ROAD TRIP! (Warning: this is blog-overload. It should have been 3 separate posts.)

We just got back from a 3,300 mile road trip! It was crazy and long and so fun. Jade needed to do another one of his long business trips across the NW, and I needed to go see my 2 best college friends' newborn babies, and we all needed to go visit Jerai and Phil, so we decided to make a family trip out of it. I was really worried about traveling 1) 7 months pregnant and 2) with a very active 3 year old, but it turned out better than I could have hoped. I brought "halfway point presents" for Peyton, which were little car toys she could open up at the halfway point of driving every day. I did this in the hope that she would have some sort of idea about how much longer we would be driving every day. This strategy worked out pretty well. I also brought lots of home movies and our wedding video, since those are the only movies my daughter likes. A friend of ours loaned us her kids' IPOD video, which was loaded with kids movies, but Peyton wouldn't watch anything for more than about 3 minutes. She really just doesn't enjoy TV or animated movies yet, which I guess is a really good thing, but on a 2 week road trip, it would have been a nice distraction. The home movies were a saving grace. We left on Monday night, and drove right up to Spokane. We stayed there the first night, then drove over to Idaho, through Coeur d'Alene and into beautiful McCall, ID. That was an absolutely beautiful drive (and I consider myself a little scenic-ly spoiled after living in Portland). The next day we drove to Idaho Falls and stayed the night there. It really wasn't that long to drive between all those places, but Jade had to make about 30 stops, so it took the better part of 3 days. Thursday was the day I had been looking forward to- the beginning of our weekend, which was all play and no work. We drove into Pocatello, where my best friend Megan and her husband Ryan and their 4 week old, Cooper, live. The boys went golfing, and Megan and I spent Peyton's nap catching up, while I hogged Cooper. Then we went to the Pocatello zoo, and met the boys for dinner. It was such a good visit. Megan is truly like a sister to me, and so it was amazing to meet my new nephew! Peyton absolutely loved little Cooper. She wanted to hold him and kept trying to force his binky into his mouth and cover him up with his blankets. It was really cute. I'm hoping that is a good sign for when she has a baby of her own at home. The day came to an end too soon, but fortunately for us, we had some more great things to look forward to. Thursday night we drove to Driggs, for our weekend with Jerai and Phil in the gorgeous Teton Valley. We had THE BEST time with them. It made me miss so badly the times when the 4 of us (plus the 2 dogs) all lived in Provo/Orem and got to spend lots of time together, camping, 4-wheeling, and hanging out. Peyton and her cousin Boyd are only 3 months apart, so it was so fun to watch them interact. They got along SO well. Peyton prefers playing with older kids or boys, and this was no exception. She and Boyd absolutely loved playing together, and we didn't even have any crazy meltdowns. Friday morning we woke up early and drove the hour and a half to Yellowstone. Phil had a great idea to rent a Suburban, so the 4 adults, 2 car seats, and 2 dogs could all comfortably ride together around Yellowstone. That was a really good plan, and made the drive more fun because we were all together. Our first stop was Old Faithful, and we could not have timed our arrival too much better. We didn't even have to wait 5 minutes before we saw it blow, which is super lucky since there's really no way to time when it will happen. After, we had a picnic lunch while we waited for the crowd to clear out, which was also a great strategy. We saw a bunch of elk cows (no bulls), deer, and bison. We even had a gigantic grandpa bison cross the road right in front of our car. The kids thought it was pretty cool, Remy didn't even look twice at it, but Tink surprised us all with her reaction. She had a conniption. She was barking her deepest, meanest bark, so loud that Jade was worried she was going to make the buffalo turn around and charge us. Eventually we drove away, and Tink let out one last big bark to make sure we all knew she still meant business. It was pretty funny. We saw some of the other sights in Yellowstone- the mud pots, hot springs, huge waterfalls, and other geysers around the park. It was beautiful, and even though I never got to see my grizzly, I enjoyed every minute of it. That night we camped at a campground right outside the park, and Phil and Jerai cooked us an awesome dutch oven dinner of chicken, potatoes and delicious cobbler with ice cream! It was a treat, and I felt spoiled. That night, we were treated to lightning and a thunderstorm, with a little bit of rain. It was absolutely beautiful, and luckily