"Swimsuit"

My dad is a member of a Young Single Adult Stake Presidency.

A couple weeks ago, they had a stake swimming activity at the local aquatic center.

If you know my dad, you know that he does not like to swim...at all.

But, he's a good sport.  So he put on his "suit" and jumped in anyway.

Then, he did a headstand...because he could.

And of course he had to try out the slide as well...

I'm glad my mom was there to take pictures.

I love my dad.

Disney Reunion and Pin trading

I mentioned a few posts back that we went on our Disney vacation with all of Todd's family.  We met up (quite by accident, actually) on our last day and finally got a picture of everyone together.  I can't believe I've been blessed to be a part of this wonderful family for 14 years now.  I remember having a family picture taken at JCPenney about a year after Todd and I were married and we all fit in the studio.  Look at us now!

Brayden, Dillon, and I "Mouse Attacked" the door to Grandma's hotel room 

(Caleb wasn't feeling well at the time so he didn't come, but he cut out the mouse ears). 

The next picture is kind of random, but I wanted to write about Disney pin trading and I forgot to stick it in my Disney posts.  A lot of the staff at Disneyland and California Adventures wear lanyards or aprons full of Disney pins for trading.  Since Grandma booked our trip through AAA, we got a free lanyard and one pin when we entered the park on the first day.  You can buy pins in any Disney gift shop, but the prices range from $8-$25+ per pin.  Instead, we ordered 50 pins on ebay for $36 before we left for CA.

The kids had a ball trading pins...especially Dillon.  Even as shy as he is, he was running up to the staff asking to trade pins.  He decided to collect Donald Duck pins, and was able to bring home quite a few.  It was also fun trading pins with cousins.

 *If you order pins on ebay, make sure they come from a US seller, and make sure their pins are 100% tradeable.

Sea World

On the third day of our trip, we took a break from all things Disney and took a bus to Sea World.

This picture was taken at the end of the day.  If you look closely, you can see Dillon holding the boys' souvenir, a stuffed stingray.  

They named her Rachel (get it? Rachel Ray).

You may have noticed by now that my boys were dressed alike each day during our vacation.  

It made it easier to keep track of them, and luckily they didn't mind.  Grandma brought these shirts back from Hawaii for them.

You can't go to Sea World without seeing Shamu...

It's hard to see, but at the end of the Shamu show the large screens showed pics of the audience.  Dillon is on the top left.  That reminds me of something I forgot to mention in my Disneyland post.  In Star Tours, the ride shows a picture on the screen of someone from the audience who is the "rebel spy".  Dillon was chosen as the "rebel spy" on Star Tours.  I guess the camera loves cute little redheads...

Up close and personal with Shamu

I tried to get the whole fam to stand like a flamingo for a picture, but only my niece Sydney agreed to be a flamingo with me.  She broke her leg just a couple days after returning home from this vacation. I bet she wishes she could be a flamingo with me now!

 Here are the boys, Sydney, and Grandma watching the Sea Lion show...

It is hilarious.  This show is a "must see" if you ever go to Sea World.

Waiting in line with the fam...

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.  

Crazy kiddo's wearing 3-D glasses while waiting to see the Sesame Street 4-D movie.

Touching starfish in a tide pool...

Justin got to meet his favorite furry monster...Elmo!  

Elmo and Zoe were excited that he had on an Elmo shirt that day.

Aw...loves from Elmo.

Brayden waving to me while riding Elmo's flying fish.

 I never miss a chance to get a picture of my redheads with their redheaded cousin, Amber.  

I love going places with her family because everyone thinks she belongs to me :o)

Cars Land

Our vacation (which was planned for well over a year) happened to fall 

just a week and a half after Cars Land opened in California Adventures.

It was a little crowded.

We didn't even try to ride any of the rides.  The fast passes were gone by 9:00 in the morning, and the wait times were over 3 hours.  No ride is worth a 3 hour wait!  Still, it is a really fun place and we walked down the street to see as much of Radiator Springs as we could. 

Mater is right...it is the cutest little town in Carburetor county!

