But my daughter discovered something today when she went out with her mom to feed the animals…

We had a hard re-freeze last nice and the driveway is a sheet of ice. Very slippery, so she abandoned her chores and put on her ice skates.

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Oh yeah, and we stopped traveling around the country and now live in Southern California.

After flying from Dallas to Miami for the annual conference in December for my employer, Diio, we drove down to Austin and spent Christmas at my old friend Joe Edgar’s house (they left on Christmas Eve) and then New Years on South Padre Island.  We were totally rained out, but then went to Houston, where we replaced the toilet and then back to San Antonio where I flew out to California to see about a job at Hart.com.

I thought it sounded like the great opportunity, so we had a marathon drive from Texas to California (stopping only to explore Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.)

We parked the RV in Anaheim only a couple miles from Disneyland (and my new office), flew back to Utah and U-Hauled our stuff from storage and rented a house in the Orange Hills.  Most Saturday mornings we go to Newport Beach (1/2 hour away) and I can’t count how many times Kelsey’s taken the kids to Disneyland.

I don’t know if we’ll stay here long term, but for now, we’re enjoying California.  It’s good to be in a house again.

It is hard to believe it, but we have completed our first full week.  In fact, we finished our seventh day on Wednesday, and yesterday started week two!  But here goes a recap of the first week.

Day One
We left Orem, UT only 2.5 hours late, thanks to the help of many friends and neighbors.  Jama, Jordan, and Eden were in town and helped out quite a lot cleaning and entertaining the kids, not to mention many neighbors, primarily the wonderful Kati Pope who watched my kids for many hours in the preceding days and weeks so I could pack/clean/etc.  Sadly we never got the two package hooked up to the truck, so we were in two vehicles.  [This deserves a post of its own, but I classify our failure to do this our Critical Mistake #2, #1 being not testing all the systems in the RV before purchase]  Our plan was to get to Winnemucca, NV by evening.

This should have been an easy undertaking, if we were in a car.  Sadly we were in a giant RV and a truck, and so no one could take a certain 2-year-old to the potty every 25 minutes, so we did a lot of pulling over.  This was sometimes cool, as we ended up at a rest stop at the Salt Flats, which you can walk out on.  Harmon tasted the salt and declared it “super salty”.  We declared it super nasty, as it was the area that had been walked on by tons of feet…  Some stops were not as cool and the trip already began to feel endless.  Driving the RV is not exceptionally difficult, but it does require a large amount of concentration which is wearing.

In the morning(ish) when we left, I was feeling joyful.  Just super excited to be doing the whole RV adventure thing, and like it was a great choice.  As the day wore on, I began to feel beyond exhausted.  A combination of intense focus driving and not sleeping much the night (and weeks) before began to take its toll.  Finally we arrived in Winnemucca at the New Frontier RV park.  Admittedly this was the first RV park I have ever stayed at, but it was heavenly.  Maybe that was just the stopping driving talking.  At any rate, while there was nothing exciting to look at (it is Winnemucca after all!) it was actually new, very clean, friendly staff, and amazing showers and laundry facilities.  So A+.

Day Two
Not a great day.  I spent most of the day draining and cleaning our stanky water tank so we could have delicious water to drink.  Or at least water that wasn’t going to kill us.  The RV park took Passport America (discount club card) so we ended up with a second night free (which we didn’t use, we just wanted to stay until 5pm when Aaron was done working/I was done with my system cleanse).  We left at 5:30pm on our way to Denio, NV our next destination.  It seemed to take forever.  Something about driving two vehicles, a giant RV, or something, seems to make us go so so slow.  I wrote in my notes that Aaron and I were fighting, but I failed to write about what, but I’m sure it was stupid and due to stress/sleep deprivation.  Also it was beginning to be super annoying to have half our belongings all over the floor always being tripped over.  We finally stopped at Virgin Valley Campground near Denio after dark.  Exhaustion.

Day Three
We woke up and went to the Royal Peacock Opal Mine to do some mining, unfortunately it was beyond windy and we were unable to mine.  We did hit their store and see some lovely stones, and bought candy and drinks.  We drove back to the campground and explored a little.  It had a really awesome swimming pond which Aaron and some of the kids swam in.  When exploring we found lots of obsidian and porcelain and other treasures.  After a while we left to Chiloquin, OR where Aaron lived for a few years growing up.  We stopped in the tiny town of Bly for snacks and a little break.  I don’t know what I was expecting from Chiloquin, I already knew it was small, but when we pulled in I was forced to ask Aaron if maybe it was closed?  (Lots of shops boarded up.)  We tried a few RV parks and settled in to Sportsman RV Park.  There were some tight turns in the park, but a really nice older hippie gentleman helped Aaron navigate.  There were lots of tiny bugs there, but thankfully none biting.  Aaron and Harmon swam in Williamson River which we had access to from the park.

