Our First Family Trip...

To Ogden!

First, let me apologize. This turned out longer than I meant it to. I just started typing...and then I kept typing and typing and typing... So, I understand if you decide to only look at the pictures and read the captions! But as I mentioned before, the main reason for this blog is as a personal journal. So, long it shall be!

This was our first official family trip. Yes, we went to Washington, D.C. last year...but that was with extended family. This was our first family trip on our own. Despite the fact that I firmly believe that family trips always bring out the best and the worst (in individuals and in families as a whole), I would say that this trip was a success. And yes, this trip did bring out the best and the worst (let's just say that there's a reason why men are supposed to go off to work every day as opposed to staying with their families 24/7)! But mostly this trip brought out the best.

I would also like to defend our decision to take a trip to Ogden. I didn't want to do anything super elaborate with two little ones (especially when our littlest one still has to take naps every two hours). Besides that, I always thought it was cool that my Mom took us on trips to places in Utah. I think it's great that I've seen and visited things in my home state that most native Utahns haven't seen themselves. We had some great times on our trips to Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Provo, Ogden, and Logan! I plan to do the same with my family.

I'll give you the breakdown day by day.

Friday, September 2nd:

I packed our bags during the day (which got Peter really excited. He didn't know exactly what was up, but he knew something was up and he was super curious). We drove up to Ogden (in blasted rush hour Davis County traffic) on Friday night. Jeremiah left work a little early and got home shortly after four. We packed up the car, tidied up the house, and finished our last minute preparations. By the time all of that was done, we got on the road at about 5 p.m. Thank GOODNESS we bought a portable DVD player so that Peter could watch some movies during the drive. It made a world of difference.

We ordered take-out from a restaurant called "Roosters" on Historic 25th Street in Ogden. We picked it up, checked into the hotel, and took our food and a few bags up to our hotel room. By that time, Peter was really stir-crazy and he desperately needed to get out of his car seat. But once we were out, Peter could sense something in the air. He knew that fun adventures lay ahead of him.

The first adventure being easy access to an elevator. He has ridden an elevator before, but never this many times in such a short period. And let me ask you this: is it an innate thing for a person to jump right before an elevator comes to a stop? Because I have never shown this trick to Peter (and Jeremiah swears he hasn't either). But he very naturally jumped right before we reached our floor and he proceeded to jump on the elevator prior to each stop every single time he rode the elevator during our trip.

Once we got into the hotel room, we settled down and set up our food to eat. We blessed the food and began eating. Peter was fairly beaming. He was sooooo excited. We had only brought some of our stuff up with us, so I didn't have my camera or video camera. As a result, I will have to rely solely on my mind for what I know has become one of my most cherished family memories. Peter had the biggest smile on his face and kept laughing at the top of his lungs in-between bites of his dinner. I don't think I will ever forget the look of sheer excitement on his face and the "HA HA!...HA HA!...HA HA!" that went along with it. Jeremiah and I were just laughing and Peter was in bliss.

One of the things I love about being a parent and being married is that you have someone to share those moments with. There is nothing like catching your sweetie's eye as you both share a moment together that says something like "don't you just love our guy?" or "isn't he so sweet?" Your eyes and your hearts say it together. There's no need for words. I just can't even explain how special it is to share that love of your child through simple eye contact.

After we ate, we went to the hotel pool for a swim. In my opinion, the pool was FREEZING! And then on the other end, the hot tub was too hot for Jonathan. I spent the whole time going back and forth between sitting on the pool and hot tub steps--only waist deep. Jonathan liked to dangle his legs in the hot tub and try to grab the bubbles with his hands. But I knew it would have been too hot for him to be immersed. Thankfully for Peter, his Dad was much more adventurous and he played and played with him in both the pool and the hot tub. Oh, and I'll tell you, Peter has NO fear of the water. Which is a good thing...and a bad thing. You have to watch that boy like a hawk. And I wonder how many times I'll have to tell Pete not to run on the tile before he actually listens.

Once we were done swimming, we went back to our rooms and gave the boys a bath. We then put the guys in pajamas and prepared to bed down for the night. I shared a bed with Jonathan and Jeremiah shared a bed with Peter.

Above: Pete having fun with the cool hotel pillows.

