Day 6: California Adventure

We woke up a little late this morning which worked out okay since we were heading to Cali Adventure for the day and it opens a little later. Wednesday was definitely the least crowded day of all and it was nice to have short lines.We spent the day checking out the stuff there and hitting some of the shows and rides. There's a new Toy Story ride there that is so much fun! We all loved it! After we had seen the majority of it we headed back to Disneyland for the street party and to get some Minnie ears for Alexis, however they don't even sell Minnie ears anymore! I was so upset! We opted for Princess ones instead and she looked pretty darn cute anyway. We stayed again until closing at 10 and this time our boys were so stinkin' exhausted that they were falling over while walking to the tram and the second we got on they were out. That's a sign of a full, fun filled day!

Day 7: LA Zoo

We've been lucky enough to have a Members pass to the local Hogle Zoo the last year. We're even luckier that this makes it possible for us to get half admission to some zoos around the country. We decided to take advantage of this and go to the LA Zoo where there were bound to be cooler animals than our zoo. It did not disappoint! It was so cool to see flamingos, seals, sea lions, koalas, komodo dragons, giant tapirs, okapis, and the rare (to Hogle Zoo at least) chimpanzees, hippo, and lions! The gorilla and orangutan enclosures were so awesome that we spent way too much time at both. We've been to San Diego Zoo a few times and I didn't think it could be beat but I think I may have a new favorite. The LA Zoo was awesome! It had super cool animals and wasn't so enormous that you actually could see the majority in a few hours. It was a great day to go because the weather was a little cooler and we were glad we switched days with when we had planned to go to the beach. The only downside to this zoo is that is located in LA and what the heck? The traffic is awful there!! Now I understand why people complain about it! It took us an hour and a half both ways and it was only 35 miles from our condo. We had a great day so I guess that makes up for it.
After we finally got home we were able to get some swimming in at the condo. This was Alexis's first time swimming and I think she was less than impressed but we all had fun!

Day 8: Last Day of Disneyland

We had spent two days at Disneyland and had yet to see a princess. Skylar's beginning to grow up but she still is an avid fan of Jasmine and was begging us for a chance to meet her. So, the dedicated mom I am, the first thing we did was stood in line for an hour and a half at the new Princess Fantasy Faire Meet 'n Greet so we could meet a princess. We totally lucked out and got to see Skylar's three favorites-Jasmine, Belle, and Ariel so it was all worth it. Kade came with us while Nick and Ben went on rides. While we were in line we even saw my cousin, Jeff, from Oregon so that was cool. We were also able to meet my friend from high school, Leslie, there and spend the rest of the day with her and her kids-her husband, Wade, couldn't make it. Leslie's daughter, Anna, is the same age as Skylar and her daughter, Lucy, is a week older than Kade. Lucy and Nick hit it off though and were buddies all day and Skylar and Anna always have a blast together!
We spent the day hitting the Aladdin Musical Spectacular (awesome!) , the remainder of the things we hadn't gone on, and revisiting our favorites. Leslie and her family left about 7. We had so much fun with them! Our kids were total troopers and stayed strong until midnight (Nick and Kade took little naps in the stroller about 9). Kade was so stoked that we could hit his favorite ride, Nemo, right before we left. Usually the line for this is about 45 minutes long, but if you hit it right before midnight, you can walk right on! We then spent the next hour looking at souveniers and finally got to our car by 1:20 am. Now, that's the way to do Disneyland!!

Day 9: Downtown Disney and the Inevitable Drive Home

After such a late night we scrambled to get packed up and out of our condo on time. We finally got all loaded up and then decided we should go check out Downtown Disney for a little while since we'd never been there. A little while turned into about 4 hours! They have a Lego store there and the kids were so excited to get to browse more. Then we went to the Disney store and realized that all of our souvenir shopping done at midnight could have easily been done then. Next time we'll know better! We finally decided it was time to head to reality, as much as we didn't want to leave. We got into the car and within minutes Alexis was screaming like a crazy woman. We pulled off the next exit to see what was wrong. After some soothing and a bottle for some extra comfort we were able to be on our way again. Not two exits later, Nickolas announced that he had thrown up. I think he had just eaten his lunch too fast. I just had to laugh at that point. I was pretty sure we were destined to stay in California. After the clean up we finally got on the road. Needless to say we didn't make it to our destination of St. George until 2 am.

