July 2011 California Beach/Surprise Disney Trip!!!

Well since plans to Canada and China didn't pan out this summer, we decided to take the money we were going to use for that and buy Disneyland passes. That decision was made when I realized that Sophia was tall enough to ride most of the fun rides. We didn't tell the kids about Disneyland, and just told them we were spending time with the Hellewells and at the beach. They were complaining a bit about that, because they were having some feuds with their kids over the holiday, but when we arrived, you would have never known! The kids were like best friends, as they disappeared all having fun playing their various activities. The boys bunked with their boys and had fun doing boy things, and Sophia had fun playing with the younger two. Aubrie was the odd girl out, and just did her own thing. We had a nice surprise when we arrived, as we both saw Kristen's stomach was a little bigger than normal. She is having another girl, and we are super excited for them! I immediately had her gift made for her for the next trip we took out there a few weeks later.

Sophia making herself at home!

Kristen and I went to Costco to get food for the next day, and while there I found Aubrie's bedroom set, that we got her when we got back. So going to California served us many purposes! When we got back from shopping we met up with the Hendricksons at our Yummy Mexican food place for dinner, and then came back to play cards !

It was GREAT going out like old times. They are amazing friends who we can easily pick up where we left off, no matter how much time its been. It was like the college days all over again. We finally cut the night off around midnight, because we had a big day ahead of us which started off with a crepe breakfast with everyone. Mark and I had some chatter on facebook about the crepes he taught me to make, and how the Hendrickson's have never had them. It was a joke of course, but we decided a crepe breakfast was in order. It was super yummy, and the kids had a great time eating and playing. As soon as breakfast was over, we cleaned up and packed up for the beach.

I LOVE the beach we go to there. It's Mark's parents private access beach. So it's not overly crowded and I feel really safe there. The kids run around and explore and I don't feel overly stressed, especially since there are a few lifeguards in such a small space. At first the kids complained about the sand, but by the end of the day they were covered and didn't care. The adults just sat around and talked. It was so much fun, and so RELAXING!!! After the beach, we hurried home to get cleaned up and go out to dinner. We went to some cool place down by the beach. The music was really loud, and it was hard to hear, but the environment was fun and the food was good. After dinner, we went home and went to bed, to prepare for our day at Disneyland!!

The kids thought we were going to Danny's. On the way, one of the kids complained they had to go to the bathroom, right around the Disney exit. It was perfect! Ben got off, pretending to find a bathroom, and the kids were like, "There is Disneyland!" We were like, "Yeah, how cool is that! Can't wait till Sophia is tall enough so we can go!" Ben pulled up the Marriot we usually stay at and said, "I know the bathrooms here are clean." The glitch was that during the day they now have a parking attendant you have to check in with before you pull in the lot. We knew the secret would be revealed right then. She asked if we were guests and when Ben said, "Yes, we are checking in today!" the kids were screaming and jumping in their seats with excitement. I wish I was ready with my phone to record it. It was the best surprise, next to the time we went with the Lorenzana's and they showed up at our door on a school day and we said, "Hey! Lets go to Disneyland!" I think this one was even better because we haven't been in so long!

We parked the car, and quickly went to the park. We got fast passes for the new Star Taurs and then got in line for it. When we got to the front it broke down, so they gave us a fast pass for later. So our first ride we did was Space Mountain. I can't even explain the amazing rush I had as we took off, knowing that my whole family was on the ride with me. It was a feeling of excitement, and completeness. All these years of parent passes and trading off kids to ride rides, and here I was with all my kids on my favorite Disney ride. I almost had a tear in my eye, and I'm sure it was part happiness and part sadness knowing my babies are all grown up!

Sophia wasn't too fond of the ride, but surprisingly rode it again later in the day. That shocked me because she cried the first time. You can see here that she wasn't too thrilled!

Our next stop was the Jedi training. We were hoping they would pick Sophia and Ethan, and they ended up picking Aubrie. She was a good sport and went along with it, after trying to get Ethan to switch spots with her.

