Good Times - Spring Break Style

Father and son Costco trip . . . like father like son.

We met Jen and Jer's new baby boy!  and we want one now too.

(I love Livvy there in the back)

He is seriously a beautiful, sweet baby! 

It was a long, hard road to get him, but he's happy and in the right place now.  

Some of our favorites came to town - the Robbins.  It was an epic night . . . not only because we got to see these good friends, but because Jenny taught me that my car has an automatic start!  I was so excited . . . yet to use it, but I am excited.  There will be ONE bright spot this winter.



The kids had a sleep over at Banna and Branda's.  They made these beauties that we finally had to get rid of when the sugar squares started disappearing one at a time.  And the neighbor moms were asking why their kids were getting sugar squares from our house . . .

We had a little girl's day out with Sarah, Heather and Savannah  . . . such cute, mature girls. 

Late night with Kate and Bella and I took the girls to a "good, old fashion" video rental store.  We couldn't find anything we were looking for and we returned it late since the only store is 20 min away . . . but we've all experienced Blockbuster now.  I can't believe that's already a thing of the past. 

We got to spend a night with the Days!  Our Utah State/Ansen's mission friends.  Granted they have a fun house but the kids all connected instantly and we didn't hear from them the whole night, so we got to catch up with Ryan and Amanda. 

Here's cute little Logan and Drew holding Amanda's pre-school's Guinea pigs (phone pictures).  We appropriately had Drew wear his USU shirt.

Drew wants to go back to the house with "those funny guys that he held and they pooped."  

And the last of California

We moved onto a day at Disney.  We had to mentally prepare for a ONE day excursion, which I thought was going to be the biggest let down ever.  But it wasn't so bad and it was a ton of fun.   

(thank goodness we put those ears to use again)

-phone pictures ahead-

Last Fall when we were there, Indiana Jones was closed so this was Olivia's first time.  Her face says it all . . . but then she went 5 more times and loved it.

And Drew was really into Jack Skellington, so I found him a store and he went straight for the Sally doll . . . "Mom, look at her beautiful red hair."

We didn't buy park hoppers this time so no Ariel ride, which was a huge disappointment for Drew.  BUT we found this Ariel in It's a Small World.

And it made Drew's day. 

We were dog tired some days, but we made it. 

We left Disney and headed straight for Vegas where the hotels were cheaper.  We got some morning swimming in.



Went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for Ansen (and lunch).

Drew made these glasses and stayed pretty committed to them for awhile.

And then onto what we came for . . . really expensive, colored M&Ms.

My Dad was there for a Conference so we also managed to see him for a bit and stop by the coke store.  Now, we can say we've been to Vegas.

And thennnn, we headed home. We stopped by Swigs in St George, I drove with my dirty Diet Coke and Surius 80's and 90's radio.  I was totally down with OPP.

And some more . . . California

We stopped by the San Diego Temple.

(Drew was thrilled about the 100+ pictures we were taking.  Luckily he had that box of cereal he stole from the hotel breakfast).

It was beautiful and not a cloud in the sky.  

Ansen is our hotel genius.  He did a number of different audits in San Diego over the years and kept us accommodated in cheap, nice hotels with made to order breakfasts.

We went back for performance number 2.  

This is the new cheer leading pose Drew picked up. 

More ice-cream and then back for awards. 

Julie found us somewhere to eat that Ansen and Cody would feel comfortable at.

We ate there twice. 

We met the Freadrich's (who used to live in Utah) for Mexican on Coronado Island where Julie and I bought $6 sodas in the lobby . . . no refills.  After a little complaining about the misunderstanding he refilled our cups with another 1/2 can of soda each . . . great. 

California

Addison's cheerleading "forced" us to California for a competition, so we made a vacation out of it. 

We stopped and spent the night at Lyndsey and Ryan's house in Vegas.  Even though we got there late she let her kids stay up late so we got to see everyone.  Then the next morning got everyone fed and out the door.

 . . . with only a picture of cute Annie.

We got back on the road and made it to San Diego in time to head straight for practice.  There was just no complaining sitting outside in that weather, by the ocean with the palm trees . . . even if we were practicing (and "we" is used loosely here).

We went to Hard Rock for dinner with the other two families from our neighborhood.  And though the music was loud, the service was slow and the food was expensive . . .

the kids had a full on dance party with the waiters and waitresses, got applause from everyone and sang as loud as they could all night . . . One direction, Justin Beiber, Carley Rae Jepson, Black Eyed Peas . . . it just kept coming. 



We found some Ghirardelli ice-cream on our walk back to the car and made our first ice-cream stop.

We went to the San Diego Zoo and believe it or not . . . we were there at opening . . . on time . . . us. 

 We "only" had 6 hours and we weren't sure we'd get through all of it.  4 hours into the hills and the heat we were sure we would get to see enough by the time it was time to leave. 

We went back for Addison's first performance and then headed to Coranado Beach . . . "to play in the sand for a bit."

And maybe get our feet a litte wet.  

 But the Chipmans came over to hang out with us and it wasn't long until they were swimming in their clothes.

It was definitely not warm enough to comfortably swim (and then walk around in those wet clothes) but we were at the BEACH for goodness sakes!

We dusted them off, took their clothes off and made them drive home naked.  Well we did, the Chipmans kept their clothes on with blankets.

Ansen stayed up and did laundry until 1:00 in the morning with all those wet clothes and sandy towels.   

Easter 2013

If this isn't the scariest easter bunny ever . . . I'm not sure what is.  He made these ears at pre-school and thought it was a requirement to wear them for pretty much the entire week leading up to Easter.  The googles . . . they were just extra.

 And thankfully, my wonderful Mom saved us on Easter dresses this year that turned out darling. 

Big plans, but never enough time . . . they would have all been wearing black for Easter Sunday . . . like the last cute winter skirts she made.

And this was the year . . .

Liv:  Is the Easter Bunny real?

Me:  What do you think?

Liv:  I think he's not real.

Me:  Hmmm, is that what you think?

Liv:  Yes, I'm sure.

Me:  Can you think of anyone in our family that might not know that yet?

Liv:  Addison.

Me:  Anyone else?

Liv:  No.

Me:  Drew, where did you get that Jake puzzle?

Drew:  The Easter Bunny!!

Liv: Ooooh. Yes, Drew, the Easter Bunny gave that to you.

Another one bites the dust.  

The Easter Bunny came a bit early and all our chocolate was melted so we had to stick everything in the freezer before we opened it all. 

Happy Easter!