Family trip-part 4

Thursday was another lazy day. Little A was actually not feeling the greatest when we got back Wednesday night and ended up having a fever all day Thursday. We layed around and watched cartoons so she could feel a little better. After awhile we were a little stir crazy and decided to head out. I had found where we could go to a place called "The Chocolate Factory" and watch them make chocolates and buy some too. Well we went there and it was closed! Who is closed at 2:30 during the day? :) So no chocolate for us! We then went down into Monterey and walked around the Fisherman's Wharf and other areas of Monterey. Luckily we could carry CJ in our hiker pack while we pushed around Little A in the stroller. She was a trooper since she still wasn't feeling good.

We came across a place where you could purchase fresh fish/prawns/crabs, etc. M&M looked like she was going to hurl when we walked in due to the smell. I got a laugh from it! She immediately wanted to leave. Both the girls haven't quite got used to the different smells there are around the ocean :)

We headed back to make some dinner, and attempted to watch the sunset again. This time on the beach. Brrr, it was windy and cold so M&M didn't want to stay long. We took a few pics and went back to the room to watch a movie & head to bed!

Friday, we started our journey back. We took our time to pack up and headed out after lunch. (we ate all the leftovers for the week first!). We made a stop in Sacramento to eat dinner with one of James' missionary friends. Chevy's, yummy place! Thanks guys for joining us for dinner. We had fun catching up. We drove to Sparks, NV and stayed at a hotel to break up the drive. Here's a sweet picture of CJ displaying his hanging skillz. He held on for a good 15 seconds..tough guy!

It's great to have such a nice trip with the fam! More enjoyable than I thought it was going to be and I'm already thinking about our next one. Until then!

family trip-part 3

Tuesday we had a relaxing day. We headed to the beach mid-morning and played in the sand. It was CJ's first time actually crawling around on the beach and he loved it! Sand, seawead, sticks & even a bird feather all went (or really close) in the mouth. When he crawled around he would flip up sand into his face, which he didn't seem to mind. He cruised a bit while flipping it all over. It was funny. Little A stayed FAR away from the waves, while M&M and James played the "run away from the waves" game. I got in on the action as well. We took the video camera with us so no pics. :) After the beach we came back, had some lunch and hit the pool! Wow, it was a bit chilly. We spent the majority of the time in the hot tub (which is huge and felt like a pool) and eventually ventured into the pool. I just realized today that we took no pictures of us at the pool any of the times we went! So I had to document that we really did go swimming. We went again today and the pool was warmer so we played a lot more in it.

Wednesday, after some exercise (heh, we had to do it at least once during the week) we went down to Carmel. We drove "17-mile drive" and saw some very pretty scenery and awesome views. It's so beautiful around here! There are also some really nice houses down in this area.

(A couple sea lions playing along the beach)

CJ was sleeping in the car during this pic :)

After the drive it was time to hit Dennis the Menace Park. This was by far the coolest park and we could have spent hours here. We took a picnic for lunch and then tackled the park. The kids loved it.


When I was younger we went to Carmel beach and I remember getting there right when the sun had set and it was dark. I remember how pretty the beach was (white sand) but I couldn't see much else. So we went to check it out after the park. It's such a pretty beach with all the white, soft sand! The girls had fun building a river, a lake, & cinnamon rolls in the sand. I had reapplied sun-screen on CJ so he didn't have as much fun. He kept flipping sand by crawling and all the sand would stick to his face. He had sand everywhere.


To top the evening we hit a great place to eat. We made it there during their "island" hour and our meal was 50% off! Score! CJ had a taste of his first lemon too.

We made it back to our room to see the sunset. We stopped at Walmart and grabbed some ice cream and waffle bowls & ate it while watching the sun set. We didn't stay outside too long because it was getting breezy and cold.
The view from our back porch of our room.
We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Family trip-part 2

Monday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is such a cool place with SO much to do. We spent all day there, with taking a break for lunch at a local diner on Cannery Row. We had fun exploring jellyfish, touching starfish & other slimy things, learned about penguins, saw all kinds of fish & even sharks too! The girls loved all the interactive things they had for kids.


M&M's favorite part: playing the fish/water games they had
Little A's favorite part: seeing all the pretty jellyfish
CJ's fav: taking a nap in the stroller
James' fav: the "outer bay" area where there was a huge tank with shark, barracuda, tuna, hammerhead shark & other fish to watch.
Charise's fav: watching the fresh water seals turbo through the water.