We spent most of our time at the Cozy Cone Motel.

 Each of these "rooms" sold a different snack, including ice cream cones, chili "cone" queso, "cone-coctions", and "popcone".  While we were eating our ice cream cones, we sat at a table under a cone shaped umbrella.

I especially loved the "cone" flowers!

Justin was hot and tired, but he took a break from his grumbling to ooh and ah over "Tween".

Just as we left the Cozy Cone Motel, Mater drove in.  How can you not smile when you see Mater?

I typically try not to post pictures of other peoples kids on my blog, 

but my nieces are just too cute and I couldn't resist.

We stopped for a quick picture with this cute little tractor...

My oldest niece went back at night and got pictures of all the signs lit up.  

When we go again with my family next Spring, I definitely want to venture through Cars Land at night!

California Adventure

On the 2nd day of our "Disney trip" we went to California Adventures.  

Our kids had ZERO desire to ride California Screamin', or Tower of Terror...and that was fine with me :o)

We had all kinds of fun without the thrill rides.

Our first ride was Toy Story Mania, and it was one of our favorites.  

We met up with Grandma and Aunt Elizabeth and had a blast playing the virtual 3-D video game.

Here are the boys getting ready to draw in the Animation Academy.

 Dillon struggled to keep up with the artist who was teaching us to draw Goofy. 

He started to cry, and one of the staff ran right over and helped him catch up with his drawing.

I loved drawing goofy, and wished I had taken a few more art classes in high school/college.

We loved "Turtle Talk with Crush" so much that we went twice, and considered going a third time.  Brayden was chosen to ask Crush a question, and he asked him what the names of his children were...all 65 of them.  His answer was hilarious and ranged from Michealangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael to Zach, Kelly, Slater, Screech, and Lisa Turtle.   Crush gives the kids a "turtle name" when they ask a question, and he got "Biscuit Shreddin' Brayden". I didn't record our "show", but I found a good one on youtube that you can watch to see what it's like.  It is SUCH a fun attraction, and it's different every time since it depends on the questions that people ask.

 Justin loved the Sorcerer's Workshop because there were wheels for him to spin...

In Belle's library, I learned that the Disney character I'm most like is Cinderella.  I could've told you that. It brought back memories of all the manual labor I did as a child :o)  Or maybe it's because I would be the kind to lose my shoe...or have a crying fit over not having a dress for the ball.

Caleb took this picture of Todd and I.

14 years and goin' strong...

Another fun attraction was this little "Scout Camp" featuring Russell from the movie "Up".  

The kids got a pamphlet with 6 activities to pass off in order to earn a merit badge.  

(the pamphlet had scratch off circles which added to the fun)

They all rode the zipline at the same time.

In the "Brother Bear" cave, they matched their handprint to one in the cave to find out their "totem".  

I'm just surprised they weren't all skunks.

 Our very favorite ride at CA adventure was the Grizzly River Run.  This is a picture of our cousins at the bottom of the biggest waterfall.  The kids are still talking about this ride and can't wait to do it again.

We met up with the whole family to watch World of Color and it was spectacular.  

And I'll have to do a whole separate post on Radiator Springs...

Summer Randomness

Another day...another degree hotter.

The kids and I tried to fry an egg on the blacktop yesterday...even though we read online that it wouldn't work.  It's true.  It didn't work. 

The egg cools down the blacktop and it doesn't get enough consistent heat to cook.  

Myth busted.

I talked to my sister this morning and told her I had more tomatoes than I could eat, but not enough to can.

Then I went out and picked the white bowl full.  

I should've been canning today. 

Would anyone like a kitten?  Please?  We have four, and they need to go.  

They are 10 weeks old and they are free.  Actually, I'd pay you to take one...

I made Justin a makeshift water table yesterday to keep him busy.  

I didn't realize it would also keep the big boys busy...

One of the ladies I visit teach is pregnant and she was supposed to be induced yesterday.  Her induction got moved to Saturday.  If I had mentally prepared myself to have a baby on a certain day, and then had to wait another five days it wouldn't be pretty.  I decided to take her a little care package and dug through my fabric bins in the garage to make a set of burp cloths for her.  It was so much fun to sew again...and something girly too!

