Projects, Projects, Projects

I'm really hating projects these days! Really, must each child have one every month??? Charley was assigned a science project this year. This is her first one and as we were shooting around ideas a few weeks ago, Ronny mentioned he had never done a science project. Well really, you can't say that and not expect me to pass the buck! So Ronny was given the task of helping Charley with this one.

Ronny talked Charley into doing her science project on chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough ice cream. Their question was, "Can you tell the difference between home made chocolate chip cookies and cookies made from cookie dough ice cream?" They were both very excited!
They bought 3 brands of ice cream and the three of us sorted through the ice cream and pulled out all the cookie dough. (Yummy, NOT!) We discovered there really isn't much cookie dough in the ice cream, only enough to make 3 cookies. We then made 3 batches of cc cookies from different recipes. We invited my sister and her husband up to be the taste testers with my Dad.

In the end the project turned out great and the two had a fun time putting it together. Unfortunately she had to start on her next project the following day that was due in the same week. Can we just choose to opt out???

Ben Turns 4

Earlier this month Ben turned 4 years old. Can you believe it???? Where has that time gone? We opted for a low key celebration after our California adventure. Just cake and ice cream at home with Grandma and Dex. He also called his friend Darin in Oregon and had a nice little chat (as much as a 4 year old can). We gave Ben a new bike helmet and we are now working on learning to ride a big boy bike. The other kids were racing at this point so we are a little behind with Ben but he is getting there. Ben has mixed feeling about turning 4. He says he wants to stay 3 because when you get big you have to do more chores and get in trouble. I thought that was hilarious, he has life figured out already.

Nana's House

Our trip to Nana's house this year started off with Sam informing me that this no longer was family vacation because Ronny was no longer with us. I laughed and agreed with him and then told him he could call his Dad and let him know of his disappointment. We arrived late Wednesday night just in time for the kids to scurry around the house for about an hour and then head to bed.
Trips to Nana's house always include: A trip to the shoestore (this time of year we look for Salt Water Sandals, a staple for our summers.).
Playing in the Mud: (its always better when she lets us take our pants off!) Sam asked Papa for a shovel. Papa asked him why he needed one, Sam looked back and said, "for digging Papa!" Why else would you need a shovel?

And of course, a trip to the Book Store:

We threw in a few more things like a baby shower for Aunt Deborah, a mission farewell for cousin Emily (we all got to sing in sacrament meeting, it was awesome!), and fire building and dutch oven cooking with Papa. Joseph and Papa also made a checker board and checkers out in the shop. (This was their "project" for this trip.) Papa also gave Joseph his first checker lesson. Good Times!

Guest of the Day

So our final day of Disney fun started with taking Dad to the airport to fly back to work. We dropped him off, headed back to the hotel to pack up and get something to eat, then headed back for our final day of adventure. As we pulled up to the parking attendant to pay our toll another gentlemen stepped in front and told us we had been picked as the "Guest of the Day" and asked us to follow his little white SUV. He also told me that we would not be charged for parking that day (sweet!). We followed his little white car directly out of the parking garage and out where the trams are parked. He stopped and moved the cones out of the very first parking space next to where the trams pick up and motioned for us to pull in. He then came up to our car and placed a special flyer on the dash and a yellow ribbon under the wipers. He then shook my hand and told us we were randomly selected to be the "Guest of the Day", asked us where we were from so he could put it in his records, and told us if we wanted to leave and come back we would once again be escorted out to "our spot", and then told us to have a magical day. (We did!)

I then got the kids out and started herding them towards the trams when another gentlemen stepped forward and told us he would be driving us in. He escorted us to his van and drove us straight to the entrance. The kids were very confused and kept asking what was happening. We entered the park and headed to the favorite ride of each child.

Sam wanted to try to get picked for the Jedi training so we headed over to fantasy land and waited for the next show. Just as they were setting up rain drops started to fall so they canceled the show but brought the characters out so the kids could take pictures with them. They loved it and we wouldn't have gotten such great pictures had that not happened. We headed out to another ride and came back for the next show. This time the show went on and both Sam and Joseph were picked to participate. Afterward Joseph told me it was too bad Dad went home because, "today is all about the magic!" as he put it.We went on a few more rides, had lunch, then decided we needed to head to Nana's house soon. On the way out I had the kids silhouettes done which came out great. That women is amazing! (If you go, step into her shop on main street and just watch her do someone.) She is talented!







