The Orange County Great Park?

Let's just say it's less than great. I wanted to get together with some old friends, so I tried to plan a fun picnic at a park for Thursday evening. I was looking for a location somewhat in the middle of us all and came up with the OC Great Park. I had no idea it was not much of a park. We drove around and around what looked like a municipal airport until we finally found an entrance that would lead us to the finished part of the park, which was not much. There was a small play area with some tables and some grass, but that's about it. We ended up taking our party to a restaurant for dinner rather than picnicking at the lame, starting-to-get-dark, chilly park. Sorry for the not as well-planned as I thought evening. It ended up being a fun visit with Pam and Amanda though. The kids all got along well and Ian was a good sport about being the only man around.
The whole park area had all these signs about why it was (or would eventually be) an awesome, eco-friendly park. Ian said it reminded him of Arrested Development with the one model home and then nothing for miles around. :) It seemed like it was just a giant PR scam to me. I'll be interested to see if it ever develops into what it's planned to be.
Davin and Piper. Too cute two year olds!
All the kiddos. Weston, James, Piper, and Davin. They had a lot of fun playing together.
Weston in front of the giant orange tethered helium balloon that you can ride in. Sometimes. When it's not too windy.
Pam (with baby boy coming in February), Amanda, and me. We had a great time visiting and catching up. Miss you ladies!
It was our last night at my parent's house, so we went home and had Golden Spoon and watched a movie while I sorted through all the baby girl clothes Joy had sent home with me.

Friday morning we got ready, packed up the car, and drove down to San Diego. We met up with Ian's parent's and Aly and Ryan for lunch after checking into our hotel. Later that afternoon we swam in the pool then got dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town. It was fun to wander around all the Old Town shops and listen to the live music playing.
Saturday morning was the big wedding! Garrett and Erin had a beautiful wedding. It was all at the hotel. The ceremony (which was super short and sweet) was outside in the courtyard near the pool, then the reception was in one of the ballrooms. While we were getting ready that morning, Ian's parents convinced us to stay an extra night at the hotel so we wouldn't have to rush off after the wedding. It was nice not worrying about the time and just enjoying the reception and visiting with all the family. We saw a lot of people we hadn't seen since Mike and Jenn's wedding back in 2004, so that was nice. Davin was more than ready for a nap by the time they cut the cake around 3pm, so I went and rested with him in our room while Ian and Weston watched the BYU game with his parents in their room. Later we all ended up eating at In N Out and saying our good-byes.
We drove straight home Sunday. It took us about 12 hours from San Diego. We made it with only 3 stops again, but we were all much more tired and less enthusiastic than on the way to CA. :) This was the first time that Weston requested we move to California after a trip there. I can't argue . . . it would be fun.

Disneyland!

