California Adventures Continued...

After our two days of Disneyland fun it was time to head home... :( But not before we made one more SURPRISE stop... at the American Girl Place…

A few weeks ago Shane decided that he would love to take the girls to the American Girl Place in Los Angeles for a fancy lunch, and a little shopping/browsing… He did a some research, called and got reservations, rounded up their American Girls and a couple of extra outfits in case he hadn’t picked their favorites, and surprised us all... What a guy!

HaHaHa… got ya… Shane is a good sport about almost everything… but excited about a day at American Girl… Not so much… . Shane went with us… actually drove us there, without complaint, as per my request… sipped his pink lemonade with the rest of the girls… at the most expensive meal our family has ever had together. (Which luckily was very tasty and filling)… And according to us girls was altogether FABULOUS and MEMORABLE and AWESOME! After lunch our cute guy stood around completely out of his element while we looked at the dolls… (And he gawked at the prices.) Two minutes into that he said, “Maybe I’ll go take a nap in the car.” I probably agreed too quickly, but he makes me a little nervous when I can see that… “How much is this going to cost me look”… or the “are you ready yet” in his eyes. I used great will power… the girls’ did go to the “portrait studio” for magazine cover shots...

And I bought them each lotion (that was 1/2 price - my bargain shopping at work.) But I avoided all the cute little outfits, the hair salon and the ear piercing stations (for only $35 we could have had both of those done… per doll!) Wow… when was the last time you spent that much on having your hair “STYLED”? It’s a good thing Shane left before he saw that… he would have fainted right there! Ormore likely said, "give me a nail I'll pierce the dolls ears!"

Tayler, Saige and Kenna and I had a great time though, and enjoyed it fully! Jadyn… she liked that they let her use a “loaner doll” (for lunch) but was more concerned with the doll than eating… and should have gone with Dad to the car… because she was tired and grouchy and in no mood for a mother/daughter bonding experience. This is an example of Jadyn's SILENT tantrums (which they usually are - she just hides her head in something... or stands with her head down looking utterely dejected. (I prefer those over the loud ones though.)

The older girls appreciated my effort though and Tay and Saige thanked me profusely as they had for both of us all week. What good kids!

Here is an example of Shane excitement of the day! And why Kenna doesn't know where we were... I'm confused on that one!

After American Girl I decided we should drive up to Hollywood Blvd and show them the “stars”. I stopped and asked at a little shop where any Disney Channel stars like Hannah Montana’s “star” would be. Apparently nobody like that has one yet… who knew? So a picture of the Hollywood sign was all we stopped for. That is one spooky street! Odd people all around. Even I looked at people along there and thought… “Is that person for real?” And like the Vegas area we had to remind our children NOT to look at all of the billboards… or store fronts… YUK!

So we headed towards Nevada. Shane relearned that he loves driving in LA gridlock… I had to remind him of the talk that Elder Wirthlin gave in the morning session of conference a few weeks back… he talked about how when he went on family trips that if they got lost they would just laugh and laugh…. When we get lost... we don't laugh... even if we aren't bugged... we don't actually LAUGH! Do you? But thinking about how PERFECT of a family it would take to do that... made us laugh! He didn't say anything about laughing about driving 6 miles in an hour but they probably did! What a great example of living life to the fullest - it helped us have a good time even when "sally" (our navigation system) once again led us astray!

We arrived at the California/Nevada Stateline which is where we always seem to stay on our road trips to California. The hotels are cheap, clean (and there is a great outlet mall too!). We normally stay at Buffalo Bills... it was full so I went for the sister casino/hotel "Whiskey Pete's" Shane got quite nervous when I told him that the rate was $29 on weeknights - it turned out just fine, but images of our "first married road trip" and a stay at the "classy" "Rainbow Vegas Hotel" conjured up bad, bad, bad memories. We were on a tight budget... pretty sure I didn't look for any reviews on the internet for this $22/night hotel... but I am fairly certain we could have got that hotel at "an hourly rate"... I would NOT recommend it! Any hotel that doesn't distinguish between smoking/non just "fumigates" all of the rooms with a nasty odor that comes out of the vents every 15 min. is OFF my list of places to stay! We bolted the doors the best we could - (the pry marks on the door didn't make us sleep very easy.) And we touched as little as possible! And woke up EARLY to get out of there... ICKY! So Whiskey Pete’s was like a palace compared to that!

