Decidedly Picky

Today we spent a lovely day in Seattle.

At first I was annoyed to be going because I was all in gear to kick some moving-butt, but after we got onto the ferry I just couldn't resist the coolness. Ferries are awesome!

But super windy.

And if you couldn't tell it was windy in that one, this one should clear it up...


Ferries also collect all kinds of different people. There was a cute little family with two toddlers that Indy walked up to and just stared at. (Why won't that kid wave at anything except inanimate objects and me? Wait a second! What does that say about me?! :p) We also met a GIGANTIC dog and his owner. The dog was nice. The owner was AWKWARD. He was obviously trying to relate to me and started comparing how he teaches his dogs with how you would raise a kid, which I thought was kinda sweet. But then he asked me how it was nursing when they start teething. I was at a loss as to what to say for a minute while I was thinking, "I'm not going to tell a total stranger anything about my nipples! Why does this guy even want to know?!" I settled on simply saying it wasn't a problem and he continued on about his dog and her 5 puppies. But I just couldn't get away fast enough after that.

Indy loved the ferry and learned how to say the word 'boat'. He wasn't very happy with us when it was time to get back in the car.


Upon lading, we stopped for a refreshing beverage at the Mystery Coke Machine. I pushed the tastiest looking ?Mystery? button and got a..... Mountain Dew! My favorite. :) Next I put in the change and even before I pressed a button, out popped an iced tea, which Lewis actually likes. Happy with the outcome, I started to leave when an elderly lady asked me if I would get her one too since it was hard for her to get out of her car. I happily complied and out popped a 7up. I brought it back to the lady and she looked a little disappointed. So I offered her the iced tea instead. She smiled and happily traded me for the 7up. When I got back to the car, Lewis was even happier with the 7up than the iced tea. I just love a good deed that benefits everyone. :)

Best selfie I've ever done in just one take! Skills upgrade!

Next we went looking for the Troll Bridge. We got totally lost but it was actually kinda fun. Lewis and I have decided that big cities have so much traffic because everyone is so lost that the same car has to drive past any given location an average of 4 times before it can end up where it's going. Getting lost did have the nice side effect of getting to see more of the city with all it's quirkiness.


The Troll may have been hard to find, but it was totally worth it! Look how awesome this thing is!

Don't forget to pay the toll or this could happen to you!

Indy offered a nifty rock

But it wasn't until the Troll and I had a heart to heart that he would let Lewis go.

Obviously, Lewis learned his lesson...

We continued on to the Sound Garden, which was a horrible disappointment. There were no signs to it and we had to ask several people before we figured out where it was. There was no wind so the artwork made no noise and it wasn't even interesting looking. The only thing that made all the trouble even remotely worth it was cooling off in the lake.


So my advice for when you go to Seattle... Forget the Space Needle. Go say hi to the Troll.

There is an odd phenomenon that occurs in those weird places that have all four seasons, that I call the Fall Freak Out! It hits when the air goes from way too hot to just about right and everyone comes to the same realization all at once, that summer is almost over. They think of all the amazing things they had planned for this summer and realize that most of those things won't get done if they don't do it RIGHT NOW! So everyone starts planning BBQ's, outings to the park, and camp outs. They invite everyone they know to come join them outside in the sun because very soon they will all retreat into their cozy little caves to wait out the winter.

I hadn't experienced the Fall Freak Out in 4 years and it took me a little by surprise. So fall 2013 turned into a VERY busy and stressful time for us. The first weekend of September was the camp out I talked about here with my brother's family. Lewis lost his job the following Tuesday. The second weekend was the Ward camp out, which I was in charge of. The third weekend was Indy's 1st birthday party (which is enough to keep me busy for a whole month by itself!). The fourth weekend was a clothing swap I organized for my ward. October was almost as busy. Between General Conference, and the Ward Halloween Party I only had one Saturday to myself in 2 months. For some of you this might seem normal but for me, I usually only attend one or two social functions a month and if I'm planning it, it better be the only thing going on that month. So here I was planning 4 major events in  2 months with the stress of unemployment looming over us. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck! um...not my normal relaxed self...