My quilting studio is almost ready for me to unpack.  I'm excited to have a place to create again.  

My dream cutting table will have to wait until later, but I have a table that will do for now.

Other happenings that I've been too busy lazy to blog about:

-I am on the PTA board at school this year and I'm in charge of the school shirts.

-A couple weeks before we went to Disneyland, Dillon got an infected hangnail.  After a week of band-aids and neosporin, we finally took him to the Dr.  Actually, Todd took him to the doctor while I was home with a sore throat and fever.  Three days later, when Todd was near death with a 103 degree fever and having hallucinations, the pediatrician's office called to tell us that Dillon's labs showed strep.  I asked if it was possible for my husband and I to have contracted strep throat from his finger infection.  It turns out it is.  Thankfully, they willingly called in prescriptions for us, saving a bunch of money in co-pays.  No one else in the house got sick.

-We have four kittens.  Do you want one?

-Justin will be two years old in less than a month.  How did that happen?

-I got my hands on a tiny charm pack of my friend Vanessa's fabric.  I can't wait to sew it into something.

-While we were in California, we turned our air conditioning down.  I had a sack of potatoes in my pantry that went bad, and now we have a fruit fly infestation.  I tried this idea that I saw on pinterest, and it is working great.

-My kids are obsessed with "Wizards of Waverly Place" on Netflix instant.  I sing the theme song day and night in my head.  They adamantly deny it, but I think they may have a mini-crush on Selena Gomez.

-Brayden is reading Lord of the Rings right now.  He wanted me to let you all know he's in the middle of the second book.  Uncle Ben, if you're reading this, Brayden would like to see a picture of you in your Frodo costume.

-I got an e-mail yesterday telling me about the clothes that are not allowed in middle school due to gang references.  Brayden can't wear anything with LA on it, or wear Dickies brand pants.  The rest of the list were brands I've never even heard of.  I'm glad the school's police officer is keeping me informed.

-Two days before we left on vacation, our washing machine died.  I called a repairman from my home stake to get an opinion.  He told me it was the clutch, and it would be cheaper to get a new machine than to fix it.  I was sick about it the whole time we were gone, because it wasn't in the budget right now.  When we paid our tithing the next day, I told the kids that the amount we paid would be enough to get a new washing machine and asked what they thought we should do.  They all agreed we should pay our tithing. (There was no question in my mind, but I wanted the kids to be a part of it).

When we got home, I started looking on KSL and Craigslist for a used machine to "get us by" until we could afford a new washer and dryer set.  I found a guy who was willing to pay me for my "dead" machine or give me a discount on a trade in.  I went to look at the machines he had repaired, and didn't find what I wanted.  I told him what was wrong with my machine, and he said he had a used clutch and he'd repair mine for $75.  That was the right price!  He gave me a 60 day guarantee, but I figure if it dies on day 61 I would've spent more than $75 at the laundromat.

He fixed it that night, and it is working better than either machine I've had since I was married!  I thought I had a crummy dryer all this time, but it turns out my washing machine wasn't getting enough of the water out. Now that I can do laundry without running the spin cycle two extra times, and the dryer twice...I'm actually CAUGHT UP on laundry!  It is a blissful feeling and I'm going to enjoy it for the next two hours until the boys put their pj's on and bring me another pile.

This post has gone on long enough.  If you're still reading, you should stop procrastinating and get back to what you're really supposed to be doing.

Melting

Jedi Training Academy

Disneyland!

I've been putting off this post for several days because I am SO overwhelmed at the thought of trying to document this vacation in a few blog posts.  I'm working on a shutterfly book that will include more detail, but for the benefit of my friends and family (mostly my mom) I'll do my best to give the short story and pick 8-10 pictures out of 1000.  

