Our Summer Vacation

Since Asher's birthday is coming up, I figured I should probably post about our summer.  While in Albania, summer consisted of playing outside at the park, swimming in the pool, and playing with friends.  It was easy, and fun, and we had something to look forward to.  Our family reunion in Park City, Utah.  Yay!  

If there's one thing we look forward to in Albania, it's going back to the States and eating good food. :) That doesn't really give Albania the credit it deserves, but for everyone who has lived outside of the States, you can probably understand.  Of course we were excited to see our family again, and hang out, but eating good food was up there with seeing family ;)

Our trip started out a little rough.  I was travelling alone with Asher, since Sean had to stay and work.  I had to go through security twice, the second time for a stupid reason.  I packed my laptop in my luggage so I didn't have to worry about taking it out while going through security.  Yay for me, thinking ahead, making things easier, Right??  Apparently not.  After going through security once, and settling us down, I hear my name over the speaker to go back to the ticket check in.  I do this, and I find out it's because I had my laptop in my luggage.  So much for planning ahead and making things easier...  After taking care of that, the line for security and the line to get your passport checked are about three times as long as when I first went in.  I was pretty annoyed at this point.  We made it through the security again, throwing my three bags onto the belt, unloading Asher from the stroller, breaking it down, chasing after Asher as he runs through security, coming back, going through and getting all put together again.  I understand it's all for safety reasons, but it's such an annoying hassle.  Then onto the passport line where I wait, and wait, and wait.  Getting more and more frustrated as my boarding time was coming up, Asher had a dirty diaper, and I was just dreading the 18+ hour trip ahead of my.  I finally get closer, trying to bite back tears of frustration, and as I am second in line, the lady checking passports sees me, recognizes that I've already been through and says, "You don't need to do this again, pass on through"...  I about wanted to throttle someone at this point, but I thanked her, grumbling as I pass by, ten times more annoyed that I waited 20 minutes in a line that I didn't have to wait in and continued onto our plane.  

By this point, I am praying that this isn't how the rest of the trip is going to be.  The flight to Munich was fine, and then as we board our plane to find our seats, tragedy #2 strikes.  Let me insert a side note here.  The last time I flew back home, about a week before we left, I went online to see where we were sitting, only to find out we hadn't been assigned any yet.  I got what I could but learned my lesson, that once you buy the tickets, you have to go in and choose your seats... Then this second trip to the States comes around and I purchased the ticket, and immediately went on the site and chose my seats.  Back to present day.  I see our seats are right next to each other, and know I chose the two seats by the window, I go to sit down... only to find out the stupid airline changed out seats and had me sitting in the middle row (not the end of the world), but our row, and our row only, had arm rests that did not go up and down - but were a solid wall separating the seats.  Great if you are a traveling adult, end of the world if you are traveling with an active, restless little boy who needs as much room as possible to move around in and more importantly lie down in when it's time for him to sleep.  Cue breakdown from mom...Yes I'm a little embarrassed and ashamed of what ensued, but it got me what I wanted - the two seats by the window away from everyone else that I requested in the first place for this 9+ hour flight.  Unfortunately, I had pretty much all the stewardesses stopping by to make sure the lady who had the meltdown is not going to self destruct and cause anymore problems for them and the rest of the passengers.  *insert innocent smile here*

Other than that, oh and the unfortunate discovery that the brand new travel DVD player didn't work, grumble, grumble, grumble (I wanted to throw that thing across the plane I was so mad), the rest of the trip went smoothly - no delays, no lost luggage.  Yay!  I thought, great! Our month in Utah is going to be so much fun...  Well in some ways it was, but in other ways, things just went down hill from there :)  I'm such a complainer, haha, but sometimes a good venting every now and again is healthy, or so I think.

