Fall Recap: CA

In October, we took a trip to Southern California to go to some of the attractions down there and spend time with family. Get ready for a ton of pictures.

The plane ride was surprisingly pleasant!

This is the only animal we waited in line to see at Disneyland. Luckily, Kate and Faith were more in to the rides.

This is some pier I can't remember the name of in San Diego.

Sea World!

My cutie niece Alison

I was able to get the whale to jump for the camera, but I hold no such sway over my own children.

All the little girls loved Mike :)

Believe it or not, we actually got away with not going back to the hotel for Faith's nap each day. She did just fine in the stroller. The one day we went to the hotel for nap time, neither Kate nor Faith slept. In fact, those sneaky little girls got into my makeup bag and applied liberal amounts of mascara. Faith had it everywhere, but Kate kept it exclusively on her lashes. As I examined them, I also noticed that she had cut all the eyelashes off of one eye. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or be horrified that she had scissors that close to her eye! FYI: Eyelashes take approximately 2 months to grow back.

"Who are you tellin to keep their arms and legs in?"

This was Grandma's kind of ride.

This was not.

(That low-riding was not for Faith's sake)

Thanks for being a trooper Mom!

Please note the sequence of events in these next few photos. Kate hugs Zoe as Elmo approaches.

Zoe distracts me while Elmo works his magic.

"Come with me, little girl. I'll give you some candy."

I then look up to see Elmo leading unsuspecting Kate off to some tent. It is also rather distressing to note that the girl's father is simply taking pictures of the abduction.

So it turned out to be a photo booth. Still, large creepy animals/monsters shouldn't take children away without parental consent.


On Sunday we walked around the San Diego temple and borrowed some of their flowers...

Isn't it spectacular? Kate says it is way prettier than her temple. :)



Then we went to Balboa Park. We walked around a bit and the kids danced on the big, beautiful stage.

Kate's pulling a Michael Jackson.

Actually, she really had to go, and this was a reeeeally big park. We had to crash a formal dinner event to find the nearest bathroom.





Next up, Sand Diego ZOO! We sure didn't take many pictures, but the kids loved the playground and the polar bears. Okay, I loved the polar bears, and told them that they did too. Kate also really liked the hippos, and Faith always loves ducks. I saw the biggest baboon I've ever seen. I couldn't believe how huge it was! No, we didn't get a picture, so you'll have to imagine it.

That's not it. That's a fake gorilla.

The petting zoo was a huge hit. Faith hugged every sheep and goat there at least twice.

Mike and I reasoned that if we let Kate get her face painted, we wouldn't have to buy her a princess dress.

Fortunately, Kate really wasn't that into Princesses the whole time. At Disneyland, we got in line to see the Princesses and it was a 1.5 hour wait. I asked her how bad she wanted to see them, and she said she wanted to go on Thundermountain!



Universal Studios

This place turned out to be the only thing good for little kids at Universal. FYI: Don't take small children to Universal Studios around Halloween. They are all set up for "Nights of Horror" and it was decorated to the theme of "Saw," a movie that I have not seen, but must assume has lots of dead and mutilated bodies in it.

This room that we are in had tons of these little foam balls and almost as many ways to launch them at other people. It was really fun for all of us :)

Even the vampire's seductively velvet voice and astonishing good looks could not tempt Faith.

However, Faith loves doggies.

"You might be a doggie..."

Not to toot my own horn, but is this not a perfectly timed shot?? It brings me back to the time my family went to Universal when I was 7. We got on this very boat, and my family had me sit apart from them so I could be on the edge next to the water. An elderly couple seperated us, and I suspected nothing. Then I saw the scuba diver disappear in a cloud of blood. Next thing I knew, there was a shark fin headed our way, and there was no way on earth that I was going to stay where I was. I screamed and launched myself toward the center of the boat, using elderly laps and faces as foot holds. My parents will probably laugh when they read this, but that is only because they don't know that I've been plotting revenge for over 20 years, and when the time comes, it will be sweet indeed.

whew! They caught him!

Back to Disneyland

We headed over to California Adventure Park and we LOVED it! It was way less crowded, and Faith could ride most of the rides that Kate did. We hung out in a replica of Bug Land from Bug's Life. It was really cute. And our camera died. So once again, use your imagination.

Then we headed pack over to the Disneyland. We waited in Pixie Hollow for 45 minutes to meet...

Some random fairie that was NOT Tinkerbell. Kate had no clue who she was, but she was beautiful, so she didn't care.

On our way to the airport, we stopped at the beach. Not the wisest thing, and I should have known better since it's exactly what my family did when I was 7, and I remember sitting on the plane in wet sandy clothes for hours.

Nevertheless, it was worth it. Especially when Kate got brave enough to get in the water (it was a bit chilly). She LOVED the waves! We had a blast!

I couldn't believe how well the whole trip went. The kids were awesome! The only time they acted up was when we went to my brother's house (sorry Brent and Amber!). I think Kate wet her pants twice there. Other than that, it was so wonderful! I was worried that Faith would be a bystander the whole time, but she had a blast too! She spent the 3rd day at Disneyland chanting, "Teacups! Teacups!" I'm glad I have a fun family :) I sure love them.

A question:

Monday night we drove around looking at Christmas lights. We were parked in front of a house that had their lights set to music, when Kate asked,

"What happens if I see too much lights an d I throw up?"

I believe the answer lies hidden within the question.

Halloween!

Yay! I love Halloween! We had a fun month of Halloweeny things! It was Faith's first year of trick-or-treating, and she handled it like a pro.

Kate was Cinderella, here with Kaylynn and Iverson (whose costumes are obvious). I went the cheapskate route and had Kate wear a costume I had when I was 4:

The dress was still in pretty good shape, and with a little love from the hot glue gun, it looked as good as new!

Faith was supposed to go as a witch, but refused to put the costume on. I decided to steal my friend's idea and dress her up as an 80's aerobics instructor (thanks Amber!)

Faith kept wanting to wear this weird tent-like holiday dress instead of spandex. Are we even related??

Kate's preschool Halloween party was at our house. Kate just loves her preschool buddies! All the younger siblings were old enough to participate too, so it was lots of fun!

Shaylee likes cupcakes!

Tayson's scary face

Faith and her owl cupcake. Check out those prominent brows. (the owl's of course)

Kate dressed as a princess with very poor hygiene.

The whole gang!

At the end of the party, they went trick-or-treating around the house. Being the responsible adult that I am, I examined and sampled each treat before letting the kids have them.