Above: Jonathan getting cozy in bed.

Thus began one of the longest nights of my life! Surprisingly, the boys did pretty well going to sleep. I think they were both plenty tuckered out. But Jonathan didn't take too kindly to sleeping in a new place and he proceeded to wake up about once every 1-2 hours throughout the whole night. Perhaps the night seemed even longer because the hotel clock was off by about an hour and 45 minutes (one of those clocks that gets their time from a satellite...which is surprisingly less than accurate). And at some point during the night (it's fuzzy in my mind...but I think it was around 3 a.m.), Peter suddenly decided that he didn't want to share a bed with Daddy. Only Mommy would do. Jonathan was actually asleep during that kerfuffle, so in order to keep the peace (and maintain silence), Jeremiah and I switched beds.

This complicated matters for me, however. Jeremiah can (and does) sleep through anything. He won't hear Jonathan unless he is screaming at the top of his lungs and has been doing so for at least 20 minutes. So, it made it harder for me to sleep soundly because I was afraid that I wouldn't hear Jonathan until he was fussing loud enough to wake Peter up. I had to pop up out of one bed and hop over to the other to quiet Jonathan down. I also had to hunt for wayward binkies (which always seem to find their way under Jeremiah). By about 4:30 a.m., I couldn't handle it anymore and I just got up and tinkered around on the computer for a little over an hour. I got back into bed a little before 6 a.m.

Above: Our first morning at the hotel.

Saturday, September 3rd:

The boys woke up for the day at 6:30 a.m. (about an hour earlier than they usually wake up).

Luckily for me, I have become used to having a lousy night's sleep and I am able to successfully function on very little sleep. Not so for Jeremiah. And while, comparatively, he got a lot more sleep than I did, he got less than he usually does, so the trip had a lot of rough spots for him because he felt very sleep deprived.

We ordered breakfast (take-out) from IHOP and ate in our hotel room. I know Pete and he has no great love for restaurants. I figured it would be easier for all of us if we opted out of dining in. We took our time getting ready for the day since our first stop was to the Union Station train museum (which didn't open until 10 a.m.). We found a store nearby and bought some snacks (which I had been thwarted in buying. I meant to get snacks for the boys during the day on Friday, but packing took longer than I expected). Then, we went for a drive so that Jonathan could take a morning nap. I knew we would have a few complications due to the fact that Jonathan can still only be awake for two hours (tops) at a time. But, on the whole, I think we worked it in quite well. Again, thank goodness for the portable DVD player. It made Peter much more amenable to our frequent leisurely drives.

Once Jonathan woke up, we went to the train museum. It's really cool because the train museum is housed in the old Union Station. One of the great things about Ogden is that they have preserved a lot of their historic buildings. It is one of the things that makes Ogden unique. Peter LOVED the museum. It's really a fun museum. Outside the museum are a number of actual (though retired) trains that you can climb on and around and explore up close. It was a lot of fun for Peter. Inside the museum, they have a really fun and expansive model train. Peter had a great time following its path. The train museum is also a car museum and a firearms museum (we didn't get to check out that portion of the museum). Though Peter was very disappointed (understatement...basically, he had a tantrum) when he discovered that you couldn't get up close and personal with the cars the way you could with the trains. I took him outside while Jeremiah looked at the cars with Jonathan.

Above: Peter exploring the big trains with Daddy.

Above: Jonathan driving the train while Mommy stands by.

Above: Jeremiah cheerfully waiting for his train.

Above: Ogden's beautifully preserved Union Station.

Above: Pete and Daddy checking out the model train (or the "baby train" as Pete called it).

Above: Jeremiah reading up on some classic cars.

Above: Peter outside while Dad reads up on classic cars. Park City has it's moose statues and Ogden has its horses. These horses line Historic 25th Street. Pete loved them.

After the museum, Jonathan had reached his limit again and it was almost time for Peter's nap as well. As a result, we didn't really have time for lunch. Jeremiah and I were still full from breakfast anyway. As often happens, however, the boys' naps didn't coincide. Jonathan fell asleep while Peter happily and quietly watched TV. Just as Peter and Jeremiah fell asleep, Jonathan woke up. I didn't exactly know what to do. I contemplated playing with him in the bathroom to avoid waking Pete and Jeremiah up. Instead, I opted to go for a drive with Jonathan and pick up some things at the store that we had forgotten that morning. I decided to pick up some things for breakfast and lunch so that we wouldn't have to buy anything on Sunday (too bad it didn't work out, as you will see! At least I had good intentions). I figured that we could get room service at the hotel for dinner.

