Little George got Hitched

Georgie got married!!  His new wife Sarah is lovely, musical, outdoorsy, tough, kind and a perfect match for George.  The wedding was originally going to be up at The Ranch, but wildfires forced a last minute change.   Everything turned out lovely up in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Some how I managed to get exactly 0 pictures from the wedding dinner and the wedding.   Luckily I was able to steal a few from other people. :)
The happy couple.  Soooo perfect for each other! 

 The DELICIOUS cake gifted by City Cakes in Salt lake.  YUM!

 My family... not the best picture, but it proves we were there. :)

 And this great picture of the girls with my Babi (their great-grandmother):

We couldn't be happier for George and Sarah.  Their next move (after the Wasatch 100) is to move to Prague for a year.  It will be a wonderful adventure for them, and we can't wait to hear the amazing stories that are sure to follow.   Happy Trails!!!

Lucky Seven

Is that a thing?... Or is Seven unlucky?  Wait.  13 is supposed to be unlucky.  So seven must be lucky, right?  (This is why I'm not much of a gambler.) Well, either way, for this year seven will be proclaimed lucky.  It must be, cause look at all the fun things that have happened for Naiya in the few short days since she turned seven! 
The morning started with out traditional breakfast in bed. 
The girls always look forward to eating in bed once a year.  The funny thing is that they usually end up moving to the table before they get half way through the meal. 

After breakfast Naiya got to open a few of her gifts.  The prize gift in the morning?  A pink Razor scooter... complete with streamers.  (What more could a seven year old possibly wish for?)   I had to run off to school meetings for the day, so Jared was in charge of the fun until 4.   He took the girls to Hollywood Connection!   What a fun way to spend the day.  They rode rides, had lunch and played miniature golf.  They said it was almost as good as Disneyland (Geez... wish  I had know that earlier!! ;) 

After I finished up my meetings it was time to meet up with Neema, Pa, Babi and George for a dinner of Naiya's choice.  Where might a 7 year old dream of going to dinner, you ask?  Well, MY seven year old picked Chuck-a-Rama (to her Daddy's delight).  Cute girl said she wanted to pick a place that Daddy would like too since it was almost his birthday.   When we got home, she had a couple more presents to open.  One large horse and a promise of 4 horseback riding lesson in September.  See?  Lucky, right?!

Saturday we decided to head up to the Homestead in Midway to celebrate the birthday weekend.  It started out with a bit of an adventure.  As we drove past Jordanelle, we drive RIGHT next to a forest fire.  As in, flames.next.to.the.road.   Not sure why the roads were open but I guess they closed shorty after we drove by while they pushed the fire back away from the road.  It was crazy-scary-cool all at the same time.

Once we made it to the Homestead, we had lots to do to keep us busy.   We rode bikes/the scooter, played on the play ground, swam in the pool, went out to dinner, listened to the outdoor concert Saturday evening, went on a walking exploration and relaxed.  It was a nice post-pre-birthday weekend for both Naiya and Jared.  Luckily,  Eva and I got to tag  along. :) 
I even managed to capture a few pictures from our weekend:

So as I said, seven seems to be lucky (for all of us) so far.  Although I still can't believe that my child
is seven.  How did that happen?  Guess I better get used to is.  This time next year my "baby" will be preparing to celebrate  her lucky seven as well.  Two lucky sevens in a row.  Lucky us! 
...Maybe this will be the year I take up a little gambling.  ;)

Packing it all in... at Disneyland

And now for the culminating activity of our whirlwind trip to So Cal.... DISNEYLAND!!!!
When Pa offered us tickets to Sea World and Disneyland as a birthday gift for the three of us, I was torn about taking the girls to Disneyland on my own.  First of all, I knew Jared would love to be there for the girls first experience at Disneyland.  Second of all, this was already a pretty busy trip with lots of traveling and lots of fun without adding two huge theme parks into the mix.  Most of all, I was petrified about stories I've heard of kids having melt downs and/or getting lost in the "happiest place on earth."  Plus I new that we would only see a fraction of the park in just one day....   but, I figured, hey, it's DISNEYLAND!  How can I not jump on a chance to take the girls?!  So off we went.
The things you hear about Disneyland in August are true. It was hot.  It was busy.  The lines were long.  Everything was expensive.  I have to say, though, the girls were soooo well behaved.  I told them before hand that we would buy one toy/item to have as a keepsake at the very end of our visit, and they were great.  They would see something and say "maybe that's what I'll pick at the end," and that was that.  We always looked at the estimated wait times before getting in line for a ride and they would compare it to waiting for Atlantis and then decide if the ride looked worth it or not.  Eva wanted to meet princesses and Naiya wanted to go on the old rides in Fantasyland.  They compromised and alternated choosing activities.  We had a little bit of bad luck as far as rides closing just as we got to the front of the line, or princesses needing to "go come their hair for 10 minutes" as we waited to be the next to meet them.  The girls rarely complained and were great about keeping each other busy in line.  They celebrated when a wait was 20 minutes or less, and kept a good attitude the whole day.  I can't imagine that our visit could have gone any smoother.   We even ran into yet another family from school.  It's a small, small world (pun intended). 
Here are some pics from the day:

