Robyn's 2020 Christmas List

 Robyn:  For this Christmas, I don't want things.  I would just like my children to "do" the following:

Grace -  Keep the bathroom clean for 2 weeks straight.

Nate - Write me an epic epistle.

Aimee - Let me take pictures of her on Christmas Eve and Christmas without complaint. And, she has to smile in the pictures.

Maddie - Make one of her delicious meals for me.

Bronte - Go to a church activity with a good attitude and tell me about it.

Cameron -  Sing a song for me.

Is that too much to ask?

A Guide to Women

Several weeks ago:

Nate:  I want to write a book called Women: An Incomplete Guide because there is absolutely NO way to write a complete guide.

Hair's the thing

A week into quarantine

Grandma J:  Do you know what your dad did?  I was upset because I couldn't get my hair done. I can't do it myself because I can't reach the back of it.  So, he brushed it and curled it for me. He's such a great man.

A few weeks into quarantine

Grandma J: The other day, I asked Dad to color my hair--it was getting pretty bad.  After some begging, he agreed.  You would have thought we were launching a rocket into outer space by the way he prepped the bathroom and all of the plastic he put down.  But, it looks good. So it was worth it.

A week later

Grandma J: I got a wig. It's just easier this way.

Helping each other

Today at dinner

Robyn:  I won't be able to exercise tomorrow. That will break my streak of exercising 6 days a week for the month.

Rod:  Good. I think you are exercising too much. Your body needs a break.

Grace:  What up, Dad?  She is a strong, independent woman who can make her own decisions. She can exercise as much as she wants.

Rod: I know that, but we help each other.  I tell her when to stop exercising and she tells me when to start exercising.

Valley of the Goblins

We took a family day trip to Goblin Valley State Park on the weekend. We hiked through Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon then spent some time walking and climbing in the Valley of the Goblins. It was a much needed excursion.

Little Wild Horse 

Grace:  It's nice to see Nate out of his natural habitat and on a hike with us.
Nate:  What do you mean by my "natural" habitat?

Aimee: The holes in the rock are freaking me out.  I must have a hole phobia.  I hate them.

Nate:  So how much hiking are we going to be doing?
Robyn: We're mostly just walking with a little bit of scrambling over some rocks.

Later:
Nate: What is your definition of scrambling? This is serious rock climbing. And might I say that for a 6'4 1/2 in tall person, scrambling doesn't come easy. I'm getting all sweaty.

Grace:  Why are we the only family with big kids.  Everyone else has little kids with them.
Aimee: Yeah, why didn't you take us hiking more when we were little?
Robyn (to herself): Because no one likes hiking with a bunch of whiners.  (out loud): Oh, I don't know. We wanted to wait until you were a little older.
Aimee:  Well, I'm going to strap my kids on me when they are babies and start hiking from day one.
Robyn (to herself):  Yeah, we'll see how THAT goes. (out loud): That sounds like a good idea. Go for it.

Valley of the Goblins

Due to Corona and caps on people allowed into the park, we had to wait about 30 minutes before we could enter the park--a car out, a car in. So we ate lunch in the car.

Robyn:  Some of these rock formations look like people I know.

 I spy with my little eye...

Channeling Princess Diaries

Aimee and Grace watched Princess Diaries a few weeks ago and decided to create their own artwork after the same fashion.

Step 1: Fill water balloons with paint.

It took a while to figure out how to get the paint in the water balloons.
Grace:  I think there is some science behind this.  We just have to figure it out.

Aimee: Mom, it's IMPOSSIBLE to not get paint on yourself so I say, embrace it.

Robyn:  It looks like it has embraced you!

 Aimee:  We painted the dog green. On purpose. I think he likes it.

Step 2:  Hang the balloons on a canvas attached to the fence.

Step 3:  Throw darts at the balloons to make the paint flow. This step takes a LONG time!

Grace:  This is harder than I thought. What's the trick to throwing darts?

Aimee (after multiple unsuccessful attempts) :  I don't know why this is so hard. It looks easy when everyone else does it. Do you think I should start aiming?

 Grace:  I'm sorry I got paint on the new stucco, Mom. You can't really tell, can you?

Both:  Tah! Dah!  Worth IT!!

New Zealand - February 2020 BC- (Before Corona)

Rod and Robyn went to New Zealand on a 30th anniversary trip in the nick of time--right before Cornona shut everything down.

Day 1 Auckland

Muriwai Beach:  A black sand beach. The water was cold but it was a gorgeous sunny say and wonderful to lie on the beach in February!

The Sky Tower in Auckland

Giapo:  Artisan ice cream place where eating ice cream is an out of body experience.

Day 2 Rotorua

Whakarewarewa:  We visited this authentic living Maori village where they use geothermal resources to cook, bathe and heat their homes. Our tour guide lives in the village with her family of about 70 people.

 The children of the village dive for money that the tourists throw into the water.  The people of the village cook their food in the thermal pots and bathe in the water.

The geyser gave us a good show. 

 And so did these guys.

The Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest: We walked among the redwoods on 28 suspension bridges.

Day 3 Hobbiton and Waimea Caves

Rod:  I'm so excited for this tour!  I can't believe were going to Hobbiton.
Robyn:  You know this isn't real, right?  It's important to me that you know this isn't real.

Tour guide:  If you can believe this, about 40% of the people who tour Hobbiton have never seen the Lord of the Rings movies or read the books.
Robyn:  How is that possible?

Samwise Gamgee's house

Bag End

Bilbo's Party Tree

           

Having some butter beer at theThe Green Frog Tavern

Waimea  Caves: We did a cave tour in Waimea.  We put on wet suits, grabbed tubes and went down into the dark caves.  There we scrambled over rocks, jumped backward off of ledges, floated in the water and gazed in awe at the glow worms stuck to the ceiling and sides of the cave--they looked like stars on a dark night.  We got soaked. It was surreal but amazing.  

Days 4 & 5 Queenstown

Queenstown: We flew to the Queenstown on the south island and stayed with a delightful host and hostess. We had a wonderful time getting to know their family.

We hiked Queenstown Hill which was not the little hill we expected.

We took a gondola ride and rode the skyline luge several times. 

The view was amazing.

We ate ginormous burgers at the famous Fergburger.  It was worth the wait.

 We hiked around and skipped rocks at a beautiful lake on the outskirts of Queenstown.

Day 6 Mount Cook

Hooker Valley Track:  We hiked the Hooker Valley Track.  It led to a glacier lake with ice floats.  It was magnificent!

 

Day 7 Twizel and Christchurch

Twizel:  We went on a Lord of the Rings tour with Dawn as our tour guide.  We visited the place they filmed the Battle of Pelennor Fields in Return of the King.  They also filmed part of the movie Mulan there too.

The drive to Christchurch was amazing. We drove through some gorgeous scenery.

Christchurch: We walked to the center of town to see the sights and get a bite to eat.

Day 8 Home

We flew home the next day. It was a VERY LONG day.  Christchurch to Auckland.  Auckland to San Francisco. San Francisco to Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Salt Lake City.  One of our best trips ever!!