Fourth Recap

It's becoming a tradition - Utah for the Fourth. This was our 3rd year in a row that we've made the trip (thank you, Anneli & Glen), and once again, we had a ball.

Two things we can count on every year. One is the ward breakfast for Ted's parents' ward - the one he grew up in. I don't know how long they've been doing it, but "forever" seems to fit the bill. My first year, I played in the band they round up (made up of anyone who's ever played an instrument in their life + their relations) and LaVell Edwards gave a nice tribute to our flag. They raise the flag and the scouts seem to get it caught on a tree every year (this year it got caught AND was upside down - classic), then the Primary sings a song or two out on the grass, we have a prayer, and dig into breakfast while the Young Women sell baked goods for camp. Since lots of people come "home" for the Fourth, it turns out to be quite a reunion, and it's been fun to just hang out and drink chocolate milk with the masses.

This also happens every year: watching the Stadium of Fire (!) fireworks from the Ririe front deck. Last year, P & K hooked us up with tickets to the actual inside of the stadium, so we got to see tweens clutching their bosoms as they sang along with the Jonas Brothers and actually witnessed Glenn Beck shed a tear. Since that never happens, we were so excited to be a part of history.

Planned: lots of booms..

Unplanned: Tessa getting SO excited to see "the baby". It made me hopeful for what is to come.

Planned: Outdoor time with Grandpa Del.

Unplanned: Photo op with the new hat addition to the collection. I think it suits her.

Planned: Spending the actual 4th at my brother's house for a BBQ with 4 of my brothers and their wives and kids. Awesome food, even better company (as in, completely therapeutic).

Unplanned: Not getting a SINGLE PHOTO of the festivities because we were too busy making memories to actually document them. Sigh. Dallin, your wings hold a special place in my heart, and Candacy, Gary, Emily, and Martha, I could have laughed and gossiped with you all night.

Planned: A day up at "The Cabin" in Heber. GORGEOUS day, gorgeous scenery, perfect weather.

Also planned: Bocce ball on Glen's homemade court in the back. Didn't happen because they had way too many other things to do.

Unplanned: (not pictured) Tessa experiencing her first bout of car sickness-induced vomit on the winding road TO The Cabin. Totally threw me a curveball, and it smelled disgusting. Hence the pink shirt with the orange pants. I'm not usually that out of it.

Also unplanned: Me falling twice on the 30-minute hike around the environs. My balance lately has been...not so good.

Planned: A trek to St George to spend a few days with my parents while no one else was there. Tessa got quality time with Grandpa and Grandma K without 23 other grandchildren running around. We visited the Wildlife Museum and were awestruck by all the animals that one man traveled around the world and killed for our amusement.

Also planned: A day of swimming somewhere - we didn't care where. My mom recommended the most incredible pool/mini-Raging-Waters I've ever seen in my life, but in the meantime, we went to this splash pad in the 100+ degree heat.

Unplanned: Tessa being scared of the splashing water. Notice she's at the edge of the dry part. She wouldn't wander in without one of us holding her hand. I didn't mind in the least, but a wet t-shirt contest when one is pregnant takes on a whole new meaning. Thankfully, we were mostly alone.

Planned: Getting used to it, then loving it.

Planned: Tessa's glee at hundreds of apricots from Grandpa's tree at her disposal.

Unplanned: Family hammock time! (Before we become four)

Planned: Meeting up with a BFF, Christy, somewhere in Provo since we seem to have the same mecca-like traditions (we both married Provo natives, and we still can't get them to stop yammering on about the talking Christmas tree that used to be at ZCMI).

Unplanned: Meeting at University Mall, of all places, to enjoy an Iceberg "mini" shake (can we say 32 oz???) and some bland onion rings that had no business being in my gullet.

Also unplanned: A picture of me 8 months pregnant. I don't like pictures of myself pregnant, but I had to document my reunion with this fabulous woman. The other picture didn't have her hand on my belly to ACCENTUATE it, but I made a sacrifice and posted this one because look at little Annie in the corner. I mean, come on! She steals the show!

That last shot is meant to sate all you sick perverts who wanted to see my hard-earned efforts of "cow" status. It's even worse now, but that's for the next post.

