A Year in Review: 2019

They say that days go by slowly, but years go by quickly. It was certainly true this year. When I look back on the things we did in January and February, I can hardly believe it was this year. Here's my attempt to review the year.

WINTER
January started off just dandy for Edith, who finally took a ballet class. Luckily, I think it got ballet out of her system since she doesn't talk about it much at all anymore. In February, Paul and I saw Hamilton, which was something I'd been looking forward to for maybe two years. It was as good as I had hoped. In March, our street started what I hope will be a new tradition -- a progressive dinner with food and drink at several houses throughout the block. Neighbors are already looking forward to the 2020 edition!

SPRING
In April, Atticus turned 4. It was also the first full month of Friday art classes for Atticus, something we continue to this day (minus the summer and a few odd weeks here and there). He loves it! In May we again hosted a Crap Swap, although it got rained out on the scheduled Saturday and was pushed back til Sunday. We (and friends) had a record amount of crap, and fun was had by all. We also resurrected the block party planning party, which was basically a happy hour to plan one of our favorite days of the summer, if not the year.

SUMMER
June started off with a bang -- one week in Ocean Isle, North Carolina, sharing a beachfront house with nine other families. It was an amazing, tiring week. Edith started swim lessons when we returned and continued throughout July as well. And then there was the block party -- this year with a live acoustic guitarist. July was actually the calmest month of the summer, with swimming, a week of Vacation Bible School and our church's annual festival. But then August ... we spent about a week and a half at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and Salt Lake City. It was an amazing vacation, seeing sights that were hard to believe reside anywhere in this country. The week after we returned, Edith started first grade. A few days later, Atticus began preschool.

AUTUMN
In September we got into our new school routine and ended the month with a blockwide chili cook-off. In addition, Edith started a glass class which Atticus and I have also participated in, making suncatchers and other art projects out of glass. I'm honestly not sure who enjoys it the most out of the three of us. In October we spent a weekend at Burr Oak, in the Hocking Hills region, again renting a group of cabins with a group of friends. It was chilly, but it least it wasn't rainy like last year! In November, Edith turned 7. Which brings us to December -- Christmas hasn't yet arrived, so the most exciting thing this month might be the delivery of our new dishwasher! All in all, not a bad year at all.

A Summer Afternoon in Park City, Utah

I'm not a skier, but even if I were I wouldn't find much of it in Park City, Utah, in August. Nevertheless, I was interested in seeing the ski resort area during our recent visit to Salt Lake City. At only 40 minutes away, it was an easy goal to accomplish.

Why did I want to visit? Maybe it was my memories of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, of which there are still many signs and reminders. And when I came across the Atticus Coffee & Teahouse online, I knew we had to pay a visit.

We arrived in Park City in time to eat a very late lunch at the town's Wasatch Brew Pub location, then we walked up and down the crowded Main Street. Of course I took many photos of Atticus in front of "his" Atticus shop!

The street seemed like the main street of any small tourist town, except with a ski-and-outdoor bent. Interestingly, several restaurants had "patios" on the other side of the sidewalk, essentially taking up a parking space or two, and on a platform so they would sit flat on the steep hill.

Park City was a fun detour and a good way to spend the afternoon, if only for the photos of Atticus!

Three Days in Salt Lake City

We ended our adventure to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks by spending our last three days in Salt Lake City. The city was only a four-hour drive from our Airbnb in Driggs, Idaho, so it was a great cap to the trip and -- bonus -- allowed us to catch a non-stop flight back to Columbus.

We arrived in Salt Lake City late on a Friday afternoon, but there was plenty of time for Paul to take the kids for a swim in the hotel pool before we began to explore. We drove by the Statehouse -- immediately visible atop a hill as we drove into the city -- and took a steep hike up to Ensign Peak to look down upon the city and across to the Great Salt Lake, barely visible through the reflecting glimmers of the quickly setting sun.

The peak we climbed.

After a quick playground detour, we parked the car in our hotel's lot and walked a few blocks to Squatters Brewery. Despite Utah's abundant number of Mormons, the city boasts a good number of breweries, and we tried several.

