Family Reunion -- CA 2013 Part Uno

Note: This post should be taken tongue in cheek where appropriate.  I will leave to you at what times to place tongue in cheek.  Remember, tongue planted firmly in cheek...most of the time.    

Here goes on the big-daddy vacation for the summer.  This vacation had been in the works for at least two years since the last Ludwig reunion in 2011.  Grandma and Grandpa wanted this to be a few steps above what has been the norm for past Ludwig reunions.  So, Grandma and Grandpa booked a week at the Marriott Newport Coast Villas.  This location would require some travel for everyone and with small kids it would take some planning to pull it off without the parents jumping out of the car somewhere on I-15.

We decided to travel to St. George the first day and then go the rest of the way to Newport Beach the second day.  My company kindly let us stay in its condo in St. George, which was great and perfect for our kids and allowed us to have a good rest before the fun really began.  When we arrived at the condo the kids thought is was like Christmas morning.  They were running and jumping all over the place despite the fact that is was around 11 o'clock at night.

The next day we woke up rested and went out to a playground on the property to let the kids burn off some energy before we headed to Newport.  It was a beautiful day and we packed the van, again, and headed for California.

The drive was largely uneventful until we stopped in Primm, Nevada for Lunch and ate at a Greek place that had food that tasted like wood chips--it was not good unless you are of the beaver variety.  Do yourself a big favor and just skip Primm altogether if you can help it.  If you think Las Vegas is a waste of space, I cannot imagine you would find Primm to be especially breathtaking. It is one of those border towns that specializes in cheap trappings and crappy food to get gamblers to show up and blow their wad.

Lovely Primm.

After Primm came the Los Angeles metro area, which basically starts right when you leave Primm--so you guessed it--LA traffic starts their too.  We managed decent time and really took off when we got on the toll road, but we paid for it later when we got off.

We finally made it to the condos late in the afternoon and they did not disappoint.  The Marriott Newport Coast Villas sit on a bluff overlooking Crystal Cove State Park and beach.  It is not right on the ocean like some of the Marriott resorts, but this is a minor difficultly considering most of our time was spent at other places than the beach.

Pool 

Laney eating on balcony. 

Grandma and some grand kids enjoying the view.

Mike and Terry, happy couple.  

Ludwigs seeing who can break something first.

Good looking crew. 

Eighties are back.

View to a chill.  

The kids had a great time seeing their cousins and this seems to be the best part for them.  As long as they have their cousins to pal around with, life is good.  Shauna made an expensive trip to the Albertson's in Corona Del Mar were the shopping carts are made by Maserati and Mclaren.  

Saw one or a dozen of these parked on the street.

The next day was Sunday and we went to the Newport beach ward that was swarming with visitors and probably three times its normal size.  The kids had a tough time paying attention while sitting so irresistibly close to their fun cousins.  Some guy behind us even piped up and told them to be quite.

That evening the parents prepped for Disneyland the next day getting everything ready to roll.  Now, I had not been to Disneyland since I was eight so I was largely unaware (the number of amateur Disneyland blogs out there should have been my first clue) of the massive number of Disney devotees there are in the world. Really, Disney essentially has a religious following of millions of people clad in mouse ears and paying ridiculous amounts of money to sit with a college girl dressed up as Snow White--not to mention the price just to get into the park.

I mean, one morning I found myself sprinting through California Adventure to someplace I had never been, like I was being chased by the devil himself, just to wait in line to get "Fastpass" tickets to the Cars ride, just so we could then wait in line to get on the ride (albeit a much shorter line).  Want something to eat?  Oh, let's take a look at our payment plans.  It was fun, but I am convinced that parents who claim they are going to Disney for their children are putting up a half-hearted effort to disguise the truth, which is they were really the ones who wanted to come to Dland and they are only using their kids as a weak disguise so they don't look dumb. There are some brave souls who, through self introspection or just because the don't care, have abandoned the parent facade and have come out of the Dland closet admitting to themselves, and the world, that they are in fact Dland freaks. But of course they get a pass because they are at Dland and everyone at Dland is a freak -- except me and my family of course.  It seems like our kids can have just as much fun with a stick and some poison berries so long as they are with their cousins.  It is the parents who have created the Dland mythos.

Okay, at Dland the kids did have fun (except Laney on Space Mountain) minor mistake taking her on this, she begged for us to stop the ride and curled up in a ball in Shauna's lap until the horror was over.  The Pirates of the Caribbean and Indian Jones were hits as were splash mountain and Star Tours.  We saw a lady lose her lunch when she slipped on a puddle of water near the cafeteria at Space Mountain throwing her newly purchased lunch into the air.  Dland folks came over to comfort and have her sign a lawsuit waiver after giving her free lunch and telling her that that lunch was in the same tax bracket as Mitt Romney.  After this we saw another lady lose her lunch shortly after exiting Space Mountain--only once you drive the lunch off the lot its value is severely diminished--so there were no Dland "Cast Members" hanging about comforting this poor profit center..I mean human being.

Happy, post Indiana Jones. 

Taking it all in.