At the store, I went a little crazy and got way more produce than I meant to. It just all looked so good! I have to do the grocery shopping for my in-laws and a lot of the time, once I reach the produce section there isn't enough room in my cart to get the fruits that I would like to get. And I don't know about you, but grocery shopping once a week is my max. It's just unrealistic for me to think that I can get out again during the week to buy produce for me to snack on. Did I buy too much fruit? Yes. But I hadn't had nectarines in such a long time and I justified that it could be my "souvenir" for the trip. I also thought it would be nice to have some healthy snacks to eat throughout the day (or with breakfast) on Sunday. Anyway, the story of the produce comes in to play more later in my story.

After Jonathan and I went to the store, he dozed off in the car, so I decided to drive up the street for 15 minutes, turn around and drive back for 15 minutes so that he could get at least a 30 minute nap. I had a nice, relaxing little drive and got a good lay of the land. Jonathan woke up and I picked up a small lunch for Jeremiah. We got back to the hotel at about 3 p.m. Only ten minutes after both Peter and Jeremiah woke up.

We needed to rush off to the Treehouse Children's Museum because they closed at 5 p.m. Seriously, can you tell me why so many kid-friendly and family-friendly establishments close so early? Yeah, I get the fact that kids have to go to bed early, but don't they also realize that people work and kids nap and sometimes the only time you can go somewhere is after 5 p.m.? Peter was dragging his feet. He didn't understand where we were trying to go and that more fun was in store for him. So, it was rough trying to get him dressed again and out the door (any time that guy gets home, he immediately strips down to his diaper. Seriously, I can't keep him dressed at home).

We got to the museum at 3:30 p.m. which left Peter with an hour and a half to play. He immediately started out his play time with a tantrum. Lovely! The reason being that he was over-excited from the trip, had less sleep than normal, and because he didn't want me to leave (I was trying to go back to the car to take back our diaper bag and stroller because the museum didn't allow you to take them with you--you had to leave them at the front and I hate doing that because I'm always fearful that someone will steal them). We eventually got Peter calmed down and then he had a grand old time playing and playing. This museum is a lot of fun. They have a lot of fun areas. Very pro-imagination. I like the children's museum in Salt Lake, but to me it seems like a "play with these cool toys...and then buy them from us in our gift shop before you leave" kind of place. The Ogden museum had a miniature Oval Office, a pioneer section, an art section, a medieval knights section, play houses from around the world, a fun tree to play in, a train section, a dinosaur section, a farm section, etc. Peter would have been happy to stay indefinitely in the knight section. He was having so much fun building castles and placing knights on their steeds, in addition to listening to the kids who were putting on a play called "The Kid's Show" on the stage in front of the castle building area.

Basically, "The Kid's Show" consisted of these kids (three main girls with a few minions) broadcasting at the tops of their voices "Welcome to 'The Kid's Show!' We will be starting in 3 minutes!" Which was repeated each minute in countdown form. Their plot was a little thin, but I was proud of them for pulling it together at the end. Somehow, these girls sung in unison "This is the end of 'The Kid's Show!'" I'm not sure how they happened upon the same melody and pitch, but they did it. That alone one my vote for their play. I would give it a good solid 3 out of 4 stars because of the unified ending and due to the fact that Peter was riveted from beginning to end.

We finally pulled Peter away from the knights so that he could explore the other sections of the museum. He saw them all just in time.

Above: Jeremiah as the next president of the United States. I informed him that he was a little under-dressed for the job and he told me that if he was the president, he would dress this way all the time. So, there you have it.

Above: Queen Sarah and Prince Jonathan. I guess we're a little under-dressed for our jobs too.

Above: Watching "The Kid's Show" and playing with knights.

Above: Dad, I don't think you're quite capturing the vision I have here.

Above: Dad demonstrating how to ride a horse in the farm section of the Treehouse Children's Museum.

Above: Pete playing in the Mexican themed play house. He was, of course, selling me food and explaining that cheese came with the burgers.

