Bonneville Salt Flats

We just got back a couple days ago from a week and a half long road trip to Utah. One of the highlights for me is basically a piece of land in the middle of nowhere, the Bonneville Salt Flats. It is just such a fascinating place unlike none I have ever been to. 

So I knew I wanted to stop at the salt flats, but was unsure how exactly to. Everything I could tell online is that there is an amazing rest stop on I-80 west bound. It has access to walk and drive on the flats, as well as foot washing stations. Unfortunately we were headed east and would not be coming back the same way. And it would be a huge backtrack to turn around for the rest stop. Well, after reading one thing online on a forum, it seemed we could just drive to the flats ourselves via exit 4. But again, I had no clue what to expect. Even the map on our iPhones could not comprehend what we wanted to do and was saying it was going to take over 2 hours to drive a couple miles. Anyway, in case you ever do this yourself, just follow the road off the exit and it dead ends into the flats. But another funny story about that...

The road just ends. It ends with a big circle area for you to turn around and there were probably five cars parked there. So, it seemed one should stop there. But, there was a car in front of us and said car just flew out onto the flats. So we followed. And ohmygosh it was so fun. So freaky. So freeing. At this point, we had not gotten out of our car, so I was freaked out that we might sink or something. Spoiler alert, we didn't. 

When we finally stopped and got out, I could feel that the salt flats were totally hard. It was such a strange feeling. It's such a vast space of emptiness. Even cars driving that I would consider nearby were hard to hear. It was as if the vastness just ate up the sound. 

The kids got such a kick out of all this. They ran on it. They tasted it...it tastes way saltier than normal salt, if that's even possible. They looked at it through a microscope...because everyone happens to have a handheld microscope on vacation with them. There also was some beyblade playing on the salt. 

When we went to get back in the car, salt was stuck to everyones shoes and made such a MESS in the car. Like, I don't even know how that much salt could be on shoes. But the same for the car tires. We drove another 2+ hours to our airbnb and our car still spilled salt out all over the garage where we were staying. 

This was definitely one of those once in a lifetime stops on the side of the road, but was so worth it and so cool. I saw later online that there is an aqueduct that goes through the salt floats with brine water and people float on it. That looked fun too. This was just a great way to start our trip. 

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A Comparison of Curious Siblings

Young toddlerhood is such a curious age. It's also an age that lacks impulse control, haha! Tupperware cabinets get emptied, toilet paper rolls pulled out, towels pulled down. It happens ALL DAY LONG. The thing is, I've gotten smarter along the way. Qtips are no longer kept where little hands can get them. Toilet paper rolls are generally kept on the counter...sort of ghetto, but saves the loss of tp in the long run! These preventative measures still don't keep Willa from being curious. The other day she climbed up on the dining table and took a bite out of literally every apple in the bowl. Then she proceeded to throw the apples off the table. I forget how busy young toddlers keep you. She moves things from room to room and throws things ALL THE TIME. I find things from the kitchen in my room. Or her latest has been throwing the clock next to my bed down the stairs. It has happened twice now, so the clock has been moved. Except, I really liked having a clock next to my bed. Oh well. One day soon it will be able to be back. 

All four kids are just a couple weeks apart in these photos. Connor and Isla had loads more hair that Callum or Willa, but at least Callum had enough hair at this point for a haircut! She apparently takes after her mom. I didn't really have hair until I was two. 

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Done is Better than Perfect

I used to strive for perfection on my blog. I would blog something as soon as it happened. Literally. I didn't want to let the moment pass without memorializing it. Then, somewhere along the way, hello there life and children, I ran out of time. It started feeling funny writing about moments that happened months ago. But why does it matter? After all, this blog is for myself. And it's "paid" for itself over and over when I went back and made the kids baby books easily with all that I had blogged about their baby days (and I'm now starting on toddler books for them). But it still feels silly to write things so much later.

But here's the thing. I've realized done is better than perfect. One of my goals during the pandemic was to make a photo book of our vacation in 2018. TWO YEARS AGO. Two years. When I started, I realized I hadn't even gone through many of our vacation photos. They all weren't saved in one place. It was a bit of mess. But I did it. And it felt good. Now my kids will be able to look through the book and remember...or the pictures will be the reminder.

I also started picking up my camera more and capturing our day to day life. It's something I used to do a lot when Connor and Isla were little. And honestly, those are always my favorite memories to look back on.

So here's to not striving for perfection, remembering done is better than perfect and remembering to document so the children have something to look back on...because who doesn't like looking back at old photos? But also, making sure I do something with all those photos I take, as they don't do anyone any good rotting away on old hard drives.

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4th of July

We did our "second annual" kids in front of the garage with popsicles on July 4th picture. Haha! I clearly did not plan ahead because the store was out of bomb pops. We had one on hand and Callum wanted it, so he got that while the others had watermelon. I was looking at this picture chuckling, wondering how long I can get away with them letting me do this. Here is the link to last year's, if you are interested.  

^^ May we all look at someone the way Willa looks at a popsicle! 

Our fourth celebration didn't look much different this year than in years past. For the past few years, we have stayed home and done our own little thing. It allows us to start relatively early and still have the kids to bed at a reasonable hour. Plus, is there really anything more fun for kids than to pick out their own fireworks at a stand then light them on fire?!

This year, there was a bit of a fight for fireworks. Connor and Isla made their own fireworks show and Callum made his. There may or may not have been some fireworks theft between the two piles and some screams, but then everyone settled in and all was fine. 

^^ This is Willa's "mom stop taking my picture and hold me" picture. She did great during the fireworks, but definitely wanted me to hold her. After a bit, I just put her in her carrier, as it was easier. 

