Camping 2011

For the first time EVER Kelly told me that we needed to go camping. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and asked him when he wanted to go. The kids would be starting school August 1st so I wanted to do it before school started. So, this is our last hoo-rah before school started. We went up to our favorite spot up in Big Bear. Kelly took Friday off so after we were packed we headed up. It was a good thing we left early because as soon as we got our spot and started unloading things the campground was filling up fast.

This is the picture before we left. We pulled out the back seat and moved Hunter and Kora to the middle row with Mylie. As you can see, the van was packed full to the brim. We had 4 tri-folds with us that took up a ton of the space but the comfort they gave us while we were sleeping was worth the space it took up.





I am so sad that this picture came out blurry. It was the only one where all 3 kids are looking at the camera and smiling. I love it! The kids are cooking their hot dogs for dinner. The kids had such a great time. Hunter was so sad to leave. We had so much fun we are greatly anticipating our trip next year.



I have to include this last picture. Last year, I learned the hard way to not pack nice clothes for camping. For some reason, my kids love to roll around and play in the dirt. This year I packed grubby, play clothes that I didn't mind getting ruined by dirt. Which made it so much easier to let the kids get dirty.

4th of July Weekend

Kelly had been waiting months for the third Transformers movie to come out. We normally stay home 4th of July weekend (which is when it came out) because of Hunter's birthday, but this year we went to Vegas with my parents. Thankfully, Vegas has movie theaters so Kelly got to see the movie the week it came out. We actually saw 2 movies this weekend. The first was Cars 2. The kids loved it. Unfortunately, Kora got really sick during the movie. She had an extremely high fever and ended up having one the entire weekend....and of course, later sharing the fever with her brother and sister later on. It happens. Hunter wanted to take a picture in front of the Optimus Prime poster they had at the theater. He loved the movie. It has been more than a month since he saw the movie but he still talks about Transformers all the time.





One of the days that we were up there we drove out to Lake Mead and rented a boat. It was a large Pontoon boat. We all loved it. The desire to own a boat is so strong while you're out on a boat, swimming and enjoying the day. Maybe someday...






Kelly and I were both excited to see Hover Dam. Both of us have seen the front side of the dam but never the back that is only accessible by boat. Of course we had to take plenty of pictures.



After the dam we found a nice boat free area and went swimming. The temperature was 108 and the water was a wonderfully cool 74. It felt amazing. The kids were afraid to get in the water. At the boat dock there were tons of extremely large carp. The kids knew there were fish in the water and were afraid the fish would bite them. Of course, 10 minutes before it was time to take the boat back all 3 kids jumped in the water and had a great time swimming. Too bad it took them so long to get in. Maybe next time they can enjoy more of the water.



This last picture is of Kelly trying to feed Mylie to the large carp. We had such a great time that we are thinking of making this an annual trip. We stayed in my parents time share which didn't have a casino attached to it. It was so nice not smelling like smoke.

Disneyland 2011

For Christmas, Kelly's parents gave us a gift certificate for a day pass to Disneyland. Kelly's brother and his family were planning a trip to California in March so we decided to go with them when they came down. We went on Tuesday, March 15th. If you read our previous post, yes, we spent 2 days at Disneyland. Couldn't ask for a better vacation. Here are a few pictures of our Disneyland adventures. This was actually the first year that 2 of our children were tall enough to go on most of the rides. There are only 2 rides now that the kids aren't tall enough for...Indiana Jones and California Screamer, but Kelly and I had done those the day before so we were here for the kids on this trip.

Since Kelly and I had gone to Disneyland that day, when we got home we gave the kids our Disneyland maps and they proceeded to plan out the day at Disneyland for "tomorrow". Showing each other what rides they were going to go on and where they were going to go...so fun.

Kora is truly our only brave child. She was the only child that was brave enough to go on Tower of Terror with Kelly, Bryan and I. The only thing she had to say after she was done was that her bum-bum hurt from falling down so much. I think she liked it. This next picture is of her and Kelly waiting in the Tower of Terror line.

Did you know that Bryan is also a chair and a backrest? Well, here is the proof....Uncle Bubba the chair and Daddy the backrest. Those long lines are really brutal on the kids legs. What a nice Daddy and Uncle to sacrifice his body so the kids could get a small break.

You can't ride on the Toy Story ride without getting the classic 3D glasses picture.

After Kelly's Dad got off of work he met us at Disneyland. So fun to spend time with him and Susie both. The kids had a great time with them.

The next picture is us sitting on Big Thunder Mountain. We actually got seated on the last 3 rows. Bryan called it "Baptism by Fire". This was the first time Hunter, Kora AND Bryson had ever been on this ride. Amazing that we got seated in the very back for their first time. I really wanted a picture of not just us, but all 3 kids. When I asked the ride operator to take a picture for us he said one minute, walked to the front and never came back. What a bum! It's not like it would have taken more than 3 seconds to snap a picture and hand the camera back. Oh well.