He was afraid he would get in trouble! LOL

After the Jedi training we rode the new Star Taurs twice in row. There are over 50 different ride experiences, and our goal was to experience each segment before our trip was over. It was SO much fun! The kids LOVED it, and it fun to see if they will pick one of us to be the spies and put our picture on the screen, and also to see what combination you will get. By the end of our trip we hadn't seen all the segments, so it definitely made coming back a few weeks later that more exciting. I swore I would never do Disney in the summer again, but this particular weekend wasn't too bad because of some massive freeway construction that shut roads down for that weekend. It was less busy then when I took Aubrie in February. We got all the rides in at Disney, and then some on the first day. Sophia got to see the princesses, and we were able to get her on the Nemo ride in 15 minutes! We even had time to see the Firework show, front in center. Something we haven't done in a long time. We had to wait for about 30 minutes, and this is what the kids did to bide their time!

The fire work show was amazing, and we were so tired! We pushed till closing that night. We were in line at Midnight for ice cream, and by the time we got it all the kids were all asleep at the table they were saving for us. We definitely feel we got our money's worth that day! The following day we went to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours to get in Star Taurs and Splash Mountain a few more times. It was so empty when we first go there, we were able to ride Splash twice in a row.

We all love that ride, especially Sophia. Ben then took Sophia to see the princesses, while we did something else, that I can't remember now! Ha!

Then we met up with Lou Ann and her kids at California Adventure. It started to get crowded and hot, and so we hit the Grizzly Rapids. Ben hung back with Sophia.

(Aubrie in pink and Jamie and Kori to the left)

Our last stop of the day, before we headed home, was Tower of Terror. Sophia was clueless what the ride entailed because you can't see what it does until you are actually on it. Everyone just kept saying the ride was fun. When it was over Sophia said in a very displeased voice, "THAT RIDE WAS NOT FUN!" Can you tell? I'm not sure making that her last ride was the best choice. You'll find out why soon! After the ride, we said our goodbye's and headed home! What a GREAT vacation! It wasn't China, and it wasn't Canada, but it was a great time with good friends, and the family at Disney!

Back to School 2011

Summer ended much to quickly this year! I actually started to have a little anxiety the end of July, because it ended so fast! It's no secret I am a lover of summer, and a hater of the school year. Funny since I LOVED school when I was a kid! The boys are in 2nd and 4th grade. We are happy with their teachers. They are PERFECT for their personalities. Ethan's teacher is warm and kind, and Boston's teacher is a sports fan who gets Boston's personality.

Aubrie started a new school, called Basis. She has 9 different classes..Latin, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Drama (was Art for the first 9 week), History, English, Pre-Algebra and PE. She has a locker, and we got a lot of fun locker stuff to decorate it with. Basis was VERY rocky start. There were a handful of nights I decided to throw in the towel, but came to my senses by morning! Now we are liking it and I'm loving the education she is getting. Her Art teacher was raunchy, but we got her out of there by putting a lot of pressure on administration. She belittled her all the time, and threatened her in the end. That was the breaking point we needed to get her switched. Basis is a totally different experience for her now that she doesn't have to go in there every day. The curriculum is very hard. The stuff she does in English I didn't even do in college, but I'm starting to appreciate the benefits. I feel like I'm getting educated for free! ha! I'm very impressed by Aubrie and her determination to make it through. She did very well with her grades for the first grading period. Especially considering she spends 9 hours at the gym for gymnastics every week, and a week at soccer practice, and a half an hour for piano lessons. She is a hard worker, and she hardly complains! I think Ben complained about her school work more than she has! (me too)

Aubrie had fun picking out stuff to decroate her locker. It turned out really cute. I wish my lockers were this cute!

Sophia started her second and final year of preschool. She is with Sarah, again. She was very disappointed because she thought she was going to Kindergarten. I don't know where she got that idea. I had to force her to go the first couple of times. I actually tricked her the second day. She was not happy with that. I told her I needed to drop something off with Sarah. She has been fine since. She likes being their with the neighbor twins, Broc and Reese. I miss her when she is gone, but it allows me to get a few things done I couldn't do with her. That only includes a handful of things, because she is easy to take most places, and I just love being with her. She is my mobile sunshine. I don't want her to go to Kindergarten!!! Can't believe we are 9 weeks into the school year! CRAZY!!! (and so bad its taken me this long to blog!)

