Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July is really one of my favorite holidays. I am grateful to live in such a wonderful country. I think my Patriotism has grown a lot in the last several years which is one of the reasons I love this holiday.

Since the 4th fell on a Sunday this year, we really had 4 days of celebration. It was great. On Friday we went to fireworks.

Saturday we went to the Parade. We wanted good seats, so we set out our chairs and blankets a couple days before, as soon as they let us. Cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents came from boths sides of our family came to enjoy. Our parade is the best parade, it is like a huge party down the street. My kids got lots of candy, toys, frisbees, bead necklaces and had a lot of fun. After the parade is over, they have a water parade. It is like a giant water front down the street.

That night we went to my sisters for a BBQ and some fireworks. On Sunday we went to Bob's sister's for Dinner and fireworks. One Monday Bob had the day off so the holiday continued. It was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun.

Classic Skating

We took our annual trip to Classic Skating and bounce houses. Even though we have a bounce house at our house, whenever we pass one my kids want to play. We have not quite mastered the art of roller skating, so we spent most of the time in the bounce houses. They do let the kids ride their scooters on the rink, and since our cousins were nice a shared their scooters my kids were able to ride around the rink a little bit.

Beach

We took a break from Disneyland and decided to go to the Beach. My kids love playing in the sand, I do not think they went in the water much. I forget how big the waves in the ocean are. The current was very strong and I lost my footing several times. It was fun to find sea shells and was amazed by the variety.

After playing for several hours at the beach we walked along the Pier. There were lots of fishermen and others try to scrape the mussels off the peir columns.

Disneyland

It takes a lot to convince my family to come to Disneyland with us, but I was able to talk three of my sisters and their families to come. In all there was were 22 of us. We were a little worried about trying to get through a crowded park with so many people, but I think we succeeded. We got some matching shirts for our kids to wear. On the first day we wore orange. It was fun to see the mass of orange, but it did make keeping track of just my kids a little harder.

It was fun to have the entire elevator at the Tower of Terror and the entire canoe around Tom Sawyer's Island. It is amazing that we did not lose any kids.

Hollywood

On Sunday we went to church near our hotel. We went to a very friendly ward. I am sure they are used to all of the Disneyland Vacationers. The ward we went to receives a load of day old breads every other week that they offer in the kitchen after church. We were walking by when several members told us to take whatever we wanted. Since we all needed bread for sandwiches for the week we did not hesitate. They had a lot of variety, including sponge cake and cookies. I was impressed how kind this ward was and hope to visit there again.

After church we headed for Hollywood to see the stars. It was different than I have always imagined, but fun to see all of the names I recognized. I was surprised how many names I did not recognize. Bob, the kids, and I parked, and then we walked to meet the rest of our family. As we were walking I noticed a lot of Asian tourists and a couple asked if they could take pictures with our kids. After we met with the rest of our family more and more tourists were taking pictures with our kids. We found a large statue of Shrek and thought it would be fun to get a picture with all of the kids so we waited in line. When it was our turn and the kids where all lined up I went to take a picture and could not because all these Asians were in front of me taking pictures of our kids. We found it quite amusing. One guy finally realized I was trying to take a picture of my own kids and move from in front of me so I could get a picture.

After Hollywood we went to the LA temple. The Visitors Center was closed, but we were still able to walk around and get lots of pictures.

Vegas

On our way to California/Disneyland, we stopped in Las Vegas for the night. Everytime I go to Vegas I promise myself that this is the last time because there is so much I dislike. I think I need to go somewhere else in Vegas besides the Strip. Bob likes to go because there are so many amazing things to visit that are free. I do have to admit that there are some pretty amazing hotels, I just wish I did not have to go through all the yucky parts to get to the neat things.

We do always enjoy the fountain at the Bellagio and the garden inside.

We always make sure we leave the strip when it starts to get dark, because I think it gets worse. I have noticed that with kids most of the people handing out things do leave Bob alone and do not try to hand him anything. (I like to think it is because of the glare I give each of them as I walk by.) Bob was behind me and as I walked by one of these people I notice out of the corner of my eye that they did their little slap of their handouts and try to hand Bob one. I must have turned around pretty quickly because the other man with him started to laugh, but then proceded to apologize to me. It makes me realize why they call it Sin City. But then there must be a lot of good too, since there is a Temple close by. I just hope the Good will be greater than the evil.

Black Eye

Bob was out of town and things were going relatively smooth until the last night when R came downstairs crying saying G had thrown a book at her. It hit just below her eye. At first there was just a little swelling so I went to get her some ice. When I came the swelling was a lot worse. I quickly had some of my neighbors give me their opinion on what I should do. After calling the doctor, I decided that she would be okay with just some ice and some loving care.
Her eye hurt pretty bad, but once the hurting stopped, I think she liked having a black eye. It shows you are tough, right!