CA Part 4: The Finale!

I could break this last post into two parts, but I thought it best to just get it done. So I’m packing in a whole bunch of pictures in one.

After Disneyland and CA Adventure, we spent the next day going to the beach, driving down to Carlsbad, and doing other random things like eating at the Hibachi Steak House (yes the one in Anaheim Hills). And if you’ve ever been there, I apologize for making you drool thinking about it right now. Just like I am.

The kids had so much fun! They made sandcastles and played in the water – you know, the normal beach stuff.

The next day we went straight to LEGOLAND. The kids had a great time there. A lot of the rides were too big for Spencer, or too scary for the bigger kids. But there were so many amazing Lego sculptures/figures/buildings/etc!

I know it’s hard to see through the fence on this one, but I had to include it. I think both Spencer and my faces are excellent. That was a big, fast drop!

I’m pretty sure they would all love to go back again.

The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo. I remember always loving the zoo. Unfortunately I think everyone was a little too warn out, it was a little too crowded (we went on Saturday), and a little too hot. Even the animals seemed kind of slow. But we plugged along and had a good time.

That day after we left the zoo, we drove to Jody and Darrell’s house and stayed a couple of nights with them. It was so good to see everyone! I think it’s been a few years since we’ve been together. There is something so great about being with one of my sisters! Someone who can finish my sentences, or knows exactly what I mean, even when what I say comes out all wrong. The kids had so much fun playing together too! And since this picture they’ve added a new baby girl to their family! We miss you all!

So that’s the end of our amazing, long, fun, exhausting, exciting, great trip. The kids have been asking when we can do it again. :) We’ve let them know that if they’re willing to pay for it, we’re all in. Although Adam and I have been considering going back by ourselves some time – you know, actually ride some rollercoasters. (But don’t tell the kids.) :)

CA Part 3: California Adventure!

Overall I don’t think the kids had as much fun here as they did at Disneyland. Too many of the rides were too big and/or too fast for what they like.

We spent plenty of time in Bugs Land, and a little bit of time at the carnival rides. The kids all loved the Farris Wheel (I totally chickened out. But I did get 30 minutes of shopping/alone time while I waited.) :)

Lunch was in Downtown Disney at the Rain Forest Café. The kids LOVE that place.

Of course we had to go to the LEGO store. I think they would have been happy to spend a whole day there. And really, who could blame them – it is awesome! We wish we had a LEGO store closer to us. That pick-a-brick wall cannot be beat! Any CA friends want to fill up a few containers for us and ship them to ID? We’d buy you a large container for your trouble!

Then we were off to Cars Land! Well I think technically we went there on the 3rd day of our trip. I can’t remember exactly when we did what. Unfortunately it was a little too crowded to really be able to enjoy it. But from what we could tell, it was really cute and well done (of course).

First thing in the morning (1/2 before the park opened) we got in line for a fast pass for CA Racers (is that even the name of it?). We waited for 45 minutes for a fast pass! But it was totally worth it – I think we waited about 5 minutes in line, and the ride was great!

Even with the extra crowds (because of Cars Land), and the crazy heat and humidity, we all had a great time. The kids only have happy memories when we talk about our trip. I still have more to post. Hopefully I can get it done in one (since I’m so slow at it), but I’m guessing it will be two. :)

CA part 2: Disneyland!

We got park hopper tickets for the family for 3 days. We were torn between 2 or 3 days, and we decided on the 3 so we could take it slowly when/if we needed to. I think it turned out to be a good choice for us.

It was fun to be back at Disneyland. We’ve been in Boise for 7 years and this was our first family trip back. So we unashamedly played the part of tourists (wearing a backpack, carrying around our big camera and taking pictures everywhere). :)

Our plan for souvenirs was to get each of them a hat, and then anything else they wanted would be purchased with the money they had earned and saved before we left. So when Ben picked this hat, I wasn’t really excited. I didn’t imagine that he would actually wear it. I thought he would regret it and want to get a different one later. There are SO many cute hats there! But he was positive that this was the one he wanted. And it turns out he was right. He has worn that hat 10 times more than I thought he would – and he looks so cute!

Spencer was absolutely determined to pull that sword out!

