleeves. He was all excited about a new pair of striped frog pajamas that I got him--until he got the shirt on and was extremely frustrated as he tried to pull the sleeves down to his wrists. We tried explaining about changing seasons and weather which require us to wear shorter clothes (finally!), but he flatly refused, and now reminds us every night, "I don't want showt-sleeves."
  
• David (22 months) is slowly but surely adding to his vocabulary, but still not putting together any types of sentences. His most-used word is "ook-ook" or more often, "ook-ook-kk-kk-kk-kk." It means "look," and he repeats it all day long as he points to things. He has discovered counting, and the other day he entertained us in the van by pointing to his toes and counting to ten over and over. Even though he only weighs around 24 pounds or so, David seems so big (especially in comparison with his brothers). He fits into clothes as soon as Michael outgrows them. When people pick him up, they are often surprised at how solid he seems.

We're so excited that Spring has finally arrived in Utah (we think), and are looking forward to lots more fun...

East Coast Baseball Tour

Here's a not-so-quick rundown of the East Coast Baseball Stadium Tour that Chris and I took recently to celebrate Chris's graduation (and to celebrate the fact that all of our kids are old enough to be babysat, not to mention that we found someone willing to watch them!) It's a bit long-winded, since this doubles as a journal-entry, so please give in to the temptation to skim! (Click any pictures to enlarge)

Tuesday

• Slept through our alarms and rushed to make our 5 am flight
• Enjoyed the fact that we didn't have little kids on the plane with us, especially when one of our flights had to make an unplanned landing, leaving us sitting for 2 hours while they tried to fix a mechanical problem--only to eventually send us off in search of new flights
• Arrived in D.C. late at night, visited with my mom, dad, and sister Karen (just back from her mission)
• Borrowed Dad's fancy Toyota Prius to drive up to New Jersey, to Chris's Dad's place (arrived at about 3 am)

Wednesday

• Enjoyed a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast: Salt Bagels (we can't find them in the West), Boston Cream Donuts, and Chocolate Milk
• Took the train in to New York Penn Station
• Felt like a herd of cattle as we joined the press of pedestrians at Times Square
• Thoroughly enjoyed a performance of Wicked. We didn't know much about the plot or the music--both were great!
• Took the subway to Queens
  
• Met up with our friends Andy and Mara at our hotel, thanked them for the trememdous amount of thorough research they had done to find us a safe hotel without cockroaches (for less than $150!)
• Found an authentic New York pizza joint (no, not Sbarro!) and enjoyed a few slices of pie.
  
• Went to a Mets game (vs. Nationals). They won, but we didn't really care, since we spent most of our time watching the Yankees/Boston score updates on the side of the scoreboard.

Thursday

• Slept in and enjoyed a continental breakfast (again, without kids!)
• Made our way to Yankees stadium, hoping to get a tour, but prepared for disappointment
• Got in touch with some very generous friends-of-friends who live near Yankees stadium and let us park our bags at their NYC apartment for the day.
  
• Watched in amazement as Mara talked the ticket guy into selling us tickets for a sold-out stadium tour. Explored the stadium in awe, and even snuck in to the doorway leading from the dugout to the clubhouse.
• Made our way back to Times Square to look around a bit and find a Sushi restaurant Chris remembered from a "business trip" and wanted us to try (yummy).
• Made our way back to Yankee Stadium for a Yankee/Red Sox matchup.
  
• Watched batting practice, celebrated with Andy when he came out victorious after a fan-struggle for a foul ball and got it signed by a Red Sox player whose name we never did find out (even the Boston fans were stumped).
• Made our way up to the very highest row in the nosebleed sections, where I found out pregnancy, nausea, bright sunlight, and heights don't mix too well. Spent the first two innings picturing how I would look tumbling down through the crowd. Fortunately, I finally got used to it. Snuck down to 3rd row, 1st baseline seats during the last inning, just in time to see a Yankee home run, which unfortunately did NOT prevent them from losing.
• More New York pizza at the train station.
  
• Took the train back to New Jersey, arriving around 2 am, picked up by Chris's brother Jason, who was not only a great chauffeur but whose conversation with Chris provided great entertainment for us as we rode.
• Spent the night with S & O, generous friends from Chris's youth.

Friday

• Slept in a bit. Tried to overcome my fear of dogs long enough to make it to the shower at our friends' house without getting attacked (it turns out he was very huge, but very gentle)
• Listened while Chris and his buddy reminisced for hours about the good ol' days and all the mischief they have been in. This was almost as good entertainment as playing with their adorable little baby (almost cute enough to make us miss ours...)
  
