There are worse places to be....

Probably anyone who still looks here knows I'm in Hawaii.

But if you didn't know, I'm in Hawaii.

And that is the view from my balcony.

Best Trip of 2009

I took four exciting trips this year: one to Hinesville, Georgia; one to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; one to Long Beach, California; and one to Moab, Utah.

Try as I might, I can't rank them. So, congratulations to all four for winning the distinction of Best Trip of 2009!

And, since I don't have pictures readily available of most of these trips, here are some of my favorite spots in Utah.

The Avenues:

Moab:

Uintas:

Moab

I went camping with my ward last weekend in Moab. It was grand fun. I went rafting for the first time and managed not to die. I can't wait to go again. As you can see, I pitched my tent along side the Colorado River. The other pictures are just a sampling of the view I took in from my camp chair, set up behind the tent.

Georgia on my mind

Jacob

Kaylee

Matthew
Joshua

Warning: This is a terribly long post to appease my mother. If you are not a member of my immediately family (or on second thought, even if you are), you can skip the text heavy (albeit highly entertaining) description and skim right through to the photos. They’re fun.

I left for Georgia on Thursday really early in the morning I managed to leave myself just enough time to where I didn’t have to stop from the time I parked my car to the time I took my seat on the plane. “Just enough time” is the rough equivalent of “leaving house one hour before lift off, since that’s how I roll. The same rule applied for my layover in Atlanta.

I was greeted Jacksonville by Matthew (4) and Joshua (2) and Naomi (She’d kill me if I said). Matthew had interesting things to say, like “You’re a winner, Aunt Megan.” Joshua was a trooper for having a pretty high temperature.

Joshua The Trooper
Matthew The Ham

Megan The Excited To Not Be Traveling

We made the excruciatingly long and trafficky trip from Jacksonville, Fl. to Hinesville, Ga. At one point, Joshua quite literally tossed the cookies he was eating.

On our way home, we found out Jacob’s (A week from 9) little league game was called on account of rain. That was sad. We got to the Barley house where Kaylee (6), without any ado, warns us to not step in any of Jacob’s vomit. Turns out, he ate two pickles which did not agree with him. Awesome.

We put kids to bed and proceeded to watch the season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance which Jarum and Naomi so accommodatingly recorded for me. During this time we discovered that Brownie, the puppy, had not eaten any of her dinner. She was also very wet because of the aforementioned rain. So we brought her inside and notice she is very sedate. Brownie was then cuddled her in an attempt to warm her up with towels.

It wasn’t too long before she vomited as well. For those of you counting at home, that’s 2 children and a dog. Don’t worry, because Kaylee had a sympathy vomit scare. Don’t worry, nothing happened. I did threaten to buy a plane ticket home. Heavens.

Friday

All of the small children felt better about life. Jacob and Kaylee went off to their last day of school. Me The other munchkins and I hung out. Jarum went off to work out for like 4 hours. He’s a little insane. Naomi and I took the smaller two to drive around Ft Stewart. It’s really cool. We also ate yummy sandwiches at Michael’s (not the craft store) for lunch. I had mine with a side of fried okra. DELICIOUS!

Saturday

We spent the afternoon at Serbannah (Matthew-ese for Savannah) That was fun as well. The kids ate disgusting blue ice cream. I loved Savannah, so much so that I have already looked up information on the Savannah College of Art and Design. They have a dramatic writing program. Seriously, it’s a charming, charming place. (Pic of Factor’s walk, roof tops, and Paula Deen.

Factor's Walk, Savannah, Ga.

Savannah Rooftops

Paula Deen's restaurant, Lady & Sons

Sunday

At church, I got suckered into playing the opening hymn in Relief Society. This happens when your sister is a really good piano player; people generally think you are also really good. I managed to fake it okay. Anyway, It was a great ward. I would have loved to be a missionary in that area.

We also barbecued, since we couldn’t be sure we would have another fine evening. There was a lot of rain happening. Anyway, the barbecue was delicious. Then for Sunday Game night, we had a Wii Sports Olympics night. It turns am terrible at Wii sports. The only thing I was mildly good at was putting.

(Side note: When we put the small children to bed, they proceed to come out of their bedrooms for the next 2 hours to tell us “really important stuff.” It was one such time that Matthew came out with a lego-made structure, informing us that it was a Bertar. You know, for Bertar Hero.)


Bertar Hero! from Megan on Vimeo.
Monday:

Memorial Day: on our way out of town, we went on post to pay our respects to those from the Third Infantry Division who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. It was very moving. It made me think about things I hadn’t yet considered, but now is really not the time or the place to discuss them. Email me, and I’ll tell you all about them.