Day 10: St. George and Home Again

Since we decided not to take them up on their offer to stay at their house with our 2 am arrival, we went over to our friends, Lisa and Brinton's house in the morning. It was so great to visit with them. We always have a good time. Lisa made us a delicious lunch and the kids played to their hearts content. I didn't actually take any pictures because the camera was packed away and Lisa was snapping some. We had so much fun that we totally made the Frisbys late for church. We decided to get out of their hair and on our way. When we got home we were saddened to see snow all over the mountains and dark gloomy clouds. Remind me again of why we live here? I guess it's so that we can have awesome vacations to California!

8 Item Tag

Okay, so we just got back from Cali and I have so much to share about that but there's a pile of laundry I'm working on and I just don't have time. I'll do this since supposedly I'm pretty late at getting around to it. Here you go Stacy!

8 Item Tag...I'm joining the TagEd - You're it now! Here are the rules: 1) Post rules on your blog 2) Answer the six '8' items 3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment.

8 favorite TV shows:
1. Scrubs
2. 30 Rock
3. The Office
4. CSI: Las Vegas
5. Chuck
6. CSI:NY
7. LOST
8. Better off Ted-new, but I am digging it!

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Arrived in St. George at 2 am and was lucky that our kids slept until 9 am so Ben and I could get 7 hours of sleep!
2. Went over to my friend Lisa's house for a visit and some yummy lunch. We then had too much fun hanging and chatting that we made them totally late for church! I'm a bad influence!
3. Drove a lot.
4. Stopped in Scipio for a bathroom break and some squeaky cheese (cheese curd). This is not as good or as squeaky as I remember but my kids loved it!
5. Drove some more.
6. Arrived in gloomy, chilly Orem and cursed the fact that I live here.
7. Unpacked the kids and the car, and began on the mountain of laundry we have after a 10 day vacation.
8. Exhausted, I collapsed on the couch to watch Scrubs with my sweet hubby. We love that show!

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. The unpacking to be done. This is the worst thing about traveling!
2. Warm weather, maybe, someday? Come on, Mother Nature, it is almost May!!!
3. Going to Lagoon on Saturday for Skylar's dance competition. Lagoon will definitely pale in comparison to Disneyland but I get to spend the whole day alone with Skylar. I can't believe I live the life of a dancer's mom!
4. Once the warm weather hits, some major summer camping! Ben is no longer in Scouts so I'm bringing the camping back!
5. Oh, those summer nights!
6. The kid's bathroom is getting closer to being done!
7. Kade's 5th birthday is only 23 months away and that means more Disneyland!!
8. I just came up with a brilliant idea! Since none of our friends want to go on a cruise to Alaska, I'm trying to convince Ben that him and I should go for our 15th anniversary in 3 years. I'm going to have to do some major sweet talking though so I'm starting right now.

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. Anthony's Fishette in San Diego-yes, I got me some this trip!
2. Boudin Bakery in San Francisco-thanks to California Adventure I also got some of this! Yum!!
3. Red Lobster-I'll take what I can get in this land locked state
4. Costa Vida-the Ranch dressing there is soooo delicious!
5. California Pizza Kitchen-Carne Asada-yum!
6. Sizzler-a little ghetto, but the Texas Toast can't be beat.
7. Yamato-Domo origato!
8. Bombay House
Um, now I'm hungry!

8 Things on my wish list:
1. More time for myself. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting that anytime soon.
2. To be vibrant and excited about life even as I get older-my Grandpa lived to be 102 and enjoyed every minute of it!
3. That my kids will be happy, good people that are close to the gospel, me, and to each other.
4. That Ben and I will still be so in love when we're 75 that we hold hands like lovesick teenagers like the couple we saw at Disneyland.
5. That someday I will live close enough to the ocean that I can visit it at least weekly.
6. I don't want a lot of money-just enough to have what we need and enough that I don't owe anybody anything.
7. Okay, I would like some money so that I could buy a motor home and travel the country. After that I'd travel the world-but not in the motor home.
8. Um, I'm blanking. Unwritten Law, and possibly U2 and Jack Johnson are coming in concert. I'd so love to go.


People I tag:
Oh man, I don't know who to tag. I'm tagging everyone!!!

April Showers, now you've gone too far!

So today we woke up to this:

Come on, it's April and Spring Break for my kids! The tennis court next door that we so enjoyed the other night looks like a tomb and I feel like we're in the movie Dr. Zhivago, which always kind of freaked me out. Although we do have a beautiful view of Mt. Timp, I am not pleased. Then I went outside and that's when I got a bit angry.









Our giant Chinese Elm had about 5 giant 8 foot branches that had been broken off and our poor Weeping Birch that we love is completely broken in half. I just about cried on the spot. So now we're going to California and we just might not come back.