We had decided unanimously that the family needed to take a family vacation

and go meet my new baby nephew…..

celebrate Mason’s birthday…..

and celebrate my moms one year follow up following her double mastectomy.

Now that i have a job where i work 2 days a week….and Bryan has a hard time getting time away during

any busy season…..we felt like the weekend over Presidents weekend would work out best.

We booked a red eye out on the 14th and a return on the 19th…..which means the kids would only miss

2 days of school…..and Bryan would only miss 3 days of work.

Apparently my job really doesn’t count…so missing two days didn’t factor into the equation.

hmmmph

whatevs.

On Thursday night…..right around the time we were about to hop in the car and head to the airport….

we got a call telling us our flight had been cancelled.

Right away Bryan got on the phone and tried to figure out our best case scenario because let me tell you…..

we don’t live where you can pick and choose how to best get out of here.

{think island …..and middle of the night….}

We found out there was only one flight left that night and it had a connection through LAX and it was

on a completely different airline. The airline we had booked with got us on that flight…which meant we had

to scramble to the airport and try and make it.

Oh….we got there in time……but there was no plane there.

It had been delayed leaving the mainland and now the estimated time for departure was going to be at 2:30 in

the morning.

My kids were thrilled………

We finally made it on board…..and the kids slept the entire 5 hour flight to LA.

{we fly so much that i have it down to a science …..}

We arrived in LA….but missed our connecting flight due to being delayed out of Kauai…..

so we had about 6 hours to kill at LAX……

so we jumped on the Parking Spot shuttle that happens to be right next to an In & Out…..so we could

get our burger fix.

{gotta love the free parking lot shuttle……just make sure to tip the shuttle driver well}

While we were there……Bryan ran into an old friend from  his college days….who was visiting with his daughter 

touring colleges for the weekend.

{i’m still trying to get over the fact that some of your friends have college age kids….}

Apparently…..the In & Out on Sepulveda is the place to run into old friends.

We finally made it to Albuquerque at a little past 7 pm ……but my parents actually live up in Angel fire……

which is a 3 hour drive from the airport.

Which means…..we wasted a whole day because of the flights…..and really only have three whole days

in front of us to spend because it’s really an entire travel day to get back to Kauai.

Oh well…..sheet happens.

Two sheets if you must know the truth.

sheet sheet sheet

……….

The kids woke up at the butt sheet crack of dawn the next morning and before you could say

two sheet

Lola and Fin had their snow clothes on and were ready to go outside and play in the snow.

Thank goodness for kids that have not seen snow for 1.5 years…because it’s like magic i tell you….

just like magic mike for us girls….

snow is like magic mike for kids.

good clean fun

but with gloves and thick pants on.

{thank goodness}

Bryan and Mason went skiing together that first morning….all day.

They had so much fun together and it was also Mason’s birthday that day…..

but i just wanted to hang out with the family that first day…..

and get my baby fix.

I introduce you to baby Carter…..

{even though i really think he should have been named Bueller…}

I think he looks like he could easily be one of my kids….and in fact……

since i want another baby…..

{but not going to have one thanks to someone having a vasectomy  minutes after Fin was born….

and of course being the sleep deprived mother to to three kids….i must have somehow signed that

permission slip}

i thought my best allotment of time would be to spend it with the baby and the rest of the family.

Lola even thinks we should keep baby Bueller Carter…..

but she decided that she enjoyed playing with cousin Preston even more.

{i think it‘s because he listens to her….}

Anyhoo anyway……

i thought i would touch on the subject of two sheet since it’s in the blog title and all.

Ever since i was a little kid my parents have had an unhealthy relationship with using toooooo

many squares of toilet paper when you go to wipe and flush.

weird ……for sure

awkward…..yes.

The minute my dad picks us up at the airport…..he has a chat with the kids about how you can only

use two sheets of toilet paper because the house is on a septic tank so anymore then 2 sheet

might not only be disastrous……but downright ugly.

Point noted.

{i’m not stating that this photo of baby Mason had anything to do with this conversation…..}

{did i mention he is 12 now?! gah!}

We review this over and over with the kids because there is nothing worse then having Grandpa

in a bad mood and having to go out to the septic tank in the middle of winter because someone

{no one came clean…….no pun intended either }

had used maybe three sheets and not two sheets when they wiped their sheet or maybe

some little 7 year old boy sharted and was so scared to use more then two sheets that he hid his 

soiled pants in his suitcase.

true story

Well….someone did use one too many sheets and in the middle of winter on a cold morning….

Grandpa had to go out and work on the clogged septic tank.

I won’t lie when i tell you we all hid in different rooms because we were all afraid of the consequences .

……

Back track 6 years…….

My brother and his wife were married in this backyard ………

so think of the movie “meet the parents” with Ben Stiller……

that was our family that day with the septic tank because some guest used more than 2 sheets.

Anyhoo……

back to the rest of our weekend.

Have i ever mentioned that my mom owns the toy shop in Angel Fire?

It makes for some happy kids when Grandma takes them to the shop and lets them pick something out…..

beautiful abandoned place on the side of the road…..

Bryan and mason skied for all three days……

My brother Spencer has a few snow mobiles so he took bryan and the kids out on an adventure…..

more skiing…..

 

i did not ski.

i do

{honest….i do}

but this trip i did not……

i did wait for them at the base of the mountain in the warm bar though….

that counts.

{i did check the best wife in the universe book and it states it right there in chapter 6}

on our last day…..

which was day three 

{hard to think we were really only there for three whole days….}

my dad wanted to get us all together for a family photo….

so i give to you ……

The Hill Family photo:

the little kid on the right ……we think he saw a mountain lion.

{unconfirmed at this point…}

every night we sat around after dinner and played games……

i would have won the card game….

if Bryan didn’t shuffle the cards mid game…..

which is sooo against any card rules ever in the history of the world……

but he did….

and so therefore i lost.

and then this little guy…..

beautiful……adorable…..and i really did almost eat him he was so delicious…..

but instead tried to find a way to sneak him home.

We had such a wonderful long weekend away…..

and it was so good to be around my family for 3 whole days. We love them.