And the Best Travel Baby Award goes to...

Hazel D. Bonner!

We moved out to California this weekend. All of our belongings got put in a 22-foot Penske and we towed our car behind that. Todd drove, I sat in the middle, doling out treats left and right, and Hazel got the window seat. All told, it took us about 15 hours of driving time, plus stops. We stayed in Nevada Saturday night to split up the drive.

Hazel's always been a great traveler, but we didn't know how she'd do for such a long stretch, especially sitting right next to me. I'm pleased to announce that she rocked. She fussed a little bit here and there, but truly we think she spent maybe 30 minutes combined crying on the entire drive. When it was time for her nap, I hung a blanket across from the dashboard to the seatback so she couldn't see us, and she slept. She was pleasant company almost the entire time.

We've been in the Bay Area for just shy of 24 hours now, and we are pleased to announce that we have found ideal housing. It is expensive and it is only a two-bedroom, but we feel at peace about it. It's in a very quiet and safe part of town, we face a huge park with tons of grass, slides, and swings, the rooms are spacious, and we're returning to the same ward (for church) that we were in when we lived here before. We're very happy with it.

Ooh Ooh, Aah Aah

Last week we spent a few days at Todd's sister Laura's house. One morning the adults were talking in the kitchen, and kids were all playing in the adjacent playroom. A bit into it, Laura's three kids all left the playroom, but I could still hear Hazel clinking around with blocks so I let her be. But a minute later, I realized it was rather silent, and I peeked in to make sure my kiddo was okay.

Imagine my surprise when this is what I found:
I was floored. She only figured out how to climb up on the couch the day before. That fridge comes up to my waist!

After I pulled her off, I watched her head straight over to get back on so I could figure out how she got did it. She used the oven handles as footholds and gripped the gas stove tops to pull herself onto the oven. That's as far as I let her go second time around, but now I wish I had held off. I would have loved to see her shimmy herself up to the highest level.

What a monkey!

Five Years

Yesterday Todd and I celebrated our five year anniversary. It was much better than last year, when I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant and alone.

Our trip to Italy in March was our big celebration, so we kept it low-key. Todd's mom watched Hazel and we went and got pedicures. No, Todd did not know that's what I had planned. All I told him was that we were doing something he'd never done before and that he desperately needed. (People, his feet were like sandpaper!) He was surprisingly cool about it. But I mean, how much can you really complain when someone is exfoliating and massaging your feet?

We also went out to lunch and spent an hour at Home Depot, so there was enough manliness in the day. ;)

Bonner Reunion Tour 2009

I'm still having a hard time peeling my eyes off of Todd long enough to blog.

However, we took a sweet trip the first week of November, and I'd be remiss if I did not record it. We left Hazel with my parents for a week and flew out to Washington DC. We stayed with our friends the Lundells. It was great to spend time with these friends we haven't seen since we graduated college.

We started off our first day in DC by spending several hours in the Holocaust Museum. It was sad, and informative, and sobering. Then we grabbed lunch and ate it in front of the White House. While we sat there, a couple of motorcades drove past. Police shoved the crowds out of the area we'd been sitting at, and we like to pretend we caught a picture of Barack.

Check out the guard standing on the roof.

Okay, see the guy standing closest to us in the middle in the suit? Then there's the lamppost to the left of him. We "think" the guy to the left of the post is Obama.

We made a quick stop at the National Archives building to look at the Declaration of Independence. We were planning to just run in and out to say we had seen it, so I wasn't expecting how it made me feel. The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights are all displayed in a beautiful rotunda. When I got up to the Declaration, I was overcome with a feeling that I was looking at something sacred. I felt God's presence, and I thanked Him for the blessings of a free country.
We spent the rest of the day walking past all of the monuments. I was most excited to see the Lincoln Memorial
but I think my favorite actually ended up being the Franklin Delano Roosevelt one. Its walls had a ton of interesting quotes carved on them that he gave during the depression and WWII. Here's just one that I especially appreciated:

" We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

Washington MonumentJefferson Memorial

The next day we went to the International Spy Museum (my choice) and the Air and Space Museum (Todd's chocie). The spy museum was chock full of espianoge artifacts. Two that I remember especially amusing me are a lipstick pistol and a knife set you hide up your rectum. It also had a lot of interactive displays. You had to memorize a cover identity before going in. There was a pretend air duct you could crawl through and eavesdrop on people. It was super cool.
The Air and Space Museum was interesting, too. My favorite part of that was looking at the pictures taken with the Hubble Telescope. I hadn't looked at any of those since high school at least. Again, I was overcome with God's Spirit, as I looked at what He has created, and thought about how small I am, and how magnificent He is, and how much I know He loves me.
Our third day there, we paid a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. I always like going to military cemeteries. It makes me proud of our country, thankful to our veterans, and grateful to have my husband at my side.
I planned our trip up to this point. Todd took over from here and kept everything a big fat secret. He started planning it back in September and has been dangling his "mystery destinations" out like a delicious carrot right in front of my face ever since. For days before we left, he carried around a sleek black folder filled with maps, confirmations, and other miscellaneous data and would flaunt it all in front of me, knowing I love a good secret.

I figured out the first "mystery destination" pretty quickly by reading the road signs as we drove. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We spent the night at a B&B right on the battlefield. The next morning, we had a sweet personal tour. The tour guide drove our car and took us all over the battlefield, describing the events of the three days. He also showed us several interesting monuments. It was excellent. He was able to make it interesting and informative for the both of us, even though I haven't thought much about Gettysburg since junior high, and Todd's read several books on it and already knew all the basics.
From there, we stopped at the Hershey factory on our way to our destination in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania. Todd found a very romantic place to stay - the Dockside B&B - on a lake, with gorgeous views out every window. I fell in love with Pennsylvania, with its beautiful cornfields and hills. We had a nice Italian dinner and spent the night relaxing in comfort and luxury.

One of our several breathtaking views from our room.

The next day, we drove to New York City for the crowning event of Todd's surprise. We went to NYC two years ago to celebrate our anniversary and to fulfill one of my lifetime goals - to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Our trip was awesome, but the Broadway stagehands went on strike the very day we were going to see Phantom, and we had to go home without that experience. Well, Todd bought us excellent seats at the Majestic Theater to right that wrong, and it was awesome. It was thrilling to see and to hear, and to live that experience.
Sunday we went to church and then spent the afternoon at the beach. I collected rocks and Todd searched for the gold coin that was "calling out to him." And Monday we flew home and reunited with our much-missed child.