the rain wasn't very bad, so we stayed nice and dry in our tents. Peyton got her own sleeping bag and she was so cute- like a little bug in a cocoon. The next morning we took down camp and drove to Jackson Hole. It was so fun to just walk around and take in the cute little town. There was a farmer's market going on, and we were able to eat some good food- even bison jerky. We took the kids to the big candy store and let them choose some treats. We also took them to the huge toy store and let them play with all the toys that were out. They had a really fun time. After we left Jackson, we went for a birthday lunch for Phil at a local restaurant that was really yummy. We even got to sit outside to eat, where the kids could run around and play, since we were the only customers outside. When we got back home, we unpacked the cars, and got cleaned up. The kids took naps and the dads went golfing. That night, Jerai and Phil had 2 families over to celebrate Phil's birthday. We had a great BBQ and it was fun to meet some of their Driggs friends. Sunday came way too fast, and after a morning of the kids riding bikes and the dads riding the dirtbike, it was time for us to pack up and go. It was hard saying goodbye to the Moultons, but it wasn't so bad because we know we'll see them next month in Oregon. We made our way to Utah, but took the more scenic route through Wyoming. It was another really pretty drive, but we were excited to finally make it to our final destination in Park City. We stayed at a hotel with a really pretty outdoor pool in a courtyard, and we were lucky enough to get a 1st floor room, that walked right out to the pool. Jade and Peyton took advantage and swam until bedtime. Monday morning Jade's gorgeous and talented cousin Sydney took some maternity pictures for us, and then we put Peyton down for a nap and Jade went to some meetings. After nap, we went to my other best friend Steph's house to visit her, Rawlin and their 3 week old baby, Brielle. The boys went golfing, and Peyton and I spent the afternoon loving on Brielle. Peyton was so helpful and interested in the baby. She wanted to hold her, "all by myself", and help feed her, and go get things for her out of her nursery. Peyton also loved playing with Steph's 2 cats. They don't have real names, so Steph told Peyton that one of them was named "Peyton". Peyton thought that was about the neatest thing ever. She kept picking up the cats and carrying them around, trying to put them in Brielle's swing and bouncy seat. They were pretty patient with her. That night we stayed at a friend's place, and Tuesday we had the breakfast I had been dreaming of since the last time I was in Utah- french toast from Magleby's Fresh. YUM. Then we met up with some of our friends from college- the Garfields- and went to the fun water park in Provo, Seven Peaks. They have a daughter who's only 4 months younger than Peyton, which is so fun. The girls played so cute together, and they loved playing in the water and especially going down the slides with their dads. Noah and Jade raced a few times, and Twink and I even raced twice (let's just say that every time, the heavier person won, and it was always a Thelin). After Seven Peaks, we went to another Utah favorite- Costa Vida. It was also delicious. Then Peyton and I went back to see Steph and Brielle for the last time, while Jade had a couple other meetings. It was so sad to say goodbye to those girls! That night, we went to dinner with our friends Kelly and Becca and their little cutie pie, Elsie. We had so much fun with all our Utah friends! That night we stayed in a hotel in Provo and when we woke up, I took Peyton swimming in the pool while Jade went to more meetings. When Jade got done working for the morning, we met up with our friend Emily, a girl who used to be in Jade's Sunday School class in Portland and now is in her freshman year at BYU. It was really great to catch up with her. (For all you Bachelorette viewers- we ate at a restaurant that was next to mean-Bentley's family fun center that he owns. I hate to admit it, but it was actually pretty cool.) We left Provo and started to head north, and in between Jade's meetings, we were able to meet up with Chaz for ice cream for about 20 minutes. It was good to see him, even if it was short. That night we stayed in Logan, UT, and rested up for what was going to be a LONG 2 days of driving. Thursday morning Jade and Peyton burned off some 3 year-old energy in the pool, then we started our drive back home, stopping about 20 more times for Jade to have meetings. The stops broke up the drive a little bit, so that was a really nice way for Peyton and I to be able to get out and run around for a few minutes every so often. We finally made it home at about 9:00 on Friday night, and it was AMAZING to sleep in our own bed again. We had a fantastic trip, and it was so much fun, but it feels so good to be home!