Our final morning started off bad, Kenna was freaking out for some odd reason… which then escalated to a full blown Kenna tantrum. (These happen quite infrequently, but when they do it is best to vacate the vicinity). Not a happy family moment… Nor was it very "happy" when at breakfast Jadyn (who was sitting on my lap) puked all over me, her and my breakfast... What a great way to start the morning! But after a change of clothes and some calming down. We pulled out and passed a bad wreck and decided... it could be worse... it could always be worse!

The drive was long, but we listened to "tennis shoes among the Nephites" on CD - what a fun book! We also made a stop at Cove Fort in Millard County. We have always "meant" to stop here but never taken the opportunity. I was glad we did. It is always fascinating to me to learn about pioneer history. It helps me to be grateful for the ease that we have today. Can you imagine how it must bug them to hear us complain about how long it takes to get somewhere? The five hour drive we had left would have taken them 3 weeks! It helped to put it all in perspective.

We were grateful for this opportunity to be together as a family, for the memories that we made, and the adventures that we had. I think the best thing about a family trip is that we remember the good times... but we can also look back and realize... we are a family and NO family is perfect, and that is where some of the best memories come from... things don't always go exactly as we planned... and in the big picture... that IS "The Plan."

Jadyn's Pedicure...

Obviously Jadyn wanted her nails painted today... so she did it herself.

When I smelled the polish and saw her slam the bathroom door shut when I came in I expected the worst. She did get a few spots on my bath mat and one on her shirt... but I am counting my lucky stars it wasn't worse! She said, "Pretty Mommy" with that satisfied smile - I must admit that for a two year old she did a mighty fine job! On the other hand... I am hoping that she doesn't try it again... now that I had her smile for a picture... she thinks she is pretty clever...

DISNEYLAND!

We had a fabulous time on our “secret trip to Disneyland”. So many fun experiences and memories in such a quick trip. Here is a synopsis of what we learned and did during our two days at the park… (In no particular order...)

We've never been to Disneyland around Halloween... It was fun to see it all decked out!
UEA which most people refer to as “Utah Education Assoc.” Also stands for… “Utahn’s Envade Anaheim”! (I do realize that "envade" is actually spelled with an i... but it was too fitting of a word not to use...) There were SWARMS of us there! The ones sporting the BYU apparel were the most obvious, but random Utah and USU shirts were seen as well. There must have been some sort of an ad in the Provo paper, stating that Thursday was “wear your BYU paraphernalia to Disneyland Day.” We could hardly blink before we saw yet another BYU shirt or hat. Our favorite was entire families decked out. Or better yet, those die-hard guys competing for the “biggest fan honor”. I thought that the guy with the shirt, shorts, socks, lanyard and hat (all sporting the logo) surely deserved the prize. But then later I saw a guy with ALL of that PLUS a backpack with the logo… There must be a special place in heaven for a guy like that! I held back from asking the question…. "So where are you from?" Or better yet... "would you mind if I took your picture?" :)

Even though the whole BYU apparel drove me crazy… the opposite was far worse… how do girls (or ladies who should know better) get up in the morning… pick out a cami that is three sizes too small and hangs down to their navel… and a mini-skirt that barely covers their rump… and then look in the mirror and say to themselves… “This looks like a good outfit to wear to Disneyland.”… Check one more time sis-ters… because YOUR MIRROR IS LYING! I personally don’t want to watch as they (good-lookin' or POSITIVELY NOT good-lookin') climb off of a ride and have to readjust their clothing after bouncing around on “Space Mountain.” Shudder, shudder, shudder…

Speaking of Space Mountain... this was Kenna's favorite... but the look on her face tells a different story :)!