• Another yummy breakfast of salt bagels and chocolate milk
• Drove around town looking for a Rita's with a mint-chocolate chip gelati on the menu. Mmmm.
• Made our way down to Baltimore. This time it was my turn to reminisce, as we relived some of the glory-days (and not so glory-days) of Corvallis parties, proms, parks, etc.
• Watched the Yankees play against the Baltimore Orioles. Sadly they lost, but we enjoyed peanuts, cracker jacks, and a great family atmosphere at the Camden Yards stadium (not as much beer consumption as what we saw in NY)
• Convinced Andy and Mara to skip their early AM flight home so they could stay longer with us
• Spent the night at my parents house; they had a houseful, since lots of people were in town for Karen's homecoming

Saturday

• Quick-tour of a few D.C. sites: Drove a loop around the mall to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol building; then walked around Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII memorials; walked up to the Renwick Gallery to see my favorite piece (Ghost Clock); walked over to peer through the gates toward the White House, but spent more time peering the other direction at the many interesting "professional demonstrators" that camp out there.
• Said goodbye to Andy and Mara at the airport, wiped away the tears, and wondered if we could survive the rest of the trip on our own.
• Joined my family gathered at Richard and Nancy's house, helping to build a beautiful fence. Enjoyed a yummy barbecue, Karen's mission pictures, and a rousing game of Pictionary. Started to miss my kids when I thought about how much fun they would have been having with their cousins. Spent the night at my parents

Sunday

• Missed my kids a little less when I realized my parents had afternoon church, and that we had nothing to keep us from sleeping in.
• Listened while Karen spoke about her mission at the Student Ward where my Dad is Bishop. Loved hearing about her experiences and testimony.
• Drove back up to New Jersey to have dinner and play games at Chris's brother Mike's house; spent the night at Chris's Dad's place.
  

Monday

• Salt bagels and donuts for breakfast (of course)
• Drove about 30-40 minutes to Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park (would have been a quicker drive if we could have figured out how to program the GPS navigator to not take us in circles).
• Walked up to buy our tickets and remembered that we never got a soda can to use as a buy-one-get-one-free coupon. Decided it wasn't worth $60 for me to go in and not even dare to ride the biggest rides, for the baby's sake. Chris and his brother went to the park for a few hours, while I waited in the car and read (yes, I broke down and decided to read the Twilight series. I won't say it's the best, most amazing thing I've ever read, but it was a light, quick read--ideal to have on a trip).
• Chris and Jason had a great time, although there is some discrepancy as to how scared Jason was of some of the bigger rides.
• Went to Riddle and Martins (our favorite mom and pop sub shop in East Brunswick) and ate huge, sloppy subs, dripping with oil and vinegar.
  
• Stopped at Rita's for gelatis again.
• Drove up to upstate New York, and stayed in a little hotel in Canandaigua.

Tuesday

• Survived a continental breakfast without a waffle-maker (that's a tell-tale sign)
• Visited some Church history sites near Palmyra, New York: The Hill Cumorah, The Sacred Grove, and The Palmyra Temple.
• Drove a few more hours up to Niagara Falls
• Saw the Falls from the American side, mourned the fact that the Maid of the Mist (the boat that takes you close to the falls) was not running, since there was too much ice in the water. Also mourned the fact that our camera was suddenly broken, and made-do with our phone camera:
• Drove a few hours down to Pittsburgh, met up with Roger and Chelsea and their girls to have dinner and see the Pirates game at PNC park (vs. Marlins). Apparently the Pirates aren't really known for winning (or so our waitress warned us), but they pulled out a win for us that night. It was a good thing, since we got to see fireworks and the raising of the Jolly Roger (see Chelsea's description here).
• Spent the night at Roger and Chelsea's house, which we've never seen and were very curious about since it's a real fixer-upper, and they've already remodeled their kitchen. We had a great time catching up with them, and we all missed the good ol' days when we were young marrieds in Provo who could stay up playing Password and Mario Kart late into the night as often as we liked.

Wednesday

• Enjoyed Roger's fantastic omelettes and said our goodbyes.
• Grabbed a Redbox movie for our journey home (can be returned anywhere, even back in SLC!)
  
• Made our way back down to DC. Got a phone call on the way down that our flight had been delayed enough that we would miss our connecting flight. Thanks to cell phones and my Dad's willingness to meet us at a different airport, we were able to get a new flight all squared away.
• Enjoyed an uneventful trip back to SLC

Thursday

• Were awoken at 5 am to the sound of 4 little footsteps running in to our bedroom. By far the happiest I've ever been to have my little boys wake me up so early. Had a great reunion full of excited, happy hugging. (But still sent them back to bed.)

Misc.

• Even though the trip was meant to be a Baseball Stadium Tour, I re-dubbed it a Public Restroom Tour, because--wow, did we use our share of those! I feel like I should write a review of every different brand and style of soap dispenser, automatic sink, paper-towel roll, and automatic blower. (Don't worry--I won't actually follow through on that one--but I will mention that there are now some pretty cool high-powered hand dryers that actually work!)
  
• We also spent a fair amount of time in the car--which at times was more fun than others. Read Chris's description here.
  
• We had a great time traveling with Andy and Mara. I think they had fun too, though traveling with us may have been a bit of an eye-opener. Read more about what they learned here.
  
• A huge thanks to all of our friends and family who fed, lodged, and transported us-- besides actually being willing to spend a little time with us!
• The hugest thanks to our amazing babysitters--E & S & little H--who kept our little guys safe, happy, fed, and alive, and having the best time ever. We even heard that the babysitters were sad to leave, which was amazing! My mom and Karen also get a shout out for taking over the last couple days of the babysitting (and they even managed without the 3-hour tour and instructions that I insist on giving all overnight babysitters!)

Well, it might be a while before we take another child-free vacation, so we're glad this one was so successful!