The next day we walked through a large farmers market on our way to Clark Planetarium. As soon as we got there, another guest almost immediately gave us free extra tickets to an Imax movie on rescue dogs, which was a nice surprise. The planetarium exhibits are free, and our local Cosi membership also got us a free planetarium show.

Then we walked to Temple Square, peeking into the Tabernacle Choir's home and taking a few photos. We continued our walk on this hot day to the Leonardo (thanks again, Cosi!), a museum combining art, science and kid activities. The kids quite enjoyed it, and we stayed almost two hours, til the 5 p.m. closing. We could have stayed longer.

That night was dinner at Red Rock Brewing, featuring a lime gose and a shrimp po' boy with the best fried shrimp I've ever had.

The next morning we visited yet another museum courtesy of Cosi -- the Natural History Museum of Utah. The museum, at the University of Utah campus, was on my "maybe if we have time" list, but I'm really glad we went. We stayed around three hours and the kids would have been happy to linger longer. The museum had an excellent dinosaur exhibit, a small but fun play area with water and kid activities everywhere. And a beautiful view, of course.

We spent the afternoon in Park City, which will be the subject of another blog post! And with a fridge full of leftovers, we ate in that evening.

The next and final day in Salt Lake City was a Monday, with a flight just after 5 p.m. We intended to go to the Leonardo again since the kids enjoyed it so much, but instead we spent a few hours next door, in Salt Lake City's public library. The kids alternately played or listened to me read books, while Paul, Edith and I took turns going to the fifth floor deck looking out over the city and mountains. It really is a lovely library, filled with window, light and lovely views.

When we first drove into Salt Lake City three days before, we were surprised to pass an In-N-Out Burger, so we decided to try it for a late lunch before heading to the airport. The burgers and fries were above average for the cheapo price, but I won't be rushing back.

Nevertheless I would be happy to visit Salt Lake City again. It's not what I would call an exciting city -- really, it's like Columbus with mountains and better views! But it was a destination that exceeded expectations, and a nice city experience to cap off a week spent largely in the middle of nature.

36 Hours at Grand Teton National Park

Why not? That was our thought when we learned how close Grand Teton National Park is to Yellowstone. Only a few miles apart, it seemed a shame not to visit when we were so close, so we spent a day and a half viewing the famous mountains.

We left Yellowstone by the southern entrance, entering Grand Teton at the northern in the afternoon, and the change in scenery was amazing: Jackson Lake and the peaks of the Teton Range stretching above, with few foothills. We ate a late lunch/early supper at Jackson Lake Lodge, looking out the large picture windows while we ate.

The 5-mile, 20-minute car ride up Signal Mountain was worth it for the spectacular views, but it was the first and only time the whole trip that the elevation made me feel a bit woozy. By the time we were down the mountain, it was sometime after 5 p.m. and we still had about a 90-minute drive to our Airbnb in Driggs, Idaho.

What a drive! The route took us through Teton Pass and its 10 percent grades. When we took the route the next morning, I think we were literally driving through the clouds. I felt sorry for our little rented Nissan Sentra.

Our first stop the next day was Mormon Row/Mouton Barn for a few photos in the morning light. Then we met one of Paul's best friends (who lives hours away in Wyoming but happened to be at Grand Teton on vacation at the same time) at the Leigh Lake trailhead. We picnicked with him and two of his children and watched the kids wade in what I believe was String Lake. The kids got soaked, but luckily I had spare clothes in the car!

We took a peek at Jenny Lake and drove around a bit admiring the scenery. The sky had gone gray with periodic rain much of the afternoon, and we ended the day with a drive through Jackson on our way back to Driggs. A beautiful 36 hours that would have been a shame to miss.

Jackson, Wyoming

Yellowstone Scenes: Lake, Mud Volcanoes & Odds & Ends

No trip to Yellowstone is complete without visiting Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Mammoth Terraces. But there were so many other odds and ends that we managed to see during our four days at the park. Here are some of the best of the rest.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Sunset Lake

Views in Gardiner, Montana

Half-staff flags after shootings in Dayton and El Paso.

Roosevelt Arch in background.

Mud Volcanoes

Stinky!

A bear!

Yellowstone Lake

West Thumb Geyser Basin (Yellowstone Lake in background)

Find Paul and Atticus! (Hint: Paul is in red.)