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Tink was pretending to cuddle Peyton, but really I think she was trying to snatch a snack.

Adorable Cooper

There's a bobcat standing in almost the center of the picture, about to jump from the short log to the tall log.

Very attentive to Coop

LOVE my sister

This waterfall was CRAZY

The grandpa buffalo that caused a stink with Tink

Our babies crashed

So did our other babies

Peyton loved the "water squirter" or "big steamer"

Sweet cousins

More gorgeous waterfalls

There was the moose that we never got to see

I love her "waking up" picture

Jackson

Go Cougars!

My little animal lover

The kids on their matching Striders

We passed so many farms and Peyton loved all the horses, sheep, goats, llamas and cows. Once in awhile we would stop by one and let her get a closer look.

Poor kitty...

Sweet Brielle. So big and alert and strong for a 3-week old. Crazy!

My goodbye to my baby Brielle.

Lazy River

Peyton, Kirra, Owen

After the water park, Peyton was totally wiped out. She put her whole blanket over her body, head to toes, and conked out.

Our last leg of the trip. I loved that she was wearing her shades.

Lots of laundry when we got home. Guess which parent put her in the dryer...

Things we've been doing.

Well, it's almost like summer here in Oregon. They say that between the 4th of July and Halloween, you can count on beautiful weather in Portland. The last few years I've been here, that's actually been true. For some reason, this year that is not the case. Jade's been working his bottom off (as usual), but managing to squeeze in some fun. He played in our golf club's Member-Guest golf tournament. At the last minute, his guest couldn't make it, so he played with our brother-in-law Nipper. They had a blast playing 3 straight days of golf (70 holes) and a par-3 challenge. They were in the best group of golfers (because together they had such a good handicap), and ended up taking 1st place in their group, 2nd place in the tournament. JaNea and I got to go out to the course and meet them for a nice dinner on their last day. It was really fun for everyone, and I'm so glad Jade and Nipper got to play together. Peyton started her summer lessons of ballet, and I have been getting ready for our big trip we're going on. Also, one of my friend's daughters is my "mother's helper" for the summer, and I have loved every minute of it! She comes over and basically pre-babysits, where she takes care of Peyton, but I'm in the house with them. It is so great. Peyton LOVES her, and I'm able to get so much done. I don't know what I'll do when school starts and I lose my special friend.

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The winners, with their crystal vases

Two of the guys Jade and Nipper played with

My grandmother gave me this doll with a matching nightgown when I was 3. I found the exact same nightgown at Nordstrom, and couldn't resist buying it for Peyton.

...Now if I could only find a picture of me with the nightgown and the doll.

Cheyanne played with Peyton on the computer when she was here. I just found these pictures this week.

Peyton has the cutest new habit- taking Tink's collar off her, and putting it around her waist, like a belt. She came up with it all on her own, too- Jade and I didn't show her that one.

I was cleaning the bathroom and Peyton was playing in her playroom. I could hear Tink bothering Peyton, but I couldn't hear exactly what Peyton was saying to Tink. When I was done, I came out to find that poor Tinky had been ordered to her "prison" by Peyton. The craziest part was that she actually listened to Peyton and went in when she told her to, and that she didn't walk out- the door was neither shut nor locked. What a sad little puppy dog face.

Noni's Visit

There are few things in life better than having your mom come to visit. Peyton absolutely adores her Noni. The two of them talk on the phone every day and video chat quite often, but we really don't get to see her enough. We were so excited that she planned to visit in the end of June for Peyton's birthday (and to keep me company while Jade had a business trip). We had such a great visit, and to make it even better, halfway through, Cheyanne and Jimmy came up!