Charleston: A day on the town

Charleston was so beautiful that we spent two days "just walking around" instead of the pre-planned one. Ted (trivia receptacle) mentioned that this is one part of the country that has very specific laws regarding what can be built and where, what color it can be painted, any and all signage, and even landscaping the city wants to use. All of this is done in an effort to preserve as much as possible the look that has existed for hundreds of years, and I must say, the efforts are well worth it to tourists like us. Not only was it a gorgeous spring day (which one hopes for on their spring break), but the scenery was enough to just want to sit on one of the large rocking-chair porches and drink it all in. But there was too much to see! So, walk we did.

Some streets were brick, while others were cobblestoned. I expressed my love for the cobblestones until I had to push an umbrella stroller across one for an entire two blocks. Then they weren't my favorite. But they were cool to look at!

We visited Fort Sumter, the site of the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1865. It has been excavated and somewhat restored, with some of the original cannons, and they've built a museum to showcase some of the artillery and a HUGE original flag. I was focused on how crazy it must have been to be a part of nonstop blasts coming to and going fro, but I also couldn't get out of my head that this was the place the four girls in the movie Shag told their parents they were visiting and instead went to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. It's not like the Fort was THAT big! How were their parents so easily fooled that it would take them an entire weekend to see it all?!? Of COURSE they were going to go to the beach and meet boys and enter shag contests and throw a party in the senator's house! I mean, the Fort was cool and all, but those things were much cooler when I was 18 and about to go off to college. I'm just sayin'. Sometimes parents are stupid and gullible.

I got a picture of my two favorite people closer up in front of this house, but then I realized the whole reason I took a picture of this house was because it reminded me of so many gorgeous houses and magnolia trees that I miss in my hometown. The scene could have been straight out of Pasadena, for all you know. But nope, Charleston, SC.

There were fountains a-plenty:

Our friend Ashley happened to take this shot right after Tessa stuck her hand in the stream of water and splashed it all over herself, inducing gasps and whimpers. Notice how great a mom I am - laughing at my poor unfortunate child. Whatever. She got over it.

This was one of many incredible-looking churches. But I included it because it was my favorite.

Spanish moss EVERYWHERE:

A small stretch dubbed "Rainbow Row". Fitting name, obviously.

As I crossed one of the streets, I noticed the sun was at a perfect point for a perfect photo. Unfortunately, I'm not a perfect photographer. This was me trying to be fancy.

Our group decided to try one of the restaurants that had been recommended in our "1000 Places (in USA and Canada) to See Before You Die" book. All of Charleston was in there, but they made special mention of this restaurant: Bowen's Island. We would never have just happened upon this place on our own, because it was on the edge of town, down a remote paved road that turned into a remoter dirt road full of huge ruts and bumps, and into a remotest cul-de-sac that housed a barn, a shack, and near-mountains of oyster shells. The barn was the restaurant, the shack was where you pre-paid, got your drinks (go with the cans, folks, because I personally saw a rat walking near the "water cooler"), and could watch your food get deep-fried. If you ordered oysters, you witnessed the little critters getting scalded to death in the huge boiling kettles you passed on your way to the barn/restaurant. Also, if you ordered said oysters, they came to you in an industrial-sized shovel, and the waiter just plopped them on your table. Good luck shuckin'.

None of us ordered oysters.

Here's our group in the quaint surroundings. Patrons were encouraged to write/carve on the wooden panels and 2x4s that made up "the walls", and there was a very fat dog lying in wait to receive any ill-placed table scraps. It reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and our chubby daughter simultaneously. Note to self: when fat and pregnant, always move to the back of group pictures.

The oyster carnage. This was only one of the dozen or so piles of shells out there. Oh, and go Duke.

Tessa is a bit of a flirt, but even she has her limit. This was about the 14th hug she got that night. From the same cute boy. I hope she keeps this attitude as a teenager, but it's probably wishful thinking considering who her mama is.

