A Fun Day with Mason and Ali

It's really a comfortable place to be in life when you don't have any other responsibilities and you can just call up and say "can Mason and Ali come for an outing today."  Well, there are a few other things behind all of this - Brittney has been ill with the flu and early pneumonia and Taylor and Cameron are in school and Tyce, well, was too small this time.

There is a new aquarium in Salt Lake so we decided a fish adventure was just what was needed.  Ali told us a couple of times how very excited she was, that little sparkle in her eye and and you know how excited she really was.  We started right off looking at fish exhibits, then Mason kept asking, "I want to see the sharks."  Now, this was repeated about fifty times always with the explanation, "I've seen enough fish."

The penguins did not cooperate by getting in the water, in fact, Ali asked if they were alive.  The large fish, the small fish, the frogs, and all other animal life soon lost their interest.  We couldn't get Mason to touch the starfish, but Ali did and then said, yuck.  Finally, we relented and went to the sharks.  Just as soon as we turned the corner to walk under the big tube viewing area for the sharks, Mason, stopped, "I'm afraid."  Well, we tugged a little and he timidly walked through the tube; Ali was all face to the glass.

Then, we took them to the best place of all - the Tiki Playhouse.  That's where they spent a good part of the day until time was up and we had to leave (you pay by the hour to play there).  We herded them to the Amazon area to see the big anaconda snake and to encourage them to walk the rope bridge.  Ali and I walked once together and she learned that she could do it.  Then Mason and her walked several more times.

It's fun to see new things and ask new questions through a child's eye.  Love and Kisses Grandma and Grandpa.

Another Bucket List Accomplished - Machu Picchu, Peru

I have looked at pictures of Machu Picchu for years and thought how strange to build a city in the top of a mountain, how strange to invest all that time and energy to stack stones and then just leave, how beautiful the view, and on and on.  It's been one of the bucket list items for a long time and finally this November we were able to walk the ruins, see Cusco and other Inca sites and enjoy the beauty of Peru.

Curt and Melanee traveled with us to Peru.  It was fun having our kids along and taking in the splendor of these ancient sites.  We flew from Salt Lake to LA to Lima, Peru and on to Cusco - a long arduous journey, but well worth it.  In the Lima Airport, we met John and Carol Padilla who are serving an LDS mission in Peru.  They flew in from Trujillo to gather all the medicines, clothes and other supplies we took for them.  They couldn't get away to go to Cusco, so it was just a short visit for us.

In Cusco, we met our tour guide and had a private van and tour of all the sites each day.  The first night in Cusco we enjoyed a Peruvian dinner and show which featured dances, singing, and lots of costumed characters doing various things.

The next day we traveled the hillside and near valleys and mountains of Cusco to numerous Inca ruins.  Along the journey through the Sacred Valley (Cusco is supposed to be the center of the Sacred Valley) the Incas built a city or stopping village every 18-20 miles and all of them are in the mountains.  Cusco is about 13,000 feet above sea level and sometimes we had to stop to breathe.

Llama and apalca everywhere

The next day it was the Sacred City of Ollantaytambo.  Actually, this area is larger than Machu Picchu and this is the city where you catch the train to travel to Aguas Caliente.  We had a beautiful hotel and a wonderful look at the mountains of this rain forest area.

Thursday, Thanksgiving in Utah, we took the 25 minute bus ride to Machu Picchu and spend the entire day walking the ruins of this pristine Inca city.  When we arrived at about 7 a.m., the clouds were surrounding the various mountains and shadowing the city.  As we walked and looked, it was like magic and they disappeared and there in full view was this fantastic city.  The day was perfect (except for the little bugs that bit our legs and left red welts - oh well, the things we must endure) and we walked every part of the ruin.  Curt, Melanee and Theron hiked the original Inca Trail to the Sun Gate; I went part way.  Curt and Theron hiked the Inca Bridge trail.

Machu Picchu early in the morning with Huayna Picchu in background

The next day, Curt and Melanee left early in the morning to hike Huayna Picchu which is the large mountain overlooking the city of Machu Picchu.  They only let so many hikers up a day and you have to have a special ticket which we obtained before leaving Utah.  It was cloudy and misty that day so the view was not as good as it could have been, but what an experience.

Inca Trail to Sun Temple

Trail to the Inca Bridge

We left that afternoon to travel back to Cusco and arrived in Cusco late in the evening.  The next day was Saturday and we rested, went to see a couple of Inca Museums and rested.  We left Sunday to fly to Lima where we met a friend of John and Carol's who took us on a tour of Lima.  We had a long, long layover to catch our plane back to the states.  This is a city of 10 million people and lots of traffic and no freeway system.  It is a very beautiful city and we enjoyed our time seeing the sites and walking some of the streets.

Lima, Peru

Another memory we will always cherish.

Who Remembers a Bathroom Remodel?

The saying goes, that no one will remember the bathroom that was remodeled, they will remember the vacations and other memories.  Not so, in my case.  This has been a remodel I will long remember.

It was such a simple request, put some time down in the family room for a walk way, paint the bathroom vanity and put a new vanity top on.  Well, the remodel started in the summer and here it is in December and it's not finished.

The time went down and it has been a great improvement for the traffic that goes through the family room and up the stairs to the kitchen.  The carpet was always dirty and matted, now the tile catches the dirt and is much easier to clean.

The bathroom walls and hall walls have all been painted the same color and the bathroom vanity is painted.

Theron wanted to make a funky counter top with a laminar flow faucet, so Robin Schaefermeyer, an expert in concrete counter tops was called up and they went to building the top.

It's now built, but still not installed.  Wait for the update.

 A mold was built, the concrete was poured and smoothed.  The counter was painted with acrylic paints and then a thick expoxy was poured over it all to seal it.

This is the finished look, but not the finished install.  It's coming.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Balloon Festival

We all have a bucket list of things we want to do and see before we leave this life.  One that has been there for a long time was The International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  What kid doesn't like to see balloons.  

Duerden's, Wood's and us traveled there this October in our fifth wheel trailers.  We stopped in Durango, Colorado, and a few other places in between but spent the majority of our time in Albuquerque.  This is a marvelous valley.

We stayed right in the balloon park and were just minutes away from all the events.  Waking early each morning, to the inflating of the balloons was a great adventure.  About 500 hot air balloons graced the large field each day.  The only thing we didn't get to see was the night time festival of lights because it rained and the wind blew.

 The sky just danced with so many balloons of every shape and size.  Most of the ones there were character balloons - time flew, frogs bounced in the air, Noah's ark floated and carriages danced in the sky.