Kelly's family has a joke that Nani Susie is a part of the Big Thunder Mountain attraction. It was Grandpa's job to ride on the ride so he could point out Nani to the kids when he saw her on the ride. Here is a picture of "Nani Goat" or as Hunter kept referring to her as "Nani Goose".

This was the only picture I got of the boys on the ride. Looks like both boys needed cuddling. When Hunter got off of the ride he called it "weird". Funny because he said the same thing after riding Space Mountain too. Don't know what it means. I think he liked Big Thunder Mountain....Space Mountain...well, didn't like it as much.

Kids waiting for the Casey Jr. train to show up.

I don't know why this is the only picture of Kelci that I got. Luckily however, it is a really cute one of her. She is so adorable.

I didn't get a picture of the kids in the line for Space Mountain. We had to trick Hunter by telling him we were going on Star Tours to get him to go on it. Star Tours happened to be closed. Unfortunately, Hunter can read and kept seeing the words Space Mountain everywhere. Oh well, we got him on it. Just to let all of you know, we also found the BEST place in Disneyland to watch fireworks. On top of the roof while waiting in line for Space Mountain. There are NO crowds at all and you get a front row seat to the amazing fireworks and could still hear the music. Kora and I got to sit down in the middle of the roof while Kelly, Hunter, Gene and Bryan stood in line. I don't think I ever got to thank them for that...thank you guys! I really wish we had gotten the picture from the ride. Hunter's face was incredible. There was NO emotion on his face. There was no fear or excitement, it looked like he was sitting in math class bored out of his mind....amazing!

We had a perfect, fun, amazing day. Thanks for the day pass Grandpa and Nani, such a fun present. Thank You!

Camping

Growing up our yearly vacation was a week of tent camping. I have always loved camping and since getting married I had hoped to share that love with my children. After begging Kelly for years if we could go he finally gave in. The last time Kelly and I went camping Hunter was only 9 months old. This was our kids first real experience camping since Hunter was too young to really remember his last experience.

We left Thursday afternoon and headed up to Big Bear. We love camping up there since it only takes a little over an hour from our home. We ended up staying in the Heart Bar campsite #47. My brother and his wife came up later that night as well as my Mom and my Dad came Friday night.

We borrowed some kid size chairs from Kelly's parents and all the kids enjoyed sitting in them. We are definitely going to have to buy them some of their own.

Here Mylie is showing us what a mess she was the entire weekend. There really was no point in cleaning this little girl because minutes after washing her down she would be covered in dirt again. Her favorite spot the entire weekend was sitting on the ground playing in the dirt.

Hunter's favorite past time was playing with Kelly's BB Gun. He loved shooting at the cans and bottles. He didn't really have the power to pump the gun but he did try.

Here is a picture of my brother, the Pyro. He was in charge of the campfire and made sure it was blazing all night.

This next picture is a picture of Kora's hands. She had a bit of an accident while we were up there. The best thing that came out of it is that she has learned a healthy respect for fire. The first day we were there she kept putting wood into the fire. Kelly and I kept telling her that only the adults are supposed to put the wood in because it is really dangerous. Well, she didn't listen and insisted on putting more wood into the fire. On her way to the pit she tripped and tried catching herself on the metal pit. It burned her poor little hands. The entire weekend she tried her best to stay away from the fire pit. Sometimes lessons are unfortunately learned the hard way.

Here are the 3 kiddos in a forced photo. Don't you just love asking the kids to pose, you get the most random pictures sometimes.

This next picture is a beautiful gorge not too far from our campsite. Seeing nature like this is exactly the reason I love camping.

This last picture is my mountain men off to chop some firewood. We had a great time camping and I can't wait to take the kids again. I think the kids were a little disappointed because they never really got to see the "Big Bear" but overall I know that they had a fun time too.

Oceanside

This last weekend we spent 4 days in Oceanside for a little vacation. My parents and Jeremy & Kristin have a sort of timeshare and they invited us along with them. The picture above sort of sums up the whole trip...a lot of swimming at the beach. This picture was taken right after we got settled in our room. We headed to the beach because Hunter couldn't wait to see the beach. I told the kids to not get wet. Next thing I know Hunter fell in face forward and Kora was running into the water. Oh well. That's what vacations are for, having fun.

We drove down Saturday afternoon and just hung out and got settled. On Sunday morning Kelly drove down and joined us. He went to a soccer game with a buddy of his on Saturday. We later went to the beach and attempted to body surf. The waves were pretty small and hard to catch...although, Jeremy caught a few. Kelly was even out there with us. I love hanging out with my hubby. The kids stayed on shore building sand castles and burrying themselves and taking walks with my parents. Mylie enjoyed all the birds.