Every kid loves Disneyland, right? Well, I do too. I was so excited to go with the boys on this trip. Unfortunately we had kind of blah California weather. It rained a lot. I was hopeful that our Disneyland day wouldn't get rained on, but alas, as we left the house it was pouring. I resigned us to getting wet and planned on still enjoying the day. We were armed with ponchos and jackets and close toed shoes. :) It actually wasn't too bad. We did get rained on a little in the morning, but we were mostly in covered lines, so we didn't get too soaked. The rain cleared up completely by lunch time and we had nice, cool, somewhat sunny weather the rest of the day. My hair was a complete loss though. Oh well. It was a fabulous day. I wasn't sure how long the boys would last. In the past they have never made it past 4-5pm-ish. I told Weston at lunch that as long as everyone was happy and having fun we could stay until bed time when the park closed at 8pm. That seemed to sink in and he did great. Dav caught a little nap in the stroller in the late afternoon and managed to be happy the whole time too, so we stayed the entire day!
We started the rainy morning in Fantasy Land. I have never seen the Dumbo ride's line so short, so that was our first stop. Next up was Peter Pan. It poured while we waited for/went on Peter Pan . . . and I forgot to cover the stroller. Whoops. At least we didn't get too wet. Next we ran over to the carousel. It was a big hit. We walked over to the Nemo ride next. We had never done that one before. The line was mostly covered and by the time we got off it the rain was done. Also we loved the Nemo ride. I really thought it was cool! And Davin's face was priceless. I also liked the break for my feet. The worker we talked to later that night when we rode it again said that it is 18 minutes from load to unload. It sure doesn't feel quite that long, but I'll take her word for it.
Just as we were getting off the Nemo ride the Star Wars characters were getting set up for a photo op. The Jedi Training show was cancelled because of the rain, but instead we got to take pictures with all the cool Star Wars guys. You have no idea how exciting this was. For everyone. It's like seeing the princesses but for boys, and with a shorter line. :) BTW the posing with Darth Maul was all Weston's idea.
After seeing the Star Wars guys we walked around the corner to the Buzz Lightyear ride. Another priceless Davin face was when he saw the big talking Buzz during the line. He loved shooting the Zurg. It was probably his favorite part of the day. By this time it was about noon and we were hungry. We went to a great little cafe near Pirates and got clam chowder in bread bowls for us and mac and cheese with grapes for the kiddos. It was a perfect soup in a bread bowl day. Mmm. That gave us a chance to sit and re-group too. Next we walked onto Pirates, which Weston really liked this time around. Especially the big, long tummy tickle (aka that first big drop).
On our way to the Nemo ride earlier in the day we had stopped and measured Weston to see if he was big enough to go on the Matterhorn. He was! He had no idea what kind of ride the Matterhorn was, but since he was big enough he was dying to go on it, so after Pirates we headed back that direction. Ian took Weston on the Matterhorn while Mom and I took Dav on It's a Small World. Davin actually really loved Small World. He kept saying "Wook! Wook!" and pointing at everything. Weston was less thrilled with Matterhorn. I think it was a little fast and scary for him, but he was brave about it.
We had never taken the kids to Toon Town, so that was next on our list. It was a success! We didn't bother with the little roller coaster with the long line. Instead we just explored the characters' houses. We played in Goofy's house and yard, then wandered into Mickey's house. Just after we walked in, so did Minnie! So we grabbed a quick picture then kept wandering through the house. I didn't realize that Mickey's house ended with seeing Mickey, but that was a nice perk. We waited in the 20 minute line without any problems. They are genius and show a cute film in the line of classic Mickey trailers with Donald and Goofy running the projector and commentating. The kids were riveted and didn't mind the wait at all. Our Mickey pictures didn't turn out too great, but Davin sure was in awe of the real Mickey. Adorable.
We finished up Toon Town with Minnie's house and Chip and Dale's treehouse. By this time the sun was out and we were warming up. The Alice in Wonderland ride had re-opened so we headed there next. That was another one we had never done, but we recently got the movie from the library and so we wanted to do the ride this time since the movie was fresh in our heads. Another first was Autopia, which we did next. The kids liked it, but Weston was a little upset when he got off and the Jedi Training show was half over. I didn't realize that they had started doing them again, but I was sitting right there when it started. We stayed and watched the end of it, then walked toward Main Street. After a pit stop at the Baby Center (Disneyland just thinks of everything!) we went to the Silhouette Shop to do Davin's official Disneyland silhouette. Now I just need a place to hang them!

We wanted to get to California Adventure in time for the Pixar parade, so we walked across to the other park. Davin fell asleep during the walk, so Grandma took him with her and staked out a great bench for us while Ian and I took Weston on the Monsters Inc. ride. We killed a little more time before the parade in the Bug's Life land, but we only went on the Heimlich train, which was pretty lame. Weston wanted to go on the bumper bugs, but he was too young to ride by himself and I was too pregnant to take him. Luckily Daddy said he would take him after the parade.

The Pixar parade was SO great! Only about 20 minutes long and it had all the boys' favorite characters in it. Boo from Monster's Inc. and Mr. Potato Head both paid the boys a close up visit. They loved it. Davin's face when he saw the robot from Incredible's was hilarious. He couldn't believe it was there in front of him. Seriously, Disneyland with kids is so magical.
While we were in California Adventure Ian really wanted to go on California Screamin'. Well, I am definitely too pregnant for that one, but he convinced Mom to go with him. I took the kids on the Little Mermaid carousel 4 times while they rode. Good thing my kids are easily entertained with the carousel. Turns out Mom loved the roller coaster and declared it her favorite ride.
It was getting dark, but we weren't done being happy and having fun, so we walked back to Disneyland and let the kids pick the last couple rides. We went on Buzz again, then they picked Nemo again as their last ride. It was right about then that they hit their wall and started to break down. Good thing it was the end of the day. After Nemo we walked back to the tram, then the car. Mom and I were practically limping because our feet were so sore and tired, but we made it and really had such a great time. A big thanks to Mom for coming with us and helping out so much! We all can't wait until our next Disneyland trip!