Meet Rango

Well we lost another lizard, and so Ben came home with this guy! Actually, we don't know if its really a guy but I call "it" one anyway. Ben bought this Bearded Dragon on a whim while he was at Petsmart getting crickets for our last living lizard. (Which recently died after Sophia picked him up by his tail TWICE!) When Ben handed me the brochure he picked up when he got Rango, it said he would grow up to two feet long! We threw him in the aquarium with the other lizard and just fed him crickets and mealworms. When I was getting my nails done today, my friend (who does my nails) was telling me about their Bearded Dragon and all that is required to take care of him . Aubrie was with me, and so after getting our nails done, we ran to Petsmart for our lacking supplies. Now he lives in a cage with carpet instead of rocks and his food dish is full of fruits and vegtables. We also gave him his requried bath and held him for a bit. So much for getting a low maintence pet! Now we will have to get a "pet sitter" when we go out of town. I have to admit, he is pretty cute, and fun to play with! But I suggest reading a pamphlet about pet care before you actually buy one!

Done with Dive

This Dive season has been a fun one. I actually have enjoyed having practice every day, instead of twice a week. It was great for getting us up and going for the day, and the boys could work on their skills daily and socialize with their friends there. I also had Sophia do swim lessons while they practiced. She was doing so well, they had to change her age in the system so they could bump her up to level 2! Thanks to an amazing swim teacher years prior! The boys had seven meets and were able to attend five of them. The last three Boston received second. He kept closing the gap more and more each time between him and his friend from gymnastics. Ethan was getting first every time. He was way above the kids in his division, but not competitive enough to compete in Bostons. He was mad that he was with the "little kids", and wanted to move up. I was proud that he would rather be challenged then get an easy first place. However, the coach wanted him where he was, so thats where he stayed.

Last night was the Dive Championship. Talk about a LONG night. It started at 5:45 with warm ups and ended about 9:15. Luckily it was a NICE night. It was 100 with a nice breeze and we were in the shade the whole time! MUCH better than last years championship.

This year they did all the age groups together, so it was fun watching the older advanced kids dive. Aubrie was dying to get on the board, and told me she wanted to dive next year. That would mean and hour and a half of practice (combined) Monday through Thursday, and 3 hours worth of dive meets! Hmmmm.

Ethan ended up getting second. He botched his back flip, and some kid we haven't seen before showed up and beat him. Boston got second, also. There was only a tenth of a point between him and his friend. He knew that, and was excited but also a little bummed that he didn't do a harder dive to take first. He was almost hitting his head on the board at his practice the day before, and so his coach had him do a reverse instead of an inward. Regardless, his dives were AWESOME! So was Ethan's front flip. Hearing the "Wows" in the audience was enough for them!:) And seeing them improve was awesome. It was a great dive season for me, because there were NO accidents! Every year I ask myself, "Why do I let them do this sport, again?" Oh, because they love it!

Boston's 1& 1/2

Ethan's back tuck

Ethan's 3 step to a front tuck

Boston's straight back flip

3rd Annual Fourth in Utah

Ethan's robot class got out at 3:30 on Friday. I hadn't realized that was butting up to Fourth of July weekend. We planned on taking our annual trip with Matt and Nicole this year, and when I realized we couldn't leave till Saturday morning, we weren't sure if it was worth the trip. At the last minute we decided to go up right after his class, and stay the night in Beaver. Aubrie's best friend ended up having her birthday party that Friday, also, so as soon as the party was over, we grabbed her and Ethan and headed out of town. The ride up was a little congested, and then we realized we would be losing an hour. That put us in Beaver at midnight. We all crashed when we got to the hotel, and were up at 8:00 to get ready and eat before we headed to Provo.

Day 1

We got to Provo around 11:30. We went to the Provo temple grounds and laid on the grass for a bit, before we met Matt and Nicole at the BYU bookstore. The boys bought Jimmer Jersey's and we spent a large portion of the time in the toy section. We got Subway in the Cougareat, and then we walked down to Heleman Halls. We checked out the new Cannon center, and walked around the Cafeteria. Wow!! That place has had a complete makeover, and the food looked a lot better. One thing I didn't like about it, was that they didn't have the long cafeteria style tables. Those were the the best. You could get your whole Ward at one of those. Those were some of my best memories. Our Ward kind of had our own table, and we would spend a huge portion of time eating and talking, and having a good time! Ethan and Boston were in heaven though, thinking of how they could eat whatever they wanted when they came there.

