Goodnight Moon

The Super Moon was this past weekend and it was beautiful.

The kids were in bed and it was a beautiful night so I sat out on the porch waiting for the moon to come over the mountain.

This is the picture I took with some post processing in Photoshop.

What do you think?

Sand Hollow and a Mission Call

Last spring we had such a blast going to Sand Hollow State Park that we decided to go again this year. 
We had a very long day getting down there, between all the potty stops, blown tire on the trailer, getting blown tire replaced, stop for lunch, etc.  It just seemed like we were never going to get down there.  But we finally made it and Paul found us a great spot on the beach next to the water.
That first evening (Friday May 31) it was quite windy but we played any way.
Saturday was awesome playing in the water, rides in Pouncy the Prowler and the kids playing with the cousins.  It was a wonderful day.
Sunday we relaxed and took our time packing up, then headed to my brother John's home to watch my niece open her mission call.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Trey making sure dad gets some work done.

Sand boy

Saturday morning we watched Stand Up Paddle Board races

Trey's turn in the Kayak

He did ok this way, but he really liked it when laying down in Brett or Ellie's Kayak and just relaxing and floating around.

Ugh, farmers tan and I'm not even a farmer!

Uncle John helping to bury Brett in the sand

 

"I hope they call me on a mission"

Chicago, IL Spanish Speaking

 

One happy family, but they are sure going to miss Allyse when she goes!

 

 

Look who's riding a bike with no training wheels!

So a month or two ago Paul took the training wheels off the bike for Ellie so she could start practicing.  She tried hard but her balance just wasn't there yet.  So with life and craziness we just hadn't gotten her back on it for awhile then on May 29th she asked me to help her ride her bike.  OK, let's go!
I helped her get the initial start but then she just took off.  It totally surprised me.  And I think it surprised her too.  The look on her face, she was so happy that she had accomplished this.  She picked up on the starting by herself, slowing down and stopping, and turning.  Another kid milestone down.

Arrow of Light

It has been fun for Trey to be in Cub Scouts the last few years.  He has enjoyed going and being with the other boys.
It was close but Trey received his Webelos Badge and Arrow of Light before he turned 11.  Here are a few pictures from the night.

 

 



Yep I'm wearing a scout shirt.  I have been one of the wolves den leaders since just a couple of months after Trey turned 8 and went into wolves.  I have stayed with the wolf den and Trey has moved on to the other dens when he had birthdays.  He likes to be places without mom.

 



Preschool Graduation

The first of Ellie's many graduations in her life was held May 17th.  (really, how many graduations do these kids have these days?  TOO MANY!)  But I guess it is ok cause they are so cute.

Ellie had a wonderful teacher this year, Ms. Jackie.  She runs The Raspberry Sawhorse Preschool.  Wonderful teacher, wonderful year.  Ellie really enjoyed being there.

Here are some pictures.

There my little girl goes growing up, when I have told her not to.  In August she starts Kindergarten.

Ellie's Dance Recital

Ellie loves to dance.  But when I signed her up for dance lessons at first I don't think she liked the fact that the teacher was teaching her how and telling her what to dance rather than Ellie just doing what she wanted.
She came around quickly and by the time the competition in April came around I could see that Ellie knew her dance better and she loved to be in front of an audience.  Now it was dance recital time on May 18, 2013.

Here are a few pictures from her recital.

Field Day

Field Day at the boys elementary school.

I went over to help with Trey's class but ended up taking some pictures.  Trey's class joined with the first, second and third graders in the games they were playing.

volleyball

Limbo

Racing around cones

Brett starting his obstacle coarse

Go Brett!

We finally broke down and went . . . .

to Disneyland. 

So we have deliberately waited this long to go to Disneyland.  One, we didn't want to take toddlers.  Two, we wanted them to maybe remember bits and pieces of it.  Three, ugh, Disneyland.  Four, how was Trey going to do with it?

We timed it just right where the park wasn't too busy and where my wonderful niece could skip out on some school and come help us with the kids.  We knew that Trey wasn't going to get to go on a whole lot of rides so someone who need to stay with him.  We also knew that Brett and Ellie wouldn't ride alone on rides so that meant three adults, three kids.  It turned out great and Allyse was such a wonderful help and she taught Brett so many cool things in MineCraft while traveling in the van.

This was a total surprise to the kids, which frankly I'm surprised no one spilled the beans because some people in the ward and neighborhood knew that we were going and many of my family knew.  It all worked out.

Brett didn't even ask any questions when he saw me bring two big suitcases up stairs into my room and stacks of everyone's clothes around. 

So we told the kids we were going to Allyse's Graduation Luncheon Saturday morning.  (BTW, Allyse totally rocks, she graduated with a BS from SUU before she graduated from high school!  I could go on and on about how awesome she is.)

At the luncheon Paul told the kids we are so close to Vegas we might as well go spend the night there.  Oh and ask Allyse if she would like to come with us.

Next morning in Vegas Paul tells them we are close to L.A. (which I don't really think they knew what L.A. was) so we are going to drive there and check it out.  But first let's drive out to Hoover Dam.  The place where the US government was keeping Megatron frozen and the cube locked away. :)

 

 

Then we stopped in Baker, CA  for some strawberry milk shakes.

 

Trey at the tallest thermometer in the world.

 

 

From Baker, CA we had quite the adventure with heavy traffic, slow traffic, off interstate scenic route, helping someone else change a flat tire, very long dirt road, and back on the interstate.  That was fun!

 

We get into L.A. and the kids still have no idea.  As I like back I don't think that Brett or Ellie really knew where Disneyland was.  They have heard of it from friends, commercials, etc. but the location isn't really something that kids these ages understand.



Ellie in the lobby of the hotel with the Disneyland sign right there and she didn't even notice it.

The next morning we told the kids we where going to drive around and see what we could find.  As we got a little closer to the parking area I started dropping hints but they still didn't get it.

We are all on the tram from parking to the gates and they still don't know.



Not until Brett heard the recorded voice on the tram say a couple of times "Welcome to Disneyland" did he start to put it together, then I finally had to say "Guys, we're at Disneyland!"

Pretty cool to see the Iron Man suits

Riding the carousel

Riding the train

"My wheels are cooler!"

 

The Pixar parade

The Pixar parade

Trey loving the Buzz Light Year ride 

One Cool Dude

If only all that treasure was real

Trey meeting Donald Duck while stretching out in First Aid.

 

 

So all in all it was a good trip.  We did the three day park hopper which was perfect for us.  Disneyland one day, California Adventure the second day, then the third day was what we didn't see in Disneyland then the afternoon to hit our favorite rides again.  We left the park when the kids were done and so no meltdowns in that area!  The third day got to be a bit too much for Trey boy.  He was done with the stimulation, the being in his chair all day, and not being in his own bed at home.  He was a trooper though.

 

Well, we can mark it off the list now.  Thank goodness!  Don't get me wrong, we had a good time and I'm glad we went but honestly I think the family had a better time in San Diego in 2010.  Now the kids can say that they've been.  Now Paul and I can say that we've been and made it through with the kids!

 

Thanks again to Allyse for coming with us and helping out.