Above: Pete going fishing in the Japanese play house section.

After the museum, we got dinner at Costa Vida and on the spur of the moment, we decided to go miniature golfing at Fat Cats. I happened to have a Happening's coupon for it, so it made the last minute decision seem not so indulgent. Well, Jonathan had a meltdown during our miniature golf game because he needed a nap. Our game was cut short (which was no biggie because Peter doesn't really understand miniature golf and he basically kept picking up the balls and throwing them in the holes for us. Jeremiah and I maybe got to take a total of 4 swings at the ball each). I opted to take Jonathan out to the car for a nap. Jeremiah and Peter stayed inside and went bowling. Peter came out the victor by bowling a 125...while sadly, Jeremiah didn't break 100. Jeremiah helped Peter, of course, but we both got a kick out of the fact that Pete beat his Dad at his first game of bowling. It sure beats my sister, Laurie's, first bowling score...which if I am not much mistaken, was a 6.

Above: Peter waiting patiently for us to get everything out of the car before going to get dinner.

Above: Dad and Jonathan having a man to man talk during dinner at Costa Vida.

Above: Jonathan and Daddy looking ghostly under the miniature golf black lights.

After our full day, we went back to the hotel. I got Jonathan down to bed and then cuddled up with Peter to watch Toy Story on our computer. As we had pre-arranged, Jeremiah snuck off to meet his brother at the Saloman Center to go surfing on the Flowrider there. Peter fell asleep in my arms and I dozed off briefly myself. Jeremiah got back from surfing at about 10:15 p.m. and we both went to sleep. Jeremiah in the same bed as Peter and me in bed with Jonathan. Jonathan slept a lot better that night. He only woke up 2 or 3 times. Peter again woke up in the middle of the night and insisted on snuggling Mommy. So, we had to switch beds at about 3 a.m. again.

Above: Jonathan looking as cute as can be snuggled up in the hotel bed.

Above: Jeremiah surfing the waves at Flowrider. He and his brother, Bri, had a great time. Though according to Jeremiah, it's different than actual surfing and nothing can quite prepare you for the falls that you will inevitably take. Jeremiah was pretty sore for the remainder of our trip. But he had so much fun that he would do it again.

Sunday, September 4th:

The boys woke up at about 6:45 a.m. I felt more rested than the night before, but Jeremiah was ready to throw in the towel. He threatened that we should just head home. This made me super mad at him...so, the day started off cranky. Jeremiah does not do well with less sleep than normal. Besides that, Jeremiah had somehow gotten sick. He was pretty sure he had a sinus infection. Jeremiah argued that the boys weren't sleeping well and Peter was having tantrums here and there. However, I thought the boys were doing much better than I expected. I knew they wouldn't sleep as well as they do at home and I knew that Peter would get over-excited and have a few tantrums. Plus, I was bugged at the possibility of having our plans thrown out of whack. We had already promised Peter that he could see the airplanes (at Hill Airforce Base) and the dinosaurs (at the Eccles Dinosaur Park) and I was trying to figure out a way that he could see both so that we didn't renege on our promises to him. Jeremiah retracted his threat to end the trip and things settled down and went back to normal.

My hopes to avoid the store on Sunday were dashed because Jeremiah had to get some medicine for his sinus infection. After stopping at the store, we took a short drive so that Jonathan could catch a morning nap. We then went to the Hill Airforce Base Aerospace Museum to see the airplanes. I figured that it was a good Sunday outing because it was free admission, volunteer based work, with donations encouraged. I don't know, it just felt like a wiser Sunday decision.

After Hill Airforce Base, we took another short drive so Jonathan could get another nap. Peter wanted to see the trains again. While the museum was closed, the outdoor trains were still accessible, so Peter and Jeremiah played on the trains while Jonathan slept. I caught a quick 15-20 minute (much needed) cat nap as well. Then, we picked up some lunch for Peter (who didn't want to eat the lunch I had picked up the day before at the store--again, thwarted in my efforts to avoid stores on Sunday!). We went back to the hotel and finished our lunches and then we all settled down and all four of us took a two hour nap at the same time! Whoohoo! I love it when Jonathan's and Peter's naps cooperate with each other (basically, any time I can catch a nap too, I'm happy!).