Anyway, we went on to Serbanna again and Tybee Beach! In celebration of Dad’s birthday, we tried to eat at this place called Mrs. Wilkes’ Boarding House. Basically, you and ten friends/strangers sit a table and eat every good thing the South has to offer. The bad news: it was closed for Memorial Day. The good news: we had the pleasure of seeing the Most Charming Street Ever. Did I mention that I love Savannah?

I read up on the GRE Literature Subject Test while enjoying some sun. By “enjoying some sun” I mean that I’m still peeling.

Tuesday:

I woke up and immediately went to Food Lion to restock Naomi’s supply of Ibuprofen and to buy some Aloe Vera in a vain attempt to make the flight that much more bearable.

We went back on post one more time to see the PX which is a fancy, fancy store for the soldiers and those who love them. I hit the jackpot and came away with lovely Lancome makeup that was sold at a lovely discount price. I came home and packed and got ready to go.

Where's Joshy? Or, Plum Tuckered After a Particularly Rousing Game of Help Aunt Megan Pack

We made the long trip back to Jacksonville (less trafficky this time). I felt bad for Naomi, because every time we drove in the car I would get really, really sleepy sitting in the passenger side. I haven’t been the passenger in such a long time that I forgot this about myself. So sorry, Naomi.

Naomi dropped me off pretty early at the airport, since she needed to be back in time for Jacob’s make-up game. Luckily Jacksonville Airport sports the free Wi-Fi so I managed to watch Glee. And Flight of the Conchords. So it all worked out. I survived the flight to Minneapolis (if you think that’s a random layover, you’re not alone) where I witnessed the world’s most disorganized boarding of a flight, ever. It took an hour. I got to Salt Lake, miraculously remembered where I parked my car, drove the harrowing ten minutes to my beloved house in the Avenues, and slept in my bed like a little baby.

Glamor Shots By Jacob

Momma's Boys

Goofy Fun!

The illusive Smiling Jarum!

Thanks for the great time, Small Children!

Happy Halloween!

I know this doesn't seem like a timely post, but I finally downloaded pictures from my camera. Just feel grateful that I didn't take you back to graduation in April. And I think you'll forgive me once you get taste of this:

And this:

But, let's back up. I took my first day of paid time off and flew to Coeur d'Alene to visit my sister. She picked me up in Spokane and we went to visit some apple farms to see if she could find her favorite apple of ever. While we were there, I took the opportunity to walk with Clara through the leftovers of the pumpkin patch. She liked it. Truth be told, however, that her favorite part was probably tromping about in the dusty dirt.

Next it was time to get ready for pumpkins, or "cuppins" as Clara calls them, and as they are now referred to in the Bryson household. Getting Clara ready for cuppin carving (it does do something pleasing for the alliteration, I'll give her that) involves stripping her down to her onesie and putting on a full body smock-like bib.

Don't let that stellar grin fool you. Sure, she had her cute little kiddie cuppin scoop in hand. But let's take a little gander at what happens when it's crunch time.


Cuppins and Bear Caves from Megan Welton on Vimeo

Don't worry, because being the Best Aunt Ever that I am, I was there to come to her rescue. It's just practice for when I need to have her back for the truly scary things in the world: like boys, or visits to the lady doctor, all though the latter, I'll probably leave up to her mom.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much taken up by basking in the beauty of surrounding environs, and the cuteness of small children. I even got to watch Wallace & Grommitt with Clara while Jonathan napped, leaving Rachel and Jeremy an entire free hour by themselves at Costco. I'm pretty sure there's room for my Best Sister Ever badge to go next to the Best Aunt Ever ribbon.

Now, while I finish waiting for my video to load, here are two more pictures of Clara. The first, she's thoroughly enjoying my fakesie Uggs:

And here, she's sporting my Farmer Hat. She really loved it. I often found her sneaking in to my suitcase to find it. I tried to get a pic of her sporting both the boots and the hat at the same time, but that was too much to ask for.

CB and Me: We got things to do!

So for my sister's birthday, I volunteered to watch the Lovely Clara while my mom and Rachel went to Sundance for lunch. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous that Clara would not be convinced that Aunt Megan is tons of fun and would take good care of her. As it was, there were only a few anxious utterances of "Momma!" and a whole lot of fun to be had.
First we took a walk around campus, since Clara loves her stroller, and she was particularly pleased with the fountain in the courtyard of the JFSB. When she got tired of that, we went to the Bean Life Science Museum. She loved the animals: she meowed at the cats (cougars, leopards, etc.) cawed at the birds, and quacked at the ducks. I think she thought something was odd about all these animals, since they all stayed perfectly still. She got over it though when she saw the lions. She spent the rest of the time jumping with the pouncing lion and waving and laughing. Uncle Chris even rode his bike from work to his lunch break to take part in the fun.

Our last stop on the Trip O' Fun was to the Academy Library where she kept busy running around and climbing on the Clara-sized chairs. She did condescend to pose for my camera, for which I'm grateful.

Good times, friends. Good times.