our return to Indiana

Matthias had a conference in Indiana, and I tagged along. We left the kids with some good friends and lived up our time back in the hoosier state. His conference was with the ABA section of Environment, Energy, and Resource. We planted trees one day, met some really great people, he attended the conference every day while I shopped, walked around town, watched Anderson Cooper on the tube, worked out, and swam. What a grand time I had being by myself. I feel so weird saying it, but I loved being alone for a couple of days. 

A couple of nights we went out with our friends. Matthias played indoor soccer with Tyler and Nate, we hit Yogulatte, went to a IU soccer game. Our last night we went out to dinner with a law firm that Matthias associates with. They took us to a fancy schmancy restaurant and we spent the night talking environment, politics, education, location, etc. It was a night I haven't really experienced before, mingling with attorneys in such a formal setting, and I loved it. I was surprised I could follow most of the conversation and even had something to contribute. We sat with a guy from the EPA and an partner from the firm, it was an interesting and fun night. 

We loved being around so many trees again. It's fun to dream about living in Indiana again, law school was a fun and exciting time for us. But I think our hearts are in the West - after all, our families are there.  

at the IU/ soccer game

Emily and I cheering on the guys at the indoor game.

the crew out to dinner

Downtown, Indianapolis, IN

arches

On our way home from Utah, we made a detour through Arches National Park. As per Garmin's instructions, we exited onto a dirt road, blindly passed the 4 wheel drive recommended sign, and soon found out it was impassable, only after sinking in the sand. We barely made it out by the skin of our teeth, as my mother would say. Never fear, we found our way around to the true entrance.

I love Southern Utah. I love the color of red rock interspersed with sage. The few blossoms the desert has to offer were all in bloom. There was a steep increase in heat the further south we went, immediately I felt a need to dump water in the mouths of my munchkins. Ty is a natural rock climber . . . he ran up rocks, scaled them, and jumped off, all in perfect balance! Maybe it was his new rock gripping sandals, his feline instincts, or perhaps 4 hours of being in the car. He had so much energy and so much fun. I swear he was as close to Spiderman as a human can get. If Ty was Spiderman, then Beckham must have been Sandman. He ran shoeless across the hot sand at Sand Dune Arch while the rest of us were hopping just to avoid the intense heat. It is a mystery how he could endure such heat. Our visit was great and I hope that we can get back there again in the near future. And though I won't need to get over the color green yet, Southern Utah and the like will be much loved vacation destinations. Oh how I love to visit.

how the West was NOT won

This was the plan: Matthias had an interview scheduled in Las Vegas (his 3rd one with the firm I might add) the day before my brother's wedding. I was to fly out with the kids and my inlaws to Utah while Matthias and his bro, Zacc, were to drive west to LV and then North to Salt Lake so we could all participate in the wedding celebration--this scheme would avoid four days of roadtripping with two, likely, very unhappy boys in the back seat. Turns out the only two unhappy boys in the car were in the front seats.

So while enroute, crossing into Texas from Oklahoma, imagine, to Matthias' shock and chagrine, receiving a phone call from the firm, "Hello Matthias, we wanted to catch you before you left for the interview and let you know that, blah blah blah economy blah blah blah sorry, blah blah blah we are poor planners blah blah blah, interview cancelled blah blah blah." Uhhhhhh. What? A thirty second phone call was all it took to realize that our strategic planning, mentioned above, was all for nothing, while I and the littlle guys certainly appreciated the much speedier transit in the air, the unfriendly cost of wings over wheels could have and would have been avoided had the interview's ultimate nonexisitence been known to us, uhh maybe a little sooner then 35 hours prior to the actual interview. Lame-O. When Matthias called and filled me in on the news, I thought he was kidding, turns out he wasn't… too bad, would have been better as a joke.

So to make most of the rest of their road trip, they visited the Four Corners,

plotted their revenge on the good for nothing firm,

carried out their plans,

and enjoyed the scenic view of the land without water

***Special note for browsing federal agents: the boys' plans for revenge did not actually involve fiery doom, Matthias is too much of a nice guy too wish fiery doom on anyone.***

the new Mr. and Mrs. Swenson

The best looking couple on the West side of the Mississippi.

My three brothers and I: Christopher, Eric the groom, myself, and Bradley

What a handsome Groom Eric was! Beckham asked Eric why he was wearing a carrot (the stem of his flower was wrapped in orange ribbon.) Hee hee.

The new couple with the little cousins.

Our visit to Utah to attend the wedding of my brother Eric and his cute wife, Nicole, was splendid! I couldn't help but have tears running down my cheeks during their ceremony. It was beautiful and I am so happy I got to share that with them! Short but sweet, it was wonderful to see so many extended family, and childhood and family friends. It was fun to visit downtown temple square - although I grew up in Utah, the gardens and the view of the temple still amaze me. Loved it all, especially spending time with family! Congratulations Eric and Nicole!

props to Chicago and Indiana Dunes

We decided last minute (surprise, surprise) to go to the RSL - Chicago Fire soccer game in Chicago to watch our favorite and currently first place soccer team!