We had so much fun! And we thoroughly wore everyone out. Thankfully Sydney was a trooper the whole vacation. Tomorrow onto California Adventure!

California! Part 1

Almost two years ago, our little family started planning a trip to Disneyland! We saved and planned, and saved and planned. The kids worked hard to earn extra spending money too.

We planned the trip for the end of September (yes we took the kids out of school for a week), hoping to avoid as much crowds as possible (thank you Cars Land for making that impossible!). We got to the airport first thing in the morning so we had plenty of time to get checked in and eat breakfast.

I was definitely concerned about flying with a 2 year old (even if she is cute). And thanks to every electronic item we own, she did pretty well.

The first thing I will say about California is that it was so hot and so humid! I have definitely gotten used to Idaho weather. We went straight to lunch at Slaters 50/50. And we met up there with Rik and Adell King (so sad we didn’t get pictures there).

I had never been there before. But their specialty is a hamburger that is 50% beef and 50% bacon – so good! But now that I have been there, I highly recommend the PB&J burger (yes, peanut butter and jelly)! That was the best! I think it might be a new quest of mine learning how to make that at home.

We stayed the first two nights with Rik and Adell (they welcomed us in, only two weeks after their wedding)! We weren’t in camera mode yet on the trip, so we didn’t get many pictures. Unfortunately Adell had already gone to work when we took this one.

It was so nice of them to let us come and invade their space (we’re not a small group). Rik was like a second dad to Adam while he was a teenager. We had such a nice time visiting with them!

We were all so grateful to have a pool to play and cool off in! I think the kids could have stayed there the whole trip and been happy.

Driving around Yorba Linda again it seemed exactly the same. We’ve been gone seven years now, but it seemed just like we hadn’t left. Though I was surprised that I couldn’t quite remember street names, and where things were.

We went to our old Ward (YL 4th) on Sunday, and had such a great time seeing all our friends there! I love being in Boise, and I really feel like it’s where we are supposed to be, but a little piece of my heart ached to be back with all those good people!

We had so much fun visiting everyone! But Monday morning it was time to really get moving! We left Rik’s and went straight to Disneyland. Hopefully I’ll get those pictures posted soon. :)

The Aces and Dark Thunder

The three big kids  all played sports this fall. Emma played volleyball, Ben soccer, and Spencer basketball. Well Spencer is still in his season so I’ll post pictures of him later.

This was Emma’s third season playing volleyball through the YMCA. Her coach this time was a hard core volleyball player. She’s been playing for 30 years (and she’s not much older than that). She also played college ball.

She was so great working with the girls. It was so good for Emma to have a coach who really wanted the girls to learn how to play correctly and well. She worked hard on getting them to have 3 hits each time.

Emma loves playing volleyball. It’s so fun to watch her and to see how much she has improved. Go Aces!

 

This was Ben’s first time playing soccer on an actual team. We hesitated signing him up because he doesn’t really like running or being told what to do. :) But he’s been asking to play for a while, so we finally let him. And he was amazing!! He did everything his coaches asked him to do. And he ran hard during the games.

I was worried about all the running because of his weak-ish lungs. I’ve wondered for years if he might have asthma. His breathing is often labored when he runs and/or plays outside. And then he got RSV a year and a half ago, and he seemed even worse after that.

But I think playing soccer has been one of the very best things for him. Both for his physical body and just to be able to be on a team. Hopefully he will want to play again next season. Go Dark Thunder!

Hill Climbing

Digging has begun! Well, not on our basement yet (hopefully this week some time). But it has started (and is actually mostly finished) on our friends/soon-to-be neighbors basement. Which means, all of their basement dirt got dumped onto our lot.

And since they are putting in an extra large kind of basement, that means an extra lot of dirt piled up!

So one Saturday we all went over to play on the dirt piles.

I think it’s hard to look at the pictures and get a good idea of just how tall the dirt is piled. But you can see it’s probably 3 times as tall as me.

Next to our van you can see how big the excavator(?) is that they had to use to dig the basement.

The piles really were as tall as the neighbors two story houses.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun climbing and sliding down the dirt. Some of the neighbor kids came over to join us too for a while too.