Bonus Austin Trip: the NCAA Tournament

I really struggled with whether or not to go to the tournament with Daniel. Anthony and Carrie would be in Utah another day, so it meant cutting the time I got to see them. It was also complicated logistically for friends to watch Sadie and Elise and then get rides to all their activities. The NCAA tournament is also further complicated by the fact that if they lose the first game you are gone for 3 days and if they win you are gone for 5 days. So I had to ask my friend to potentially watch my kids for 5 days. That is a long time for a trip that isn't necessary. In the end Anthony kept telling me I should go and I am glad I did. And I am even glad we brought Millie. She got to have crazy amounts of attention with the Nielson family.

We flew on a charter out of SLC. Chartered flights are so great and this year the plane had a first class section so we had tons of room to spread out.

We went to dinner in Austin when we arrived. Tom, Carolyn and Courtney met us there. Millie showed off her love of all things sauces by eating mainly ketchup and my leftover salad dressing, along with a few bites of bread dipped in butter for her dinner. 

The next day while the team had practice/media stuff Millie and I hung out with Carolyn and Courtney. Our hotel was on the south side of Austin, which is the opposite direction from the Nielson's, so they had to drive 30-45 minutes each way to see us.

 We walked along the Boardwalk Trail around Lady Bird Lake. The weather was super muggy and I found myself wishing I had worn workout clothes. Millie was showered with attention and praise, but she mostly gave us the cold shoulder.

Mimi got a smile out of her when she got to climb on the railing.

Afterwards we went to Chuy's where Millie drank the creamy jalapeno dip and generally caused a scene. Paco attempted to distract her while the ladies finished up our lunch. 

He headed back to work and we went back to the hotel so Millie could nap. Courtney, Carolyn and I hung out in the hall outside the hotel room for the next 2 hours while Camille slept. We had a fun time. Seriously.

Once Millie woke up she got lots more love and attention. Tom and Whitney arrived to bring our total to 6 adults and one toddler hanging out in a small hotel room. 

 That night we went to The County Line for a delicious dinner with the team and Nielsons. The weather was still foggy so the view wasn't as clear as usual. 

Millie mostly ate bread and butter. What a surprise.

 When we parted ways on Friday night the Nielsons left one of their cars with me. Saturday morning I drove out to hang out in Round Rock. Millie renewed her love for Ruby the dog. I love this picture of Whitney and Camille.

We ate lunch at Hoody's where Millie showed off her straw skills.

 After lunch Millie napped at the Nielson's with Paco while the women went shopping at Target. I was nervous all day for the game, so it was nice to be doing things instead of sitting around waiting.

The picture below is Millie doing her "BYU" chant with her hand motion. It is adapted from the BYU fight song. She started doing it in Vegas and now she does it all the time at home. She just really feels the love for the Cougs.

 When the game finally started we looked stiff. The team played alright, but not nearly as well as they can. They still kept it relatively close, and were only down by 2 points with 2 minutes left, but they couldn't pull out the win. It was disappointing, but in a different way than the WCC tournament. I was so sad for them. 

We waited for the team back at the hotel so we could go to one final dinner before our flight back to Utah the next morning.

On Sunday morning we flew back to Provo, but the flight was not without it's....complications.

First, Millie was in an angry mood. In an attempt to make her happy at the airport Daniel stuck her up on this ledge and then she didn't want to get down.

Next came the digestive issues. About 15 minutes into the flight Millie got diarrhea. We moved out of our first class seats so the other coaches didn't have to deal with the smells of the constant poop/diaper/clothes changing (the airplane bathrooms didn't have changing tables). We took over a couple rows back by the cheerleaders and BYU band. It was a flight to remember. As fate would have it, her worst 2 1/2 hours of diarrhea coincided with us flying. Once we landed it slowed down from every 20 minutes to every few hours. 

When we got back Sadie and Millie were very happy to see one another.

Special shout out to Whitney who drove 6 hours each way to see us/watch the BYU game. Of course, if BYU had won we would have been around a couple more days, but it was still awesome of her to get the time off work and drive out. 

The Tony-Carrie John Fam

When we got back from Vegas we had a few days and then the John family arrived! I was so excited when Carrie texted me a few months back about possibly coming to Utah. It was the perfect thing to cheer us up after the tough tournament loss.

The Johns jam-packed their trip with doing fun things and seeing loved ones. I was so impressed. Their kids had some rough sleep nights and some sickness and they were still on the go all day every day.
They arrived just after dinner Friday night. We let the kids stay up late and play with their cousins. I loved it. They picked back up where they left off last summer in Wisconsin. Sadie and Will especially played well together. Lauren and Elise have a more tumultuous relationship. Strong-willed 4 year old women.

