THANKS.

I just wanted to take a moment and say

Thank You ...

to the Cabin.

It is always there for us whenever we need a little get-a-way.

And this year it was our Thanksgiving destination.

It is small and quiet

with no phones or computers or internet-

thus, the niceness of it!

We enjoyed making and eating our Thanksgiving meal together,

then assembling a puzzle and watching a kid favorite- Home Alone.

(Where we discovered a striking resemblance between Kevin

and one of our own in both appearance and behaviour.)

But back to the Cabin.  It is so nice to just to step away from it all

for just a few days or a weekend and escape to you.

You are typically cold in the beginning (especially during winter)

but you warm up quite nicely.

So Thank you Cabin.

Thanks for the care-free, relaxing times.

Thanks for the fun memories.

Thanks for your simplicity.

And also thanks for the break post-Christmas

where I left my messy, messy home in the suburbs

to be with you and my family, and the cousins with no worries.

Our Fourth of July

Began with our family going to our Neighborhood Parade and Breakfast.  Where these two were so excited to decorate their bikes for said event.

We then journeyed to HOT St. George to do some more celebrating with extended family.  The day ended by meeting up with family at the park to watch the BIG fireworks.

But the weekend was full of family fun.  We spent many hours in the pool at my Mum's complex.  We went to the theaters to watch Dispicable Me 2 then took the family out to a restaurant for dinner (something that was a special treat because we rarely do that).  Then there was a endless display of store bought fireworks outside my Brother's house.

Saturday we were in the water pretty much the whole day.  We went to the river where we sent up camp and my brother taught us how to skim board.  The older boys really enjoyed it but I didn't do so well at it.  Even the little kids even got in on the action.

 

 

 

 

 Mostly it was a lot of this,

 and this,

 and this,

they even caught a dead fish.  Yuck!!

After the River we went back to my Mum's for a BBQ and more swimming.  A Wonderful Weekend, even in the hot, hot weather.

Southern California Trip - Part 3

Days 5 and 6 were spent at Disneyland. 

After getting there early on Thursday, my three oldest and I went to Splash Mountain where we stood in NO lines and enjoyed getting a little wet.

After a few hours and a few more rides, we decided as a group to eat our Thanksgiving Meal at a buffet across the street called Captain Kidds.   It wasn't the best food but they had something for everyone and a few thanksgiving dishes that helped us celebrate the holiday.

After a brief rest, we spent some time over at California Adventure.  Here is where I took a deep breath and rode the ride that I knew would turn my insides out.  Yep, the Tower of Terror.  I don't recommend you holding your breath during the entire ride as it gives you a big headache afterwards!

California Adventure is where the Monsters Inc. ride and all of the Bugs Life rides were a big hit with my two youngest,

 

and where my little ones thoroughly enjoyed the Aladdin Show and especially the Genie and his gangnam style dancing.  They were so entertained they saw the show twice.

California Adventure is also where we got to explore around Cars Land.  Pretty impressive I must say.  We didn't get to ride on the car racing "big deal" ride this night but we did enjoy looking at the scenery and riding a few of the other rides.

 

 

On Friday, it turned out to be another very crowded day but we ventured around and went on the Little Mermaid Ride,

 

waited for our Fast Pass tickets (that I had to stand in line for for 45 minutes) to be valid to ride the Cars racing ride,

 

 

and visited with Santa.

 We took a picture of the Castle,

 and at night saw the Water Show,

which was pretty spectacular.

We stayed as late as we could but the little ones started to struggle so I walked back with them to the shuttle and Phil and the big boys stayed until the park closed.

It was a pretty great adventure for this family and we were lucky to share it with some of our favorite people.  Who knows when we will go again but for now we have some awesome memories and a few souvenirs.

Southern California Trip - Part 1

The first stop on our trip to Southern California

was at the Mormon Battalion Center, in San Deigo.

After an informative and fun presentation of what the battalion went through and what they accomplished, the kids (and parents) got to pan for gold.

 

 Then the kids climbed all over this pioneer wagon.  Posing and requesting photos be taken.  I was happy to oblige.

 My oldest two decided to play in what they called the "holy water",

and then we ended up across the street where the kids got to just run and play.  A necessity when traveling in the car for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours.

And that was Day 1.

Day 2 was spent at SeaWorld.

 Here dolphins and orcas and all kinds of sea creatures entertained us as we observed and oohhed and aawwed.

 Here a few chosen kids got drenched and enjoyed every minute of it.  Thank goodness for beautiful warm weather.

We witnessed sharks swimming just above our heads, which was a little nerve-racking despite having a thick piece of glass between us and them.

We touched and examined star fish that are really, really hard (seemingly impossible) to actually see moving around in the water.

 And we finished the day off with a family photo to document that yes, we were all here together!