The BIG 4-0

How am I 40?
Isn't 40 reserved for old ladies who knit sweaters for their cats? I don't feel 40. Oh wait, I'm always tired, my knees hurt and all I want to do after 8 pm is lay in bed and watch 20/20. I guess I do feel 40. Some  days I feel 80.

I had a great birthday though! My birthday was on a Monday so Friday night I got a hotel downtown and had a little Staycation with Heather, Jamie and Abby. We went to Barbacoa for dinner and then walked around a bit downtown. It was fun to get away.












Then on my actual birthday I went skydiving!

Since Aaron is 40 this year too we both went to celebrate the new decade. We took the kids with us to watch and brought Cannon and Haleigh to help watch the kids while we were jumping.

You know how people make the joke, "Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" Well, anyone who has ever said that hasn't seen the airplane we went up in! Holy smokes that was the most terrifying part. The thing was TINY. It was only Aaron and I and our two jump partners, plus the pilot and I didn't think the five of us would fit in there. We were crammed in there with no seat belts and the pilot may have been drunk. Ok not really but on the way up he decided to do a flip mid-air and I about barfed. I was seriously ready to jump out of the airplane. It was SO amazing. The only problem was I didn't pop my ears and they hurt pretty bad for the next few days.

This is also kind of a big year for me because this is the first year since having kids that I don't have any at home all day. Piper went into the first grade. Since I have a little more free time, I decided to start some classes through LDS business college in Social Media Marketing. I'm hoping after finishing I'll able to be able to get a part time job in PR/Marketing somewhere or I'll be able to do freelance work for clients who want help with marketing.  I'm pretty excited about it!

Also this week Piper went in for a scope to try to figure out her health issues. She has constant stomach aches and acid reflux. The Dr. thought it was reflux disease but wanted to take a closer look because the acid blocker medicine didn't seem to be helping. What they found on the biopsy appears to be Celiac Disease.  I'm kind of still in shock about it and slightly terrified, but we'll know more for sure in a couple days.

#1 Hamil-FAN

I know everyone is a little Hamilton obsessed these last couple years bur Brighton is the biggest Hamil-fan I know! Two Christmases ago she came across the soundtrack on my phone and had headphones on her head for DAYS listening to the soundtrack on repeat. So when I heard it was coming to Salt Lake (only 5 hours away!) in May of 2018 I vowed to do everything possible to get tickets. Months in advance I signed up on the email list and checked my email every day to see when tickets would go on sale. The morning the tickets went up we had 8 devices on line in a virtual waiting room and finally one computer got through before it sold out! We had four tickets so it was Aaron, Brighton, Lynzi and I.
 Watching her face throughout the show literally brought me to tears. She was fan-girling so hard and the joy on her face was amazing! (She did put her head down for the entire seduction scene though even though I told her it wasn't explicit.) LOL
  After the show we had a heads-up that one or two cast members MIGHT come out the stage door to sign autographs so we bought a program book and went outside. WELL, not only did one or two cast members come out they ALL did! They met us and took pics and signed the book, which Brighton proudly displays over her pillow every time she makes her bed. When we left and were walking over to her car she was CRYING! This is the first time I've ever had a kid happy cry and then Aaron and I both started crying. I really think it might have been the best night of her entire life.

She had to show her Hamilton T shirt under her dress!

Are you Araon Burr, sir? It depends, who's asking, "Oh Sure, sir..."

Hercules Mulligan!

Alexander Hamilton. My name is Alexander Hamilton. And there's a million things I haven't done...just you wait...just you wait.

Also Hamilton related- the 5th grade did an end of the school year "Wax Museum" event where each kid had a character they learned all about and then memorized a speech to recite when someone put a quarter in their jar. Who did Brighton pick? Hamilton! I'm also kinda proud of the jacket I made her out of random crap I found at Goodwill. Score! Her poster was a $10 bill and it had a bunch of flaps you could lift up to reveal facts about Alexander Hamilton.