I'll start by telling you that Todd's mom has dreamed of taking her whole family to Disneyland for 50 years, so she did.  We had nearly all expenses paid for this week long magical vacation, and we got to do it with all of Todd's siblings and their families.  We had a 3 day hopper pass for Disneyland/California Adventures, and we also went to Sea World and the ocean beach.  

(In Washington, where Todd is from,  you go to "the ocean".  In California you go to "the beach").

We had such a wonderful time.  Disneyland is not a relaxing vacation, but definitely one where you will make memories.  I can't wait to go back next year with my family!

Here we are at the front gate.  There were too many people around to get the picture with the iconic Mickey head in the background.  You start to "feel the magic" the minute you walk in.  I love the music playing everywhere you go. The staff at Disneyland have their act together. Everything is kept amazingly clean and the parades and shows are so well organized.  I went to Disney World in Florida when I was ten, but you don't notice that kind of stuff as a kid.  I think it was more magical for me this time around! By the way, this was the first time in my life that I stepped foot in California.  Really. 

Donald Duck was there to greet us on Main Street.  Before this trip, I didn't realize that you'd have to wait in a line to meet all the characters!  I think Donald's is the only autograph the older boys got.  Justin was intrigued by the characters, and you'll notice in any pictures I post that he's looking at the character...not the camera.

 We started in Tomorrowland and our first ride was Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  The boys LOVED it and spent the next two days asking to go back. They have never really even ridden a ride at the fair, so imagine what it was like for them when the only comparison they had was the 25 cent horse in front of Kmart.  Yeah.  Their minds were blown.
(We went to Lagoon when Brayden and Caleb were 3 and 2, but they don't remember it).


Justin couldn't take his eyes off of Buzz while we waited in line...

 Brayden asked me to take a picture of him in front of this mural.  I laughed when I got it on the computer because I had no idea it was set up so perfectly.  The aliens are giving him a medal...

 After getting a fast pass for Star Tours, we attended the Jedi Training Academy.  I'll do a separate post for this, since Grandma wasn't with us at the time and I want her to see the video clips we took.  Brayden and Caleb were chosen to "train" and then had the chance to fight Darth Maul.  They loved it.

Brayden was tall enough to drive on "Autopia", so Caleb rode with him.  Dillon and I were partners for most rides, and Justin rode with Todd.  For the rides that Justin couldn't go on, we got a special pass that allowed one parent to go on the ride with the kids, while the other stayed with Justin in the stroller.  After the ride, the kids got to go again with the other parent without waiting in line again.  It's nice that they make accommodations like that.

 As hard as they tried, the boys couldn't pull the sword from the stone...

 On our second day, we took the train from the Disneyland entrance to New Orleans station. I wish we'd have ridden it all the way around the park just to see the other lands. Even with a 3 day pass there's so much we didn't get to do.  We never even stepped foot into Toontown, and we barely scratched the surface in Fantasyland.

 Our cousins watched Justin so the rest of our family could go on Splash Mountain together (which ended up being our favorite ride).  While we were listening to zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Justin got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eyeore.

I think there were 18-20 of us that met up and went on Pirates of the Caribbean together.  The staff asked how big our party was, and when we told them, they just gave us our own boat.  If Brayden hadn't stuck his hand in the air at the last minute, you'd be able to see Grandma in the pink shirt in the middle :o)  This ride has been re-done since I saw it at Disney World, and it is really fun.  I loved it. 

We waited over two hours to see Fantasmic our first night. It was fun to be together while we waited, and the show was WORTH the two hour wait.

I don't have a good picture, but Fantasmic was amazing.  I would dare say it was my favorite part of the whole trip.  I was completely caught up in the magic of it all.  When it was over, we stayed for the fireworks, which were also incredible.  After the show I said to my mother-in-law, "No wonder people pay so much money to stand in line in the hot sun all day.  It's because of this feeling right now.  No one ever told me I would actually feel the magic."

Next up?  Jedi Training and California Adventure...

PS-  Did you know that Disney is going to build a third park?  According to the bus driver who chartered our trip to SeaWorld, Disney bought out marvel comics last year, and now they're going to build "Marvel Land".  I think it's going to require a month long pass to see it all...