Lake Powell 2013 - yes, last year

Before we get to Lake Powell 2014, I have to catch up with Lake Powell 2013 . . . 

Lake Powell 2013 (less Ansen for this picture)

Addie learned to ski.  She tried her little heart out with such a good attitude! 

And a little theme for this year was goggles . . . 

We were all into goggles this year and after it was said and done, I think we only came home with 1 or 2. 

 The rest of them are at the bottom of Lake Powell with my swim shorts from 2005.

RIP - all of those goggles and my blue shorts

Lake Powell really is incredible!  

There is nothing at all like it and pictures will never do it justice.

The real go-getters went fishing while the rest of us slept in. 

I love this little toothless smile (and Lisa's big toothy smile).

And another picture of that toothless smile since it's all just teeth now.

And on our last morning we stayed close to relax and . . . 

we talked Branda into tubing for a little while.  

Espana!

Jeff got home in October from his mission to Spain.  The plan had been to go with him and my parents back for a visit, but then when we started building a house we decided to scrap it. 

 

But then we realized we couldn't and we had to go.  So we did. 

 

First off the 13 hour plane ride was heavenly.  Not so much the 45 minutes of sleep the night before, but the flight was an amazing start.  I slept, I watched TV and movies, I read books . . . I got to do whatever I wanted, with no kids . . . and to top it off someone brought me diet cokes the whole time. 

 

The trip was off to a good start. 

 

We had a day on our own before we met up with Mom, Dad and Jeff.   My mom had tried to prep us on how to NOT look like tourists.  About 2 hours into our journey to the hotel we were failing miserably. 

 

 

The tallness of us, the bright colored stripes we were both wearing and then dragging luggage through the grass was a huge give away.  

 

The deal was that Ansen would quietly trust me and I would get us to the hotel.  And I did it . . . and he did too. 

 

After a nap, we headed to The Rambles to take a little looksie and to the Carrefor for some essentials . . .

 

And then we had to go somewhere easy for dinner . . . so we went with Hard Rock Cafe on The Rambles. 

 

Some Gelato and then back to the hotel.  Lisa taught us a little rule about travel.  Everyday deserves a Gelato . . . and we went with it. 

Girls Trip

The California Cheer Competition was a girls trip this year . . . and we lived it up since it seems so cheap to only be paying for 3 people :)

 

Road Trip down with Julie and Lexi

 

Swig closed like 10 minutes before we got there so we had to drive to the other side of town to Dutchman's for pink cookies and coke.  But it was well worth our time when they voluntarily put more frosting on our cookies.
 

Then we hit up Vegas.  And by "hit up" Vegas I mean that we checked in late, we took a closely supervised walk to the pool and around a little, and then we got up and left by 6 am.  Just livin' it up really.

 

We made it to Anaheim and headed right to Disney.  Where I did some quick math  -  I could save $180 if I bought yearly passes for me and the girls since we're coming back in October.  Ansen didn't answer his phone to tell me no and the purchase was made.

(It came with 10% off all purchases in Disney . . . so we really made it worth it.)

 

Saturday we had to do what we came for . . . the Cheer Competition.

 

When did she get this old?!

 

 

Olivia soaking up that California sun.

Both teams had awesome performances, I found some diet coke and all were happy. 

 

Luckily, both girls were scheduled for the morning so we were on our way back to Disney by 3:00 pm for the night.  

 

Sunday we did our second performance, took a well needed nap, hung out at the hotel and went swimming.
 

 

Olivia's team took home 4th place - I think. 
 

 

and Addie took home a close, close 2nd place.  

 

 

Once a cheerleader, everywhere a cheerleader . . .
 

We also became proficient at the Anaheim Transit System.

 

And Monday we did an open to close day at Disneyland again.

 

And though Ansen has ALWAYS wanted to do this, we did it without him and ate at the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean. It's a pricey little place and with 5 . . . it was just expensive.  HOWEVER it was sooo good and the meals were so huge we could split, so it will become a Disney "must have" for the future.

 

We drove straight home on Tuesday, tired and done, but happy.

 

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.