Day Four
We wake up and go to church in Chiloquin.  Aaron immediately recognizes the Corbins, and upon hearing her voice, Betty.  Apparently people don’t look the same as 25 years ago when he lived here…  We almost doubled the size of the primary.  Aaron talked to Betty and she talked about Earthquake (Aaron’s dad).  After church he caught up with the Corbins, parents and two of their adult daughters (and their kids).  Next we drove around to find our next spot to stay.  This apparently caused tension, as I have again written in my notes “Fight with Aaron”.  (I like to keep it real people, it’s not all roses!)  We eventually chose Mazama Village campground in Crater Lake National Park.  This was my choice and I am immediately happy.  (SO MANY TREES!!!)  We drive up to the lake but it is too cloudy and cold.  We have a campfire.

Day Five
I do laundry.  There are lots and lots of fellows hiking the Pacific Crest Trail who hang out in the laundry room to charge their cell phones.  Allison is a little scared of them, but they are friendly.  After laundry is done the kids and I are off to start our first Junior Ranger badge.  If you don’t know about this, you should.  Pretty much every national park offers this, you pick up a booklet from a ranger, complete the activities, and the kids earn a badge.  Pretty fantastic.  I surprised the kids with their own Ranger vests, because we are going to be doing a lot, we needed a place to put our badges…  At lunch we drove with Aaron to see the amazing lake.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  There aren’t really any better words than that to describe it.  Maybe totally amazing.  Or breathtaking.  If you were thinking about going, you should.  The kids went to a Ranger talk and earned a sweet patch as well.  In the late afternoon the kids and I drove an hour to Klamath Falls to go to Walmart.  Pretty much the only reason was we were almost out of RV toilet paper, and that is where you can get it.  See, RV life is pretty glamorous, huh?  Watched a movie at night.

Day Six
Finally got a few things put away (Allison and Mikey slept at the same time).  The kids and I drove up to the rim to explores.  We drove to Phantom Ship lookout where you can see rocks that look like a ship, and Pumice Castle, which is exactly as it sounds, a castle looking formation of pumice.  [SUPER AWESOME!] We also had beautiful valley views on our drive and could see much of Klamath Lake.  After our drive we hiked (.5 miles) on the Castle Crest Trail through a meadow and over the creek.  It was fun, easy, and every time we crossed the creek Harmon would stick a finger in “to check for purity” and declare “mmmmm yep!  Tastes clean!”  Campfire dinner and smores.

Day Seven
More laundry.  Left Crater Lake around noon and switched to Crater Lake Resort (which is an RV park & camping) about 15-20 minutes away.  It has a sweet playground, and a creek with canoes, and a little store.  Aaron took each of the kids canoeing, except Allison who was having none of it once it was her turn.  (Ok, Mikey didn’t go either.)  The kids spent a lot of time at the playground and we “hiked” a little trail around the perimeter of the resort.  Love the friendly staff, clean grounds, and fun amenities, but spots are pretty close together.

But wait! I am going to resuscitate it! I would blame being pregnant, but since I was not pregnant between February and June it seems this is not a valid excuse. Anyway, I am not sure anyone still follows this fascinating blog (the death of google reader still stings) but if you do you can look forward to at least one more post this year. Or maybe I will get wild and post twice. Stay tuned.

But eventually he has to stop and tell me in a slightly more sober voice: Well, like we have to tell just about everyone, you really need to floss more.  But!  I’m sure you know that, and otherwise your teeth look great!!!

I thought it was going to end there.  He transitions to: Ok, we have this funny spot we need to watch.  It is a bit gray, and we will just watch it.

More serious voice appears: Ok I have to show you something.  See these fillings you have on the x-ray?  Were those done in the last 6 months? {no.}  Ok, it looks like there is decay between the filling and the tooth.  Like maybe your last dentist didn’t clean out all the decay when he filled them.  It wouldn’t be that big of a deal because it looks small right now, but see how close it is to your nerve???  I am kinda worried.  Let’s fix that.

Then the whisper: See this here?  That is your bone level on your molars.  It looks awesome.  See this here?  This is the bone level on the front of your bottom teeth.  Not good.  Your teeth won’t fall out tonight, but…

Next time I would like a little more even approach Mr. Dentist.  Thanks in advance.

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12:50pm Put baby down for nap
1:10pm Sucessfully get older kids down for nap and begin my unheard of nap
1:20pm Baby wakes up.  Get her back to sleep.  Miraculously resume nap.
1:40pm EVERYONE sleeping!  Ding-dong!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  WHO CAN BE RINGING THE DOORBELL!  The UPS man never rings, and the neighbor girl always rings 20 times and knocks, and no one else ever comes over.  Horrible.  I ignore it, and maybe I can go back to sleep because everyone else kept sleeping.  I can’t.  I lay in bed mentally weeping because I needed a nap so badly.
1:50pm Baby wakes up and because her teeth hurt and I can’t get her back to sleep.  We go downstairs and I look out the front door to see if there were any packages.  I open the door shocked to find it blockaded by packages including 4 computer monitors (don’t ask) and other computer equipment.  Alright, that seems like a pretty reasonable reason to ring the doorbell.  Oh, and that and it was FedEx anyway.