I was also very proud of our kids because of their remarkable restraint and discernment.  Prior to entering the Park we told our kids that they could choose one souvenir so they had better choose wisely.  Well, time and again they would consider some item at a store and determine it was not what they wanted.  (Setting expectations ahead of time has proven to be one of the best parenting devises I have ever found.  It might be the only one I am good at.)  They finally each found something they really liked and have each treated it remarkably well.

I will post more parts as they become available.

Pioneer Trek -- Are you a Trekkie?

Back in January or February of this year the Bishop called and asked if we could meet with him.  He did not say what it was, he just gave us a time.  We showed up and he made small talk for a bit and then dropped the bomb.  (Now, anyone who reads this blog will likely know that we have three small kids.  We both had significant callings already and I was already planning on being at scout camp for the summer.  Not to mention the previously posted Tahoe trip and a week-long family reunion during the end of July.)  So, he asks us if we will accept callings to be a Ma and Pa for the Pioneer Trek that summer.  I have to say I was surprised.  I mean, I was eyeball-poppingly shocked and surprised.  Of all the callings I have received, this was the most out of left field.

Well, Shauna did a couple of fist pumps -- she was so excited-- and I was much more subdued because she had never been on a pioneer trek and I had.  I knew the stink, the sweat, and the deprivation that signal pioneer trek so I was not celebrating wildly like some other people.  Needless to say Shauna answered yes for both of us and we were later set apart and officially became Ma and Pa.

Spring came and we were going to meetings and fretting over all the materials that we were responsible to bring on Trek.  We had a meeting about how to play the harmonica, as well as, meetings about the Martin and Willie handcart companies and the serious and desperate circumstances they faced.  It was sobering to think about--such an awful situation, without any real knowledge that someone was coming to save you.  Made my task as a Pa seem like a trip to paradise.  

The night before we left, we went the church and dropped our equipment and supplies and helped the kids going on Trek pack up their bags.  Then the next morning at about 6 am, we ate some breakfast and got on buses and headed for Wyoming.

Our Family with Bishop.

Old meets new.  

Harmonica anyone.

Playing Mafia.  

Family.

It turned out that Trek was a great experience--again--and I got to know loads of people.  Our trek kids were an amazingly hardy bunch.  Given the heat and lack of shade, I was impressed that those kids just kept on rolling.  They were an awesome group.  All is well.

Dirty Running: How Running Has Made Me a Better Dad

Read this and thought is is pretty cool.  I think there is more to being a father than this, but the sentiment is right.

Dirty Running: How Running Has Made Me a Better Dad: 90 percent of being a dad is just showing up  -- Jay, Modern Family I spent last weekend with my oldest daughter at the San Diego 1...

Summer...

It has been a busy and hot summer and I would not have it any other way and it is not quite done.  Our summer started the day school ended when we loaded up the car and drove off to Lake Tahoe for the 49th Annual DeCelle Memorial Lake Tahoe Relay where we did the the fourth year running and hung out with good friends.

I will break our travels and adventures down into several posts so as to not confuse and overwhelm my self being that there are several thousand photos that need to be posted and titled.  So, here goes.

Lake Tahoe 

We left Utah the day school ended and made the -what should have been the 8-hour drive from SLC to Tahoe- but turned into a 10+ hour affair, because of all the starts and stops inherent in traveling with kids.  After our arrival we rested up and headed out Saturday morning to run legs 4 and 6 for our relay team.  My brother and his wife along with our friends kindly watched our kids as we spent all day at the race.  Our teammates hailed from various parts including Utah, Nevada, and California.   

This year was toasty as the temperature at race time exceeded 80 degrees and caused some problems for our team and others.  Our friend Jerry from Reno ran leg 5 (10.5 miles) at around 2 pm and ended up with some heat exhaustion and lost her lunch at the end of her leg.  S had the longest leg of 12.4 miles (along the north shore) and ran it in good time and was stoked she made it without much trouble.  I had leg 6 which has a climb of 600 feet for the last 1.5 miles.  I was worried after seeing several other runners have to stop because of the heat.  I felt good for the first relatively flat part of my run and passed several people.  At the bottom of the hill I felt pretty good which continued all the way to the top at Bliss State Park.  However, I was not satisfied with my time that came out to 8-minute miles.  I was training for sub 7:30's --but it was not to be this year.  

After the race we hung out at the beach and the cabin playing games and fishing in the stream nearby.  On Sunday while we were at the cabin playing card games I looked out the window and saw a big bear wandering by not more than 20 feet away.  We all ran for the windows and the kids when up on the deck and watched as it walked up and out of the meadow.  I was trying to power up my phone to get a picture, but the start up took so long all I got was a picture of the bear from about 60 yards.  (See pics below) Some of us ran out on the back deck to take pictures while the bear was only about 30 yards away and it turned and looked at us and then just kept on moving.  It was pretty amazing to be that close to such a large and dangerous animal.  It was cool for all of us.  