Above: Peter excitedly checking out all the airplanes.

Above: Exploring the underbelly of an airplane.

Above: About to enter the inside of the airplane museum.

Above: Just hanging out by one of the Wright Brother's airplanes.

Above: Demonstrating how the airplanes go high up in the sky.

Above: Having a great time with my Daddy.

After our naps, we decided to take a walk on the Ogden River Parkway. It was really pretty (though the sun was in our eyes during the first part of our trip). We stopped at a bench by the river so that we could feed Jonathan a bottle and some baby food. Then, we headed back in the other direction. Peter was meandering (he likes to take his time), so we decided that I would walk back with Jonathan to the car and bring it back to them. I was almost back to the car when I realized that Jeremiah had the keys. Darn it! This has already proven to be a problem in the past. We need to get used to carrying our own keys at all times, because it has happened more times than I can count where one of us needed to get into the car, but the other person had the keys. So, I turned around (back into the sun) and caught up with Pete and Jeremiah (who had also realized that he had the keys and I didn't).

Above: Peter playing while Jonathan eats his bottle at the Ogden River Parkway.

Above: One of Pete's favorite past times...throwing things into rivers.

Above: Pete stopping for a quick drink along the Ogden River Parkway.

Above: Following the straight and narrow as he walks the line...that long and winding road...

Above: At least Pete doesn't have to walk it alone.

Above: Jonathan was just as happy as can be. He thoroughly enjoyed our walk.

Above: In fact, Jonathan was downright jolly. Every time I checked on him to see how he was doing, he burst into uproarious laughter! Daddy and Peter are enjoying themselves in the background.

Above: Me getting artistic with the camera. Okay. I know, I know. I'm no artist.

We got back to the car and started loading the boys in when Jeremiah exclaimed loudly. From the way he made it sound, someone had either died or come to great bodily harm. Instead, Jonathan had a poopy diaper blow out. I didn't exactly understand why Jeremiah reacted the way he did because diaper blow outs happen. No, they aren't fun, but they are a part of life when you are the parent of a baby. Besides, Jonathan had 2 or 3 blow outs on this trip (when you're constantly out doing things and your schedule is thrown out the window, it's a lot easier to lose track of when you changed diapers last). But I discovered that Jeremiah does not deal well with diaper blow outs. Ha ha! A conversation regarding diaper changing, sleep, and other parenting duties ensued, but I won't go into it further. Oh, that Mumu of mine!

Above: Jonathan enjoying some time in the front seat (the only place we had room to change his diaper) after his blow out.

Above: How can you be mad at me when I'm as cute as cute can be and I have sweet, fat, squishy, squeezable thighs?

We went back to the hotel and ordered room service for dinner (again, I had a Happening's coupon!). We had thought about going swimming again, but honestly, none of us had the energy and Peter seemed content to take it easy and hang out in our hotel room. So, we decided to see if there were any movies worth ordering on the TV. We ordered Cars 2 (for $16! Geez! We could have bought the DVD for that price!). Before the end of the movie, Peter and Jonathan had both fallen asleep. Night night! Both of them slept even better this night than the other two nights.

Above: Brothers and Daddy enjoying some good times.

Above: Jonathan loves to hold Pete's hair/head and Pete loves to blow on Jonathan's belly. A win/win situation, really.

Monday, September 5th (Labor Day):

The boys woke up bright and early again. Jonathan had a leaky diaper on Jeremiah (tee hee!), so they both took a bath while I took Peter and got us some breakfast at McDonald's. After eating, we got dressed and packed everything up so that we could check out of the hotel.

I ransacked the hotel room trying to find a part of a toy that Peter had lost (the roof of a toy train that we bought for Peter as a souvenir at the train museum). It turned out to be in the car. And with all of my ransacking, I failed to notice that I left my cell phone charger plugged in to the wall. Despite repeated calls to the hotel that evening and the next day, I think my cell phone charger will have to be considered a casualty of our trip. They really seemed to care less. I mean, people must have forgotten things in their hotel rooms before, right? They acted like such a thing had never happened before and that it wasn't worth their time or bother. Blah! I guess that will be a lesson to me to always check the plugs before checking out of a hotel room to make sure that we have absolutely everything before we leave.

