A Utah Family Travel Writer's Adventures with Altitude
Turns out, Hadley has been diagnosed with Strep, which means the rest of us have been catering to her every need.
And believe me, they are plenty.
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| Sick Haddie. Notice Puke Cup above head |
On Tuesday, Bode decided he was going to make her double-fudge chocolate chip cookies.
Not because she could eat them.
But because it made him feel better about her being sick.
I like his style.
If you’re just tuning in, be sure to read Behind-the-scenes at 9News’ Back-to-School Segment Part I.
Despite my best efforts to pull together two back-to-school segments for 9News (and believe me, both segments were a ton of work) one very important thing started unraveling the day prior: Haddie wasn’t feeling well.
I assumed it was because we’d stayed up late at our neighbor’s outdoor movie theater and gotten up early for church but she ping-ponged from OK to worse as she claimed stomach pains. I debated replacing her with her friend but then she’d recover enough for us to see the silver lining and hope she’d be OK.
She wasn’t.
Around 1 a.m. she came into our bedroom claiming nightmares about the sound of necklaces (can you say hallucinating?) so I let her stay. Problem was she thrashed and turned all night and I had to be at 9News by 6 a.m. for my first segment.
Translation: I barely slept.
The plan was for Jamie to bring the kids later for our fashion segment that aired at 8:40 a.m. My first segment on back-to-school products went just swell (find them here that includes the coolest alarm clock) but when I called Jamie to see how she was, he simply said, “Not great,” but that they would be there.
Once they arrived, we hung out in the green room and Haddie seemed pretty OK and my hope was renewed we’d survive the segment.
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| The Green Room (that is not green) |
About 20 minutes before our segment, TaRhonda came to get us and the kids got a little tour of the newsroom. Much to Bode’s delight, he met his celebrity crush, Meteorologist Becky Ditchfield.
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| Blurry Becky. Apparently I was excited for him |
At the end of the segment when Becky was talking to TaRhonda on-air, Becky called Bode “pretty dang awesome.”
Warning: Don’t tease him about it. He starts to blush and roars, “STOP IT!”
Once in the studio, we did a couple of dry runs and all the kids did great.
And then came SHOW TIME! Be sure to check-out the video here (kids’ segment starts at about 4 minutes and for clothing/product info, go here).
Jamie was a stellar stage father, guiding and helping the kids behind the scenes and they were all amazing. Hadley, in particular because she sucked it up and still performed when she felt sick.
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| Ignore the flash; no time to remove it |
Steph was adorable, Bennett was cool but that Bode? For a kid who has a canned smile, the little dude stole the show.
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| Becky raving how awesome Bode is. |
When the segment was over, we were all relieved, grateful and elated with how well it went. As we were walking back to our green room to retrieve our belongings, Hadley confessed:
“I threw up.”
“WHAT? When? Where?”
“Outside!”
I turned to Jamie and he confirmed it. Turns out she was still having stomach problems and the moment they got out of the car upon arriving at the 9News studios, she vomited all over the next parking stall. She recovered enough to perform for the segment and has been down-and-out with a feverish stomach flu ever since.
“Yeah, and Daddy told me not to say anything to you about throwing up until after we went on TV!”
Wise, wise man that Jamie.
And that, my friends, is how you leave your (literal) mark on your television debut.
When TaRhonda Thomas asked me to do a couple of of back-to-school segments on Denver’s top news station 9News, I readily agreed to one but took a big, long pause for the other. I’m fine with pitching products–I’ve done plenty of those on-air segments. But she also wanted me to pull together a fashion show for the second segment. Me? The woman who wears North Face and Arcteryx all winter long?
I reluctantly agreed and admittedly had the most fun pulling that particular segment together. Both were a lot of work–between researching what products I wanted to use, working with the company’s corporate office and then individual stores to get the item and not to mention finding models.
I needed two younger kids and was surprised when both of mine were enthusiastically on-board.
I think Bode secretly wanted to meet Meteorologist Becky Ditchfield (whom he has a crush on).