 

  

  

After riding "It's a Small World," Naiya decided that that was her new favorite ride.   Eva agreed... or not.  "It would have been my favorite too,"  she said, "if it wasn't so annoying."   Silly girl.  Both girls were eager to try the Matterhorn, and they meet the height requirement.  It was quite a wait, but they LOVED it and thought about waiting to do it again... until the Tea Cups ride caught their attention.
We seemed to just miss each parade that day, but then we found out about the "Fantasmic" show that was at 9 and 10.  We made it in time for the 9 o'clock show, but it was so crowded that we couldn't see a thing (even when I tried lifting the girls up over my head).   We decided to try one quick ride and come back earlier for the next show.  We waited in line for a ride that had technical difficulties and closed after 30 minutes of waiting, but it worked out well because we would have missed the 10:00 show starting time if it hadn't closed right then.  We got back to where the show is just as the fireworks from the first show were ending and waited to jump in and claim a prime spot as people were leaving.  This show is on the stage in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  There is a stage, a canal of water and then a cobblestone path where people sit kneel and stand to watch the show.  We settled into the very front of the sitting section at 9:45.  15 minutes to start.  By 9:50 both girls were sound asleep.  I was sitting cris-cross on the cobble stone and had one girls sleeping on one leg.  By 10:00 my legs were asleep, but I figured the show starts any second, so I can re-adjust when they wake up.  10:05... nothing... 10:10... nothing.  Then the lady next to me commented on how cute they were sleeping, but she was sure they would wake up in 20 minutes when the show started. Oops.  I guess it was a 10:30 show, not 10:00.  Oh well. In the end, the show started promptly at 10:30, and the girls slept right through it despite the loud music, wiggly crowds around us and my frequent attempts to wake them.  Oh well, I got most of it on video. They can watch it later.  :)   The severity of this situation started to creep in as the crowds were dissipating at 11:00.  Here I am.  My legs are both severely asleep... and so are my children.  It's just me, my sleeping kids, and my huge bag.  It's dark, and we have at least a 15 minute walk from the middle of Disneyland out the exit and over to the main road where we are supposed to meet Pa.   After some anxiety and a good 5 minutes Naiya sort of 1/2 woke up.  Just enough to be led, eyes closed, through the streets of Disneyland by a  momma with a huge bag on one hip and a sleeping Eva on the other.  Not an ideal situation, but I'll take it.  It was a great day for all 3 of us filled with hot, sticky, fun and excitement... and hopefully great memories that will last years to come. 

Packing it all in... all over Southern California

After Sea World, we had a good night sleep and took off for a little more relaxing day. Pa had some random meetings so he dropped us off at an outdoor mall.  We window shopped, bought Naiya some new shoes  (her feet grew over the course of one day at Sea World), had lunch, and rode the carousel. 

After Pa picked us up, we went to Newport beach to say hi to some other friends of ours, to have some gelato and to visit the a pier.   We actually saw a pod of dolphins off the end of the pier.  Even cooler than seeing them at Sea World.

Then it was time to head to Anaheim.  We checked in and went for a dip at the pool.  Then we went out to a very delicious and very expensive dinner at Rays Hawaiian Fusion.  The girls were impressed that the hostess handed them their cloth napkins after seating us and that the kids meal was a 3 course meal.  Fancy.  After dinner we walked back to the hotel and called Neema to give her an update.  Eva looked so grown up talking on Pa's cell phone while holding her left-overs bag and drink. 

