Family Vacation to California

FRIDAY 8/2/13

We began our family vacation to California by stopping for the night in St. George.  It was a great way for us to split the trip in half and rest on our first day of driving.  There's always something free and family-friendly to do St. George, which is one of the main reasons why we like stop there.  One of our favorite spots to visit is Town Square Park, right in the heart of downtown St. George.  They have a fantastic canyon-style splash pad there, with refreshing knee-high pools of water, complete with streams and red-rock waterfalls for the kids to play on.  Lizzy and David loved playing in the water and cooling down after 5 hours of driving.  They would have stayed there for hours if we had let them, but us big people needed to rest, too.  We played for about 40 minutes before grabbing some Papa Johns pizza and heading back to the hotel to eat dinner and swim in the hotel pool.  David LOVED swimming at the pool.  He learned how to jump from the side of the pool into the water all by himself.  He's fearless in the water.  I think he's going to be a great swimmer someday.  After swimming, Scott and Emma enjoyed watching a new episode of Gravity Falls in our hotel room.  They were very excited about that.

SATURDAY 8/3/13

Our drive from St. George to Long Beach went smoothly.  I always get excited once we hit the Riverside County boarder and everything starts looking familiar.  It's so nice coming home!  We arrived in Long Beach in the early evening.  The Montgomerys and the Alcudias arrived not long after we did, and it was nice seeing my parents and sisters again with their families.  The highlight of the evening was meeting my new little niece, Claire.  She is adorable!  David was very fascinated by her and kept calling her "Beebee."

The highlight of our trip was meeting Baby Claire.  She is such a sweetheart.  I loved loved holding her for the first time.   David was fascinated, too.

SUNDAY 8/4/13

We went to Claire's baby blessing on Sunday, August 4th.  It was fun seeing all of Rachel's in-laws there and many of her friends.  She has such a fantastic support group of family and friends in Southern California.  It was an amazing turnout.  We took many photos in front of her ward building, including a photo of me with my sisters.  I love them so much!  After taking photos, we headed to Rachel's sister-in-law's house where we had a late lunch and watched the kids play on the swing set in the backyard.  Eric was thrilled to spend time with his cousins.

MONDAY 8/5/13

We took Lizzy to her first trip to Disneyland on Monday, August 5th.  My friend, Shauna got us all in for under $200, which was a fantastic price for five of us (David stayed with Grandma).  It was fun seeing Lizzy's excitement while she watched the Tangled show and when she got her picture taken with Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and Merida, from Brave.  Her favorite ride was the new Star Tours ride, which surprised us all.  We weren't expecting her to like that ride so much.  Scott and Emma enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Indiana Jones, and Splash Mountain.  We loved watching the fireworks late that night, even though our feet were tired and sore from walking all day.  It was a fun time!

TUESDAY 8/6/13

We met up with Rachel, Eric, and Claire at Bolivar Park on Tuesday morning.  It was fun watching all the big children and little children play together on the swings, in the sand, and on the play equipment.  They got along so well.  Claire enjoyed resting in her stroller while the bigger kids played.  It was cute watching her smile and coo at the talking faces that would greet her from time to time.  We had lunch at the new Costco at the Lakewood Mall.  It was my first time going there.  We saw Bishop Bob Ward and his wife, Diane Ward, ordering pizza and drinks at Costco, too.  We talked to them briefly.  After lunch, we went to a new movie and bookstore called "Bookoff" inside the mall. We bought Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and The Last Unicorn on DVD, and we bought Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises on Blu-Ray.

WEDNESDAY 8/7/13

Wednesday's adventure was walking around the El Dorado Nature Center.  It was one of my favorite childhood places when I was growing up, so it brought back many happy memories. Walking on the familiar trails and seeing the trees and lakes instantly brought out the inner child in me.  I took lots of snapshots of plants and wildlife, and of course, lots of my family as well.  My children are my favorite photography subjects.  After walking on the 1 mile trail, we headed to Rachel's house and had lunch.  We watched "Jack, the Giant Slayer" and played Phase 1 Card Game.  Lizzy enjoyed holding her little cousin, Claire.

THURSDAY 8/8/13

Miniature golfing with Rachel and Craig was a blast today!  David and Eric stayed with their grandmas so we could play without the distraction of little toddlers running around.  Lizzy came with us, and LOVED it!  Scott and Emma had lots of fun, too.  We went to Camelot Golfland in Anaheim, not too far from Disneyland. I went there once as a teenager.

