North Carolina...THROW YOUR HANDS UP

Well, there is a replacement blogger for this entry. Brandy needed a little break so Hubby has stepped up and taken the reins. I can only hope to be as humorous as my lovely wife...I will Do My Best and Forget The Rest. Our most recent (and final) summer vacation landed us in North Carolina to visit Grammy and Grandpa Peter. Last time Mikayla visited NC, she was not mobile. She was in heaven this trip. She had a new place to explore and things to play with. Mikayla had a blast being the center of attention, once again. I think Brandy is conducting some "reprogramming" this week.

It was wonderful spending time with Mom and Peter. Brandy and I tried our best to stay strong and adhere to our diets. We did a pretty good job until we went to Calabash Creamery and then all hope was lost.

Grammy and Mikayla shared an ice cream sundae...kind of. Mikayla really enjoyed the whipped cream and cherry on top. Grammy REALLY enjoyed the delicious ice cream with caramel. You do not see Brandy and my sundaes because they did not last long enough to get a picture. I had to keep asking myself "Why am I on a diet???" I could not come up with a good answer with ice cream in front of me.


At the creamery, we had another encounter with cows. However, this time Mikayla was able to pet the cows. She still thinks all four legged animals are doggies. I think the creamery was a hit for all...so much so we made a return trip. We needed to make sure the first trip wasn't a dream.

Mikayla's big adventure was her FIRST trip to the beach. She played in the sand and in the water. Grandpa Peter was so excited to take Mikayla to the beach. He had the honor of taking her to the ocean.


Mikayla absolutely loves the water. She saw a HUGE swimming pool (the Atlantic Ocean) and off she went, "sprinting" to the water.


Grammy and Mikayla playing in the sand, trying to make sand castles.

However, Grammy's main task was to get Mikayla water from the ocean. Mikayla would then dump it out. It was quite comical to watch.

We also spend a couple of mornings at the pool at Grammy's house.


I am not sure how had more fun playing at the pool, Grammy or Mikayla...We will call it a toss up.

Mikayla got to show off her aquatic skills while mommy critiqued her form. We think Mikayla will be getting some swim scholarships any day now.

The last night in North Carolina, we decided to go out for dinner. Mom and Peter picked a "local" place called Inlet View. Brandy and I were a little worried after we turned left and right and left and right down what I would call country roads. But we arrived at a great family run restaurant that served great food and fantastic views.



We had a great time on our North Carolina adventure. I don't know who is missing who more, Mikayla or Grammy. For the sake of argument, I will call it a DRAW.

The Great Outdoors

"Did someone say 'Let's go camping'?"

Well, we took a chance...camping with the wee one, and it turned out splendidly! We went up to a campground near Hanna, Utah to escape the desert heat and landscape. Utah is quickly becoming my favorite state in the Union and this trip helped solidify its ranking. Oregon is in the running, but given I've never been there, Utah definitely has an advantage.

On the way up I had a talk with Mikayla that went something like, "There are only two things that will make this trip a bust...rain and a baby who doesn't sleep at night. Let's focus on what we, and by "we" I mean you, can control." My little speech worked and the baby slept great at night. We did have to contend with the rain a little, but not enough to ruin the trip.


Where Mikayla has learned to give the camera a big grin, Hubby delights in perfecting his scowl.


It turned out our campground was part of an open range for cows. Initially this was novel when they were separated by us with a fence. But when we woke the next morning they were literally in our campground, the novelty wore off. They would have been in our campsite if they could muster a little bravery. Actually, one tried, but that story in a bit.

Mikayla is picking up a few words, one of which is "Hi" and one of which is "doggy". Every time she saw a cow (all day on Monday) she would say "Hi doggy" and I would say "Hi cow" and she would say "Hi doggy" and I would say "Hi cow" and on and on to infinity, so you see we kept pretty busy all day greeting the 20 or so cows in our campground. I also had my hands full directing her away from the cows; since she thinks they're dogs, she thinks they're free for the petting. Lots of learning in the great outdoors!

One thing that I learned is that when Old McDonald says he has a "Moo moo here and a moo moo there. Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo", he isn't exaggerating, cows are noisy and enough of them stay awake at night to keep the party going.

So Monday night as I'm putting Mikayla to bed in the tent I hear a cow very VERY close to our tent and I would have mistaken the noise he was making for a bear growl if there hadn't been 20 cows in our campsite all day. The next thing I hear is Hubby banging a stick and shouting "GET OUT OF HERE BULL!" repeatedly. Fortunately the bull retreated, but in his effort to intimidate Hubby, he rubbed his nose in cow poop. I was relieved that Hubby didn't feel pressure to do the same! Needless to say, we were happy when we woke up Tuesday morning and the cows had moved on.


Prepping for a hike at 10,000'! The temperature was marvelous, unfortunately marvelous for the mosquitoes as well, but once we got moving they weren't too bad (if you ask me, not Hubby).





When we weren't battling cows, we went hiking and enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery and fresh air.


Mikayla enjoyed playing around the campsite and getting dirty. I love the little dusty bottom!




We did have to hide in the tent during a few thunderstorms one afternoon, so it gave Hubby time to practice smiling for the camera. I think he's making progress, if you ignore the sarcasm on his face!


On the last day we drove into Park City, Utah, which hosted several of the Olympic Events during the 2002 Winter Games. We spent the afternoon walking their Historic Main Street and enjoying nachos and a few sweet treats. Here, Mikayla is really enjoying the nachos!

All in all we had a great time, and will definitely make room for future camping trips.