We got the girls settled into bed and turned on the Olympics for a little bit.  I was drifting off to sleep as I heard a rumble and felt a 3-5 second shake.  What was that?  A train close by?  An airplane?  Nope, an Earthquake. Not huge, just a 4.5.  It was the first time I've really felt an earthquake.  Good thing it was small/short cause it really didn't register that that is what it was until it was over.  I'm okay with that kind of earthquake.  If I wasn't so tired I might have stayed up stressing my self out about pre-shocks and after-shocks, but lucky for me I slept like a baby.  Good thing too...  I  wanted to have lots of energy for the next day at Disneyland!!!

Packing it all in... at Sea World

Monday morning, we got up, re-packed, and headed south a ways to San Diego.  Pa had some business in the area, and so did we...  in Sea World!   I'd been to Sea World a few times when I was younger, but it's been a while, and the girls have never been.  To be perfectly honest, I think that (before we arrived) the knowledge that we were going to Disneyland in a couple days overshadowed the fact that we were going to Sea World that day.  They didn't really know what to expect,  and they were excited... but not bubbling over with excitement.... at first. It was about 10 seconds after we walked through the entrance gate that the wide-eyed squealing began. 

We made a quick pit stop at the bathroom, got sun-screened up, loaded up on bottled water, set off, and immediately ran into one of my students... from Salt Lake... in Sea World.  (Mrs. Chamberlain is everywhere.)   

After a quick greeting and their recommendation, we started with the rides in the center of the park called Elmo-land... (or something like that.)  They were all geared toward younger children.  We only had one problem when we got to the front of one line and they said that, although the girls filled the minimum requirements, they were still too small to ride on their own, but only 2 riders fit per seat.  Well, there's only one momma in this equation, so that was a little disappointing... for about a minute until we found another ride we could all do together.

There was a huuuge line to meet Elmo, but we did catch a couple other characters wandering around.  Naiya was not very interested in getting pictures with the characters.  She wanted to do roller coasters.  Eva, on the other hand, was all over it.  It was a far cry from the child who was MORTIFIED when Chuck-E-Cheese tried to give her a high five a couple years ago.

After Elmo-land, we got a bite to each and headed over to explore more of the park. We (of course) saw loads of sea animals.  A lot of the pictures didn't turn out because I had my video camera as a camera and it doesn't have a flash.   The girls were thrilled to touch starfish, prehistoric sand crabs and more.  They saw polar bears, penguins, puffins, several sharks, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, seals.... the list goes on.  They loved them all.  When pressed to find a favorite, Naiya chose the seals.  Eva couldn't pick a favorite- even when pressed ;)  Here are a couple poor quality photos.   Sorry.

In the midst of our exploring, we stumbled upon the Atlantis roller coaster. It's one of those with the huge waterfall drop-off that has signs warning "You WILL get wet on this ride." It also had a 45 minute wait. Naiya & Eva started jumping up and down with excitement.  I thought there was no possible way they were big enough to ride.  To humor them, we went up to the attendant by the entrance to the loooong line.  She measured the girls and said we could go if they ride in the row right in front of me.  The girls were determined... even when I tried to explain how long a 45 minute wait would be.  There was no deterring them, so we put the video camera in a locker and set off for the back of the line.  They were patient and there was minimal whining.  (Turns out this would be good training for our trip to Disneyland in a couple of days.)  We made it to the front.  The attendant assigned us our row numbers.  We stepped closer to the platform. Naiya announced (loudly) that she was so excited and scared that she might throw up.  (Imagine the loving looks from other riders that I got at this point.)   After verifying that she didn't feel queasy and that if at any point she did feel like throwing up she lean forward and do so on her feet (eeew), we boarded the ride.  It was great.  In fact, I almost bough the ridiculously priced photo at the end.   In it, Eva was thrilled, I was terrified and Naiya was hiding her head by her feet (but not puking).    Worth the wait (even without the photographic proof). 

To wind the day down, we wandered a bit more. and caught some shows.  We saw the Elmo 4-D movie, a dolphin/acrobatic diver show, seal feeding, a pet show and, of course, the Shamu Rocks show complete with fireworks.  The girls favorite show was probably the pet show.  Which, oddly enough, didn't have any marine animals in it what so ever.   It did have cats, dogs, birds, pigs, emus and kangaroos. Why it was at Sea World, we may never know, but it was certainly entertaining. 