That first week or two there was... well, let's just say I want to forget most of it.  Between jet lag, a round of stomach flu that hit both Asher and myself, horrible sleep resulting in even more exhaustion, Asher needing constant attention/me in the room or he would fall apart, him not eating anywhere near his normal amount (once he was healthy again - what?  this is stressful!), Asher being a complete bully to the other kids (love him to death, but that kid fights dirty when he doesn't get what he wants - we're working on it :) ), Asher learning that he can climb out of the pack n play whenever he wants, and other womanly things, grr.  The final breaking point came at my brother's house (sorry you all had to see that! But what's new, "Shauna's getting emotional again..."  haha) when Asher threw his entire plate of food across their kitchen floor that I snapped and lost it in front of my entire family, bursting into tears, and running out of the room as fast as I could to pull it all together again - Proud moment of the year for me! *sarcasm*  

What did I gain from all of this?  A new found respect for single parents.  Not having Sean there to pass Asher off onto when I had needed a break was torture.  You are "on"  all the time, and that is exhausting.  I knew it was bad, but I didn't realize, and I even had family around to help out some!

Well, let's move onto the good parts of the trip, shall we?  #1 good thing - You know when you are going on vacation and you are driving up to the place where you're going to stay, and all along the way you pass these gorgeous, huge houses, and you are hoping that one of them is yours, only to find that yours is the tiny, falling apart house hidden between all the nice ones?  Well....WE GOT THE NICE HOUSE!!!  Woohoo!!

It's the one on the right

 Look at this place!  Four floors, two kitchens, two hot tubs, a pool table, gorgeous views, and….wait for it….an elevator! Hehe.  

Apparently, Asher was not happy to have his picture taken at the time :) 

It was really wonderful.  Oh, and just to top it all off, it was only about 3 minutes away from the shopping Outlets :D

Another great thing about his house?  Every morning (some earlier than others due to jet lag and Asher excitement with being about to get out of his crib by himself), we were able to experience some spectacular views…

 

The rising sun…

And the hot air balloons!  Almost every morning, there were at least a half dozen hot air balloons dotting the skies around us.  It was spectacular!  I wish we could have been in one of them, but seeing them was a special treat.

And the rainbows - Double Rainbow!!!!

And the hawks...

 Now, if there is one thing every winter “cabin” needs to be a winter “cabin” it would be this….

A ridiculously large head of some poor animal stuck right over the fireplace…Say hello to Bob the Buffalo.  Oh, and don’t forget his almost naked Indian friends (on the wall past him) :)

This buffalo was the source of much entertainment (for the adults) and much, rather warranted, suspicion (from the children).  For the first week or two, and definitely on occasion after that, Asher would constantly stop what he was doing, turn around, and look up at Bob with a face full of suspicion.  I’m pretty sure he was expecting poor old Bob the buffalo to come alive, jump off that wall and chase after him :)  It was pretty funny :)

  

Other than enjoying this lovely house, here are some of the things we did that made up for the other not so lovely parts of the trip :)

The area wasn't the greatest for letting the kids out to run around, but we were able to take some wonderful walks, with some more spectacular views.

We walked....

And jumped...

And planked..

And saw the sites...

And continued walking...

Threw rocks...

And played with rocks...

And hid behind rocks...

And then walked some more...

It was a great way to get out some energy before nap time or bed time!   And the clouds were sooo beautiful!

We also went to the park...

And played outside...

We loved playing with Grammy!

Even though Asher was on his "phone" the whole time :)

Where'd my phone go?

 We played Ring-Around-the-Rosie...

And watched the Olympics - "Go USA!!"  We had a lot of fun with everyone!

And of course, one of the main reasons for coming to the States - So Asher can play with and gain some good memories with his cousins :)  They all played really well together, unless one of the other kids played with a toy Asher decided he wanted at that exact moment :D  Besides that, they had a lot of fun together.

During arts and craft time, Asher discovered his pockets :) 

The Troublemaking Trio!

Asher borrowed Seth's new hat for awhile :)  He liked it!

 Seth, Asher and Andelyne decided to play sleep time - they were really cute!

Asher and Andelyne zoning out... probably watching Elmo.  That Elmo is baby crack!

Asher and Evan being goofy at Evan's house.  Little cutie pies :)  They are going to be Trouble!