Next, I recruited Stephanie, a cool sophomore from church was elated to do a shopping spree at H&M (they got to keep their clothes).
But then came the teenaged boy. Turns out most of ‘em don’t want to be on TV. Modeling. Excuses ranged from “I have to work” to “I have band camp,” to my favorite, “Ohhhhhh no. I respectfully decline. I could never do that.”
How many teenaged boys even talk like that?
It got to the point where, at a stake BBQ where a number of wards congregated after a community service project that I lamented to Jamie, “I JUST NEED A TEENAGED BOY.”
And then I realized how that sounded.
My friend Lisa finally recommended my guy who was the son of a friend. Bennett is a cool sophomore who didn’t mind basking in the limelight and did a stellar job.
But, of course, there were problems (this is me, right?)
Be sure to read Part II for all the sordid details of the stress…and the puke as my kids made their television debut.
We’ve been so busy these final weeks before school that posting will be sporadic. Last weekend, we went to First Friday and Street Fair in Golden, followed by a free outdoor movie–Puss ‘n Boots–in the square with our friends.
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| Hanging w/ Karla waiting for movie to begin |
Watching that funny movie reminded me of something Haddie said a few months ago that still rings true.
Hadley: “Mommy, I’m 100 percent sure the Easter bunny isn’t real. I think there’s just a person dressed up as a bunny.”
Me: “Why do you suspect that?”
Hadley: “Because I got ‘Puss in Boots’ for Easter and there was a Wal-Mart sticker on it. AND BUNNIES CAN’T SHOP!!!”
I’m a sucker for traditions and on our trip to Calgary, we instituted a new one.
Much to my mother’s horror.
Remember when I let the kids jump into Fish Creek fully-clothed and we had the best night ever?
They begged my dad and me to take them back during the day so they could wear their swim suits. We went to our favorite spot: the ice caves. Remember last winter when we literally walked on water?
It’s a much different scene in the summer.
We were delighted to stumble upon some kids who were attempting to catch minnows and they graciously loaned us their nets.
Who knew miniature carp could be so fascinating?
Grandpa also held a tutorial on skipping rocks.
I only got pegged once.
But what unfolded next is still causing my mother sleepless nights. When we were at this area last summer, we saw some teens who were covered in mud. I didn’t think much of it–they had climbed straight up a precipitous cliff to get there and risking life and limb didn’t appeal to me. This summer, some teens emerged who’d done the same thing but it wasn’t until I saw a family of four take a much tamer path up the mountain that I decided to investigate.
“C’mon, Hadley,” I barked. We were Johnson girls on a mission.
We climbed for a few minutes until we stumbled upon a trail that was covered in mud. Thinking this was the final destination, Hadley and I called the boys up to come check it out. We then, of course, got dirty.
Really dirty.
Bode and my Dad joined us and Bode tepidly stepped into the mud. His shoe sank. He panicked and soon his other shoe got stuck, he freaked a bit and I thought he was having nothin’ to do with that mud.
Until Grandpa saved the day.
While Hadley and I had assumed this was the final destination, my dad forged forward through the mud and continued upward on the dry trail. And that, my friends, is when we stumbled upon a mucky, oozing wonderland: the mud pits. There were literally pools and slides of mud.
“Well get in!” I squealed.
My kids hesitated. Could it be? The woman who is always saying “stay out of the mud” was actually encouraging it?
They never looked back.
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| Muddy kids w/ view of Fish Creek below |
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| Cooling off later at Annie’s Bakery & Cafe |
And we’re counting down the days until we can do it again next summer.
One of my favorite outings when I come home to Calgary is going to the Millarville Farmer’s Market. Located about 30 minutes southwest of Calgary, this small community is dripping with nostalgia with its sweeping pastoral views and old-timer charm.
I would be the old-timer.
And their farmer’s market? It’s one of the largest and most successful of the Alberta-Approved Farmers’ Markets and is chock full of my childhood goodies. Favorites include saskatoon berry jams and syrups (we’re bringing some home for Jamie), oodles of beef, crafts, gluten-free, glorious bakery items and a montage of ethnic selections (Thai and Indian are my favorites–still reeling over the mango butternut squash soup I sampled).