Right after the fireworks we did a promised pit stop at the gift shop.  Naiya picked up at least 20 animals and looked directly into their eyes before settling on a baby seal that she named Bubbles.  Eva went straight to the small animals that came in purses and got a cute little penguin.  As we were exiting the park, Naiya announced that it had been the best day of her life, and Eva agreed but added "just until Disneyland, though."  Pa picked us up out front at about 10:30 at night and by 10:31 the girls were buckled in and fast asleep.     They were both still clutching their toys and their happy memories as we moved them into their beds. 

Packing it all in... at the Beach

My dad had a business trip to California planned this week.  He invited us to come along and relax on the beach for a few days and visit some friends as a last fun trip before gearing back into school mode.    Eva mentioned something about Disneyland.  Pa said how about Sea World.   Of course that meant we had to do both. :)    We packed a lot in during that 5 1/2 days, so I'll break it up into 3 posts. First... the beach.

We got up in the wee hours of Saturday morning and started our drive so that we could arrive in the late afternoon.  The first night we went to the beach and visited with the friends we were staying with (Jana and Martin) in Laguna Nigel.  Naiya had been to California before, but she was  only about 7 months old.  Both girls had been to the beach in Mexico, but that was 4 and a half years ago.   This was the first time the girls were going to the beach as far as they could remember.   After some coaxing (Eva) both girls were playing on the shore, looking for sand crabs, touching slimy seaweed, and "jumping" waves with Pa. 

That night we had an amazing barbecue dinner prepared by Martin and his son Eric.  I didn't take pictures... but I should have.  It was delicious!!

The next day  we started with a huge spread for breakfast.  Yogurt, breads, meats & cheeses, fruit. (Jana and Martin tend to spoil us a little.)  We walked their dog, Sandy (Who, incidentally, I drove down to CA 12 years ago to deliver as a Christmas gift from my parents to Jana and Martin.) and played at the park. 

Jana took the girls to the store to get a couple sand toys (and shirts, and other toys... spoiled, I tell ya) while I went for a run.  Then we came back to their beautiful back yard to practice our tumbling skills and admire the flowers.  Okay... I was not a part of the tumbling "we."  I was the photographer/videographer.

After ANOTHER amazing meal we headed to the beach.  (Are you sensing a theme with the food here?  I gained 5 pounds on this trip, and I'm quite sure it was primarily in the first 2 days.) This time we hung out at the beach all afternoon and into the evening.  We explored tide pools, made sand castles, swam, went on an expedition with Pa, and of course, got buried in the sand. 

After the beach, Pa took us to a super fancy restaurant for drinks (coffee for me and juice for the girls) on their patio. I wish I'd thought to take a picture, because the view was stunning.  Then, we went for a swim.  Cause, ya know,  we hadn't quite had enough fun for the day.  ;)

After one more night and a couple more delicious meals, it was time to pack up and make our way down to San Diego... and Sea World.

THE Ranch

We ended up getting to stay at THE ranch for a week and a half this July. Lucky for us cause I love that place.  It's a slice of heaven.   I am not that great about bringing the camera along, but here are a few highlights that I did catch.

Jared and I hiked Greylock.  It was my first time.  Every time we have been up there has been some sort of obstacle (weather, babies, broken toes...) that has kept me from getting my tooshy up there.  So glad I did.  It's a one-of-a-kind view of the ranch, and the hike itself is beautiful as well!

All the cousins went down to the jumping rock this year.  Jared jumped in no problem.  He jumped from both sides (of course).   I thought I only had pictures of him jumping from the small side, but luckily I found this perfect action shot of him taking the plunge.  

Both girls jumped from the small rock.  I got Naiya but Eva was quick and didn't want to do it again.  She did jump to her cousin Baylor a bunch from this little rock, though. :)

There were open fire restrictions but we couldn't do without the traditional s'mores, so we used the portable fire pit.  It worked great and we got to have the view of the lake at sunset.  Win-Win!

We always spend a lot of time hanging out by the river.  This is "our spot."  Just up the hill from here, Jared and I got engaged.  We have camped here once or twice.  We used to walk out here every day, but now it ends up being  just once or twice a trip.

The girls have been begging to go star gazing like the big kids.  One night we took them out to the end of the runway in the truck.  Naiya lasted about 1 minute.  Eva stayed awake but had her eyes closed for maybe 5 minutes before she too was out.  Neither got to see any shooting stars. Maybe next year!

The only consolation for having to leave such a beautiful place and return to the "real world"  is knowing that we'll be back in less than a month for George & Sarah's wedding... maybe right here... definitely at one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Lucky them... but really, lucky us!!