FRIDAY 8/9/13

We spent Friday at home.  Grandma Whitcomb ordered a bounce house with a water-slide for all the children to play in.  David wasn't brave enough to go on the slide with all the other children, but Lizzy was, and she loved it.  David had fun splashing in the puddles and playing in Grandma's water tray.

SATURDAY 8/10/13

Saturday was beach day!  We went to the San Pedro Cabrillo Marine Aquarium first, to see a variety of native marine life.  Lizzy's favorite creatures were the sea stars.  Some of them were huge!  We hatched some baby grunions while we were there, too, which Lizzy also enjoyed.  All the kids enjoyed running up and down the beach, playing in the water, and digging holes in the sand.  David just couldn't get enough of the water.  He loved the waves, except for when they pushed him over.  Then he was a little more hesitant.  We had lunch at In-n-Out, then we met Rachel's family and Grandma and Grandpa at Heritage Park in Cerritos.  We love Heritage Park!  Lizzy, David, and Eric loved going down the cool slides on the park's island.  Rachel and I took many photos.

SUNDAY 8/11/13

The highlight of the day was definitely seeing my friend, Anissa.  Gosh, how I love that girl!  We picked her up after church and had dinner with her at my parents' house.  It was nice talking to her and reminiscing the good old days when she and I would see each other every day.  She was so young then.  After lunch we headed over to Signal Hill to go walking together.  Our main goal was to walk to one of the new parks on Signal Hill, but none of us could remember where it was, so we kept walking and walking, and never actually found it until we drove away.  It was a nice walk, though.  We needed the exercise.  We said goodbye to Rachel's family while we were there.

I love our family trips to California!  Crossing my fingers that we get to go again in the near future.

The Highlight of my Day: July 2013

Something good happens every day. Here's what happened in July 2013:

Mon 7/1/13: I'm going to miss having the big kids gone for two weeks. They make such yummy desserts while they're here. Tonight we had berry shakes. YUM! Perfect for a hot sunny day.

Tue 7/2/13: The kids were excited about sleepovers with their cousins tonight. It's nice having the Bruce Clan home for the 4th of July week.

Wed 7/3/13: Shopping without kids is a real treat for me. It was nice having Emma and the girls watch Lizzy and David while I shopped at Walmart and Sam's Club.

Thu 7/4/13: I had a very enjoyable time face painting at our ward's Independence Day Breakfast at the park. It was my first time face painting, and I thought it was fun doing that for the kids. In the afternoon, we headed to Marian's house for our annual pool party and BBQ. I brought a fruit casserole ("Buried Treasure"). Turned out really yummy! Definitely a hit!

Fri 7/5/13: We had dinner with the Hills tonight. I made enchiladas, Spanish rice, homemade salsa, and black beans. It was good! We had fun playing Ticket to Ride (Brad won for the first time), and watching Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Sat 7/6/13: Brad and I took the little ones to Murray park to go for a walk and swing on the swings. We had Wendy's for lunch, and spent the rest of the day watching the 5th season of Lost. Such an addicting show! We are loving it.

Sun 7/7/13: My husband was definitely my highlight tonight. He's almost always the true highlight of my day, but today was even better than usual. All I can say is WOW-- I love watching movies with my husband alone, without children around. Nice stuff happens.

Mon 7/8/13: Brad and I went for walk with the little ones for FHE and came back with a bag of fresh radishes. Thank you Hydes! I love living in our neighborhood.

Tue 7/9/13:  I had fun watching a video Bradley took of me reading to Lizzy and David last night.  We have been reading a lot of Charlie and Lola lately.  I've noticed that Lizzy likes to mimic my not-so-excellent British accent sometimes.  It's cute to hear her.

Wed 7/10/13:  Scott and Emma stopped by tonight after they went to their youth activities.  I love them!  They are such wonderful kids.  I'm glad their mom lives close by so they can still attend their Wednesday night activities during the summer.

Thu 7/11/13:  I appreciate all the things Brad does for me to help me feel happy.  Today he helped clean up the messes Lizzy and David made.  He's such a good husband and father.

Fri 7/12/13: I harvested some beautiful tiny red bell peppers from my garden today. My very first pickings!  We also had a fun evening with the Moons tonight.  We had dinner, played games, and had fun watching the children play in the backyard together.  We played one of our favorite games, Forbidden Island, and a new game called Lost Cities.  It was fun!