She did an amazing job and spoke with such poise when she delivered her speech!

Standby For Kauai

More travel adventures for the #frickinfunflakes! So.... here's how it happened. One of Aaron's clients was retiring from Alaska Airlines and had a bunch of buddy passes that she said were going to go unused and offered them to us. Which means, a super cheap flight to Hawaii, but it also means flying standby. So we decided to give it a shot! Well... after going to the airport at 4 am, then going home until 8 am... going back and spending 8 hours in the airport we.... got to...Seattle.

 Spent a night in a ghetto hotel there and then Piper Brighton and I got a flight to Kauai that morning.

Aaron and Deacon spent the day in Seattle and then made a flight that night.

The girls and I got our car and headed to a beach first thing! (Well technically Walmart to get some beach supplies...) Then the beach! The boys got there around midnight and then the fun began!
We stayed in a Condo on Poi'pu beach and it was AMAZING! The beach and waves were incredible. Brighton and Deacon were maniacs playing in the waves! They'd get pounded over and over and head back for more. The snorkling right off our beach was pretty great too. Deacon, Piper and I saw a turtle swim right by us. There were also Monk Seals right on the beach. Luckily though, no crabs.

We really wanted to kayak to a place called secret falls so we took off early one morning to try to reserve some kayaks. Well we found out when we got there that due to the huge floods they'd had a couple months before, the trail to secret falls was closed. So instead we had to hire a guide to take us a little ways up the Wailua River, but not all the way up. We still had a good time though. We stopped at this little Hawaiian village they were using as a tourist attraction since the Falls and the Gern Grotto were closed.

Before the kayaking trip, while we were waiting, we found this super cool hike to  a waterfall that we jumped off and played in. Ho'opii Falls. I could have stayed there longer but Piper was freaking out about some ants and we had our kayak trip scheduled. It was super amazing though and this is the only picture we ever got of all of us!

One of the reasons I really wanted to go to Kauai was to see the Napali Coastline. The best way to see it is to hike it but due to the flood all the trails were closed, which was a super bummer. Plus, all the boat tours taking off from the coast were booked, so I booked a tour that took off from the opposite coast and drove us all the way up.

The good part about that was that we got to see dolphins on the way up, plus we got to sail under a waterfall and see caves and snorkel.  The bad part was the boat ride was super long and I got really sea sick. Piper and Bright also weren't feeling great. That night Brighton was still feeling sick, thinking it was from the boat ride. We went to a restaurant and as soon as we sat down she ran out the back door and puked off the deck onto an unsuspecting chicken. Turns out she had the stomach flu and would have it for the next two days. :( It was so sad!

This was at the restaurant, minutes before she got sick. You can see her holding her stomach. :(

She had to stay in the room for like two days and even missed the Luau we had tickets for. At the Luau Deacon started feeling sick and then he was out for the next two days.
Oh! When we got to the Lu'au he asked the girl welcoming us if her "coconuts were real". Like literally she was wearing a coconut bra. The whole line behind us started to chuckle as she responded "Yeah they are. You have to climb all the way up the tree to get em." Whoa!

The day he was sick we went to Hanalei Bay. I stayed back on a shaded grassy area with him so he could sleep and hung out with some pot-head biker dudes. It was super shady. He started feeling a little better and would play for a bit, then come lay back down. I'd really like to spend a whole day at that beach. It was gorgeous!

We snorkled at Ali'i beach, looking for turtles until the sun went down.

The rest of the trip was more beach, more waves, pool time at the resort, trying a million sunscreens because the kids kept getting burned, gelato, shave ice, Da Crack, sight-seeing, souvenir shopping.

We also really liked Glass Beach. I guess years ago they used the bay as like a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish and after all these years the glass has been worn down to smooth bits. We collected a nice handful.

Even though we spent a week there, there are so many things that were closed I really want to go again. Out of the the three islands I've been to, I think this one is my favorite. It's so gorgeous and slow paced and amazing. The air literally smells like perfume. Ahhh. Aloha!