i need a vacation from my vacation

I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.

Which, for Tim, wasn't really a vacation at all, so he needs a vacation to begin with, and then another vacation from his vacation.  And I'll tag along, of course, because I'm just a good wife like that.

Let me give you the play-by-play.

First we flew from Salt Lake City to Phoenix.  I was a little nervous about flying with Ellie, but she was a champ.  I should have known.  The girl loves people-watching and airports and airplanes are the place for it.  I fed her during the takeoff and the landing and we spent the rest of the time reading books, people-watching, and looking out the window.

I would never have attempted something like that by myself, but having Tim around makes me feel like we can do anything.

We spent the night in Surprise, and the next day Tim headed to work whilst Ellie and I hung out with Tim's sister, Brigette, and her cute family.  We went to lunch at Chili's and shopping at Target and just had an all-around good time.  And Ellie enjoyed being smothered with love by her sweet cousins.  Some of the time, anyway. :)

That night we drove up to Prescott to see my parents and brothers.  It was the first time I'd been able to bring Ellie to my hometown, and it felt very significant to me.  On the car ride, I told her all about how much I loved it and about all of my adventures there, and she was totally enthralled.  Or maybe she cried through most of it.  It's hard to remember for sure.

On Friday, we all went for a hike with my dad and brother.  Tim didn't have to work that day [woot woot] and we wanted to make the most of it.  We weren't sure how long Ellie would last [as her attention span is often somewhat small], but once again, she handled it like a champ.

Prescott has gotten a substantial amount of rain this summer, so everything is so GREEN.  These pictures don't do it justice at all.  I wanted to stay and build a fort and live in the woods.

We ate out at Macayo's, went thrift-store shopping, and ventured out for some scenic drives.  Unfortunately, Ellie got her first cold while we were there, but between our Circle K soda runs and old-movie watching and incessant talking, we still had an amazing time.  And I didn't want to leave.

We spent one more night in Surprise with Brigette's family.  Ellie finally started to warm up to Brigette and then we stole her away the next morning.  Sorry Brig!

Tim and I got Ellie's cold [but Tim got it WAY worse than me...and he had to work!], which made for an interesting trip to the airport.  I'm sure anyone looking through our car windows must have thought we were extras off the set of Warm Bodies.  It was not a pretty picture.  But we made it, just in the nick of time, and even though Ellie and I had to sit in a different row than Tim [boo], we sat next to a sweet girl who had fairly recently completed her masters degree in London and a spunky old lady who kept assuring me that Ellie trying to scratch her arms was "just fine" because she was "a grandma, for goodness sakes"!

We arrived at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, got our rental car, and drove straight over to my grandma's, where Tim immediately passed out on the couch.  Poor guy.  Sick and overworked.  He sent some emails from her house that afternoon, but thankfully he rested most of the afternoon.  Ellie and I took a short nap, too, but the rest of the time we hung out with my grandma and her 130+ pound lab, Cody.  Ellie got the biggest kick out of Cody.  She would start giggling whenever she saw him.

My grandma had just gotten her thyroid out not even a week before that, and she was such a trooper!  She has had so many health issues throughout the years, and she is always so positive.  She wasn't really supposed to lift anything, but after about a day of not being able to hold Ellie, she just couldn't help herself anymore!

And I think my Aunt Ginny is rather fond of her as well... :)

We spent almost every night going out to dinner, and I was pretty much in heaven.  In fact, I am still fantasizing about that artichoke chicken from Marie Calendar's...mMmm.  And my Uncle Paul came most of the time, and he just cracks me up every time.

I got to hang out with my grandma during the days, which I loved and wished she lived closer so we could do it more often.  Like, every day.  And then I got to go shopping with Ginny, which is pretty much a necessary ritual at this point in our relationship.  Yankee Candle, Bath & Body Works, New York & Company - the works.  She spoiled me and she spoiled Ellie, but I have a feeling that in the coming years, the scales will tip in Ellie's favor as far as spoiling is concerned.  And I am totally ok with that.

We got home this last Saturday night, slept-in and went to church on Sunday, and on Monday we got ready to leave to drive two hours to get...

...our new dog.

OUR NEW DOG!

We'd loved the look of weimaraners, but in reading about the personality, I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle the very high-energy breed.  Then I found an ad on the KSL Classifieds [which is sort of like Craigslist] a few weeks ago for a calm, five-month old weimaraner with some obedience training.  And then I saw this picture and was immediately in love.

I sent the link in an email to Tim with the words, "Be still my heart."  We went to see him just a couple of days later, "just to see," and ended up putting a deposit down on him that day, with the intention of picking him up right after our trip.  We didn't want to get him and then leave on a plane just a few days later, so we decided to be patient.

Picking him up was very reminiscent of getting my dog, Casey.  He slept on my lap pretty much the whole way home and has just been an absolute sweetheart.  True to the classifieds ad, he is very calm, knows basic commands, and is very smart.  He was potty-trained within 24 hours!  And he just loves attention.  He follows me around all day and just sleeps on my feet.  He goes on walks with Ellie and me and stays right by the stroller.

We decided to call him Rhodie.  Hard to explain the origin, other than that it was vaguely inspired by James Roday from Psych.  Of course, right?

I have loved seeing him interact with Tim and Ellie.  I can just see how much Tim is loving having him around, and it makes my heart melt.  And he is so sweet with Ellie and would lick her face all day if we let him.  [We don't.]

We are loving this new addition to our family!

And now we just want to get back into a routine after all these adventures.

And then we'll probably be ready for more adventures.

Give us a week or two.