After we toured the Cannon center, we walked over to our dorms. Mine were locked up, and so we just peeked in the window. The common area now has a pool table and Foosball tables. That would have been nice to have when we were there. Of course, there wouldn't had been room for all our many rounds of Ultimate Spoons! On our way out of Heleman Halls, we walked by two girls entering Hinkley Hall (the hall that housed the guys in my Freshman Ward). Ben asked if Aubrie could go with them to check out the dorms. Aubrie wanted me to go with her. Luck would have it, they were on the same floor as the guys from my Freshman ward, and luck would have it further that their room was the room of my Freshman boyfriend! LOL I couldn't believe it. What were the chances? The rooms had been redone, and now have sinks and a vanity in them. Aubrie thought the dorm was so cool. She said it wasn't what she expected dorms would be like. She thought it would be like one big open room with bunk beds. She got super excited and I think is now a little pumped about going to BYU! After our tour, we walked back up to campus and went through the library, before we left. I always love walking the campus!

After BYU, we went to the hotel and checked in. We stayed in the newer one right by the Courtyard. The rooms are nicer and there is free breakfast, however, the pool is awful. Ben called the front desk and asked if we could go to the Courtyard to swim. They said it wouldn't be a problem. They all know us, since we are there so often. So now we have the best of both worlds; Nicer room and the nicer pool! A few minutes after checking in, we got a call from Matt that their car was having problems. Ben found Matt a rental car, and he took him to get it. Their transmission had gone out, and so they would have to wait through the weekend before they could have it worked on. So I stayed in the room and chilled with the kids while Ben helped out. They played video games and watched TV while I dove into my book, I had been reading on the car ride up!

After chilling in the room for a bit, we grabbed dinner at Wingers. The Stadium of Fire was that night, so it was a perfect night to go, since it's away from the Stadium! After dinner, Matt and Nicole met us at the hotel and then we went out on the lawn and grabbed a spot for the Fireworks. The kids had fun playing their DS's and Ipods, and throwing a ball around. Then a family showed up with glow sticks and gave some to our kids. The kids had fun combining their sticks to make hula hoops, jump ropes, etc. The firework show was great as always, but just as the finale started the sprinklers came on. It was quite the site watching several families frantically collecting their blankets, etc . After the fireworks, it was close to 10:30. We went back to the hotel, and everyone went to bed, while I tried to finish my book.

Day 2

The next morning we slept in and then packed up and headed up to Matt and Nicole's hotel, and then we carpooled up to Lagoon. The kids have never been and we thought it would be fun for them to do with their cousins. The ride part of the park wasn't too packed. The kids had a blast riding the roller coasters together. They even got to ride Wicked a few times. One thing I like about Lagoon is that a lot of the roller coasters have a lower height limit. You only have to be 46 inches to ride Wicked. We took turns watching Sophia and Lacey, so we could all ride the rides. Around 1:00, it was getting really hot so we went to the water park. It was PACKED!!!! It was nice to cool off, but it was so annoyingly busy! We were done after about an hour and a half! The kids had done all they could without rented tubes, and I was ready to get back in the shade that the main park provided. As we were walking out of the park, they announced that the water park was at full capacity. No wonder we were annoyed with it! We spent a couple more hours in the main park, and the kids got one more Wicked ride in. We left around 5:30.

It was such a great time for the cousins!

Day 3

Monday was the Fourth. We planned on meeting up with the family for the parade, but we slept in. We still got up and ready, and raced over there for the last hour of it. The kids had fun seeing the family, and I had fun catching up with Julie. I'm not the biggest fan of the Provo parade, only because it's always HOT, and it just isn't that exciting to me. So it was nice to sit by Julie and get to talk and catch up.

The kids had fun hanging with their cousins. Boston loved when anything BYU related came by, and Ethan was entranced with anything Military.

After the Parade we headed back to our car, and since we were late to the parade our parking spot was by Pioneer park. When we passed the park, we stopped and let the kids play while we waited for traffic to lighten up. I mentioned to Ben how funny it was that we lived one block from that park when we were first married, but had never been there. Now, 15 years later we finally went and 4 kids later. The kids had fun playing. The older ones loved climbing on top of the slide and Sophia loved the fireman pole!