Sat 7/13/13:  The little ones and I went with Brad to get his eyes checked today.  Brad wanted me there to help him pick some new frames for his new glasses.  I like being his wife.

Sun 7/14/13:  Michaela Clark helped babysit Lizzy and David this morning so Brad and I could go see the Stake Presidency.  They wanted to see us to get to know us better.  I'm glad we weren't there for them to give us a big calling on the spot, but that doesn't mean we won't get one in the near future.  Scary! As we were leaving we saw that the Moons were waiting in the waiting room, too.  Michelle looked at me with big eyes like, oh crap, what are they calling us to now?

Mon 7/15/13:  We got to see the Polaks tonight!  They have temporarily moved into Brad's Dad's house until their new place is cleaned up.  Amanda made a spaghetti dinner that she shared with us, which made Lizzy and David happy.  It's so nice having them back!

Tue 7/16/13: David made me laugh this morning when he grabbed a zucchini, held it up like a wand, and said: "b-bop-boo!" (bibbity, bobbity boo). Definitely Lizzy's influence.  Charlotte and Aksel came to visit us today so Amanda could shop and get some things done around the house.  The kids watched movies together and played games, like Operationand Mouse Trap.  It was nice talking to Amanda later in the evening.

Wed 7/17/13: This morning I made my very first vegetable omelette with fresh produce from my backyard. It was delicious!

Thu 7/18/13:  Brad and I finished watching Lost together.  Kind of a lame ending, but it was still enjoyable and worth watching.  What are we going to watch now that it's over?

Fri 7/19/13: It's so nice having Scott and Emma home again! To celebrate, we headed to Provo and watched the first live taping of Studio C, season 3. It's going to be another great season! Lots of laughs for sure!

Sat 7/20/13: Brad, Scott, Emma, and I headed downtown to watch "An Evening of Music," the live Pioneer Day Concert at the Conference Center. It was awesome listening to Nathan Pacheco sing and Lindsey Stirling play the violin. Beautiful artists! It was great watching them perform it all in person.

Sun 7/21/13: Scott received his patriarchal blessing today. It was a beautiful blessing. Amanda and the kids came over for dinner and games in the evening. Amanda, Brad, Scott, and I played "Ticket to Ride" while the younger children and Emma played hide and seek and watched Narnia. Brad scored the biggest score he ever has on Ticket to Ride: 138 points. Amanda just barely came in 2nd with 135 points. Great game!

Mon 7/22/13: Brad and I challenged Emma to a round of Ticket to Ride for FHE tonight. It was fun spending time together.

Tue 7/23/13: I taught the Activity Day girls a quick and easy way to make homemade ice cream. It was a fun activity, with a delicious reward.  I bought too much whipping cream, though, which means I'll have to think up some delicious things to eat in the near future.  YUM!

Wed 7/24/13: Today was Pioneer Day. We had a great time at Aunt Marian's house, swimming with the Polak kids, eating good food, and playing Ticket to Ride. We did fireworks in the evening at our house. We introduced Lizzy to smoke bombs and ground flowers. She loved that! David was in love with the pop-its, as usual.

Thu 7/25/13: Brad and I started a new TV series, since we finished watching Merlin last night. We are now watching "Alias." The pilot episode was pretty good.

Fri 7/26/13:  Brad and I had some time alone tonight, which was nice.  I love my husband!

Sat 7/27/13: I got done a van-full of shopping today, in preps for our California trip. Can't wait!

Sun 7/28/13: David has figured out how to open the fridge.  He opened it, grabbed a baby carrot, and took a bite.  Me:  "David, did you find a carrot?"  David:  "Mmm... YUMMY!"  I'm glad he likes carrots.  Not so glad that he figured out how to open the fridge.  As long as it's the carrots and the the eggs, right?

Mon 7/29/13: Kaylie and Emma are excited to go to their first YW camp. We did a lot of packing today, and I drove the girls to drop off their stuff at Sister Taylor's house. They spent the rest of the evening having fun together and planning their trip. They are very excited.

Tue 7/30/13:  Lizzy was sad to see Kaylie and Emma leave this morning, but I'm so happy that Emma gets to share her first Young Woman camp with her cousin.  I know they will have a fun time together.

Wed 7/31/13:  Looks like Jason got his mission call in the mail today.  Brad found it when he picked up Bruce and Loralee's mail.  I'm assuming we'll find out where he's going when the Bruce-Clan come home this weekend.  YAY!  So happy for Elder North!