bike ride

Crystal Cove and Orange Groves

December 30, 2018 by Rebecca Whitehead

Christmas break was extra exciting for the girls since Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike flew from Portland and Uncle Mike and Ali drove from Wyoming to play! The girls were so excited to hang out at Crystal Cove Beach with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Mike and Grammy. From hiking down the cliffs and hunting for sea creatures in the tidepools to enjoying sandwiches and views at the Shake Shack, the girls loved playing tour guide. Photos by Aunt Sarah!

A little chilly for boardshorts, but that didn’t stop Meredith from splashing in the ocean with her pants.

Amelia the sandy.

Samantha contemplates the meaning of life.

Amelia feasts on seaweed (the Costco kind, not the fresh kind!)

Making a new friend.

Showing off a good find.

Finding crabs.

The girls also wanted to show Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike our local orange groves. They biked to the park first for a quick detour.

Meredith quickly got to work filling up her basket with oranges.

Amelia with her pickings.

Samantha’s harvest.

The girls biked the rest of the way to the exploration park playground and then it was a minor crisis getting everyone home since they were so exhausted! I think we ended up with me pushing Meredith in the stroller and carrying her bike, Uncle Mike carrying a bike and trading off twins on his shoulders, while Aunt Sarah gave moral support to the whichever twin was taking a turn riding her bike! The way back is all uphill and a few miles… but we did it. In the mean time, Grammy had taken Eleanor for a stroller ride to meet us at the park, but arrived right after we left. We almost dispatched a car to go find her and pick it up, but she and Eleanor made it home eventually!

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aunt sarah, beach, bike ride, boardwalk, crystal cove, exploration park, orange groves, shells, tidepools, uncle mike

Lazy Summer Days in Utah

August 16, 2017 by Rebecca Whitehead

After Jake flew home for the next week, the girls and I explored all the splash pads in Utah County (why weren’t those there when I was a kid?), visited with friends and family and mostly just hung out in the backyard. By Day Two, “Where is Daddy????” was the constant refrain/wail from the girls and compounded by the intense August heat, by Day Five, they were in complete meltdown mode. Still, we enjoyed our lack of a strict schedule and waking up every morning with no plans, but to see where the day took us. It was a “slow summer” (or as close as we usually get) at its finest.

Intuitively feeling a meltdown moment coming on, Grammy saved the day by pulling out a craft kit that lasted through those lazy, hot afternoons all week!

Good morning (hopefully)!

A little spider in her web.

Every day when Grammy got home from work, she’d find us lounging around in the backyard, with the kids begging me to push them on the swings, and me in an adirondack chair, pretending I couldn’t hear them. She took over kid duty for me, while I made dinner in peace (a welcome trade-off).

It was scorching hot by 10 a.m., so we tried to hit the trail early in the morning with a bike or scooter ride.

We visited the Highland, Springville, Orem, and Bluffdale splash pads, with Bluffdale and Springville being our faves.

Not only did Wardle Fields in Bluffdale have an enormous splash pad, waterfall, and a creek running through it, the girls were thrilled with the massive zipline and huge playground.

All the heat and humidity culminated in rain and thunderstorms one morning, so after a few hours of bounce house jumping at Kangaroo Zoo, we stopped at the iconic Taco Amigo on the way home… this one’s for you, Kati!

Uncle Mike provided comic relief during meltdown moments and accompanied the girls on a bike ride in the 90 degree evening heat!

Our other Uncle Mike was also there to be silly with the girls and trade off swing duty.

Meredith loved the revolving door of family coming in and out!

It didn’t get dark early enough for the girls to actually roast marshmallows at night, but they did roast them in the heat of the evening, and didn’t seem to mind.

Lounging with Aunt Sarah.

We met up with two of my high school friends at the splash pad in Springville and had quite the crew between us all. Meredith played with everyone, while the twins ran off and made some other completely random friend.

We also hung out with my friend, Katie, from teaching school, who moved to Utah last year. Her twins, Lizzy and Iris, were good sports playing duck duck goose with my twins (my girls’ rules of the game are iffy).

