California Trip Day 3- California Adventures

On Thursday we went to California adventures. Steve joined Mike for his simulator training so Lynette and I took the kids to the park. We hurriedly went to "Skies over the world" (if that's the correct name) and then the kids wanted to play in the obstacle course. We went the wrong way in the net section but at least I got good pictures of my mother in law. ;) We rode a couple spinning rides and then looked around Cars Land while we waited for the men. I kind of slacked off on the picture taking, but we had a lot of fun. I like that California Adventures is more like an amusement park. We rocked the fastpass and had fun.

California Trip day 2- Disneyland

On Wednesday I took the kids to Disneyland with Steve and Lynette while Mike worked. This is the first time we'd been back since our trip in 2011. The first time we went the kids wanted to meet every character, but this time it was all about the rides.  We headed to Disneyland around 10 AM. We let the kids be in charge of where we went, since this was all about them. The first ride they wanted to go on was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Just as we were coming to the top of the hill, about to make our first plunge, the ride broke. :)  We did get a couple universal fast passes out of it, which was nice. We didn't figure out how to use fast passes until our second day in the parks, but none of the lines were very long.

Steven talked trash to a couple storm troopers, so the reprimanded him and marched him down the road for a minute. They finally let him go, but he thought it was pretty awesome. I got a great video of it.

Next we visited the princesses. Since Steven had endured too much teasing in regards to his flirting with the princesses when we came six years ago, he wouldn't act very enthused to see any of them. I'll have to hold tight to the memories of his first Disney trip, because it was priceless.

We went on "It's a Small World", which was a first for both Mike and myself.

She's gotten so big

California Trip day 1- Heisler Park

My mother in law Lynette won a trip to Disneyland, so we coordinated it with another one of Mike's trips to the flight simulator. Mike had to work from 8 AM-2 PM Tuesday-Thursday, so the kids and I were on our own during the day. After a leisurely morning we walked to a fast food place, walked home and waited for Mike to get back so we could go to the beach. My friend Sheryl recommended Heisler Park Beach because of it's tide pools, so we went there. It was misting a little, but no one minded because the temperature was nice. The kids found hermit crabs and larger crabs and made their own little eco systems.

After the beach we searched for somewhere to eat. The first burger joint we tried decided to close early so we went to Ruby's  Shake Shack. It was really good and was right next to the beach. It was getting chilly so the kids used towels for blankets. :)

Sarah's New Beginnings

In March Sarah attended New Beginnings, which is a program put on by the older young women in our ward (congregation) to welcome the girls turning twelve and entering Young Womens. Sarah doesn't turn 12 until November, so she had a wonderful night that filled her with anticipation and now she gets to wait. :) It was a wonderful program. They chose "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" for a theme and all of her leaders dressed up at characters from The Wizard of Oz. All of the talks spoke of the path and journey that leads to our eternal destination. There will be trials and temptations, but "There's no place like home".

Our neighbor Tori was in charge of introducing Sarah. She made a cute poster that showcased Sarah's talents and abilities.

The first time I went to New Beginnings was when I served as a second counselor in a presidency before Sarah was born and again when she was really little. It's kind of crazy she's almost 12 since being in Young Womens is kind of a big milestone in my book. (Tear) I love my little princess and know she'll love the program.

Skiing with Mom

It's August, so I don't remember the specifics of the visit, but while my mom came to town we went skiing. My mom is a great skier, so we had a lot of fun. I thought she was tired and wanted to go home, so we left early, but apparently she thought I was tired and wanted to go home so she was giving me an out. Next time we'll stay on the hill ALL DAY LONG! ;)

BYU museums

Did you know BYU has free museums? I didn't. In March we went with my friend Narda to check out the Bean Life Science Museum. It was small, but the kids still thought it was cool. They had a lot of taxidermy animals in predatorial/prey positions, which is always cool for my kids. After the museum we went to the BYU creamery. I can't lie, BYU can do ice cream with the best of 'em. For some reason Steven liked it so much he wanted to feed it to his face. (Don't ask me, I'll never understand) ;)

Grandparents Day/St Patrick's Day

The kids school had their annual Grandparents Day and were grateful Steve and Lynette could arrange their schedules to attend. They took turns putting on little shows and then went had treats and took them outside to play.

This random picture was from the next day so I thought I'd include it. I Spy a tired cat. ;)