Tomorrow is Caitlin’s last day of 6th grade and our families last day of having an elementary school age child. Yikes!
And… it is the day Caleb comes home from Alaska! We are making a one-day-round-trip-drive to Boise to pick him up because I am convinced having more than one flight connection is just bad luck. It’s going to be a long day for all of us, but I sure hope he’s not too tired to give us all the details of his month long adventure. We have only talked to him once since he’s been gone and have had a few emails and photos sent to us by a member of our church who works at the camp. From what we know, he has really enjoyed this experience. We will sure be happy to have him home for a few weeks before he heads to Sweden and Denmark though.
In celebration of my birthday, our anniversary, and the big finale of Caitlin’s month-long-spoiling-fest, we went to New York for a quick weekend getaway.
We took the overnight flight to New York and arrived bright and early on Friday morning to rain and a fairly quiet city. We headed to our hotel on the Avenue of the Americas and ate a yummy breakfast, then caught up on some sleep. The rest of the day we spent going to all the places Caitlin wanted to go. We went to the American Girl Place on Fifth Ave, the Lego Store at Rockefeller Center, and the Disney and M&M stores in Times Square. It was a nice day and it was fun just to walk around the city, see the sights, and the changes since our last visit.
On Saturday, after spending a little more time (okay, an hour and a half!) at the Lego store while Caitlin created three of her very own custom Lego people, we went to Spider-Man. We had excellent seats right in the flying zone and thought this new musical was fabulous. While the story line was different than the movies and had added parts; the costumes, scenery, music, and most of all, the flying and special effects were unbelievable. There was a glitch right before the Green Goblin and Spider-Man were supposed to have their big flying fight scene. Spider-Man was on the ledge right by our seats and while the show was stopped for a few minutes, he entertained the audience. Good save, Spidey. I think that was one of my favorite parts along with the “Rise Above” song. This is a show I would definitely see again (and again, and again, and again). Look how cute Spider-Man is in real life…
Between shows, we got a little lost trying to find a restaurant we’d found online and ended up walking way more than we wanted to. We did have a nice dinner in Times Square, then headed over to the Gershwin Theater. What can I say? Wicked on Broadway is simply amazing. Katie Rose Clarke was Glinda and that was exciting for us because she performed in Salt Lake the first time Caitlin saw Wicked. Also, Tom McGowen played the Wizard. Clint and I thought that was fun because he’s been on some of the TV shows we’ve watched over the years (Kenny on Frasier/Bernie on Everybody Loves Raymond). After the show, we went to the stage door and met several of the actors and had them sign Caitlin’s playbill. Sweet, sweet memories.
On Sunday, we played the role of true jetsetters. We had breakfast in New York, a late lunch in California, and were happy to sleep in our own beds last night. Long day.
I think what I will take away from this little getaway is the memory Clint and I made with Caitlin. She absolutely glowed in the attention we gave her and was so happy, excited, and sweet the whole time we were away. She loves theater as much as we do and I’m so happy we were able to make this dream come true for her (and for me). I cannot wait to plan another New York trip someday soon.
Today I am 40. That seems like a pretty foreign number to associate with myself and I have to wonder what the next ten years will bring.
On my 20th birthday, I felt like an adult. All grown up and an answer for every question. On my birthday, I went through the St. George LDS temple for the first time. One week later, I married Clint in the Manti LDS temple. In my 20’s I had both of my kids, we bought our first house, and for the most part thought life was pretty sweet and that we were on the right track for a happily ever after.
Six months after I turned 30, Caitlin was diagnosed with cancer at the age of three. I had no answers for this and I didn’t want to be one of the adults responsible for making the decisions that needed to be made for her treatment and care. In my early to mid-30’s life pretty much fell apart. We had trials of job loss, excessive debt, an uncertain future for one of our children, and feelings of guilt about the amount of time and energy we could give the other. It felt like we had stumbled into a very large hole that we would never be able to crawl out of and our happily ever after was just a lost dream.
In the past four years, things seem to have turned around. Clint and I have worked like crazy to dig ourselves out of that stinking hole. As I look back, I have made some progress and have grown as a person through the difficult times. I am surprised by how my thoughts and feelings concerning a variety of topics have changed over the past ten years. However, while I have gained wisdom in some areas of my life, I feel like my questions far outweigh my answers. I still struggle to feel comfortable in my own skin and wonder why I can’t keep my opinions to myself in certain situations and why I don’t stand up for what I feel is right in others. Basically, I feel like a child all over again, but in an older body and I am still prone to an occasional temper tantrum.
So what will the 40’s bring? I guess only time will tell. It blows my mind to think it will bring children graduating from school, a mission for Caleb, possibly a marriage, grandchildren…? I just want it all to slow down because every day I am experiencing my happily ever after in one way or another. I am blessed and holy cow, I am 40!
Took the family to Les Miserables last Wednesday night
Caleb went on a date
We flew to California
We went to the beach and Downtown Disney
Spent a day at Disneyland and amazingly it wasn’t crazy the Saturday before Memorial Day
We flew to Seattle and spent time at Pike Place Market, where we ate yummy mini doughnuts, watched the throwing of the fish, and couldn’t believe the fresh produce and flowers. We went to the aquarium, where we were able to watch the octopus and sea otter feedings, Ballard Locks and ship canal, the Space Needle, we saw the troll under the bridge, a cool waterfall, the Seattle Temple, we ate yummy seafood, and took the kids to a movie
The night we got to Seattle, we went to dinner at a pasta restaurant, and Clint asked the waitress where we could get good seafood while there. She told him that Red Lobster is really popular. (Seriously?)
Yesterday we got Caleb checked in for his flight and sent him to Juneau on Alaska Air. I had been sick about it all week, but when the time came, it wasn’t horrible. He seems confident about his choices and unafraid of the unknown. I hope the next month will be something he will always look back on with good memories
As we were walking away from Caleb’s gate to go to the terminal the rest of us would fly out of later in the day, Caitlin said, “let the spoiling begin!” And she has been… for almost a whole day now
Forty-something wife and mom to the best kids ever. I love to travel, read, spend time with family and friends, design and decorate. I'm a total neat freak, list maker, love cottage style and lots of color in my home.