Did I mention it was 72 degrees? I was in heaven and so were the kids.
Bode driving the tractor. See that blue backside behind the wheel? Thus were the remains of Hadley.
My mom is turtle-obsessed and many of her treasures were destroyed in their garage fire. They added this turtle solar lamp to their collection.
I’ve decided I’m in love with beavers. Here’s Bode staring one down.
Old buck-tooth totally won. There’s no competing when you’re sporting a Canadian flag.
And our lunch of champions? Kettle corn, pina colada fudge, Skor fudge, French fries and fresh peas.
Give us a break–we’re on vacation.
When we left Millarville a couple of hours later, Dad suggested instead of going back to Calgary on the 22X (highway), we try to find a charming country church he loves on the backroads around Millarville.
We never found it and ended up doing a big detour through country hamlet Black Diamond and then Okotoks, which has grown to a bustling city of 30,000.
We used to nickname it “Hickville” when I was a teenager, which just shows how old I really am.
“Let’s stop at Bulk Barn in Okotoks,” my mom suggested.
Now, I don’t know about you but anything with “bulk” and “barn” are not very alluring. But do you know what? I’ve never seen anything like it. Bulk Barn is a veritable bulk foods emporium with over 4,000 products and is Canada’s largest bulk food retailer. Rows upon rows of bins with the most amazing selections, many of which I’d never heard of–everything from soup to nuts, candy and snacks, baking ingredients, health food and pie fillings.
Hadley tried Turkish delight, I freaked over plantains and mango-flavored craisins (I brought home a bunch for salad), and Bode fell in love with creamsicle Big Feet (like orange-flavored Swedish fish in the shape of feet). Talk about getting your hand caught in the cookie jar.
Or rather, the bulk food bins.
But the item I was most excited about? In the baking section, they had a large selection of various kinds of chocolate for making desserts. I have a snickerdoodle bread recipe and have been trying to track down the requisite cinnamon chips to make it. Bulk Barn didn’t have them but had something even better: lemon chips. I’m totally making some cream cheese oatmeal cookies with lemon and white chocolate chips with coconut.
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Now is the time for my local friends to start sucking up.
Or that should be “puckering up.”
Though I have a camera or my iPhone in my kids’ faces taking pictures on an almost daily basis, I rarely shoot video. Once upon a time when I was a broadcast journalism student at BYU, I became really proficient at shooting and editing video. I had to be. We had zero budget to do otherwise.
But that was 15 years ago and I haven’t kept up with all the photo editing tools that are out there so that corner of my life has gone to the wayside.
Until my friend Stacey stepped in.
At Bode’s birthday last week at Fish Creek, she shot several short vignettes of the festivities and edited them together through iMovie on her iPad into a darling/hilarious superhero birthday movie trailer.
I’d show it to you but she has yet to send it to me. Something about having to join YouTube or Facebook in order to upload it.
As great as she is with technology, it cracks me up she wants nothing to do with either of them.
So she graciously came over to my parent’s house yesterday to show the kids and me how to make our own movie trailer using Jamie’s iPad. I was delighted it was pretty easy but we quickly realized we needed a lot more footage than our little outings that afternoon and I regretted I hadn’t been shooting video of our entire trip.
There’s always next time.
So, take 1 minute (that’s how long it is) to check out an afternoon in Tales From The Motherland. I think we did a pretty darn good job for our first effort. though I realized I would never make it as a movie director; it made me too bossy.
“No, stop there. Come back. Now run. Don’t smile at the camera. Look natural.”
You get the idea.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hnfTOmgcI]
I expect Hollywood to come calling any minute.
Know those parents who would never let their kids play in the mud?
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| Getting dirty with Grandpa B. |
Apparently I am not one of them.
(Sordid details forthcoming. See Part I here.)
Know those parents who would never let their kids jump into a river fully-clothed?
Apparently I am not one of them.
(See Part IIhere).
This is how we ride to church in Canada.
The torrential downpour on the return trip?
Not documented.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. Learn More