The first half of the trip (when my mom was alone) was spent doing errands, chores, and honey-do's for my mom. I would feel bad about putting her to work so hard when she's here, but I've seen the way she puts my Grandpa Gene to work when he visits Las Vegas, so I figure turnabout is fair play. We got so many things done for Peyton's birthday party, and for the new baby. I feel so much more prepared than I did a week ago. It wasn't all work, though. I finally got my mom to my Zumba class with the best teacher ever! We went to the Lake Oswego Farmer's Market on Saturday, which is beautiful and so neat. We about 2 pounds of the best cherries I've ever tasted, and I bought a dozen homemade tamales to take home and freeze for my lunches (yum!). There is a doggie day care at the market, and we took Peyton to see the dogs. She was in heaven. She went to each of the 30 or so dogs and gave every single one a hug and a kiss. She didn't want to leave until she had given each dog a "love". It was very sweet.

Saturday night the kids came, and from then on it was mostly fun. We had Peyton's birthday party and celebrated Independence Day. Our 4th was gorgeous this year, from sun-up to sun-down. We celebrated by going to the biggest parade in Oregon in the morning, the Hillsboro Parade. It was so fun to watch Peyton's face light up as all the floats, motorcycles, trucks, trailers, tractors and animals went by. She had an absolute blast, and scored quite a bit of candy. Then we went to a party at Jade's brother Justin and his wife Ashley's house for dinner. The kids swam and ate, and the moms visited and ate, and the dads played a crazy game of wiffle-ball baseball and ate. It was fantastic. Then we went to a huge fireworks show (about 45 minutes long) that a neighborhood by ours puts on every 4th of July. We had great spots because that morning, the boys went and set out big tarps for all our families. This year we woke Peyton up and brought her to the show, and I'm so glad we did. She LOVED it. Initially we were a little worried, because lately she has been so sensitive to loud noises, we thought she might have a meltdown. Sure enough, as we were walking into the park where the show was, and fireworks were going off in the surrounding neighborhoods, her hands didn't budge from her ears. But as soon as the show started, she was transfixed, and all thoughts of the decibels of sound were forgotten.

The next day we all slept in and had a really lazy morning. That night we had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings for JC's birthday. Then we had Cold Stone ice cream, which makes me happy even when I'm not pregnant, but for some reason I liked it so much more this time.

The last day they were here I took them berry picking at Sauvie Island. We were so lucky with timing, because the strawberry fields were still open, and it was the first day for raspberries and blueberries, so we got to pick all 3 (though we mostly just picked strawberries and raspberries). Everyone had a great time, especially Peyton, who ate the berries almost as fast as we could pick them. That night we took them to the airport and stopped to have our last supper at Red Robin. We did the same thing when they left after Peyton's first birthday, 2 years ago.

It was so sad to see them go, especially since this time I don't have a set date of when I'll see them next. Peyton cried when they left, and I got a little teary too. It's so sad to say goodbye.

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Walking to the show (note the hand placement)

Cuddling with mommy and daddy at the beginning of the show- the hands are coming off the ears.

She looks like she's sleeping, but she just wouldn't look away from the fireworks to look at the camera.

Neither of us look amazing in this picture, but it's the only one I have with anyone in my family from their whole trip. How did that happen?

3!

I can hardly believe it, but my little girl is 3! Actually now that I write it, I can't believe she's only just now 3. She seems so grown up to me. People have been asking me if she's 3 for about 6-8 months. She's a little bit tall for her age (62nd %-ile), but more than that she is so outgoing and gregarious, and she has an incredible vocabulary. This birthday was the first one that I've actually felt ready for. I cried when she turned 1, and I was so nervous about 2. I'm catching glimpses of why some mothers say "Terrible 2's? 2 is easy- 3 is the tough one!" Surprisingly, I'm not nervous for 3. We have our challenges- my girl has the best parts of her daddy (her outgoing, social and very engaging personality) and some of the not-so-great parts of her mommy (she's a little impatient, a total perfectionist, and incredibly head-strong, with a tendency to get a bit sassy). But even with those challenges, Peyton is an absolute delight.

