****Long post with no pics! Pics will come once I find time to download them!!!
So...back to our vacation! Wednesday morning Ben woke up early and took Sophia to urgent care while we were still sleeping. She was still coughing and he was concerned. What a great Dad!!! They said she had mild bronchitis and that she only needed a humidifier and rest! It was so mild, the Doctor said she would be alright to go sledding, so our minds were put at ease! When he came back, we had breakfast and then I put Sophia down for an early nap, while Ben ran to the mall to pick Boston up a new jacket (since Ethan's was like a half top, we handed down Boston's, and Boston got a new one!). Ben was a little sneaky while he was at the Mall and got me a cute apron from this place.. http://www.flirtyaprons.com/cart/ (sorry there is no link...Firefox is not letting me do it! ugh!)
I mentioned it the day before when I ran in there to get some boots for Sophia. I just told him there were some cute aprons in there, and he picked the one I liked! He really knows my taste! What a thoughtful husband! He also got one for Aubrie! For lunch we met the Hellewell's at a great sandwich shop in town, that we always have to hit when we go there. Too bad Ethan had to throw a tantrum, which resulted in me eating lunch in the car while he sat there in time out! Who knew he didn't want mayonnaise on his sandwich. Kids! Then we headed over to a great sledding spot by up by the Provo temple. It is a huge bowl, and the hills are just long enough to get a good run, but not too long that walking up is a pain! When we got there, it took us about 20 minutes just to get all our snow gear on! Just our luck, it was a nice sunny day, so we ended up shedding a lot of it once we got to the top of the hill. The kids had fun sledding, even Sophia. Ben picked up these "sledding snow boards" and Aubrie was getting very brave, until a sled of 3 heavy girls plowed right over her right after she took a fall. I thought for sure she would be injured after that, but she was fine, but decided to stick to sledding! About 40 minutes into the sledding, Ethan just melted down and I had to take him to the car again. I was so frustrated, thinking what is wrong with this boy! Why does he get so angry, besides the fact he has Pribyl blood in him. Five minutes after driving to our next destination he was asleep! I then realized that he was up late the night before, was up early, and had been walking a hill for 40 minutes!! Funny how we get cranky when we are sleep deprived, but don't think of that when our kids get that way! I felt bad for being so hard on him (I took his favorite monkey). He slept for 2 1/2 hours in the car...that's how tired he was.
For New Years Eve, we stayed at the Hellewell's cabin in Midway! Well it's actually a house, but for some reason we always call it a cabin. Anyway, we fed the kids early and tried to get them down early. Of course, our kids were wired for some reason. Maybe they sensed how badly we wanted them to go to bed. Sophia even got out of the pack and play for the first time! Ugh! Anyway, once they went down, we played games, ate take out and watched TV! For some reason, the new year isn't as exciting as it was when I was younger. I like the whole, "making new resolutions" part (even though I haven't written them down yet), but there just isn't the appeal there once was. Just glad we got to share it with friends!
Well, New Years Day was one big road trip for us! For some reason I thought the trip to Cali, from Utah, was 7 hours! Maybe it's because I would drive over 100 miles an hour when I was in college! Anyway, the trip ended up being 11 hours!!! Of course, we had more stops than we have ever had before, which also included a stop at McDonalds where boys (not mine!) were swearing up in the play area, and in the rush to get out of there, we left the ONLY pair of shoes we brought for Sophia! The funny thing is that the trip was not miserable. Sophia was well behaved, and so were the other kids. We took one of my favorite roads to my brother's house, which is miles and miles of "dips"! I call it roller coaster highway! The kids had fun with that! We arrived at my brothers at 8:00 and we went to bed around 11:00. All his kids were there when we got there, and we had fun hanging out and catching up! I'm glad we had a chance to see them!