I'm Back!

Wow. That was a long blogging absence! We had a long trip too. It was so much fun! Be prepared for the next few posts being all about our visit to California.

We left on October 1st. It seems like forever ago. Ian was able to take half of Friday off, so we decided to just drive straight through and get there late. We left at 2pm-ish, only had to stop 3 times, and arrived at my parent's house around 11:30pm that night. It was a long drive, but the kids were great, and we really just sailed down I-15.
Saturday we watched Conference and relaxed. Mom and I went and got pedicures in between sessions, which was really fun. The Henshaw's arrived during the afternoon session too. I will have to go back and read the talks from that whole session since I was pretty distracted. During the Priesthood session we took all the kiddos to McDonald's for dinner and some play time. They loved it and we got to visit. When we got back Auntie Joy had a fun surprise for all the kids . . . new Disney PJ's! They were so excited and put them right on. It was seriously the cutest. Davin and Rachel are both really into Toy Story and Buzz, so they got Buzz jammies. :) Those two year olds sure are adorable! The boys got sushi after the session then Jim and Ian went and saw Inception. We got Golden Spoon and kept up the girl talk until way too late.
Sunday was yummy Conference breakfast: souffle, fruit, donuts, and milk. The sessions were really nice too. I enjoyed all the talks and the kids enjoyed their cousin time. Sunday evening G&G Olson, Grandma Snowball, and Aunt Joyce, Uncle Rich, and Lance came over for a birthday dinner. We celebrated Grandpa Olson and Jules' birthdays with homemade ice cream (SO good) and marble cake. It's always good to see everyone. By Sunday night the kiddos were pretty exhausted so it was an early to bed kind of night. They had a big cousin sleepover in the grandkids' room. :)
Monday morning we all got up and got dressed and drove out to the Henshaw's place in Port Hueneme. It was supposed to be beach day, but the weather was cold and rainy. The drive out was long with lots of traffic and we were feeling a little concerned for the fate of the day, but when we got to Jim and Joy's the weather was still cloudy, but not raining and not freezing cold. We decided to brave the beach after all. I'm SO glad we did. We had such a blast. The sun even came out for a little while! My boys were all about playing in the sand and collecting shells and rocks. Joy's girls wanted to play in the water. I don't think Weston even put his toes in. He's funny like that. In his defense it was pretty cold. Joy and I got to kick back on the sand and talk. I love getting to do that.

We were excited to get to see where the Henshaw's live! I had been there once before when Weston was just a few months old, but Weston thought it was cool too see his cousin's room and play with their toys. They even sat down and watched the new Tinkerbell movie with him. Later the Henshaw's took us out for pizza at this cool place right on the water. Did I mention they live about 5 minutes from the beach? We were a little jealous. I had to get my CA donut fix, so we went to Spudnuts for dessert. Mmm it was so good. I wish I could have brought a dozen home and frozen them for later, but they would not have survived the rest of the trip. :) Thanks to the Henshaw's for hosting such a fun day in their neck of the woods!
Tuesday was kind of a down day. We didn't try to do too much. After lunch we went to the nickelcade with Jules and her friend, Randy. Weston was all about getting tickets and buying little toys with them. Davin just wanted to play the games that launched balls and then he just wanted candy with his tickets. :) I got a few games of skeeball in and Ian got to play some Propcycle (his favorite!), so I would say it was a successful outing all around.

That afternoon I went to SCCC (the private children's chorus my mom directs) with Mom. Her Christmas repertoire with her choir is all the songs I grew up singing with my family, so I helped her kids with running through parts on the songs I knew. I left rehearsal a little early and went to get my hair done by a friend who is in hair school near the rehearsal. I got blonde highlights and a cut. I love it! Mom was a trooper and waited the extra couple of hours at the hair school while my hair was being done and then we went to BJ's for some potato skins and pizookie. It was a pretty late night, but I had a good time. Stay tuned for a post all about our day at Disneyland!