...of course I am not going to blog about ALL that's gone on in the past month...that would take me a few hours to even do it justice. (we've been busy!)
The girls finished up school on May 25th. ({{{big sigh of relief!}}}) I love summer break! This year we go back to school August 9th. (What's up wtih THAT!?...I am not too thrilled about having my kids back into the daily grind so soon.)
The week before the last week of school...we took the kids to Disneyland for the first time! I was not looked forward to taking our kids to Disneyland. I grew up in So. Cal. and went often. When we went as a family, we'd get there when the park opened and leave when it closed. We kids, had a blast...but when I have thought of going to D.L. from a parents perspective it's just sounded like...something I really didn't want to do with 4 little ones. But, the time was right. Kaitlyn is still 9 (she would be considered an "adult" by Disney ticket price standards if she were 10) and Connor is 2...so he's still free. We found the perfect place for us to stay. My Uncle Larry helped us get a good deal for 3-Day Hopper Passes...and we were set! (Here's something we've learned about 6 people traveling in a minivan...PACK LIGHT! We took only 3 changes of clothes each (and other essentials)...we just washed and wore the same things! It saved us so much room and made packing so much easier!)
Our trip started Mother's Day weekend. First, Brandon and I got up early and went to an onsite Ma and Pa training for our Stake Pioneer Trek. Then we came home, showered, and headed on out! (We had packed the van the day before). We got to Mesa, had dinner with my parents and then drove on to Blythe. I had booked us a hotel room on Price-line. It was the worst hotel room I have stayed in in a LONG time...but it was only $56 and it was only one night and I really thought that Blythe wouldn't have much of anything better. (We found out on our return trip that they do!) So, the next day was Sunday (and Mother's Day). Brandon and the kids brought me breakfast (free hotel food!) in bed :) then we got ready for church. We drove and went to church in Rancho Mirage. When we were leaving, we ran into Debbie Lybert...who was in the ward I grew up in in Rialto. She has two kids close to my age and she had been one of my YW leaders. It was fun to see her! I LOVE running into people who know me! That doesn't happen often where I live!
After church, we drove to Rialto and took the kids on a mini tour of where I grew up. They really didn't seem all that interested...even though my High School is bigger than any building here in Snowflake....and my house that was once a cozy yellow with white trim is now pink with pink trim and I think there is a Virgin Mary statue in the flower bed. :) I did get to visit our old neighbors, the Skalicky's. Michelle was my first real friend. We had so much fun together when we were young. Luckily, since it was Mother's Day, she was there at the parents house. Again...it was so nice to visit with people who know me! Then we went a few streets over to see Dolly and Jim. The kids loved checking out their little RV. They had just gotten home from AZ (ironically) a few minutes before we pulled up. Dolly is one of my mom's best friend. Our families spent a lot of time together when we were kids. My mom and Dolly took us on fun field trips to places like the Museum of Natural History, Doheny Beach and The San Juan Capistrano Mission.
Well, we left Dolly and Jim's and drove to Norwalk (where my mom grew up!) and had a yummy dinner with the Down's prepared by my Auntie Bev. (She's a good cook!) It was fun to show the kids my grandparents old house and to tell them about all the things my cousins and I used to do...lemonade stands, walking to the "chink market" and celebrating the 4th of July on Lowemont Street with all of the neighbors.
**Fast Forward**
Monday, was our first day at Disneyland. We got Fast Passes for Splash Mountain, then went on Pirates of the Caribbean first. All the kids but Connor ended up going on Splash Mountain (at some point...and the girls got to go twice!) We found out that the girls LOVE roller-coasters...and Weston does NOT. :) He's like me when I was little. My all time favorite ride was "It's a Small World". He liked that one too. We had so much fun at Disneyland. We rode every ride we wanted to (except for Mr. Toads ride and Peter Pan) and never waited for more than 35 minutes...thanks to fast passes and being able to get a pass to switch riders. We ended that day with what is now the "Nemo Ride"...the Yellow Submarines. Connor put his little face on his hands up in one of the port-holes and fell asleep. It was a long fun day! We walked back to the condo and went to bed.
Tuesday....we met up with my Aunt Bev, Uncle Larry and my cousin Kristian at their house and followed them to Cabrio Beach. Brandon's sister Kayla and her three little girls met us there! Cabrio Beach is another place we went to often as kids. My Aunt Bev would take us and we'd go poke around in the tide pools. I also went a few times with my school on field trips. It's a fun place to go. It's free and they have their own touch pool where you can go see and touch all the things that are in a real tide pool...and then, if the tide is low, you can climb out on the rocks and go see what you just learned about. The day we were there was a high tide, and even though it was super windy, the kids had fun playing in the water and sand. I think their favorite part was the showers though!
