California Adventures

Where do I even begin? We had a fabulous trip to CA. Taking two little boys on a plane all by myself was totally worth it. The plane rides actually went just fine. Weston was such a good boy and mostly entertained himself with minimal whining while we flew, and Davin fussed a bit, but ended up sleeping for most of both the flights.

We got there on Saturday evening around dinner time. Mom and Dad picked us up and we went over to my Grandma Snowball's house and ate In N Out and visited. The boys were pretty bushed by the time we got to my parents' house, so it was bedtime.
Sunday morning we all went to church (the whole 3 hours even!). I always enjoy going back to my home ward to see all the people I grew up with. It is fun to catch up. Anyway, that evening my sister, Joy, and her girls came to stay for a few days and play. We had a chicken scampi family dinner and even the kids decided it was amazingly delicious. Grandma B got some Davin snuggling in while Weston "played dough" in the backyard Sunday afternoon.
Here's Joy with Davin. He loves his auntie!
The newest cousins meet at last. They were so cute together. Rachel is a little bigger than Dav, so I had a hard time remembering she is only 3 and a half months old. She is such a cutie pie. I had so much fun getting to hold her squishy little babyness.A little later in the evening I hosted a mini high school reunion with the girls I hung out with back in the day. Some of us had kept in touch more than others, but it was so fun to have us all together again. We just ate and talked and laughed for about 5 hours. I am lame and didn't take any pics, but my friend Lara is supposed to be emailing me some she took, so I will have to post those later. My dad made home made ice cream for us, so that was a fun treat. My mom entertained the kids with Halloween magnet crafts while I visited with my friends. Thanks Mom!

Monday was kind of a down day. Joy and I stayed home and let the kids play. We did get going enough to do a little craft with them. We made the mini caramel apples from Family Fun magazine. Our butterscotch chips didn't exactly melt correctly and became a really thick paste, so we kind of had to frost the apples and then let the kids dip them in the toppings. They tasted great anyway, so no worries.
Look at how big these 3 are getting! They had so much fun playing together now that they can communicate.
On Monday we also went and visited Grandma B at her middle school. Her choir sang for us and they were so good. Then Lizzie and Mimi sang the Scooby Doo song for them. Then Weston and Mimi sang Popcorn Popping. The kids were a hit with the middle schoolers. Grandma B took us all out to lunch then we dropped in at her other middle school and did the singing thing again. Weston even sang Itsy Bitsy Spider out loud! I was so proud. :) Anyway, it was a fun day. That night we had all my grandparents and the Koszyk's over for dinner. It was so great getting to see so much family. Most of them hadn't met Davin, so that was extra fun. Unfortunately I'm a nerd and didn't take 4 generation pictures while we were all together. I'm kicking myself, but hopefully we can do that when we go back to CA next year.

On Tuesday Joy and I stayed home and let the kidlets play again until lunchtime when we all piled into Joy's minivan (it was a sight to behold . . . 5 carseats!) and went to visit Grandpa Bob at work then went for a picnic with him at the park. It was warm and sunny and the kids played and then we fed the ducks.
That afternoon while hanging out in the backyard Weston decided he wanted to wear all of Lizzie's padding to ride the tricycle. It was kind of funny watching him try to pedal with knee pads on. He struggles without them! Anyway, Weston was very happy that his cousins had brought their bike and scooter to share with him.
Tuesday night we had some family friends, the Hennessey's, over for dinner. It was so great. Kim is such a crack up. I laughed most of the night. Since Joy and the girls were heading home the next morning we decided to try to get a picture of all the cousins together. I think this one turned out best.
This was taken earlier that evening. Grandma B and Grandpa Bob with their newest grandbabies.
On Wednesday my mom took the day off work and we took the boys to Disneyland. Despite the 96 degree weather we had an awesome day at the Land of the Mouse. I think we can say the boys' first trip was a success. Disneyland gets its own post though, so more on that to come.

Thursday we recuperated from our Disneyland day. The kids were so tired and grouchy. Davin napped most of the day. That night, after the kids were in bed, Mom and I went to this place called Happy Feet. It is this Asian massage place. You go and sit on the ottoman of a recliner and soak your feet while they massage your back, shoulders, arms, and hands for 30 minutes. Then you turn around and sit in the recliner and they massage your feet and legs (up to the knee) for another 30 minutes. It felt amazing. Especially after a long day on our feet at Disneyland the day before. The best part about this pampering place is that the whole thing only costs $2o including tip!!! It will definitely be a must every time I go home now.