Jeremiah and I had come up with a silly way to preserve the produce that I had bought at the grocery store. I used two garbage bags (double bagged) and filled it with some ice from the hotel. I then put all of the produce in another garbage bag and tied that up and placed it in the garbage bag(s) filled with ice. Jeremiah had taken the boys and a few bags down to the car, so I had a ton of stuff to carry down to the car. I didn't want to make multiple trips, if I could help it, because I didn't want Peter to freak out because I had to leave again. As a result, all of the things I had to carry were quite heavy (especially the bag with the fruit and the ice), so it was really hard to get it to the car. However, I succeeded and Jeremiah popped the trunk. I left the bag of fruit on the sidewalk so that I could put the other things in the trunk. Jeremiah said "Sarah, did you bring down the bag of garbage? The maid would have taken care of that." I said "No, that's the fruit." And then I proceeded to pack the other things into the trunk. When I turned around to get the fruit, it was gone. I shouted for Jeremiah, who was also gone. I realized that he had thrown the fruit away in the dumpster ($30 worth of fruit)! When he came back, I said "Jeremiah! You just threw away our produce!" I was so frustrated because he hadn't listened to me.

After I told Jeremiah that he had thrown away our fruit, he went back to the dumpster and pulled out the bag of fruit. It was on the top and it had been encased in a total of 3 clean garbage bags, so it was still fine. We had to discard the bags with the ice because the bags had been scraped and the ice had already started to melt and the bags had started to leak. But again, the day started off cranky.

But long story short, after apologies and explanations on both sides, we went on our way again. We stopped at a park so that Peter could play for a bit since the dinosaur park hadn't opened yet. He played until the dinosaur park opened.

Once we got to the Eccles Dinosaur Park, Peter had already put in a full day (and it was only 10 a.m.), so he was kind of worn out. He was a little afraid of some of the dinosaurs at first and had a few meltdowns, but he got his second wind and we had a good time exploring the dinosaur park.

Above: Pete checking out the T-Rex in awe.

Above: A wooly rhinoceros? Who knew?

Above: Mom and the boys next to a triceratops skull.

Above: Pete checking out some rocks that look just like food. I prefer my rocks medium...that rock looks a little too rare for my tastes.

Above: Jonathan being his sweet smiley self.

Above: Daddy protecting Pete from the T-Rex.

Above: Mommy and Jonathan blissfully unaware that the T-Rex could pose any threat. (And geez, I've got to drop the last of my baby weight!)

Above: Heading out of the museum and into the dinosaur park.

Above: Playing in a triceratops skull on the playground.

Above: No fear of dinosaurs when Mommy's holding me!

Above: Doing what else? Selling Mommy hot dogs, ice cream, burgers, and fries.

Above: Daddy and Jonathan exploring a cave full of dinosaur bones. Scary!

Above: Pete might be a little hesitant to enjoy the BBQ festivities. Perhaps he worries that we're next on the menu!

Above: Jonathan is just happy to be here!

Above: Peter is admiring the momma and baby stegosauruses.

Above: Just posing.

Above: Starting where we began. This is the only picture with all four of us during this vacation. I was able to use my camera's timer feature. I propped it up on a wooden post in front of the triceratops. We didn't really have any other secluded/uncrowded moments where this was a possibility. And it was kind of a one-shot thing. Pete was done posing for pictures after this was taken. Besides the fact that Peter is holding a stick in front of his face, I think it turned out nicely!

Above: It was a windy day, so I had some major "Momma, hey Momma" hair going on. The last time I got it cut, the helpy helperton hairdresser decided to do some fancy things to help get rid of my split ends. But she didn't do me any favors...now I have constant fly-a-ways! But she was a nice girl...and she meant well. I just don't think she realized how often I have to wear my hair up these days because I simply don't have the time to do my hair every day like I once did!

As for the trip, all good things come to an end and Jonathan needed a nap (again!), so it was time to go. We packed ourselves up in the car, grabbed some lunch to eat on the drive, and headed home where we unpacked and everything got back to normal (until the boys caught Jeremiah's cold the day after we got back, darn it!).

Even though our trip had some stressful moments and tensions were high at times, I think it was a complete success. We all had good times and I think we built some good memories.