During our vacation, I was trying to transition Meredith to a one-nap day once and for all, and, as a consequence, she was a nightmare from 9 am-1 pm every day! When we visited Thanksgiving Point and rode the ponies, kind strangers offered to hold a screaming/kicking/banshee wailing Meredith while I helped the girls onto their horses and took pictures. Meredith alternated between shrieking in delight when we walked around to see the rest of the chickens, goats, horses, cows, llamas and other animals, and shrieking in anger whenever I pulled her back from climbing into the animal pens!

Jake arrived back in Utah a week later to three little girls clambering for his attention non-stop. I pretty much clocked out for the next week, being exhausted from the week before! Meredith and I took a long nap the day he came back, while he took the twins to the Gateway Discovery Children’s Museum in SLC with Grandma Celeste.

Checking out the train station.

It was an exhausting week for everyone!

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aunt sarah, bike ride, crafting, crafts, Grammy, Grandma Celeste, pony ride, scooter, smores, splash pad, swinging, Thanksgiving Point, uncle mike, Utah, Utah friends, wardle fields

Trek to Utah Summer 2017

August 15, 2017 by Rebecca Whitehead

At the end of July through first week of August, we packed up and spent a few weeks of family and adventure-packed time in Utah! I had debated whether to send Jake and twins in the car while I flew with Meredith, like we did last year, but ultimately decided we were better off with Meredith strapped in a car seat, screaming, than on a plane, in my lap, screaming. She’s insanely strong and I probably would have ended up buying her her own seat, just to keep her restrained on a plane, so we decided to roll the dice and drive!

We started our travel off late in the day, thanks to the girls’ dance class in the morning and an Amazon package carrying some last-minute Keens for our trip that was late. As soon as we spotted the UPS truck with the coveted Amazon package on board, we jumped for joy and were finally able to take off in the afternoon. I always underestimate how cranky the kids get with late-in-the-day travel, and this was no exception. I always assume evening road trips will be a breeze since they will most definitely drift off in the car, right? Maybe everyone else’s kids, but not ours!

By Vegas, it was well past bedtime, and yet everyone was wide-eyed, whiny and sick of the car/each other. Thanks to the long stretches of desert and crossing time zones, it was still light out at 9 p.m., and without any blackout shades in sight, no one could fall asleep, despite the steady hum of the car. At one point, late that night, everyone was screaming, I had my headphones on ignoring everyone, and Jake was gripping the wheel, diet coke in hand, when suddenly, they all went silent. Having finally conked out, the kids were peaceful for an hour before we had to unload everyone at Jake’s brother’s vacation home in St. George to rest for the night. At least we had made our first leg of the trek unscathed (physically, at least… I still have mental scars!)

The twins were bewildered to wake up in unfamiliar bunk beds, and Meredith wasted no time trying to make a mess in every room in the morning, so we left as quickly as possible, not wanting to risk damaging anything in the nice vacation house! The four-hour drive to Lindon that morning was much better than the six hour torture-session the previous day, and the girls arrived at Grammy’s in good spirits.

Ready to go, with four bikes and a baby bike seat attached.

Everyone was too excited to see cousins to nap, so we all ran them ragged in the hot sun and put everyone to bed early. Allison, Zack, Noah and Hailey had flown to Utah a few days prior to us arriving and we were so excited to hang out and show them the sights for a few days!

Look, another baby!

Hailey was confused!

During the Gerins’ stay, we headed out in the morning for activities, came back for naps (or non-naps in Samantha and Amelia’s cases), and then typically spent the afternoons playing in the backyard. It was about as relaxing a vacation as is possible with our crew.

Cousin swinging time.

Meredith has started refusing to sit in her high chair for more than a few minutes before demanding a big girl chair.

We slept over at Tyler and Elizabeth’s house in Provo while the Gerins were at my parents, and every morning, the girls got a few jumps in on the trampoline before taking off. They really miss our old trampoline!

A new best doggie friend– Roger.

I love Aunt Sarah.

Meredith enjoyed poking and prodding Hailey to no end, in addition to constantly trying to steal her food.

Our stay coincided with Pioneer Day, so the girls participated in the obligatory sparklers, parachutes and backyard fireworks display. The twins were exhausted, and being mean parents, we didn’t let them stay up until it actually got dark to do fireworks, so the fireworks looked pretty sad in the daylight. Maybe next year!