So the time for the Annual Ward Camp Out approached like a big black cloud of doom. I was in charge of the camp fire program and no one wanted to sign up to do anything. I twisted some arms and got a few volunteers but when the time for the camp fire arrived. No one was coming. I had spent the last half hour arranging things and telling people to come over to the fire pit area and it was not paying off. Finally an hour and a half after we planned on starting, there were only a handful of people there. We decided to start anyway but within a few skits we had to move everyone to the lit pavilion since darkness had fallen. The pavilion was not ideal for skits since there was only a tiny space in the center surrounded on all sides by tables. But we made do and did what we could as people kept trickling in. All of this was frustrating to be sure but what got my goat the most was that no one was paying attention to the skits. 80% of the people were just talking amongst themselves. What kind of polite adult goes to an activity and completely disregards the efforts of those who have prepared to entertain them?! Grrrrr!

The previous weekend was so hot that I couldn't sleep with a thing on, so I only packed a few large blankets for us to sleep with. Boy was that a bad idea! It was FREEZING! I got practically no sleep and the next morning I was still mad, over tired and now cold and hungry! Breakfast was being provided by the men of the ward and they were getting a late start. I was getting colder, hungrier, and more impatient by the minute. My loving husband suggested that we go enjoy the soothing sights of nature while we waited.

We took some great pictures of the sun rise and as we hiked walked along a little nature trail, my irritability started to dissipate.

I arrived back at camp a much calmer person. That is until I realized that breakfast had started and ended with no food left. I was still cold, starving and mad as hornets! I told Lewis I couldn't take anymore and I wanted to go home NOW!

Indy loved waiting in the car while we packed up the tent

That Sunday, I looked at all the people who at been at the camp out and they all looked happy. I thought it was just because they had survived the ordeal of the ward camp out. But then they started coming up to me and telling me how much fun they had and what a great job I had done on my first activity as Activities Coordinator. I smiled my thanks and thought to myself, "Are you freaking kidding me?! That was the worst activity I've ever been to, let alone help plan!" And then it hit me. They weren't just lying to be polite. They really did have fun. They didn't care that the camp fire was too little too late. They were having fun talking to their friends. It didn't matter that it was cold. These are the hardy people of Wisconsin! They all got a good breakfast and a beautiful sunrise. They genuinely had a good time because they just relaxed and socialized.

I still had a horrible time and nothing can change that but I took the lessons my fellow ward members taught me and applied them to all my future activities. And it's really helped. Lewis also made friends with some awesome people named the Hartmans and started a gaming group so epic, it made us not want to ever leave Madison. So even if the activity itself was a total loss, the lessons I learned and the people I met made the ordeal worth it.

I really like Blongdesense and Nonsense's way of just throwing up a whole bunch of pictures of daily life and calling it a blog post. So I'm copying her!

I hope you enjoyed the overload of pictures. All pictures circa May to November 2013, taken in a few of our Madison parks.

The weekend after Labor Day, my brother's family came up for a weekend of good old fashioned fun. We decided to go camping on the Wisconsin River near the Frank Lloyd Wright on an adorable little beach we had found when we went to House on the Rock. (You can read about that here.)

We got a late start and when we got to the beach we found out there was no camping or overnight parking allowed. So we wondered around as the sun set, looking for a place to camp. We finally settled on Tower Hill State Park but then we couldn't find a level camping site and it was already dark. I just couldn't understand why we were paying $20 per car to sleep lay on the ground all night when we could just go home and actually get some sleep for free, not to mention have normal food. But they talked me into it.

We found a reasonably level spot and started setting up camp by the light of car headlights and cooked dinner by firelight. Indy loved walking around in the dirt, touching every rock, leaf, and staying up way too late.

Our oh-so-lovely camp

The next Morning the men cast off in the kayak to find the beach by waterway and the women and children did the sensible thing, and drove. We spent a warm and lovely day on the beach. Madeline (12yr) found a bow staff she just couldn't be parted with, Indy (12 mo) ate sand, and I (25yr) found a stick bug! 

After we were all tuckered out from the fun we drove home. How does that old saying go? 'Campsites are twenty bucks but memories are priceless.'