Every summer we make the trip to Schlitterbahn. Somewhere along the way it stopped being just another vacation and quietly became one of those traditions that marks the passing of time. Every year we tell ourselves we'll ride the same favorites, find a few new ones, eat too much junk food, and wonder why we don't come more often. It's one of those trips that always seems worth the drive—or, in this year's case, the flight. This summer, though, the trip carried a little more anticipation than usual because for the first time it wasn't really about us anymore. It was about Ripley.
Two Trips, Two Very Different Adventures: Mexico, North Carolina, and Traveling with a Toddler
Traveling with a toddler has taught us that trips rarely go exactly as planned. Sometimes that means discovering hidden gems, and other times it means accidentally ending up in the wrong border crossing lane with no cell service while trying to navigate international travel. Over the course of two weeks, we somehow managed to do both.
Splashing at a Waterpark by Day, Bundling Up in the Snow by Night
Grant and I couldn’t quite decide how to “do” Chicago. We had booked cheap flights months ago—one of those fares that pops up and feels irresponsible not to buy—and told ourselves we’d figure out the details later. As the trip got closer, we still didn’t have a real plan. That’s when I did something bold: I let Grant take the lead.
Some Trips are Carefully Planned Masterpieces. Others are… Boises.
Our little trio—Grant, Ripley, and me—embarked on a family adventure to Boise, Idaho. We expected a light, relaxing getaway. Instead, we got a comedy of travel, overeating, scenic detours, toddler moods, and one very frigid hot springs misadventure. In other words…it was perfect.
Pivoting to Casa Bonita in Denver
Pivot. Defined as a verb that “completely changes the way in which one does something.” It’s a nice way of saying throwing away what you had and starting a new. After the debacle that was Jamaica, we pivoted from our initial thought of going to Oaxaca, Mexico, and settled on something domestic in Denver, Colorado.
5 Shows...Not Bad...
Our annual pilgrimage to NYC is upon us. Like last year, we traveled from San Diego to New York City during Veterans Day weekend to see as many shows as possible and then add another one for giggles.
Five East Coast States Over Labor Day Weekend
We set out to explore Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York on our first road trip outside of California with Ripley. This region was uncharted territory for both Grant and me, and I was eager to hit the road. Grant had been wanting to visit Atlantic City (the Las Vegas of the East) for a while, so after some persuasion, he agreed to a sightseeing road trip as long as we included Atlantic City in our itinerary. We planned the trip over Labor Day to take advantage of the extra day off work. My mom was in town and joined us, providing extra help with our unruly 5-month-old.
Holly’s 40th Birthday Party
Getting a large group of friends together is always a challenge. Getting everyone to get along is nearly impossible. Holly pulled off the impossible by not only getting everyone to get along but also having a swell time. This trip found us going to Nashville with friends we had met before and some new friends we were excited to meet.
38 in Las Vegas
December was the month of colds. We did travel to Houston, San Antonio, and Seattle for Christmas, but there wasn’t enough to talk about. Beginning in January— it’s all about Grant’s birthday. The weekend of January 5th-7th which has been discussed for months — finally arrived. Grant painstakingly crafts his birthday to fit as much craziness in as possible and for everyone to maximize the time they are with each other.
How Many Shows Can We Fit In?
If we do Friday at 7 pm then we can fit in the 11 pm show, but we shouldn’t do that because the 11 pm show is offered on Saturday at 3 pm, and then we can do the 8 pm other show, but we have to check to see if it’s close to the theater and tickets aren’t crazy expensive. These logistical nightmares were our daily reality for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday trip that Grant, Emily, and I took to New York City to see shows on Broadway. With none of us have been to NYC in a few years, it being a Holiday weekend (Veterans Day) and the baby still cooking— why not?
Free in Austin
With things costing more and more, if you ever need a break— go to Austin. Not because the cost of living is more affordable than in California, but because everything is free. Going to a city and not having to spend any money will elevate that city’s rating in your mind.