-I finished doing Fox Lips for the summer.  It is way too hot to mail something that melts at 80 degrees.  My last hoorah was a craft show in Draper where I sold lots and lots of Hard Lotion Bars and many lip balms.  It was a happy event, as my other two previous forays into booth having were unsuccessful.  It probably helped that I sat at this one and could tell people what exactly was going on at my table.  I will pick it back up again in the fall.

-Allison can army crawl, roll, scoot, and do whatever she needs to get where she wants.  This is terrible to me, but is much loved by everyone else.  Her favorite things are anything made out of paper and cords.  And hair.  I feel like a genius because I will give her a chunk of parchment paper which she can’t eat because it won’t dissolve.  Win-win.

-I threw a surprise party for Aaron’s birthday last week.  It was awesome and it was even a surprise.  Probably the most surprising part was how I didn’t freak out before 20ish people came over to my house.  Ok I did, but only on the inside so I wouldn’t give it away.  I hope I am not expected to never freak out again, because that will be impossible.

-We have some lovely camping trips planned for the summer, but I worry about how these will go as I cannot get Sammy to sleep in a tent successfully in our playroom or in our yard.

-I currently am making 4 quilts.  I think I should only be allowed one at a time so I can actually finish one.  Also I should not be allowed to buy anymore fabric until I use what I have.  Someone has a problem…

-We have lived in Utah for almost a year.  And we like it.  Aaron built some amazing raised beds in the backyard and his garden is well underway.  He must have liked building it, because he is now currently engrossed in rebuilding a play structure/swingset we got from my cousin.  The kids love the platform and slide that are finished, but now there is a new hazard in my backyard which I am rethinking…

-This was boring.  But maybe it will make me blog more.

In other awesome news I will be selling Fox Lips at a 4 day craft show in Ogden, UT.  I am a lot excited and a bit nervous as it starts a week from today and I just found out yesterday that they are taking me. (I applied for a show in May and they had room next week and told me to come!)  Ok, I am off to make a lot of lip balm and build a display, wish me luck!

In case you want to visit my stuff at the show (I won’t be there full time, it’s a central checkout show) http://simpletreasuresboutique.biz/2013-ogden-spring/

www.getoily.blogspot.com

Dear Amazon.com,
We need to break up. It’s not you it’s Aaron.
Regretfully, Kelsey

Dear Icicles,
Please stop scaring me half to death when you break off the roof and smash on the other part of the roof.  That’s rude.
Tired of heart attacks, Kelsey

Dear Aaron,
You snore really loud.  Even if you deny it.  I promise to stop plugging your nose to wake you up if you promise to stop doing it.
Love, Kelsey

Dear Body,
I think it’s rude you don’t magically lose all the baby weight.  Exercising is hard and terrible.  And my clothes don’t fit.  Also bacon is super tasty and so you are going to have to solve this problem on your own.
Lazily, Kelsey

Dear Sleep,
I miss you so bad.  What did I do?  I can change.  Please forgive me.  I’ll do anything if you come back.  Think of the good old days!  Just give me another chance…
Please!  Kelsey

Dear People Driving 50 in Parking Lots,
You need to knock this off immediately.  One of these times I am really going to pound on your car with my bare hands.  Just be glad that normally my hands are full of children’s hands or you would really get it.
Hatefully, Kelsey

Dear Winter,
Thanks for making all the spiders disappear.  I think you killed them all forever, and I am refusing to believe the people who tell me you are just temporarily frozen.  You are the best.
Love, Kelsey

Week 2: I more or less was still in invalid mode.  This week I spent a little more time downstairs, but it felt like I remembered week 1 after childbirth feeling.  I must be getting too old to have children.  Luckily Aaron was home this week too.  Second slowest week of my life.

Week 3: I am now alone with 3 kids.  Day one goes great.  Day two I yell a lot.  But overall it is awesome.  I love having 3 kids, I love feeling like a contributing member of society (look I made lunch and no one died!) and getting back to normal.  I still feel pretty junky.  I leave the house with 3 kids a few times and we all make it home safe.

Week 4: I leave the house with 3 children ages 4 & under almost every day.  It is tricky but thanks to a newly arrived baby carrier we manage pretty well.  Most comments from strangers are along the lines of: “you have your hands full!” so maybe I am not managing as well as I think?  I am glad I have done all of the Christmas shopping for our immediate family before having a baby.  The kids seem happy to have their mom sort of playing with them again.  We still watch a lot of movies in my bedroom.

Life is good.