^^ Callum loved the fireworks, as long as his ear covers were on. He would pull them up during fireworks, so I think they were more security than anything. We have had a kid with those on for the fourth for so many years, it will be a bit sad for me when they are no longer needed by anyone. 

^^ The ole light and run routine. 

After a bit, I put my camera away and just enjoyed myself. One neighbor came out and watched on their porch for a bit. And another walked down and watched too. Toward the end of our time, a truck came, sped up and purposefully ran into our fireworks display. It send all the stuff (including two "slow" signs) flying as far as two houses down. It was really scary, considering Ian and Connor were there maybe 30 seconds prior. It really shook me up and was a bummer way to basically end things. I found out today that the same guy drove to other parts of our neighborhood and did the same thing. Super uncool, but I am not going to let it ruin the whole memory of the night. 

Even though our country is in turmoil and it seems like a weird time to celebrate it, I am thankful for our freedoms, including freedom of speech. I look forward to the day that our country really practices what is stated in the declaration of independence, that "all men are created equal". Now to fight for the equal treatment of all!

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Bathroom Refresh

I know the pandemic has brought out the house projects in everyone, but I am a little late to the game. I was inspired and had ideas of what I wanted to do project wise at the beginning...and have done neither of those projects, haha! But, I got a wild hair to refresh our downstairs (Connor's) bathroom a couple weeks ago and went for it. 

It started because Connor didn't really have space to store his toiletries, so I went in search of a small vanity for him. The bathroom is small, so it couldn't be anything too large. I found a vanity from IKEA that would work and went for it. My goal was to do everything in a week and I managed to do it. Let's show what I started with...

I took everything off the walls, lightly sanded the walls and gave the bathroom a fresh coat of paint. Just doing that improved things greatly. The baseboards REALLY needed it and look so much better. Then I did my feature wall. I was inspired by some wallpaper that I found...then saw the price of and decided to try my hand at painting it myself. Then we installed the new vanity, mirror and other fixtures. 

The other thing I did was get rid of the tension shower curtain we had that used to fall down and mess up the paint. I replaced with with some piping from Lowes and love the look of it.

We also got rid of the curtain and instead frosted the bottom half of the window. It looks so much cleaner (or less cluttered or something like that) in there without the curtain.

vanity - IKEA

mirror - Wayfair

towel hooks - Target

shower curtain - Target

A quick side note about Wayfair. I haven't used them before and ordered the mirror from them because at the time it was the cheapest place I could find it. It is sold at several places. It is now way more than I paid for it. It would appear they are a bit like amazon and change their prices all the time. 

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Scenes from Quarantine {week 11}

^^ I said goodbye to one of my closest friends, as she moved to Montana. I can't help but feel Covid stole valuable last times to do things together that we enjoyed. 

The week of the heat wave, all the swimming and the end of distance learning. 

This is going to be my last scenes from quarantine. Things are starting to open up. Though the kids have not been in public, I anticipate we will slowly and smartly start seeing some people. It seems odd to even think about going out again. Mass hysteria started when there were only a couple confirmed cases in our county. Now there are around 700 and things are opening up again. Makes no sense to me, except that people are done being scared and being at home. 

We finished up the school year, aka: distance learning, on Friday. It brought a routine to our days that I am going to miss. But I will not miss the struggle with distance learning. Of course, I hear rumblings that school will not be going back to normal in the fall, so I shouldn't get my hopes up too much. But even having the kids in school part time would be nice. 

It got, hot, hot, HOT this week! Our house has basically no insulation, so that means the air conditioner running all the time and still not keeping up. It also means it was hot enough for me to get in the pool...I don't like cold water! We went swimming every day. It was fun, albeit slightly chaotic with four kids in the pool at one time and only two of which can independently swim. Callum is getting close though and I am thinking this is his summer to swim. 

We are certainly at an odd crossroads with this whole Covid-19 thing. With things opening back up, many people are excited to be out and about. Many no longer seem to be practicing social distancing while out in public or even wearing a mask. Which, seems odd to me, given it hasn't gone away. My understanding is just that the curve has been flattened. Of course, we all are reading different news and believing what we want, making the whole thing all the more confusing. It definitely is a time that will be in the history books though. 

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Connor & Isla's Last Day of School

It's hard to believe that we are here. The last day of school happened. When everything switched to distance learning, it was kind of like we stepped into a time warp. Things that would make it seem like the end of school is coming didn't happen. There were no ends to the homework or parties to be planned. Things were basically business as usual right up until the end. The week before, we did go and pick up the kids possessions at school. But the last week of school had just as much schoolwork assigned as any other week. 

Connor got to end his distance learning with a class video call. That was a nice way to end everything. He gets quite animated on the video calls, so he enjoyed himself right up until the end. When I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, he said, "A doctor...I mean, a surgeon...actually, a robotic surgeon!" Connor has taken a great interest in coding lately. He even coded his own website. A website talking about math. 

Isla had her last video call on Thursday. Her teacher made a video of the year and she started crying at the end of it...both Isla and the teacher! Her teacher didn't want to end the year on a sad note, so had a class dance party before signing off for the year. It was sweet. Of course, Isla still had school work to do Friday! When Isla grows up, she wants to be an artist or geologist. I could see both, as both are things she is interested in. 

And just like that, it's summer! It feels like nothing and everything has changed at the same time. I'm glad to not have schoolwork anymore, but it also brought structure to our days. Here's to hoping the kids get to go back to school at least part time in the fall, as I know they (especially Isla) miss the human interaction with people outside of our household. 

In case you want to look back - Connor and Isla's first day of school. And if you missed it, here was Callum's last day of school from last week. 

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