“Fast Passes” are the best. Walking past all of the people in the “regular” line somehow make one feel like a VIP…. and makes the ride even more enjoyable. Pair that with a “Baby swap” pass and the child who got to goes for the second time through the short line was all smiles! :) The only thing that could be better is a “Dream Fast Pass” lucky souls are randomly given “fast-passes” to 6 rides in Disneyland and 6 rides in California Adventure. We were lucky but not THAT lucky! Shane did score twice in one day with “front of the line passes” for our whole group. Once because Kenna waited in the Indiana Jones ride and was too short when she got there (that was nice of Disney… they only had 5 places throughout the line to check height and Shane never saw them. – Totally our fault). Plus once again Shane’s Chinese shocked and amazed the masses… at least one family behind us in line… I didn’t catch ANY of the conversation… but Shane came away with another "front-of-the-line-pass"… way to go Shane. Shane's favorite thing about Disneyland is finding people to speak Chinese with. ( My dad wrote a post on his blog about his experiences with Shane and his language skills in Australia. Check it out here.)

If I had to pick a Disney Character that Shane reminds me most of... it would definitely be the Cheshire Cat. What do you think!

By the way did I mention that a “park-hopper” ONE DAY TICKET is now $95 for adults and $85 for kids! HIGHWAY ROBBERY! Oh, and the best part about it is how they keep “lowering” the adult age! 10 and over are considered adults! WHAT EVER! (Obviously multi-day tickets are proportionately less… but OUCH!) I questioned why if Tayler was considered an adult at the gate… why she needed "an adult" with her to take Jadyn on the teapots??? INTERESTING... lucky me got to ride the teapots with them as "the adult"… not my favorite ride! It brings back too many memories of a few years ago when Shane spun us so fast that I truly could not breath... we were both sick for the rest of the day! I was NOT happy!


If you WANT to get wet on SPLASH MOUNTAIN – put three adults in the front and three small kids in the back. I think that is the ticket… I was definitely wet! The three “single rider” ladies in the front were more soaked than ANYONE else I saw get off all day (I was one of those ladies! All three of us were laughing so hard after ever hill… what a HOOT!)

The first day at Disneyland is always the “Happiest” everyone is well rested and excited to be there… we get there before the park opens and stay clear till 11 PM (or whenever it closes). We literally smiled all day, no one ever argued or were “bugged” (even Jadyn never fussed a wink all day.) (Shane did get a little testy about his girls looking for “penny smooshing machines” on “Main Street” at 11:15 PM :))

The 2nd day is still tons of fun… just not quite as “Happy”… we hear a few moans when it is time to get up… the lines seem longer (which they were!)… The weather is “always” hotter (which it was!). And we have to remind our kids that "we paid WAY TOO MUCH to be here so you BETTER be HAPPY!" After all this “is the happiest place on earth”… so we ought to act that way.

We only stayed two days… but if we decided to do “three Disney Days” a picture such as this "family" is all that would be necessary to explain our lack of energy! I can almost guarantee this guy is AT LEAST three days in….

We’ve actually done 5 days before… we saw EVERY show… got EVERY autograph… and went on rides like “Small world” lots of time – there is nothing better than that ride for a cool and relaxing 10 min. siesta! (Unfortunately it has been closed the last couple times we were there… very disappointing!) I think

My girls have a “Smooshed Penny Collection”. If you look you can find machines everywhere and although Shane thinks that this collection is a “little lame”… they love it and so do I (they are all on their 4th book). Disneyland has a treasure trove of machines – we had fun with our “baggie” of quarters and pennies. Disneyland is also full of “little wishing wells” (or basic fountains that people “make wishes in.”) Kenna didn’t get it… she was completely confused on why people would throw money away to “make a wish”… several times we caught her trying to fish it out. We even had to have her “throw the money back” that she had actually retrieved. Kenna can spot a penny a mile away… when we went with my parents on the Disney Cruise last January… Poppa would drop pennies along the way. She thought she was the luckiest girl around to find all those pennies… shiny pennies in those fountains were obviously calling her name!!


We went to “Rainforest Café” the first night… although it does have a fun atmosphere… Be warned that most two year olds don’t want to sit too close to the apes that wake up intermittently and pound their chest and yell, Jadyn spent the whole meal burrowed down in our chests… and the thunderstorm put her over the top. I had to hide out with her in the bathroom during that. (Actually although I personally love the atmosphere… Shane and I decided that there are better options considering the price ($7-8 is TOO MUCH for a kids meal!) and since we have never had anything there that we absolutely LOVED… it will be a while before we go back.) (Sorry Johnston family – I know it’s one of your favorites!)