We later went to Donner Lake and Lake Tahoe to fish, swim, take in some history, and lay on the beach.  Pretty fun for all involved.  We are recruiting runners for next year - big 50th - so start getting in shape now.  

 Shauna and Laney at Donner State Park

Bear (See middle of trees)

Closer shot of bear. (Courtesy Aubrey)

Annie, Laney, Ruby Donner State Park

Elena and me Donner State Park

Joaquin, Laney, and Curtis with white dude.  

Catching brookies near cabin.  

Sand people. 

Aubrey and Shauna

Arvidsons and Joaquin

Ruby and Shauna

To My Lovely Wife

Happy Mother's Day!  I can only hope that through my mumblings and bumblings my love for you somehow manifests itself.  You are the love of my life and have never failed to be there for me.  You are the most compassionate person I know and this is one of your greatest gifts.  

I play the curmudgeon in our relationship always wondering why so and so cannot do this or that for his or her self.  You don't ask these questions because you are already in up to your elbows helping this person or that person.  I love you for this even if sometimes it annoys me.  

You are more beautiful and graceful now than I can ever remember.  It takes these qualities to manage your life so well with three kids and husband (often grubby and grumpy) hanging on you wanting this thing or that and sometimes throwing a fit if it does not happen instantaneously .  Helping friends, neighbors, and cousins with various projects, babysitting, and other sundry needs.  

I want to express to you may love and admiration for the person you are.  You are a blessing to our children and you are teaching them the important things in life like the value of family and friends (I will have to teach them how to budget).  You have set the bar high for all of us--giving us something to aspire to and teaching us how to do it in the process.  

I love you.  Have a wonderful Mother's Day.  

Your loving Husband, 

Paul   

Mother's Day

Mom,

I don't think I can say enough good things about you.  Here I am living a life many dream about--all needs taken care of; beautiful wife and kids; and great opportunities at every turn.  How did all of this come about?  Well, a great mother of course.  

Being a parent of three rambunctious kids of my own (Joaquin has been using the window well as his own personal toilet lately), I know at times a parent can feel like a complete failure.  But then you see the fruits of your labors when your six year old tells you how he made friends with shy kid at school; or your four year old curls up on your lap and tells you that you are the best dad in the world; or your one year old gets a big grin on her face when she sees you as you come in the door from work.  All of this and much more would not have been possible without you Mom.  

On this day set aside to honor mothers--I just want to say that I am beginning to understand how much you sacrificed for your children.  You and Dad sacrificed and saved and took six kids off to Europe with you.  It probably would have been much easier and more enjoyable if you had just left us home. 

How you taught your children to be good.  The remember the time I took several suckers from the office building that we used to clean and you drove me back to the office and made me apologize and return the suckers. This has remained with me and taught me honesty all my life (although I am a lawyer now).  

How you taught us that we have a loving heavenly father.  Lugging six kids to church each Sunday without fail and not just throwing up your hands and staying home.  This act in and of its self is testimony of your efforts to teach us about God and Jesus Christ.  I know as hard as it may be, I am grateful you are serving a mission so Joaquin, Elena and Ruby have that example and legacy in their heritage as they grow up.    

Mom I cannot wait to see you guys again in a few short weeks.  You will get to meet and hold your newest granddaughter, which you can include as part of your legacy and one of your triumphs.  It will be a fantastic reunion--one which you have been working toward your entire life. 

I love you Mom.  Have a wonderful Mother's Day thinking upon all the lives that have been blessed by your love, example and sacrifice.  See you soon.    

Love, Paul

Happy Valentine's Day Shauna

Shauna,

I want to dedicate one entire blog post to you.  I love you very much and want to memorialize in writing some of what I have enjoyed about our life together for the last 10 years.  Here are a few things I love about you.  There are lots more, but I only have so much time.  Enjoy, I love you.    

1.  You are great calming force in my life.  I can remember those law school days when it seemed like I would never make it through.  You talked me through it and here we are.  We did it even when you decided to get your masters as well!  

2.  You are a very loving, teaching, and nurturing mom and our kids could not ask for better--even though they do sometimes.  

3.  You are beautiful and have a seriously in shape body.  There is a lot to be said for this considering we aren't the spring chickens we used to be, not to mention three kids. (This deserves two photos).   

4.  You love a good party, especially one where you and your husband are the only ones wearing costumes.  

5.  You get three kids ready for church by yourself most Sunday mornings and get them to church...almost on time.  

6.  You love me even though I am "cheap" I mean "frugal."  You: "Honey, I think its about time we buy a new camera."  Me:  "Just draw a picture, it will uh, ummm..."   

7.  You have a strong testimony of the gospel and care that your family and friends know this.  

8.  You care about others and help out wherever and whenever you can.  

9.  You love your parents and it shows.

10.  You cook up some mean vittles and aren't too disappointed when our kids look at it like it just fell out of a horse's rear end.

11.  You can pack a day so tight with things to do that Houdini would most like die trying to free himself.  Even the kids have a hard time keeping up.   

12.  You love Joaquin, Elena, Ruby and me with everything you have.  

Happy Valentine's Day Honey!  Hope it is a good one.