We left Danny's house at 10:00am, and after making a stop to get Sophia new shoes, headed out to Disneyland. It took us under an hour to get there. For those of you not familiar with California, when the Navigation system says it will take an hour , in California it will take 2! We were thrilled that there was no traffic, and could get to Disneyland before Noon! As we were walking onto the premises we were shocked at how crowded it was! The lines just to buy tickets looked to be at least 2 hours long! We were so glad that we had passes already, but nervous about what the parks would look like inside! At first it was a little frustrating, because we were used to no lines, no crowds, etc....last time! Also, it was FREEZING, and we only had light jackets on! I was dying for some gloves! We left Disney and headed over to California Adventure to meet the Hendricksons, and that park was much better! We had a great time over there with them, and the night ended up being very enjoyable! Sophia cooperated most of the time, even though she would cover her eyes, or close them on the dark rides! She loved the Carousel, which we road 5 times while we were waiting for the others to ride Screamin California! After the Hendricksons went home, we headed to Disney for a few more rides and the firework show!
As we headed into the park, we changed our minds for a second and started to walk back out! We realized Ethan wasn't with us! I ran and retraced out steps, which wasn't far, while Ben stayed back with the kids! After a few minutes, I started to panic! I said a quick prayer and about 30 seconds later I saw him with some guy, who had taken him to a food stand worker, and I could hear him crying and saying he couldn't find his Mommy! I ran over there and swooped him up and started crying and hugging him! A small group of people on the corner saw me and him and started cheering! I seriously have never panicked like this, not knowing where one of my kids were, EVER! It was only about 5 minutes....but it was the longest 5 minutes of my life!!! He has always been my wanderer, but after that, he got much better at sticking closer!
So back to our night! We stuck around for the firework/snow show! The kids enjoyed it, including Sophia! She had fallen asleep in her stroller (AMAZING) and the fireworks woke her up! She didn't cry, but was excited and had her eyes glued to them the whole time! She was also loving the snow! We ended up getting back to the Hotel around 9:30 and ordered pizza (since the only thing at the park that didn't have a 30 minute line was churros). Boston fell asleep before it arrived, and so we ended up having a whole pizza left over!
The next morning Sophia woke up at 7:00 and I was not ready to get up! So I brought her in bed with me thinking I could get another 5 minutes or so. She ended up falling asleep in our bed (something she has never done) until I woke her up at 9:00! Ahhhh...the extra sleep was nice, even though my arm was asleep (she fell asleep on it) and I had no room in the bed! I'm not being ungrateful though! I'll take sleep anyway I can get it!
Saturday was much better! It was a lot less crowded and we were able to get all the good rides in! Ben took Sophia back to the hotel for a good 3 hours, while I took the other three kids on all the rides! I then met up with the Hendricksons (minus Jon) and we went and did a lot of the big rides together! I got switch rider passes on all of them, so when Ben got back he got to go on all of them and take a kid with him! By the end of the night the lines were thinning out even more and we basically walked on Thunder Mountain and Pirates! We were there late enough for the fireworks, and the spot we ended up that night was much better! Over by the Fantasmic show if anyone is wondering! Sophia fell asleep, AGAIN, in the stroller and slept all the way to the hotel, and half way through getting her PJ's on! She then woke up and was completely wired! We went to bed at 11:00 and woke up at 8:00 the next morning!
Sunday the drive seemed so much faster! I guess 5 hours is half the time of our other drives! I slept a little and listened to my ipod half of the time! We only made one stop at Quartzite, and the kids were all good! So overall the trip was a success! (Minus Ethan's tantrums and him going missing!) Sophia did three things I didn't think she would do...slept in the car with no problems and didn't cry, fell asleep in the stroller, and fell asleep in our bed! I think our baby is growing up! Is it normal to be feeling a little sad about that now?!
For New Years Eve, we stayed at the Hellewell's cabin in Midway! Well it's actually a house, but for some reason we always call it a cabin. Anyway, we fed the kids early and tried to get them down early. Of course, our kids were wired for some reason. Maybe they sensed how badly we wanted them to go to bed. Sophia even got out of the pack and play for the first time! Ugh! Anyway, once they went down, we played games, ate take out and watched TV! For some reason, the new year isn't as exciting as it was when I was younger. I like the whole, "making new resolutions" part (even though I haven't written them down yet), but there just isn't the appeal there once was. Just glad we got to share it with friends!