On Monday we went to Sea World. The kids loved looking at all the animals. Hunter liked the "sharkfish" (sharks) and Kora liked the dolphins. It was a long day but we had a nice time.

Tuesday was our final day. We started off by playing a few rounds of tennis. I don't know why we don't play more because we all had such a good time. After tennis Jeremy, Kristin and I drove down to La Jolla and snorkeled. We actually swam with a swarm of leopard sharks. Needless to say I was a little freaked out swimming with 3-4 foot sharks but once I realized they were more scared of us than we were of them and they really wouldn't come near us it made the experience a fun one. I would actually love to do it again. Kelly stayed back at the room and took the kids swimming in the pool and then we headed back home. It was a great trip. The kids had a great time and when we got home I think everyone was exhausted.

Much Needed Vacation

This past week has been quite a busy one for us. We started the week like any other but on Tuesday night we left our home and headed to the Jolly Roger Hotel which is walking distance to Disneyland. When we arrived, not only did it look like we had the entire hotel to ourselves but it also looked like it was closed down and being renovated. Slightly panicked Kelly headed to the closest hotel which we later found out owned the Jolly Roger Hotel and thankfully had our reservation.
In the morning it was off to Disneyland. We picked a perfect week to go but boy was it HOT! As usual, Disney went all out and decorated for Halloween. Even the characters were dressed in Halloween costumes. At California Adventure Minnie Mouse was out and Kora got to take some pictures with her. She loved Minnie Mouse. She ran right up to her and gave her a huge hug.

Mylie wasn't fond of the rides. This picture doesn't really do any justice for the way Mylie reacted to ALL of the rides. Sadly, with each ride she started to freak out more and more. She would claw at us and try to crawl up Kelly or My shoulder, bury her head then look around panicked. Poor thing.

These are my bugs at the Bugs Life Show. Hunter appears to be all smiles in the picture but before this picture he was freaked out. At one point he said he was going home. Kelly told him we would see him later and he actually walked halfway out of the tunnel. Kelly had to chase after him. He hates bugs. He watched the show and did just fine, actually, so did Mylie. I think it was just the movement of the rides she didn't like.

After spending 2 days at Disneyland, which Kelly and I have concluded is perfect. Neither of us could handle much more than 2 days. We were able to ride everything we wanted on Wednesday with little wait but Thursday it seemed like the whole state of California decided to go to Disneyland. It was packed with extremely long lines. We stayed to watch the parade (which the kids loved) but made the mistake of trying to leave when it ended, everyone else had the same idea. I think next time we'll ride a few rides after the parade ends and then try to leave.

The second part of our vacation we drove down to San Diego and visited the Midway. The Midway is a retired aircraft carrier for those of you who don't know (I was one of them before this trip). It was a great visit. There wasn't much for the kids to do but the little there was (like pretending to pilot a plane) they enjoyed.

Here Hunter and Kora were manning the controls in the Engineering room. I have to say that I actually enjoyed the Midway a lot more than I thought I would. They had headsets that explained the different rooms of the aircraft carrier. We didn't get to see everything so I can't wait to go back and finish the tour.

After the Midway we headed to the home of some very old friends of mine, Derek and Lupita. Instead of Day Care I used to stay at their home from Junior High to High School until my Mom got off of work. They had become like second parents to me. The last time I saw them was 2 years ago at my brother, Jeremy's wedding. Since they moved down to San Diego more than 7 years ago I haven't seen or talked to them much. It was great to see them and catch up. Hopefully the next time I see them will be a lot sooner than 2 years.

The main reason we were going down to San Diego was to visit the Midway and to go to the Zoo. When Derek and Lupita found out we were going to the Zoo they gave us free passes. Derek and Lupita have season passes to the San Diego Zoo and I guess when you have a pass you are allotted free tickets you can give to friends and family to use throughout the year. Thank You Guys! We had a great time.

I loved all the animals but I think I loved the monkeys the best. The San Diego Zoo has tons of Monkeys all throughout the park. They are so smart. While we were watching the monkeys one of them walked up to the window then turned around and sat right in front of the glass.

Hunter's favorite animals were the Tigers and Lions.

Here is our little Diva, "No Pictures Mom". Kora's favorite animals were the Giraffes and Elephants.
Sadly, like all good times they end way too quickly. It's great to look back at our pictures remembering the fun times we had. We are so glad we were able to take this little vacation. These are memories we will always have. The older we get the more we realize how important it is to spend good quality time with our children and get to know them better. This has been a wonderful trip that we will always remember.