Around 12;30 we headed over to Dave and Marilyn's for the family BBQ. The kids had fun swimming with their cousins. We then headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit before fireworks. We met Matt and Nicole at Cafe Rio for some dinner, and then we headed up to Pleasant Grove to Jim and Eliece's for our own fireworks. Ben picked up two huge boxes before we went up there. All the cousins had a blast lighting off fireworks. (no pun intended) It even was raining at one point, but that didn't stop them one bit. As I sat there on the lawn talking and watching the kids have fun lighting fireworks, I saw my life come full circle, as I flashed back to me and my cousins lighting off fireworks, as the adults sat in their chairs on the lawn and talked. I remembered how much those memories meant to me, and realizing how much they will mean to my kids, brought me so much joy at that moment. The cousins were laughing and joking around, and Ethan was so excited to be able to light off fireworks on his own, he didn't even stop to watch them go off before he raced off to get another one. At the very end, Boston lit a firework that had a short fuse, and burnt his finger a bit. Once I got him fixed up and we were walking to the fireworks, he said, "This is the worst day!" I asked him if he didn't have fun lighting fireworks and playing with his cousins. He said, "No this has been awesome"! We watched the Pleasant Grove fireworks from a grassy field nearby. It was another great show, and once again we got the nice surprise of sprinklers! After fireworks, we headed back to our hotel. We didn't get in until 11:30.

Day 4

The next morning we were all ready to head back to Arizona, when Ben surprised us with an extra day. Everyone was excited. We started our morning with Bridal Veil Falls. The hike is always fun. There are a few "scary" parts that the kids always get excited about. After the hike, they played at the bottom pool for about a half an hour, while Ben and I put our feet in . There was a log that the kids walked to get from the bridge to some rocks at the bottom of the falls, and Sophia had fun going over that. She did it over and over. It was natures balance beam for her!

After Bridal Veil we met Matt and Nicole at the BYU bowling alley. While we were waiting for our lanes, we spent our time playing air hockey and other games in their arcade. The kids all pulled their tickets together and got a cheap plastic tipped dart board! We all had fun bowling. Sophia got excited every time she knocked down pins. It was nice and relaxing as the kids all helped Sophia and were competent enough to bowl for themselves. Aubrie beat me (no big surprise, since I'm the WORST bowler). She was happy to come in second. After bowling we got some Jamba Juices and sat on the lawn. EFY was in session so their were high schoolers everywhere. As we were sitting on the grass, I noticed I still had a few boxes of Pop-Its in my purse. I pulled a few out and threw them at a group of EFY kids as they walked by. It scared them, and the kids thought that was hilarious. So they spent a good half hour doing that. A student nearby was watching the whole thing, and was laughing his head off. After our Pop-Its adventure, we strolled over to the new FSLC. The building and grounds were beautiful. They have a nice water feature in the middle of the courtyard. The kids were walking along the wall and the next thing we know Ethan and Sophia are playing in it!!!! Ethan said he fell in, and Sophia had nothing to say. I think if I was a kid a nice cool water feature would sound like a nice solution to a hot, sweaty day!

After BYU, we headed up to our friends, the Godowns. He was our pool builder, and we have all been friends ever since. It was nice to visit them and see their house and kids. Their house had all these raspberry bushes, and Aubrie was in heaven. She asked if we could grow them and I just laughed. I kept thinking how nice it would be to live in Utah, until WINTER!!! Every summer we want to move up, and then we visit in December and change our minds! I'm thinking a summer house would be a nice compromise:)

After our visit, we headed back to Provo. Once in Provo we did a progressive dinner of sorts. Not where you go to a different place for each course, but took each person to where they wanted to eat. Boston got a burrito and cinnamon twists from Taco Bell. Then we took Aubrie to Panda for Orange Chicken. Then Ethan got a hamburger Happy Meal at McDonald's. Then we drove Sophia to In & Out for a burger and a strawberry shake. The kids felt extra special when we do that! Ben and I got Cafe Rio take out! We took all our food into the hotel lobby and ate and watched TV!

Wednesday we left Provo around 9:30, after a short stop at BYU to return a football. The drive back was nice an uneventful! I'm grateful for no car troubles, and for another great Fourth of July with my family! One day they will all be grown with their families, and I am grateful for all the wonderful memories I can make with them now. Hopefully they will be happy memorable traditions they will want to incorporate into their own families someday!