Scratching Off Yellowstone from the Bucket-List
At the end of the trip, Grant sang the TLC hit song Waterfalls to me but rewrote the song. And it couldn’t be more fitting.
(It’ll make sense later)
“Don’t go chasing Buffalo,
Please stick to the bison and the bears that you’re used too…
I know that your gonna wanna rely solely on the backup cam, but I wish you would turn your neck…”
Did You Know that Green Chilies Are High in Fiber? We do now!
Wherever we go, Grant brings his stash of individually wrapped prunes to stay regular. On this trip…the prunes did not leave his bag as they were not necessary. We found out that green chilies are loaded with dietary fiber that helps in colon cleansing and keeping your bowel movements healthy. Fiber is vital for bulking up waste and raising its movement out of the system, preventing constipation. I share this because this may solve your mystery of bowel movement frequency that we experienced in New Mexico.
Someone Needs to Be Sober Enough to Drink... Grant's 37th Birthday Bash!
The end of 2022 may have just rung in, but the start of 2023 (and any year for that matters) really kicks off with Grant’s Birthday ExtravaGRANTza or ExtravaGAYza…it changes depending upon the activity we are doing. This year’s festivities were being housed in Dallas, Texas, which allowed some new faces to join us! Big thank you right off the bat to Wendy and Latisha for planning, prepping, keeping Grant grounded, and overall making this weekend a huge success!
The Difference in Caring at Halloween
Halloween is our favorite holiday, and yet, again we have canceled our Halloween party. Covid seems to have killed it officially, yet, we may pick it back up one of these years. We have so many decorations just collecting dust in the “dungeon” yet I don’t care enough to put them out. Grant put out a few so he does care more than I do. I think when we move to our forever home, we are going to be looking closely at the neighborhood to see if it cares about Halloween and Christmas decorations or not. Half the battle is moving from apathy to caring and I just haven’t found the enthusiasm I once had.
It’s Pronounced Boise not Boi’C
The cities in the Pacific Northwest region have names that I just cannot say unless I pay attention. Coir D’Alene, Missoula, and Kalispell do not just roll off the tongue. To make it even more complicated according to Erica, the locals say “Boi’C not Boise.” Truthfully, I just made up names for all these places and everyone just went along with it.
It’s 104 Degrees... Can We Cancel the Fire Show?
With Florida, you go and you never know what you are going to experience. Each time we visit something new and unexpected happens. Last year, we got bad news about our surrogacy. On this trip, we were too hot to care about anything else happening.
Dousing A Heart On Fire with Water
The heart is a very fickle thing. Sometimes it wants one thing and then sometimes it wants something completely different. Put differently-- I sometimes want milk chocolate, while other times I want white chocolate. Strange. No rhyme or reason as to why my heart has these feelings, yet the heart knows what it wants in the end. Life sometimes presents difficult choices that fracture the heart. The more you struggle to try and put your heart back together the stronger the friction becomes. If the friction is not controlled, it can turn into a fire. A heart on fire burns slowly, blackens, and ruins without intervention. So, with this trip, the goal was to douse a heart on fire with an epic amount of water. An epic amount that could only be found at a waterpark.
Subtracting a Few; Adding Different People to August SoCal Events 2022
Best of San Diego
Can you go to Best of San Diego this year? Nope. What about you? Nope. What about us? Nope, we are busy too. For some reason, we kept running into the word “no” when it came to going to Best of San Diego this year. We originally had a trip planned that would have caused us to say no, but due to a fortuitist change in plans (our flight changing), we were able to make it after all!
After a 2 Year Hiatus Comic-Con is Back
June of 2022 was a tough month for Grant and me. The theme of the month was — “just get through June and July will be better.” I would often find myself just repeating this phrase over and over and over. July 1st hit and our lives didn’t miraculously get better, but it slowly over time.