Family trip-part 1

We're off! Our first official family trip with just the five of us. We drove first to Winnemucca, NV and stayed the night, and then drove most of the next day to Marina, California (which is by Seaside, Monterey, etc). It's beautiful here! The weather could be a little warmer, but it's sunny and really nice so we couldn't ask for better weather. The whole way down the girls were SO excited to get to California. Little A would constantly ask, "Are we in China yet?" We would correct her everytime, and 10 minutes later she would ask it again! She couldn't get it that we were going to CALIFORNIA. One time she said:

LittleA: Are we in China yet?
James: China?
LittleA: Oh, I mean Mexico.
James: Mexico? We are going to California.
LittleA: Oh yeah! California! Are we in CALIFORNIA yet?

She was pretty funny about that. On the way we stopped at a couple parks. Here we stopped in Sparks, Neveda. Close to Reno. It was a really nice park next to a little pond/lake. It was CJ's first time playing with bark/dirt. Add that to the "in the mouth" checklist!



We finally arrived to our destination and are so happy with the accommodations. A cute little place with a full kitchen, living room, 2 rooms & even a washer/dryer! It's fun to have a place like this to ourselves. Since M&M watched movies the whole drive down she asked:
Do people really live in California or just people in hotels?
Umm, I think she managed to miss all the houses we passed while driving :)

The first day was pretty chill. We found a ward to go to (which half of it was in spanish-translated) and also relaxed by walking around where we are staying. The beach access is really close and the girls love it! It's fun to see their reactions about the ocean & the beach. It's a first for both. M&M loves going down to the water and running for cover when the waves come. Little A did it at first until she did a face plant in the sand and the water drenched her in her jeans. She steered clear of all waves & water today.


This post is getting lengthy, so stay tuned for more!

Weekend getaway.

Last weekend we were able to get away and stay in Park City! My cousin got married on the 1st so we were able to spend Halloween with a lot of our family. We ate yummy soup, yummy cake (Happy Birthday Nate), and lots of candy! The girls loved dressing up as pirates, but loved trick-or-treating even more. M&M could have gone all night!


On Saturday we went to the SLC for their sealing. It was a beautiful day with a few clouds & 70 degrees! You would have never guessed it was November.


My cousin T & his new wife J. Sorry, this is the best picture we got of you two. Isn't her dress gorgeous!

On Sunday we were able to have dinner with some old friends. My Dad & his best friend growing up are still friends and now his kids & us still keep in touch. They had some awesome "Cafe Rio" burritos for us and some sweet entertainment on Rock Band. That can get addicting :) Little A was on photo duty that night so you can guess the quality of phots we got. Here's one!(Hi J!)


We were able to see my sis too!

CJ's favorite way to sleep!

On Monday we went shopping! Park City outlet mall. I forgot how many cool places there were. So many places and so little time! No pics, but who wants to see pics of us shopping anyway :)

Tuesday, we hit the road back home. James had flown back on Saturday night so I was solo for the drive home. It was quite the experience that I don't wish on anyone else! Taking all kids to the bathroom was the funnest! *input extreme sarcasm* Imagine the 4 of us parading into the gas station bathroom whilst M&M is whining for candy, Little A is asking every "why" question in the book, me trying to carry CJ while scooting (ok pushing)the other two (who are in their own little candy & question world) into the bathroom. When we got in, there wasn't a changing station for CJ so I had to change him on the floor. But I had left the diaper bag in the car ( I just brought in one wipe & a clean diaper) so I had to put paper towels on the floor and change him there...gross! So of course while I'm doing that I'm trying to get M&M to go potty and Little A is dancing around asking all those why questions. Got him changed, now Little A's turn on the potty, M&M washing hands, and me fumbling around trying to help Little A on the tall potty while holding CJ. Little A is done, pass off CJ to M&M (who is hilarious at holding CJ since he's growing bigger these days). I'm going potty (sorry more info than you probably care to know, but Mom's do go potty) while trying to contain Little A from sticking her hand in the small garbage can asking "why do they need 2 garbage cans" (all you ladies know which garbage can I'm talking about) and watching M&M strain to hold CJ and hoping she doesn't drop him. Hurry to wash mine & Little A's hands and get CJ from M&M. Whew! That was just going to the bathroom! So you can see why my journey from Park City to Boise was 9 hours!! The best part was at one point M&M spilled her root beer in the car. I asked her to clean it up (when we stopped) and she just kept YELLING "It wasn't my fault Mom, YOU were the one that made me eat my lunch in the car, so it's your fault!" I didn't even get mad at her, ask her whose fault it was or anything and she's yelling this at me. If you know M&M, you know she is d-r-a-m-a! So to say the least it was a LONG trip! Sorry for all the typing but I have to cherish these memories, right?!?