Cody, Wyoming

A few weeks ago we went to Cody, Wyoming to see my sister and her husband. Have you been there? I'm sure I've mentioned it quite a few times because we often find ourselves traveling there more than anywhere else it seems. It's this quaint cowboy town that boasts itself on the shoulders of Buffalo Bill, all things western, and the Cody Night Rodeo. It's also home to a Rib n' Chop House which has always landed itself on our top choices of eateries, fried green tomatoes with a cajun aoili? Yes, it's to die for. 

Supposedly from our house to theirs the fastest route is through Yellowstone National Park but I'm a bit skeptical, everyone seems to screech to a sudden and abrupt stop at the siting of every bear, elk, and  Uinta Ground Squirrel so the drive usually takes three times as long, but again I'm told it's the fastest route. Once there we had the good fortune of going to the Buffalo Bill Museum, which if by happenstance you seem to find yourself in the Northern parts of Wyoming it's a must see.  It just so happens that my brother has been working there this Summer before he jets off to England for grad school so our tour guide unfortunately had to succumb to a vast amount of questions that really had no relevance to Buffalo Bill and most of which centered around the obscure uses of guns, particularly a gun with a bayonet made specifically for the Boy Scouts of Australia. Can you imagine giving boy scouts bayonets? It really was a mind boggling predicament that we debating for way too long.  

Our trips to Cody usually are so short that we come and go in a matter of two days  so we always try to pack them with as much fun as possible. Kambrie and Joel took us into the mountains to check out an abandoned goal mining town called Kerwin. The drive is accessible by truck but we took the four wheelers to make it a little more fun. I wish I would have taken my camera along the drive but Brecken decided to tag along which turned out to be much better than picture taking anyway. He just kept giggling and peering under John's arm trying to get a glimpse of where we were going. Each time we would hit a bump he would lean his head back against my chest laughing until the wind caught him off guard. It was so a great memory that I don't even think picture taking would have done it justice. It was a great weekend. Go to Cody. Book a flight. Rent a car. Whatever you do, put it on our Bucket List for your Wild West Exploration. And try roasting Starbursts over the campfire. mind. blown. That's all.

Now I'm off to systematically keep packing each room in our house. We still have a month to go in our rental, but when you get the itch you get the itch? You know what I mean. 

Sunny AZ

We're all sick here. I usually make it through all the bugs and germs without a snitch of cold, but this one is coming in with a fiery. Sore throats, running noses, ugly coughs, and no-eating-all-day-sleeping babies have been on the docket for the past four days. So here I sit all stuffy nosed and sore throat-like trying to type because there is much more you can do when you can't talk and it's like -36 degrees outside.  really....

And I just started to torturing myself even more by looking back on pictures of our trip and I thought, "Halsey, you completely forgot to post pictures of Arizona!" It must have been meant to be because these pictures are the only things holding me over. Did I mention that our propane tank is at 10% as well so John turned down the heat to 60 degrees (remember it's -36) and now there are three space heaters heating our entire house. I tell ya what, this day just keeps getting better. 

Anyway, back to Arizona. This was my maiden voyage to sunny AZ. Crazy, right (especially, since I'm from Utah ). It really was all I expected and more--basically the epitome of perfection in my book. I am a creature of warmth so I'm sure you can imagine how I flourished in the sunny, arid, dry heat without a stitch of humidity. I remarked time and time again to John that I could stay in Arizona, I would need the kids flown down of course... While there we stayed at The Boulders, a resort north of Phoenix. Literally (and I use that word in the literal sense) it was hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen--small bungalow-style casitas with a southwestern flare, beautiful golf courses, amazing food, a gorgeous spa (I got a full body scrub and at one time I felt like I was being water boarded..a story for another time..) and a small hike to view some of the more serene desert views.

I really could go on and on gushing about the place. It's one of those places you have to see to believe. And believe me, it's worth seeing. 

Cali forn I A

Last week John and I went to California and Arizona (without the kids). It was a little bit of work and a whole lot of fun, and it's crazy the amount of activities you can jam into a day when you're not packing around two babes. I was a bit of an emotional roller coaster leaving the kids for the first time, but Brecken reassured me throughout the week that he would rather live with Grandma and his cousins than with me anyway. No worries on his end I suppose. 

I had high hopes of documenting our entire trip--between the rides and roller coasters I only managed to pull out my camera while deep sea fishing. Which was a marvel in itself because I was doped up on Zofran and praying for the moment I could kiss the dirt again. John on the other hand is a lover of movement so any activity that forced my head in between was legs warranted. And he's no slouch when it comes to scheduling either. We managed to pack in Santa Monica Pier, Malibu, Universal, a Clippers Game, Newport Beach, deep sea fishing,  Medieval Times (John's choice), annnnnd Disneyland all in a 3.5 day period. And I was nauseated the entire time. I'm not much for rides or water or roller coasters so each day was a new form of torture. On our last day, which happened to be Disneyland, John remarked, "you are a trooper for doing this." Yeah, I know (blehk). 

John had also lived in California for a few years so he was comfortable driving which was great for me but bad for the nausea. The constant swerving in-and-out of traffic culminated with California's rolling hills and less than straight roads just added to my vertigo. BUT all the nausea aside it felt so great to feel the sun's warmth and walk around in something other than a parka and snow boots. Boots are cozy but sandals are my go-to apparel. And palm trees, well they kind of speak my language. The humidity was a bit of a culture shock when we've become so accustomed to our arid high desert/mountain environment and my hair was va-va-voom  the entire tripe which made a pulled up bun a necessity. The alternative resembles Medusa if you can imagine.

Hands down the highlight of the trip was Disneyland. Have your been to California Adventure before? It was amazing! We just can remarking how much our kids would love it--I'm sure we said it a hundred times. And Radiator Springs! Wow, Disney gets an A+ on awesome and mind blowing. It was life-like and huge and just like the movie. Our goal was to hit up Disneyland by ourselves since neither of us had been there since childhood and scope out what we must do with the kids and to actually determine if they were ready to go. Addy may still be a bit small, but Brecken would be in heaven. I can't imagine going back again without the kids but for a first-go around as adults it was so much fun to see the park without having to man handle little ones while reading the map. 

Cali was warm, and fun, but deep down I kind of missed my open (and smog-free skies) and snow. Ha! Who am I kidding. Fact: I am not a fan of snow.