Charleston: Fantasy trees

We spent four beautiful days in Charleston over Ted's Spring Break. It was a break he sorely needed, and this time (as opposed to his Fall Break when we went to Hershey), everything was due before the break, so he could actually relax. We went with two other families, stayed in the same hotel, ate at the same joints, toured the same sights and everything. It was such a gas! We had a ball, even though the other couples left a day earlier than we did. On our last day, we visited an outdoor market with vendors who sold much of the same thing (so of course it reminded me of downtown L.A.). Some was kitschy, some was quite pretty, and some of it belonged in the garbage.

We looked through some photographed prints at one stand, and stopped at one incredible image of a tree. We asked the vendor what it was, and he said it was an oak that was 1500 years old, called the "Angel Oak Tree", and it lived on St John's Island, which was about 20 minutes away. After grabbing lunch and driving through the Citadel, we headed over there, not knowing exactly where it was, but hoping our GPS could give us some info. It did, and we found it, and we were SO GLAD we did. It was even more incredible than the pictures showed, because this thing was so huge, there's no way it could be captured in just one shot. The branches actually spanned almost two acres and had to be propped up off the ground. Keep in mind these next four shots are all one tree. By my calculations, the seed must have taken root only one lifetime after Moroni buried the plates in the hillside. So cool! ;)

Our last day together, all three families went to visit the Boone Plantation, made famous by the movie The Notebook. The house, Boone Hall, was grand, but the grounds were what was really impressive. There were fields galore for strawberries, pumpkins, green beans, melons (the kind you eat), eggplant, grapes, and all sorts of other things. They even made their own honey on the plantation. The whole place used to grow indigo, but once cotton became "king", the Boone Plantation (and most others) switched to cotton.


And my favorite, these oak trees that were just dripping with Spanish moss were glorious. On a whim, we popped the kids up into the branches and got them giddy with laughter.

Couldn't you just EAT THEM UP???

Gaa! We're here!

This was my first look at North Carolina. Not bad! It's very green here, with lots of accents (Ted and I jokingly began speaking with a drawl, and now we can't stop) and rain. Yes, it is August and it has rained once a day since we got here. This post is to document the long and sometimes unexciting legs of our trip.

Georgia, obviously.

Ted and I got tired of driving, and Tessa seemed awake and willing, so what the hey?

We took a couple rides on this New Orleans streetcar. Both drivers were pretty rude.

This is one of the things I miss most about my mission in Georgia - the constant competition for the most clever marquee phrase. They should really have a competition for the best grammar.

And the owners of this here house collect bottlecaps in, well, their dirt.

An homage to our friend Adler. We had no idea he had some hidden timekeeping place in N'awlins.

All right. Where's my freaking pot of gold? We're on student loans here!

Very cool bridge somewhere in Louisiana (I think). I was heavily drugged at the time.

Lots o' water in the South. I believe this was the Mississippi Rivverr. hehe

For the record, we didn't meet one French speaker here.

Here was the famous diaper blowout in Alabama. I couldn't stand the smell, so I just took the camera and walked far, far away.

Where was all this bird crap coming from outside our hotel in Nowhere, Texas?

Oh. This explained the inexpensive rate.

I admit I was never enchanted in New Mexico. They's alls a bunch o' liars!

These next three photos show only 3 huge billboards of about twenty (not kidding) advertising this "thing?" that was supposed to get us all excited about something wherever it was.

Well, here was the thing, a gift/souvenir shop, very loosely termed a "museum", perhaps because of this "thing" they so wanted everyone to see. Turns out the thing was behind a locked door and you had to pay the cashier $1 to sate your curiosity. Ted and I decided it wasn't in our new Starving Student Budget, so we passed on it, and spent $4 in drinks instead.

So there you have it, folks! Our adventure-filled cross-country trip! I injured my back two days before the movers came, and it hurt so bad Annette came and took me to the hospital for an MRI the day the moving truck was in our driveway. As the four guys were taping up all our belongings, I was hobbling out of the door, off to downtown LA to get earplugged and examined by some clanging tubular magnets. The diagnosis? I have 3 compressed discs in my back and all the muscles around them are in serious spasms. Tessa's been very good about it, but she hasn't lost any of the 19 pounds she's carrying around to help me out at all, and Ted's been nothing short of wonderful. With rest and some serious narcotics, I expect to be back to normal in maybe a month or two.