Sibling love!

It is times like this that warm my heart! I was getting so frustrated with a customer service screen on the computer and went to check on the kids. This is what I found, Joshua holding Elizabeth while he watched his show. So sweet!

Sarah plays piano for the Baptism Fireside

Last Sunday there was a special meeting for all of the kids turning eight this year. There are ten, which is kind of a big number. We had an informational meeting with all the parents and the kids turning eight. They asked Sarah to play the opening song. It was just one short song, but she has never played with people singing along before and really hasn't played for an audience yet. She did perfectly! She even sat and played prelude music for ten minutes while people were arriving. It was great to boost her confidence and make her feel special!

Bat Baby

Funny thing is, she is wearing her cat-suit!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monterey Bay

The beach was beautiful and sunny, such a change from last summer when we were there!

Elizabeth was even old enough to do some exploring in the touch pools.

Sarah remembered a lot from last summer and was telling the lady that worked there all about star fish!

It seems like almost every trip that we take to see Uncle Wayne, he takes the kids to feed the ducks. Sure the kids like it, but I think it is just an excuse for Wayne to feed the ducks! I went out shopping with Jolene, so I wasn't there, but he said he was sure Elizabeth was going to swim with the ducks!

Another favorite part of the trip was the geology hike we took with Uncle Wayne. Since the kids were missing school, they both had assignments to complete (I sure hope I get Joshua's journal back, it is priceless!). Sarah was supposed to collect rock samples, so we dicided to take a little hike up at Rocky Peak. I haven't been up there in years! Wayne joined us and we left Joshua with grandma and grandpa and we had a great time. Elizabeth explored so much and Sarah was a fast hiker on the hills that us old folks got a little winded on!

OK, just a few more pictures from hanging out with Grandma Doris...

For some reason Donald put each of the big kids up on the roof by my parents solar panels. I'm not sure why exactly, but they both thought it was really cool!

Donald spun the teacups very fast for these two who just giggled the whole time!

Joshua did not like a lot of the rides, plus he was pretty sick while we were there, but he loved the Autopia! At first he was afraid to drive, but once he did, he loved it.

Cotton candy in California Adventure, because some things you just can't get at home... oh wait, Donald got a cotton candy maker for Christmas - Maybe our kids are addicted to sugar?:)

Grandma Peaches with the kids. She was wonderful about sitting with Joshua when he didn't want to go on rides. One of his favorite things was the Innovations building that she took him in. He kept asking to go back to the "museum" and we finally figured out that was what he meant.

All Joshua talked about in the weeks leading up to our trip was going on the Haunted Mansion ride. Donald even showed him a video someone had taken on the ride so he could get an idea if he wanted to do it or not. He was very excited about it. He wanted to do it first thing, but we thought he should work himself up to it. We went on a few things, then he was refusing to go on anything but the Haunted Mansion. So, we rode the train around the park (we had to force him on the train!) and walked right up to the doors of the Haunted Mansion. As soon as he took one step in, he started freaking out and pulling me out. Honestly, I wasn't surprised and I didn't blame him, it can be very scary and Joshua has a very vivid imagination, but I felt so bad for him because he really did want to do it! Everyone else went in and we hung out watching the boats (he didn't want to go on any of those either). He did get really excited about the ducks though! We had some left over chips and boy did he have fun feeding the ducks! He looked so cute too. Then a group of Japanese young women approached us and asked if they could take their picture with Joshua. Surprisingly, he agreed. They were just tickled and kept saying "so cute" over and over again. Not going on the Haunted Mansion was one of the best parts of my two days at Disneyland!

Soon after the Haunted Mansion fiasco, they boys headed over to the Jedi Training Academy while the girls went on the Jungle Cruise. Joshua was showing no interest in participating, so I kept the camera with me and Grandma's camera battery died. Luckily Donald had his phone and was able to get a few shots, they are just kind of far away. Needless to say, both boys participated (they are the last two on the right, partially hidden by the ball cap) and they loved it. Joshua battled Darth Vader and Clayton battle Darth Mal. I think Joshua was equal parts excited and scared. We offered to go back the next day, but by then he was sicker and didn't want to do anything but go home. Poor kid.

A happy moment with my guy on the Autopia.

Sarah was being heckled by Mr Potato Head. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it!

Overall, it was a fun trip, we just felt bad for Joshua with his cold! Sarah and Clayton had a lot of fun together and our family got annual passes so we will be going back a lot this year. As you can see from the lack of Elizabeth pictures, we left her with my parents. I'm not sure if we can convince them to do that too many more times, but we sure appreciated it!

We spent the first few days of our vacation just hanging out with our families. The kids just love my mom's backyard. Maybe it is all of her flowers or statues or wind toys, but they just run and play out there all the time. It reminds me of playing in the backyard with my brother when we were kids.

I dont post much anymore, but saw this one and it was too cute to pass up. Sheila really enjoyed that hike, and Elizabeth had a GREAT time picking up rocks all along the trail. She is a true geologist at heart I think. Plus, what a view eh?