We decided to wait to have her birthday party until my mom and siblings came to town to visit, so on her actual birthday, it was pretty low-key. I decided I wanted to start a tradition of waking up the birthday-person with birthday cake in bed, so I surprised her on her birthday morning with a cupcake and chocolate milk that I let her have in my bed. Jade had a golf tournament that evening, so he came home from work around 9 and took us out to a birthday breakfast. Peyton had chocolate chip pancakes, which she thought were okay, but she was more interested in my waffles with berries. After breakfast, Jade played with her outside for awhile before he had to leave for the golf course, and she was able to do her new favorite thing- ride her bike. After nap, we had a few errands to run, and then I let her choose what she wanted for dinner. Big surprise- she asked to go to McDonald's. So we went and had a nice healthy dinner of a yogurt parfait, and a chicken nugget Happy Meal with chocolate milk (something she would eat weekly if I would let her). She played in the play are for awhile, and when we left, she was a very tired and happy birthday girl.

Later that week, we had her 3 year check-up with our wonderful doctor. Peyton passed the developmental tests with flying colors, and our doctor was surprised and impressed with her gregarious and social personality. She weighed in at 27 pounds, which means she is out of the 1st percentile for the first time since she was 6 months old, coming in at the 12th percentile! She is 37 1/2 inches tall, which brings her into the 62nd percentile for height. Long and lean. Our doctor was enthusiastic about her jump in the charts- he asked "is she eating better?" Nope, she just finally had a little growth spurt!

For her birthday, Peyton requested a Pinkalicious party, in honor of one of her favorite books. I was excited about the easy and fun theme. We decided to just do a small, family party (actually no Thelin-family party is small- there are 14 kids 11 and under, as well as 11 adults that live in Portland). It was so fun, and Peyton had a blast. She was so into everything PINK. We made cupcakes that looked just like the cupcakes in the book, and we had pink treats with green food (so that they wouldn't turn pink, like the girl in the book). It ended up being absolutely adorable. And for some reason, I can never say no to pink and green (my wedding colors, baby shower colors, nursery colors, Peyton's room colors, obviously my favorite colors).

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Cupcake and chocolate milk in mommy and daddy's bed. She thought it was the best thing ever.

Taking her first birthday phone call of the day from Noni

Birthday Breakfast

We made pink (it was dark pink- no watermelon Jello to be found at any of our close grocery stores) Jello in champagne glasses. Peyton was hilarious trying to drink it, before she realized it was solid. That would be a great April Fool's joke for all you parents of preschoolers!

Cute cousins

All week she had been worrying about her cousins singing Happy Birthday, because she was scared they would clap and "it will be too loud". She's become very sensitive to loud noises in the past few months. I was pleasantly surprised that when everyone started to sing, she did not cover her ears with her hands, but clapped right along!

Her favorites- the Bantons- gave her a big girl purse, stuffed full of purse necessities, since she wants to go through everyone's purses all the time. It was the perfect birthday gift, and she is obsessed with it. She has not let it out of her sight since she got it. It sleeps on her dresser at night and during naps, and it is the first thing she asks for every morning when she wakes up. She even had her first woman-moment with it: she was standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden she yelled "Oh no-, oh-no, my purse- where's my purse?" It was on her shoulder. I laughed so hard because I have done that more times than I would like to admit. The cutest part of the day was the birthday message her future husband Brock wrote to her (un-prompted): "Happy birthday, princess". SO CUTE!

I LOVE her Peyton bloomers, so I had to snap a picture of her cute little bottom.

The purse made it on the trike with her.

Our pink and green food (technically the sloppy joe's were neither pink nor green, but we had to have some kind of meat)

Our Pinkalicious cupcakes.

We had the whole party outside so the kids could play in the cul-de-sac and the parents could watch, since we have no backyard.