Of course when you have a four level house, you have lots of stairs.  We were all a little nervous when we got there because the baby gates we brought weren't long enough to block the wide stairs.  We were sure that between the treacherous stairs and slate floors at least one child was going to fall and end up bloodied.  Mom made sure she knew where the nearest hospital was when we first saw the stairs, haha.  Fortunately, there were no accidents at all - yay!!  And Asher found other ways to keep himself entertained using the stairs...

He liked to watch the kids play pool on the 3rd level.  We will make a spy out of him yet!

Caught in the act!!

And so did everyone else :)

Ready? Set? Cheese it up!

I love this picture :)

Hanging out on the back porch.

Another reason we chose the weeks we did, was because we were having an extended Paul family reunion - Fun!  The first day we went to Jordanelle State Park, and had fun on the water.  We took a boat ride, where Asher was pretty much catatonic the whole time.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't scared, just super relaxed :)

Whereas Andelyne was free as a bird and showing her love of the water (and hatred of the life vest :) )

After the boat ride, Tade and I took a jet ski out onto the water.  It was fun trying to scare him a little with speed and lots of turns :)  He liked it though ;)

The next day we met up in a park in Alpine where we ate and played games... 

Seth loved the water balloon sling shot!

And Asher just loved the water balloons :)

Ready, set, throw!

And of course we had bubbles!

After the picnic, we went up to the neighborhood at the top of the point of the mountain in the Draper area and played in the water and ate a good BBQ.  Asher LOVED the water - maybe it had a little to do with the temperature of the water - soooo warm :)

Other than the family reunion part, we did get out and see some sites.  One of those places being Olympic Park in Park City.  We were pretty lucky to get there when the ski jumpers were practicing.  It was cool to watch them doing their flips and spins in the air.

The kids playing in the bob sled :)

We went into the museum part and saw all the items that were somehow related to the Olympics.  These big animals were in the opening ceremony.  Asher wanted to take a close look, "Horsie! - Neeeeigh"  He does a pretty sweet horse sound!

"Look Mom!  It's like Bob the Buffalo - only waaay less scary!"

No I did not urge him to give the buffalo a kiss!

Another trip was down to BYU - Look, The "Y"!!

Later on, Asher got to spend the day with Grammy!  He had a great time!  We went to build a bear, and Asher got a dog stuffed animal...He's in the box:

Then he "stopped and smelled the roses"  Pretty much literally.  He went to as many flowers as he could and smelled them all.  "Smell goot!" he said after every flower :)

Then Grammy got him a treat - Ice Cream!

Mmmmmmm, ice cream...

I know I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to sweets and things, what can I say - he's an only child, so I can control what he eats a lot more easily than when there is more than one.  I'm pretty sure this is the first time he's had an ice cream cone.  And he did a great job!  He didn't get very messy at all, and of course, he loved it!  "Thanks, Grammy!"

And here are some random pictures taken throughout our time in Park City...

  

Just because he has butterflies and flowers stuck all over his chest, does not make him any less manly. Once he was done here, I'm sure he went and pushed over one of the other kids just to prove it :)

I tried giving him a mohawk haircut after we had been there awhile.  It worked initially, but then it just all ended up blending together...I don't know what I'm doing, haha.  I gave it a try though!

In Park City, the older kids went to a science day camp at the Eco Center.  On the last day, they had a family picnic, and we all joined in.  They had a tower you could go up in and see the beautiful surroundings.  We had a fun time.

When all was said and done - The poor little boy was exhausted by all the new people, new places, and crazy schedules.  And as a result - he crashed :)  This is a very rare occassion, but when you refuse to take a nap on top of everything else, this is the result:

And of course you can't have a reunion without trying to get some family pictures...

All the cousins who came!  (Minus the babies)  We had so much fun with them!

And the majority of the people who were there for the month...

Yay for Park City!

 While rocky a lot of the time - overall, we are glad we went.  We had a great time with family, enjoyed some great shopping (yay), ate some wonderful food (I love Cafe Rio), and had some good times.  I had more pictures, but they are on a computer that is deciding it doesn't was to load windows...what can ya do?  This is us until next time - (Yay for business trips to Rome!)