Jadyn LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She watches it EVERYDAY - it is actually the only show that she wants to watch. And I had so wanted her to see all of the Mickey stuff. Of course she was a bit freaked out by Mickey and all of the other characters. But I have seen much worse! She loved seeing them at the "Playhouse Disney Show."

Resting on "Minnie's Bed"
A treasure trove of Mickey's!

We filled up in Bakersfield CA on the way there for $3.07/gallon… isn’t it sad that we did a happy dance about that?

Speaking of happy dances… here is Jadyn’s…



We had a great time hanging out with the Boyce’s at Disneyland Thursday. How ironic that we would be there at the same time as our “across the street neighbors.” (But then we did see about 8 other families that we knew too!)


(That is quite a bad "slouchy" picture of me... Stand up straight girl!)


Ahhhh Princesses. Kenna's favorite!

And a few more photos...

So I know that if you got to this point you are thinking... WOW! NO MORE PLEASE... so I will save our other California adventures for the next post... Prepare for more amazement!

Our UEA adventure...

We lied to our kids…. we have been telling them that we were going to spend the UEA weekend at my parents’ condo in Bear lake for over a month. They have been so excited to hang out as a family, sleep-in, play games and just plain relax. So when we picked them up at their schools a day earlier than we had told them we would be going, and then headed in the opposite direction, they were a little bit confused. They readily believed me when I said that we had to run to Salt Lake to pick up stuff for all my Super Saturdays. By the time we got to Provo they again asked, “When will we be turning around?” We told them that we were just making a large loop. An hour later with them still confused… we made the announcement that we were going to DISNEYLAND! (I videoed this - their excitement was quite entertaining... except I obviously had one of those "brain-fart" moments where I turned OFF the camera instead of ON.... GRRRRRR!) So this is Tayler telling about it after the fact... with much less emotion than was shown during the original announcement!



But we had a blast and I will be posting lots more about our adventures...

Super Saturday Overload...

I am tired... Vinyl apparently has not gone out of style yet because my phone rings constantly and last week I did stuff for 5 Super Saturdays (or Fabulous Fridays/Terrific Tuesdays... etc... etc... (aka... LDS Enrichment Craft Day)). I only have 19 more to go in the next 6 weeks... At an average of 100 projects per activity (vinyl/wood/metal/etc.) and 20 additional orders per week... I will be VERY tired and THANKFUL for THANKSGIVING!! (No more orders till January after that.)

If I could just learn how to say... NO....

My story for the week will involve animals... my favorite... this time of the small rodent variety. The cold weather was bound to hit us... brrrr... Personally I'm ready for spring all ready... But since it is not, it was time to harvest some of our vegetables from our garden. The girls and I were out pulling up all the onions for storage. I was carefully turning over the dirt to make sure that we had gotten them all. I was almost finished when I pressed my foot down hard on the shovel and heard a HORRIBLE sound. LOTS of little SQUEEKS! As I turned the dirt over I uncovered a nest... of little mice... about ten went scurrying in every direction. I FREAKED! I always thought that we lived in the best neighborhood ever... But I may need to rethink that as no one came running when I let out the loudest "CLOSE TO MURDER" scream EVER! (A video would have put you over the top here - but picture my girls fear of fish... then think of this image... I freaked out WAY MORE!) I couldn't stand up straight for a full minute... I thought I had literally busted something... and I couldn't breathe either! My scream was followed by Saige's scream... After calming down for a minute we all checked it out. Amazingly they were awfully cute and tiny - huddling together after being tormented by the shovel lady... but that sound will surely haunt me in some weird nightmare... ICK!! My girls who are scared of fish... wanted to keep one as a pet, and Jadyn REALLY wanted to hold one... she kept going back to try and get one, and say "ohhh, so cute". I assured them that when Dad saw them... well let's just say they wouldn't be there anymore. Tayler my animal lover quickly called Shelby's boys (also animal lovers) to see if they wanted them. Of course Shelby said no... but since Tayler had already caught one in a bucket for them... and they had brought their cage over... they went home with one... that only lived for a day...

So I thought the little mice story was over... except that one scurried across the garage this morning when I opened the back door... makes me think we need a cat... J/K - maybe you read an earlier post on my animal phobias... a cat is one thing I can definitely say NO to!

The Invisible Woman

My friend told me about this video... I needed it today!!