As is always the case when Anthony is around, there was lots of wrestling. Will and Sadie also wrested several times, which was funny to watch because that doesn't happen very much.

Will also showed Sadie "his" kindle and his favorite games. I think maybe Angry Birds?

The Johns hung out with Carrie's sisters the rest of the day. 

Sunday morning the kids enjoyed breakfast together again. We made them squish the 4 of them together on 3 bar stools. I just remembered we do have a 4th stool in our storage room. Oh well. It was fun making them squeeze in.

Carrie took this picture when we were walking into church. The cousins frequently held hands. I don't know if Will and Lauren typically do that, but my girls love to hold hands.

After church the kids got lots more quality play time. They played beanboozled- which is a favorite. They also played outside in short sleeves in 48 degree weather. They are crazy.

Since it was Daniel's birthday I made one of his favorite meals- honey lime chicken enchiladas. I forgot to double the amount of milk I mixed into the enchilada sauce so they had more of a kick to them than usual. Elise kept screaming about her mouth being on fire. 

That night the Johns headed up to Fletcher family gathering and graciously allowed me and Matt to tag along in their van. We didn't bring our kids since it didn't start until past their bedtimes and they had school the next day. Sadie initiated group hugs until we told her she had to go back inside. 

Everyone slept on the drive to SLC except me and Carrie.

 It was great to see Fletcher relatives that I haven't talked to in months, and some, years. I stole this picture from Carrie. A lot of these pics are stolen from her.

On Monday the Johns spent the day visiting Bobpa and Grandma John and I made my girls go to school. Later that afternoon was the NCAA women's tournament selection show. We gave the Johns a quick tour of the Marriott Center and then went to the broadcast building to watch the show.

We knew BYU would get in, but it was nerve-wracking having to sit through nearly the entire show before BYU was announced as a 7 seed to play Missouri in Austin. We thought it was a decent seeding considering how BYU had choked away the WCC tournament. 

Following the announcement we went to the nearby Bean Museum, while Daniel headed to the Marriott Center to prep for their tournament game. 

 

 As usual, the play space with the slide and cave were probably the biggest hit. I love the picture where Carrie told the kids to roar like a lion. We had to tell the kids they could either play longer there and then go to bed, or play more at home. They opted to play at home.

And we only got 1 picture during the whole visit with all 6 kids together. Too bad the lighting isn't better.

On Tuesday I checked Sadie out from school after a couple hours so we could go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity with less crowds. Anthony stayed home with Elliott so we all fit in our van.

We spent some time in the rotating exhibit room learning about perception and how our eyes/brain can easily be deceived and distracted.

 
4 floating cousins

 

We spent a while in the climbing area. I was up at the top taking pictures of Sadie and Millie in the airplane when I looked down and noticed Elise had somehow gotten out an employee-only door and was talking to someone at the front desk (I assume about finding me). I yelled down to her and finally got her attention.

Here she is sadly making her way to me after that. Taking Millie in this climbing area was pretty much a mistake. I had to carry her through most of it and I ended up sweaty.

 We ended up staying at the museum for about 3 hours, with no fights. The kids got really into a game of pretend in the market, but agreed to leave when I reminded them we hadn't gone to the water area yet.

  The kids worked together to get the water moving and Millie tried out the water table. Some other kids splashed a lot, which Millie did not appreciate. Watching them in the wind tunnel was adorable.

 The kids rounded out the night with more wrestling and books/family prayers with their cousins. Sleeping 2 floors apart worked really well. At bedtime they parted ways and at least weren't distracting each other from sleep. Poor Lojo had some rough night terrors and a persistent night cough that kept the Johns awake in the basement.

 Elliott was being particularly cute on Tuesday night. He is such a smiley kid! He was battling what we think was an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin and kept right on smiling through the rash and digestive issues.

On Wednesday the Johns spent most of the day with friends/family in Provo and then SLC. We got to hang out with them for a bit between their trips. I spent most of the day getting ready to leave for Austin on Thursday with Daniel and Millie., which included getting packed for Sadie and Elise to stay at a friend's and doing lots of laundry.

On Thursday afternoon we left and the Johns generously agreed to take care of Sadie and Elise until Friday morning, when my friend would pick them up. The kids fit in a little more adorable cousin time while Anthony and Carrie prepared to drive back home Friday morning.

I know I say it constantly, but I wish we lived closer to family! I wish my kids got to see their cousins more than once a year. I wish I got to see my siblings and their spouses more than once a year. Waah. Waah. Life is unfair.