We left in the afternoon to avoid LA traffic and headed to Turlock for the next portion of our CA trip. We had a great few days at the Disney Resort and look forward to another adventure sometime in the future. We'll have to save up though. This trip we managed to go 3 days for the price of one, I don't know if we'll ever top that. We'll have to see what next year's advertising special will be.

California Adventure

Tuesday marked our trip to CA Adventure. I had taken Charley once before but she was too young to remember anything. We started our day with the Soarin' over California ride (name?) I really liked all the aviation history and pictures that are there for you to look at while waiting in line. I was able to tell the kids stories about my grandfather and his job working with those early airline companies.

Our kids favorite ride was the new Toy Story Mania ride/game. Ronny and I loved the California Screamin' roller-coaster. The only child who wanted to ride that was Sam and he was too short. He cried when he couldn't ride on it. Ronny took Sam on the Tower of Terror to make up for it while the rest of the kids and I headed over to the Bug's Life kiddy rides. We also went to the 3-D show they have, I DO NOT recommend this. It gave my kids nightmares. Ronny took everyone but Joseph on the Ferris wheel while Joseph and I happily stayed on the ground and waved. Ronny admits that for a little while he was sick for a few minutes, Ferris wheels are not my favorite.

This park closed at 6 and we were done. There really isn't a lot to do there yet. We ended the day by doing our Disney shopping in the Downtown Disney stores. The kids had been saving their pennies and soon found out that they didn't go as far as they had hoped so Ronny and I pitched in to help them out.

We headed over to Mimi's Cafe for dinner and had the best waitress ever. The restaurant was very busy but this waitress made it feel like we were here only patrons. While finishing up she brought out boxes with their specialty bread and brand new chocolate milks for the kids in travel cups and boxed up their little pudding desserts with plastic silverware to eat back at the hotel. She made the day complete and while walking out we all gave her a big hug and told her thanks. (We gave here a huge tip as she was amazing!)

Disney Mania Day One

Our Disney adventure started early Monday morning waiting in line in the parking garage after we realized the park didn't open until 10:00 and us getting there at 9:30 thinking we were running late.

We hit the park running and made our way over to Pirates of the Carribean and then to Splash Mountain. Joseph quickly decided he was not liking the roller coasters, Sam loving them, and Ben and Charley just along for the ride. Watching and listening to Sam and Ben's reactions to everything were so funny and priceless. While walking off Star Tours Ben looked at me with a worried face and asked, "Mom, how are we going to make it back to Earth, aren't we still on Endor?" Then as we were getting on Space Mountain Ben asked again, "Are we going to blast off?" The first day we made Joseph go on all the roller coasters much to his dismay. He complained and hid his face all day, Sam on the other hand couldn't get enough and wanted to go back for more. Ben even had his hands raised on Thunder Mountain while Joseph cried, "HOLD ON TO ME DAD!" Joseph enjoyed rides like Buzz Lightyear Blasters, Star Tours, the Submarine, and the Teacups. We have so many great pictures that I'll have to do a slide show at the end of all the posts.

For the first time ever at Disneyland I did not see anyone I knew. We did however meet people from Oregon and fellow C track families from the Jordan School District. We had a great time and ended the night at Denny's with hot chocolate and a brownie sundae across the street from our hotel. Ben was out before we even got to Denny's and the rest of the kids were asleep within seconds of hitting their pillows dreaming about the next days adventures.

California Dreamin

As the snow began to fall we headed South to warmer weather. We started our visit with my Aunt and Uncle in St. George a day early as a winter storm headed in. The kids could not get enough of their dog and loved the time there. Ronny and I had a good visit with my relatives (so sad to have missed Skyle though). Charley however had a hard time with the cat and was happy to get some much needed allergy medicine (I forgot about the cat, oops!). The next morning we stopped over at my Grandmother's house for a few minutes. I say few because that's all the boys could handle, they were ready for the sun down South!

We made it to Anaheim and checked into our hotel Saturday afternoon and headed over to Irvine to visit some good friends from college. It was even warm enough for a swim so the the kids took a dip in the pool with their friends. (I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of our time there.) The next day we headed to church with them and I for the first time had to answer the question, "Where are you visiting from" as Utah. I don't know why that was so hard for me. Go figure. After church we headed just down the road to visit Uncle James, Aunt Anjanette, and baby Jackson. We had fun at the park and a yummy dinner! So much fun and some much needed R&R especially with the Disney mania starting the next day! Had we had one more day we would have visited my great cousins in LA. We will have to catch them next time!