Well, New Years Day was one big road trip for us! For some reason I thought the trip to Cali, from Utah, was 7 hours! Maybe it's because I would drive over 100 miles an hour when I was in college! Anyway, the trip ended up being 11 hours!!! Of course, we had more stops than we have ever had before, which also included a stop at McDonalds where boys (not mine!) were swearing up in the play area, and in the rush to get out of there, we left the ONLY pair of shoes we brought for Sophia! The funny thing is that the trip was not miserable. Sophia was well behaved, and so were the other kids. We took one of my favorite roads to my brother's house, which is miles and miles of "dips"! I call it roller coaster highway! The kids had fun with that! We arrived at my brothers at 8:00 and we went to bed around 11:00. All his kids were there when we got there, and we had fun hanging out and catching up! I'm glad we had a chance to see them!
We left Danny's house at 10:00am, and after making a stop to get Sophia new shoes, headed out to Disneyland. It took us under an hour to get there. For those of you not familiar with California, when the Navigation system says it will take an hour , in California it will take 2! We were thrilled that there was no traffic, and could get to Disneyland before Noon! As we were walking onto the premises we were shocked at how crowded it was! The lines just to buy tickets looked to be at least 2 hours long! We were so glad that we had passes already, but nervous about what the parks would look like inside! At first it was a little frustrating, because we were used to no lines, no crowds, etc....last time! Also, it was FREEZING, and we only had light jackets on! I was dying for some gloves! We left Disney and headed over to California Adventure to meet the Hendricksons, and that park was much better! We had a great time over there with them, and the night ended up being very enjoyable! Sophia cooperated most of the time, even though she would cover her eyes, or close them on the dark rides! She loved the Carousel, which we road 5 times while we were waiting for the others to ride Screamin California! After the Hendricksons went home, we headed to Disney for a few more rides and the firework show!
As we headed into the park, we changed our minds for a second and started to walk back out! We realized Ethan wasn't with us! I ran and retraced out steps, which wasn't far, while Ben stayed back with the kids! After a few minutes, I started to panic! I said a quick prayer and about 30 seconds later I saw him with some guy, who had taken him to a food stand worker, and I could hear him crying and saying he couldn't find his Mommy! I ran over there and swooped him up and started crying and hugging him! A small group of people on the corner saw me and him and started cheering! I seriously have never panicked like this, not knowing where one of my kids were, EVER! It was only about 5 minutes....but it was the longest 5 minutes of my life!!! He has always been my wanderer, but after that, he got much better at sticking closer!
So back to our night! We stuck around for the firework/snow show! The kids enjoyed it, including Sophia! She had fallen asleep in her stroller (AMAZING) and the fireworks woke her up! She didn't cry, but was excited and had her eyes glued to them the whole time! She was also loving the snow! We ended up getting back to the Hotel around 9:30 and ordered pizza (since the only thing at the park that didn't have a 30 minute line was churros). Boston fell asleep before it arrived, and so we ended up having a whole pizza left over!
The next morning Sophia woke up at 7:00 and I was not ready to get up! So I brought her in bed with me thinking I could get another 5 minutes or so. She ended up falling asleep in our bed (something she has never done) until I woke her up at 9:00! Ahhhh...the extra sleep was nice, even though my arm was asleep (she fell asleep on it) and I had no room in the bed! I'm not being ungrateful though! I'll take sleep anyway I can get it!
Saturday was much better! It was a lot less crowded and we were able to get all the good rides in! Ben took Sophia back to the hotel for a good 3 hours, while I took the other three kids on all the rides! I then met up with the Hendricksons (minus Jon) and we went and did a lot of the big rides together! I got switch rider passes on all of them, so when Ben got back he got to go on all of them and take a kid with him! By the end of the night the lines were thinning out even more and we basically walked on Thunder Mountain and Pirates! We were there late enough for the fireworks, and the spot we ended up that night was much better! Over by the Fantasmic show if anyone is wondering! Sophia fell asleep, AGAIN, in the stroller and slept all the way to the hotel, and half way through getting her PJ's on! She then woke up and was completely wired! We went to bed at 11:00 and woke up at 8:00 the next morning!
Sunday the drive seemed so much faster! I guess 5 hours is half the time of our other drives! I slept a little and listened to my ipod half of the time! We only made one stop at Quartzite, and the kids were all good! So overall the trip was a success! (Minus Ethan's tantrums and him going missing!) Sophia did three things I didn't think she would do...slept in the car with no problems and didn't cry, fell asleep in the stroller, and fell asleep in our bed! I think our baby is growing up! Is it normal to be feeling a little sad about that now?!