Quick rundown for ya: we spent our first day and night at the Indiana Dunes with our rad friends the Bruncliks... this doesn't look like Indiana does it? It was the most dreamy trip (minus the rain in the evening and morning, and the too-hard-to-sleep-on ground... what grad students have money for sleeping pads? I swear, I won't go again until I have one to sleep on!) Anyways, our two mile hike in the sand took us two hours due to, well, sand and blueberries. We played on the beach, and grilled at our camping spot. We woke up to lots of rain - our pancake breakfast was cooked underneath the picnic table and had to be eaten in the tent. Then we headed out to Chicago!

I have so many things to say about Chicago... impressive, friendly, expensive (parking and toll booths for 1 day cost about $50), beautiful buildings, hustle bustle, clean, big. We spent most of the day at Navy Pier at the Children's Museum and walking around. I felt so out of style with all the beautiful people there. The skyline view from the ferris wheel was amazing with the mist, not to mention frightening. We had another hour to kill before the game, which we spent driving around downtown checking out the sights. We really wanted to go to Millenium Park, but didn't have enough time to park and really see it. I felt kind of overwhelmed being there - we didn't know beforehand that we would be able to spend the day there, so we went in a blind - six hours is definately not enough time to see Chicago without more of a plan. I hope I get to go back in the near future and stay a couple of days.

The game was so fun! We were hoping for a win, but were happy with a draw. We got close enough to the players to yell their names and wave - we got smiles and waves back from Kenny Cutler, Matias Mantilla (Ty yelled "Hola Matias" and he gave a smile and a wave back) and a nod and wave from Robbie "blazing fast" Findley. It was so exciting to be there. I must give the Chicago Fire and their fans props, there was so much energy there. Their stadium rocked, fireworks, huge crowd, tailgating, mascot. I'm sure in a couple of years RSL will be there as they're still such a new team. I loved watching Javi and Beckerman play. Such a fun event for the boys!

yorktown

Yorktown was a blast today! After going to the Battlefield and the museum there, we went to the beach to have our picnic lunch. It was chilly, but dreamy! (The beach we went to is on the York River, but it opens right up to the Atlantic about a mile down from where we were.) The pictures are better than words, so I will leave it at that!

Yorktown Battlefield: On October 19, 1781, a British army under General Charles Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender to General Washington’s combined American and French army. Upon hearing of their defeat, British Prime Minister Frederick Lord North is reputed to have said, "Oh God, it's all over." And it was. The victory secured independence for the United States and significantly changed the course of world history.

Yorktown Beach

Catching some waves!


This is how Beckham spent most of his time - mesmerized with the feel of sand and how it fell out of his hands. So precious!


After playing in the water, Ty would run up to the sand and bury his feet trying to warm them up.


It was chilly - and I of course was the whiner.


I just love this little face - even when it has sand, pbj, and snot on it!


Beautiful.


Thrown out to sea.

Headed out to sea.

more Smithsonians

Today, Wednesday, while Matthias had another day in DC, we went to the Natural History Museum and the National Zoo. The museum was packed! We didn't stay too long because I was so afraid of loosing one of the chilluns. It was the most amazing museum I have been to though. I wish we could have spent more time there.

The Zoo was the highlight of the whole DC trip! The boys and I had to take the metro from the NHM to the Zoo and transfer lines on the way. It was crazy and everything was going a million miles an hour - and the boys surprisingly napped on the metro and during the walk to the zoo. This zoo tops all I've ever been to. I was surprised there weren't many people there being that it is free, but it was so amazing. Every animal had their very own, well manicured palace. The animals were all active because the weather was superb and it was late afternoon. It was so relaxing to just stroll through. There were people jogging through and other just sitting on the benches relaxing. Some of the boys favorite animals were the Giant Pandas, the Prarie Dogs, the Sea Lions, and the Hippo. Matthias met us at the zoo and we headed back to Williamsburg from there. In my opinion, if you have kids and are in DC, you HAVE TO go to the zoo! Don't miss it!

National Mall, DC

Today we drove up to DC (Matthias had something for school) so the boys and I walked around the National Mall to see all the monuments and memorials while he was doing his stuff. I didn't realize how much walking I was in for, but my legs were aching by the end of the day - the amazing sights were worth it though! We hit all the major ones I think. The boys obviously are too young to really be wowed by the monuments, but they loved the running area they provided. The WWII memorial was our favorite. It was hard to keep the boys quiet in the memorials like the signs requested and it was also a little stressful to keep them close to me -there were so many people there and I was outnumbered. People kept looking at me and the boys and I didn't know if it was because of the boys or because of the double jogger/bike trailer I was using. I hate being stared at. Here are some pics of our United States Capital trip!

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Reflecting Pool - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lincoln Memorial


My favorite pic of the day. The gremlin at the WWII memorial.


Washington Monument - - - - - - - - - - - - - The White House


The Washington Monument (I dressed them the same to keep track of them more easily).

Oh, the metro was really interesting... I felt so little and insignificant riding it without Matthias back to the hotel (we stayed overnight). After riding it alone with 2 kids, I consider myself a metro pro.

The Metro or the "choo-choo" according to Becks