On Friday Mom and Dad both took the day off so we could play. We went to Irvine Regional Park. They have a cute little train the runs around the park. It was surprisingly crowded, even though we got there by 11am. Oh well, such is the life in southern California. Weston still wasn't completely recovered from Disneyland and was being a grouch, so we had to have a little chat about being happy and appreciative. He still didn't crack many smiles, but I think he did enjoy it.
The park also had a pumpkin patch and pony rides, so we did a pony ride. It was kind of cool because instead of the horses going in a little circle on that merry go round thing, you got to lead them around a little track. I do think Weston liked that. He was pretty happy when he got done riding Freddy.
Davin and I watched with Grandma B while Weston rode the horse. Dav was such a happy baby the whole time. What a trooper.
After that part of the adventure we found a spot to eat our lunch near a playground. Irvine Regional Park is also home to the Orange County Zoo, so after we ate we headed over to the little zoo. Even though it's a pretty tiny zoo, it was one of my favorite zoo experiences. The animals were mostly all out and about and it wasn't so exhausting since it was small. Anyway, here is Weston feeding the goats.
The highlight of our OC Zoo trip was the California black bears. They were both out wandering around and came right up to the fence in front of us. I'm talking literally 10 feet away. They were play fighting and everything. I have never seen bears so close like that. It was really cool.
Friday afternoon during naps I got my shopping fix in at Old Navy with my mom. There's nothing better than shopping with your mom and/or sisters. I found a lot of cute stuff and ended up getting 3 tops and a zip up sweater for myself, 3 shirts for Ian, and 2 shirts for Weston. My mom got Weston some church clothes too. So cute. Anyway, that was fun. That night we all went to my home ward's Halloween party. It seriously was a blast. It was mostly all the same people I grew up with, except our kids were running around playing. There was a chili cook-off and a pumpkin carving contest. Weston loved all the games, especially the fishing booth. He got his face painted and won a cupcake at the cake walk. His favorite, by far, though was trick or treating. He was better at it this year too. It was a fun night, so here's the Halloween preview.
Right afterwards I ran off with my sister, Julianna, to play softball. She plays on a co-ed city league team and they were a few girls short, so I subbed in. It was tons of fun even though we are horrible. Here we are screwing around in the dugout.
By Saturday we were all wiped out, so we stuck close to home. First thing in the morning Weston and I ran a couple errands including getting donuts for the cat. I went to the donut shop we always go to that is between our church building and my old high school. I went to pay and found out they only take cash. I was $1.50 short. I was going to just leave the donuts, go get some cash and come back, but the lady was like, "Oh, you can just pay it next time." I was so amazed. Nobody does that anymore. It felt so small town. Needless to say my dad went back later that day and paid my tab. :) Anyway, Weston picked the twisty donut that didn't really go on the cat. We improvised.
Grandma B and Weston made this spooky pirate ship while I was showering and getting ready for the day. It was a lot of work, but Weston had a good attention span and helped out a lot.
A little later in the morning Grandpa Bob had a wood building project to do with Weston. It was so cute watching him work with my dad in his little Home Depot apron and a huge hammer. Weston thought it was so cool that he was building something. He kept saying, "We're building a truck." in his important voice.
Here's the finished product. We will work on painting it here at home. Maybe Daddy can help him do that part. He loves the truck and has been playing with it at home since we got back.
After naps we went over to the little local park and my friend, Paige, did a little photo shoot with me and the boys. The pics turned out great. I will post some soon. It was so hot the whole time we were there, so after the park we hopped in "Grandma B's pool" (aka the spa turned down to 95 degrees). That night after bedtime Mom and I finished watching Hello Dolly and got Golden Spoon. I packed up and after an hour and a half flight delay (while sitting on the airplane on the tarmac) we made it home yesterday.

We are back to the daily grind . . . cleaning, feeding, storytime, sleeping in our own beds, cooking, swimming, etc. If you made it through this post I really am impressed. Sorry it was so long, but we had such a jam packed, fun filled trip I didn't feel like I could leave anything out. Yahoo for California. I am already looking forward to our next trip out.