A "Glimmer"

Ok....this isn't the best picture, but I still had to post this. To escape the heat, and do something different, I took the kids to the mall. The boys always take their wallets in case they see something they want to buy. Our first stop was at the play area. Boston and Aubrie are too old to play, but if they are watching Sophia, I allow it. Anyway, they just put this merry-go-round right in front of the play area. As we were walking there, Boston saw it and said he wanted Sophia to ride it. I told him it costs money, and that I didn't have it. After we were done in the play center, Boston pulled money out of his wallet and paid for Sophia to have a ride! Sometimes your kids can drive you crazy fighting, and you wonder if you had made an impact or taught them anything, and then they go do something so selfless and kind, giving you a glimmer of hope that you have done something good! I just loved how he was so excited to do this for her. What a sweet boy!

Mom's post on California

Finally the pictures from the California trip!

Day 1- The Beach, of course. It was windy that day, so the kids would vacillate between enjoying themselves and complaining about how cold they were. The older ones finally figured they could warm themselves on the hot sand of the sand dunes, where the wind wasn't blowing. Sophia had fun in the sand, and chasing the waves. Aubrie spent most of her time with cousin, Tyler. She did some boogie boarding, and spent a lot of time on the sand dunes. Boston and Ethan played on the dunes, and got in the water a little bit. For awhile they spent time catching sand crabs. Aubrie found a huge one, and had to show it to everyone. Sophia didn't know what to think of it. After the beach, we stopped at the Harbor for ice cream, and time in the Arcade. The kids each got 5 dollars to play games, and walked out of there with 5 cent toys and candies. Such a great trade off. LOL They had fun though, and that's all that counts.
Ethan's imagination enables him to go anywhere and find "weapons"! LOL

Aubrie's sand crab.





Cotton Candy ice cream anyone? That's always the boy's choice!

Fun time in the arcade for Sophia.
Day 2- Solvang- a small Scandinavian town about an hour and a half from my brothers house. I used to go there all the time as a little girl. The kids weren't too sure about the place, but ended up loving all the fun toy stores and fun souvenir's. It was nice to reminisce!



Day 3- Magic Mountain! - Ben and I decided to take the kids to Magic Mountain. Aubrie and Boston were tall enough for most of the rides, and Ethan just came along, because he would be sad if he got left behind with my Mom and Sophia. Besides, it was BOGO, so he was free anyway. Boston was a little nervous about the rides as we pulled up to the park, but he ended up loving EVERYTHING! We were very fortunate that the park wasn't busy, and we practically walked on to everything. I'm thinking our Disneyland annual passes will soon turn into Magic Mountain passes. That will save us some money!!!
Boston's first time on Goliath! Personally, I was petrified and wouldn't open my eyes for the first part of that ride! Whew, what a drop off!!! He kept them open and LOVED it!!!
Getting soaked from Tidal Wave. It was hot, and was a welcomed soaking!
They have a Gothic City area, with a few roller coasters, etc. I wouldn't like to be the people in those costumes. It was too HOT!!!
What 8 hours at Magic Mountain does to them!

A "Wicked" time!

I LOVE the play, Wicked! The first time I ever heard of it was from my friend Holly. She told me it was the best play she had ever seen, and from then on I was obsessed with seeing it. Ben surprised me 2 Christmas years ago, and took me to the Pantages theatre, in Los Angeles, to see it. I loved it so much, I rallied a girls trip to see it a month later.

I LOVE the music. It is amazing. Because of that, my kids quickly learned the songs as that was the only thing I listened to for weeks. Then the kids started asking if they could see this play that they knew all the songs to, but had no idea what it was about. Luckily, Wicked came to Phoenix! It also, conveniently came a few days before my Mom's birthday. I bought tickets for the whole family, minus Sophia. It was a surprise for everyone, but Ben. I just told my Mom to mark her calendar for July 24, for her birthday surprise. The evening of the play we told the kids to dress nice for Grandma's surprise. They begged and pleaded to know what it was, but I wouldn't give them a clue. I did tell them that they had to all wear green. We then headed out and ended up at AH-SO for dinner. They were so excited, since it's one of their favorites! The thought that was the surprise. Hee, hee!

My Mom and Aubrie at AH-SO!

The Boys!

Things were going a little slow there that night, and they could tell I was anxious we would miss something. So they quickly found out there was something else. As we left the restaurant, we started playing the soundtrack in the background! As we headed down the 17, Boston guessed it was Castles and Coasters. I had to laugh, since we were all dressed up so nice. Then Aubrie thought it was the State Fair. Then as we passed that, they thought we were going to a Suns game. After we passed the Stadiums they were clueless. As we approached the theatre, they started guessing what could be going on in there. Boston saw a marque for Wicked, and he said, "We are going to see Wicked!" We just pretended not to hear him, amongst all the other guesses. When we got to the entrance, I handed everyone their tickets. When they looked down they were all so excited. My Mom was the most excited. She yelled, and I thought she was going to lift off the ground for a second! Apparently she had seen a daytime show that talked about the play, that made her really want to see it. I'm glad she liked her gift! :)

The kids enjoyed the show. The boys asked a lot of questions. Aubrie sang along with the songs. I had to hush her a few times. The people in front were surprised she knew the music so well. The kids loved the play, but crashed hard on the way home! My Mom loved it! I'm gad they got to see it! I'm glad I got to see it!

Ethan, minutes before he fell asleep!